: Can I have a non-living thing with its own perspective? We typically have third person or first person narratives in literature. I have a requirement - to unveil the suspense, I want a non-living
We typically have third person or first person narratives in literature. I have a requirement - to unveil the suspense, I want a non-living thing to share its perspective in the final chapter. Is this permissible, justified and/or sensible?
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@Turnbaugh521
It sounds perverse, but of course you can!
The main problem is Asking the Question but either way, please first consider what Rudyard Kipling wrote so long ago… google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=science+fiction+of+rudyard+kipling&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
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@Nimeshi163
This is a scattershot answer because I'm a washed up literature student.
I just finished reading Ann Leckie's The Raven Tower, which is entirely narrated by a rock. The fact that a rock is narrating the story is gradually revealed, and its unusual perspective builds some anticipation.
I also recall a chapter of Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow is narrated from the perspective of Byron the Bulb, a sentient lightbulb. Actually, the novel includes many unusual perspectives such as an octopus and an escaped dog subjected to Pavlovian experiments.
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@Holmes449
There are two potential problems with having a non-living thing share its perspective in the last chapter.
The first is that you are switching your point-of-view scheme at the last moment. This is often jarring even with ordinary characters. If the entire story is told from John's point of view until the last chapter is Jack's, readers often are disoriented.
The second is ensuring that your readers are aware that the object is, indeed, non-living. If a security camera shares its point of view, the readers might think that the entire story was master-minded by AIs that have not been revealed to the readers.
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@Rivera824
Permitted by whom? The Big Book of Writing Laws was abolished in 1849. You can use any POV you feel comfortable with for any reason or none at all.
Ask yourself why you want to switch to a hitherto unseen POV. Do you have a compelling reason? As a reader, I've spent the story inside the head of a character I've either come to love or love to hate. A sudden switch at the climax to a non-character I possibly can't care about by virtue of there not being any pages left in the book might leave me cold.
Or, perhaps that's exactly what you're going for. If in the penultimate chapter the heroes decide they have to leave the zombie-infested mall and the final chapter is from the distant and emotionless view of a security camera taping the approach of a zombie horde thousands strong, that tells me the story probably doesn't have a happy ending. In which case, the POV switch is devastatingly powerful.
In short, the answer depends on both intent and your ability to convey said intent.
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