Novel

Introduction



Definition of a novel 

A lengthy fictional narrative in prose dealing with
characters
 incidents
and
settings
that imitate those found in real life

 

Usually
the novel is concerned with the depiction of
middle class and working class characters
engaged in ordinary pursuits.

 

Novels
 vary in type
form and subject matter
so much that it is difficult to put the novel into a neat classification.

 

 Elements of the novel
 
Setting
Plot
Character and Characterization
Methods of Characterization
Theme/s
Point of View 

 

Setting

"The general locale, time in history or social milieu, where the action of a work of literature takes place. When the setting is used as a dominant influence on the lives of characters it is said to give local colour to the narrative. Local colour or regionalism can be noticed in the manners and customs of the characters as well as in creating a unique and picturesque background.”  


Plot

"The careful arrangement by an author of incident in a narrative to achieve a desired effect. Plot is more than simply the series of happenings in a literary work. It is the result of the writer's deliberate selecting of interrelated actions (what happens) and choice of arrangements (the order of happening) in presenting and resolving a conflict" 

  

Character and Characterization

 A person in a literary work is like a person in real life, a literary character's personal qualities and actions are limited by his/her function in the story whether the character seems designed to fit the plot or the plot is derived from the character




Character


At the center of the plot is the hero, or protagonist. The hero is usually an admirable figure. An exception is the anti-hero, an inept (having or showing no skill; clumsy). or otherwise ridiculous character, who is presented sympathetically, The plot follows what happens to the hero and is determined by the hero's character in conflict with the antihero who is usually less admirable than the hero.


Characterization


 "The method by which an author creates the appearance and personality of imaginary persons and reveal their characters. Characterization is the ability to bring the people of his/her imagination to life for the reader. It is judged one of the most important attributes of a writer of fiction. Successful characterization is also crucial to the development of a narrative, since the events that move the story forward are strongly influenced by the natures of the persons involved.


Methods of Characterization 
 
There is direct description of physical appearance and explanation of character traits and attributes. This description may occur either in an introduction or in statement distributed throughout the work. The author tells the reader what sort of person the character is. This method is also known as ' telling' .

In the presentation of character in action the author refrains from describing or commenting on the character. Instead he/she shows the character in action; what he does, how she/he reacts to others. The author even shows how others react to the character. Thus in this method of characterization, the author allows the reader to make judgments about the character. 

 

Representation of the character's inner self
the author explains the thoughts and emotions in the character by external events.

 

 Theme/s
 
The main idea or ideas that the writer expresses.


 Theme can also be defined as
the underlying meaning of the story.


The theme of a novel is more than its subject matter because an author’s techniques can play as strong a role in developing a theme as the actions of the characters.

A novel’s theme cannot be interpreted in a specific narrow meaning because of its length and the range of characters it uncovers and the large number of conflicts and scenes it foregrounds, there can be a variety of interpretations of the main idea.


In short the theme is
the statement that the novel seems to be making about its subject matter


  Point of View
 
“The vantage point from which a narrative it told” (The Bedford Glossary of critical and literary terms). A narrative is typically told from a first person point of view or a third person’s point of view.


Vantage
a place or position affording a good view of something

 

 

First person point of view

In the first person point of view, the author tells the events through a character who refers to himself as 

‘I’

 Such a narrator generally plays a major role in the action. 
 
The events are recounted as he/she experiences them or remembers them or reflects about them. Sometimes a first person narration can have multiple narrators, each of whom recounts his/ her own story. 


Third person narratives


Third person narratives are of two types
 omniscient  (all-knowing)
and
limited

 

Omniscient point of view
 
The omniscient narrator, adopts the point of view of an all knowing narrator who is able to recount the action thoroughly and reliably as well as to enter the mind of the character in the work at any time in order to reveal his or her thoughts feelings and beliefs directly to the reader. 

 

Limited point of view

 
In the limited point of view, the story is revealed through the eyes of a single character. The reader has access to the inner thoughts and feelings of only one character and receives the story as that character understands and experiences it, although not in the character’s own voice. Such a narrator is generally an observer of the action or a participant in it. 



Second person point of view

 This is very rare. There the narrator would address a

‘you.’



Bringing Tony Home
By
Tissa Abeysekara


A Brief overview of the author

Tissa Abeysekara the writer and the narrator of this novel was born on 7 May 1939 in Maharagama and grew up in his ancestral house, Greenlands in Havelock Town.

 later becomes a well-known writer and a filmmaker and died on 18 April 2009.

 He was also a well-known actor, writer, director, screen playwright and political activist in Sri Lanka.

He began his career as a short-story writer, writing in Sinhala,

He is better known as a script writer for the cinema as well as a film director 



The novel

 

Bringing Tony Home is an award-winning novel written by

Tissa Abeysekara.

It could be rather introduced as an eponymous novella

since it is named after his pet dog Tony who is the central character in the story

 In 1996, the book Bringing Tony Home won the prestigious Gratiaen Prize for the new creative writing in English

 

 

Eponymous

Giving their name to something

 In literary contexts, “eponymous” is often used to describe works that have been named after their protagonist

 


‘Bringing Tony Home’ is an intimate

Sri Lankan novel

 One of the first things that you might notice about this novel is its

 visually charged nature

 

Like a movie, the moments in the novel

evoke powerful visuals


images of a bygone era

 images of nature

And

 images of colourful people

This might not be a surprise to you, considering the fact that the author is a well-known film director in Sri Lanka.










Sources:
Internet
Teacher manual
Grade11 study pack 

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