Examples of Outer Limited Point of View

Despite of the challenges of writing in the outer limited point of view, many authors have done it successfully and skillfully.  One such author who has given us valuable examples of what the outer limited looks like is French author Alain Robbe-Grillet. Robbe-Grillet is one of the few writers to successfully write almost an entire novel in the outer limited point of view, with the exception of a small portion he writes in the unlimited point of view. His novel, titled Jealousy, is the story of a jealous husband spying on his wife who is having an affair.  In the story he refers to her as A. Here are a couple of paragraphs from Jealousy:

A . . . is lying fully dressed on the bed. One of her legs rests on the satin spread; the other, bent at the knee, hangs half over the edge. The arm on this side is bent toward the head lying on the bolster. Stretched across the wide bed, the other arm lies out from the body at approximately a 45 degree angle. Her face is turned upward toward the ceiling. Her eyes are made still larger by the darkness. . . .

Between this first window and the second, there is just room enough for the large wardrobe. A . . ., who is standing beside it, is therefore visible only from the third window, the one that overlooks the west gable-end.

Notice how Robbe-Grillet has to give outward details only. He has to refrain from letting us know what the woman in the scene is thinking or feeling. He has to remain totally objective throughout the novel as an observer only. Although Jealousy was Robbe-Grillet’s only novel written almost fully in the outer limited point of view, he also incorporates outer limited in several passages of another one of his novels titled In the Labyrinth about a soldier. In this scene the soldier has just returned to his barracks which is also being used as an infirmary for other soldiers:

The folded bedclothes from two dark rectangles against the lighter background of the mattress, two rectangles which overlap at one corner. The beds to the right and left are both occupied: two bodies lying on their backs, wrapped in their blankets; the heads are supported by bolsters of the same light shade as the mattresses; the man on the right has also put his hands under his neck, the folded elbows pointing diagonally on each side. The man is not sleeping: his eyes are wide open.

Again, Robbe-Grillet must describe the scene apart from interior monologue or knowledge of the inner thoughts of the characters, except that which may be revealed through dialogue. Description of scene is of utmost importance when writing in the outer limited point of view because the scene, in a sense, must tell the story.

To get a firmer grasp of the outer limited point of view, I strongly recommend you read Jealousy.