Chapter 6. Discourse presentation and point of view in “Cheating at Canasta” by William Trevor
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Mick Short
Abstract
This chapter examines the closing section of William Trevor’s short story, “Cheating at Canasta” (2007). Focussing on shifts in narrative viewpoint in the passage, the chapter teases out the complex transitions in viewpoint features, showing how Mallory, the story’s focaliser, engages in changing perceptions of, and reactions to, his immediate environment. Viewpoint transitions at the level of narrative style, it is argued, engender parallel shifts in the character’s changing cognitive purview, including memory, response and flashback as well as his internal assumptions and hypotheses. The author shows how a subtle understanding of the passage (and indeed the story as a whole) can enable an appreciation of the quality of the writing, concluding that stylistic analyses help to show not just how we understand literary texts but also why and how we appreciate them.
Abstract
This chapter examines the closing section of William Trevor’s short story, “Cheating at Canasta” (2007). Focussing on shifts in narrative viewpoint in the passage, the chapter teases out the complex transitions in viewpoint features, showing how Mallory, the story’s focaliser, engages in changing perceptions of, and reactions to, his immediate environment. Viewpoint transitions at the level of narrative style, it is argued, engender parallel shifts in the character’s changing cognitive purview, including memory, response and flashback as well as his internal assumptions and hypotheses. The author shows how a subtle understanding of the passage (and indeed the story as a whole) can enable an appreciation of the quality of the writing, concluding that stylistic analyses help to show not just how we understand literary texts but also why and how we appreciate them.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
- An indicative list of publications by Walter Nash 9
- Chapter 1. “Warmth of thought” in Walter Nash’s prose and verse 11
- Chapter 2. Chrysanthemums for Bill 37
- Chapter 3. The doubling of design in Walter Nash’s Rhetoric 57
- Chapter 4. Riddling: The dominant rhetorical device in W. H. Auden’s “The Wanderer” 77
- Chapter 5. “My Shakespeare, rise” 85
- Chapter 6. Discourse presentation and point of view in “Cheating at Canasta” by William Trevor 101
- Chapter 7. Doing and teaching 113
- Chapter 8. Fact, fiction and French flights of fancy 127
- Chapter 9. Common Language 149
- Chapter 10. “Americans don’t do Irony” 171
-
POEM
- Defunct Address 193
- Name index 195
- Subject index 199
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
- An indicative list of publications by Walter Nash 9
- Chapter 1. “Warmth of thought” in Walter Nash’s prose and verse 11
- Chapter 2. Chrysanthemums for Bill 37
- Chapter 3. The doubling of design in Walter Nash’s Rhetoric 57
- Chapter 4. Riddling: The dominant rhetorical device in W. H. Auden’s “The Wanderer” 77
- Chapter 5. “My Shakespeare, rise” 85
- Chapter 6. Discourse presentation and point of view in “Cheating at Canasta” by William Trevor 101
- Chapter 7. Doing and teaching 113
- Chapter 8. Fact, fiction and French flights of fancy 127
- Chapter 9. Common Language 149
- Chapter 10. “Americans don’t do Irony” 171
-
POEM
- Defunct Address 193
- Name index 195
- Subject index 199
