Characterization & Point of View

What is the point-of-view and what effect does it have on the story?

At this point in the book, Jughead got a job at the local drive-in, The Twilight, where he cleans

up after the movies and helps the owner with whatever he needs. One night, he was picking up

trash after the last movie when he saw the owner and a Serpent (a member of the Southside

Serpent gang) sitting in the corner talking. The Serpent went up to Jughead after their “meeting”

and started talking to him about his dad, who used to be the leader of the Serpents, but

supposedly stepped down after Jughead’s mom left him. The Serpent proceded to tell Jughead

that his dad did not really back down because the Serpents were all he has anymore. The Serpent

continued to state that when Jughead thought his dad was working at Andrews construction site

all day and night, he was really at the Whyte Wyrm (a bar that the Serpents had overtaken). I

believe that by the author using the third person omniscient point of view, the story becomes

more interesting and allows some readers to more easily relate and connect to the story and its

characters. This is evident when Jugheads thoughts are portrayed here, “Was he not working the

construction site, then? I mean, Archie and I were old enough now that we were aware of our

father’s conflicted history. But even if Dad and Mr. Andrews weren’t partners anymore, my

father still had a job… didn’t he? I wanted it to be true. I so badly wanted it to be true. But then,

there was ​every single thing I already knew about my father​ staring me in the face like exhibits

A, B, C- hell, the whole freaking alphabet.” (Ostow 125) While knowing Jughead’s thoughts, it

makes the story more interesting because it allows the author to give the reader more

characterization by showing how the character thinks and feels rather than just explicitly saying

it. In this specific example, using the third person omniscient point of view allows some readers
to connect with Jughead because they might have also had conflicting views about a person and

not known what to think or believe. Overall, I believe that using the third person omniscient

point of view really benefits the reader in being about to connect with the characters in the book.

It also benefits the reader and the author by allowing the author to make the book more

interesting by the author being able to deeply characterize the people in the story.