Narrators Wide Sargasso Sea
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There are many techniques Jean Rhys uses to bring across the point that the narrators are unreliable and the truth twisted, it is an interesting and effective idea as it makes the reader feel confused on who to trust and really involves them in the book, and they become party to the secrets. It is very confusing for the reader, since during reading the narrators of the story change very suddenly; there are three different books in WSS each with a different narrator. Book one is the main section, it is from the viewpoint of Antoinette and is very important as it is from her childhood, set in mid 1830s. It begins the novel and therefore our most influential truth. It makes us have sympathy for Antoinette as we get to know her, she had a dreadful childhood and we feel a fondness for her as we understand the way she acts. Book 1 was very entertaining; and the story was told from the viewpoint of a child and children have no reason to lie to the reader. However this part ends very suddenly and as the book continues the reader gets confused about who the narrator is and they are forced to read on to try and solve the missing end of the last part.
In Book two the reader feels emotionally distant from Rochester since he has no name unnamed, we learn about the failure of their marriage from his viewpoint, he considers himself a victim of the patriarchal system, needing to find a fortune so pressured into marriage with Antoinette. He feels un-easy about the country and Antoinette, is at home, which seems to irritate or bother him. He lets his fears overcome his reason since he believes the rumors about Antoinette being mad, because of this the reader can see the huge change in attitude towards Antoinette. This account gives the reader another point of view from which the story is being told.
Book three is set in England and it is in the mind of Grace Poole- a character from the Bronte novel, and partly in the mind of Antoinette. It is easy for us to trust her as she is a very minor character and not so involved and less clued up, so not going to be biased. However we get very confused in this part as we do not know to what extent Antoinette is mad. It concludes with her about to start the fire- now at last I know why I was brought here and what I have to do
Many events in WSS make you feel confused as a reader as you don’t know which narrative to trust; during the events they have different opinions and sides of the story. One of these events is —Daniel Cosway’s letter to Mr.Rochester.
The letter creates a huge turning point in the novel, as before it is received Antoinette and Rochester are falling in love and are beginning to trust each other, Antoinette is confiding more in Rochester. However the letter talks a lot about Antoinette, stating her family’s madness is hereditary and she �slept around.’ Rochester who doesn’t know what to believe is swayed by this letter causing Rochester to be mistrustful of Antoinette; he doesn’t tell Antoinette about the letter to begin with; this is what makes Antoinette worried. She feels he’s changed and is fearful of losing her husband, so she approaches Christophine for help, she advises her to leave Rochester. Antoinette orders a love potion off Christophine and Christophine reluctantly gives in. When Rochester meets Daniel he realizes his mistake as Daniel is only doing it for the money, he appears untrustworthy, nevertheless Rochester has nothing else to believe about Antoinette’s past and so still has faith in Daniels words. Antoinette gives Rochester the potion and hopes for a turnaround in their marriage, however only the next day Rochester sleeps with their maid, Amilee, when Antoinette