The narrator may play a central role in a short story, as the author manages to convey major ideas by using different types of narration. Carson McCullers’s “The Ballad of the Sad Café” can be seen as an illustration of such an employment of narrative that adds meaning to the story and its major ideas. Scholars pay much attention to analyzing narrators and narratives in different genres, in works of particular writers, or in specific pieces. This paper includes a brief review of literature on narration and the narrator in Carson McCullers’ “The Ballad of the Sad Café.”
Although Werner Senn analyzes different types of narrative that are apparent in Conrad’s stories, the article sheds some light on the way narration can shape stories and help the author convey the necessary ideas. For instance, Senn emphasizes that a detached and neutral narrator can help in bringing out the most personal, “immediate and direct appeal to the reader” (232). The very use of wording shows the attitude of the narrator towards characters and events, as well as the narrator’s attempts to influence readers’ attitudes.
This effect of the distant narrator is visible in the story by Carson McCullers. The part written in the present tense can be seen as an example of this distance observer who describes the city where the story unwinds. The narrator sets the story displaying the environment and atmosphere. In this case, the use of the tense suggests that the story is told by a person who is currently in the city and the one who can describe the site in detail. The reader gets a feeling of being present in the city. Thus, the article by Senn does not include an analysis of the story in question but provides insights into the ways narrative can shape readers’ attitudes, feelings, and views on the story.
Another reviewed article does not concentrate on the story by Carson McCullers, but it is concerned with different types of narrative. Nelles and Williams analyze narratives in detective stories, their role, and the ways authors exploit this aspect of story writing (190). Nelles and Williams note that the two-narrator structure is specifically effective in detective stories where it is necessary to set the story and pass to the description of events (204). The authors shed light on the effects created by two narrators within a story, which is apparent in the story under consideration.
In such stories, the temporal order is characterized by the use of the “inverted” story, in which “every detail… is narrated first, followed by the story” and, in the case of detective stories, the exposure of the criminal (Nelles and Williams 201). The first narrator in “The Ballad of the Sad Café” provides all meaningful details regarding the city, highlighting the points central to the story. Like in the case of detective stories, the use of two narrators creates a certain sense of suspension as the reader in the short story is left wondering as to the exact details of the story. Readers are interested in learning more about the story that is set in such an ordinary place.
The article by Louise H. Westling deals with the peculiarities of the atmosphere in the story in question. Westling stresses that McCullers uses narrative as a “strategy for placing the action at a safe enough remove from ordinary life” (33). Westling notes that Miss Amelia is a grotesque character created to reflect McCullers’s “ambivalence about female identity” (33). The second narrator, who seems to be a witness to the events described in the story, is rather distant from the main character but makes her ambivalent identity apparent. The second narrator in the story under analysis uses meticulous details to tell the story and explain some of the events that have an impact on the protagonist and other characters. Westling manages to shed light on an important effect created by the inclusion of two narratives, which is the reader’s exposure to the discussion of gender and identity.
Two articles that are discussed below are central to the analysis of the short story in question. One of these articles focuses on the narrator and the role narrative plays in the piece of writing. McNally draws readers’ attention to the fact that the short story has a framed structure with a present-tense frame and the story written in the past tense (40). It is noted that the part written in the present tense provides the setting and the context, while the story itself is in the past tense with numerous details.
It is also emphasized that the narrator is not a mere teller of a story as “he” provides insights into his inner world (McNally 43). McNally argues that by the description of events and expressing attitudes towards characters and the story, the narrator sheds light on his own sad story of life. McNally refers to the passages in the short story explaining the choice of words and tenses (40). It is noted that the narrator recalls the story to reconcile with some past experiences and sorrows. Thus, the narrator in “The Ballad of the Sad Café” is one of the central figures who guides the reader through the story and emphasizes the major idea making it perfectly clear.
Finally, the other major source is instrumental in considering the peculiarities of the short story. Gaillard states that the narrator is a member of the community who has witnessed the drama and relates this experience to some personal experiences. The researcher also notes that the narrator sets the atmosphere using the present tense and expresses emotions and attitudes in the second part, where the past tense is utilized (Gaillard 420). Gaillard concentrates on the role the narrator’s voice plays in expressing people’s emotions and inner worlds (423). The narrator’s ballad is a song of human life with its sorrows and attempts to be happy. At that, the researcher does not trace two narrators but states that the use of tenses is the narrator’s choice to create the atmosphere and show the relevance of the story to the residents of the town.
In conclusion, it is necessary to note that the reviewed articles include a deep analysis of different aspects of narrative in short stories. Some researchers focus on the techniques used by the narrator to convey the message, while some scholars identify two distinct narrators in the story under consideration. The presence of two narrators is, indeed, apparent and serves an important purpose, which is distancing and revealing the inner world of the author, characters, the narrator, as well as the reader. The framing structure of the narrative becomes an important element of the story told by two different people, which creates an atmosphere of actual presence in the city next to the witnesses or, maybe, participants of those events.
Works Cited
Gaillard, Dawson F. “The Presence of the Narrator in Carson McCullers’ “The Ballad of the Sad Café”.” The Mississippi Quarterly, vol. 25, no. 4, 1972, pp. 419-427.
McNally, John. “The Introspective Narrator in “The Ballad of the Sad Café”.” South Atlantic Bulletin, vol. 38, no. 4, 1973, pp. 40-44.
Nelles, William, and Linda Williams. “Doing Hard Time: Narrative Order in Detective Fiction.” Style, vol. 55, no. 2, 2021, pp. 190-218.
Senn, Werner. “Conrad’s Narrative Voice.” Conrad Studies, vol. 10, 2017, pp. 1-262.
Westling, Louise H. “Carson McCullers’ Amazon Nightmare.” Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 28, no. 3, 1982, pp. 465-473.