Equiscient Narrator

Content

• Characteristics of the equiscient narrator
• Examples of equiscient narrator

The equiscient narrator is the one who tells the story in the third person but only knows the thoughts, ideas and feelings of one of the characters in the story and the rest hardly knows what he sees or what he was told. For example: He looked at his watch and quickened his pace. Today, at least today, he couldn't be late. As his heart raced and he clutched his briefcase, he imagined his boss waiting for him at his office door, sitting on his desk, ready to reproach him for what he had done the previous afternoon.

Unlike the first-person narrator, the equiscient narrator has the ability to provide the reader with descriptions about the character, from an external point of view, and add information that the character does not know.

• See also: Narrator in first, second and third person

Characteristics of the equiscient narrator

• Your vision is limited. You only know the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of one of the characters in the story.
• Provide a multi-perspective story. It gives the reader different angles on the events that occur during the story, without questioning its credibility.
• Explain and suggest. You can only objectively explain what happens to the character you “follow”, because you only know their thoughts and feelings. Regarding the rest of the characters, you can only provide subjective suggestions, guesses and comments.
• It is the link between the character and the reader. By the way in which the character is approached, knowing his thoughts, motivations and feelings, he generates an empathic relationship between him and the reader.

• See also: Third-person narrator

Examples of equiscient narrator

1. He put on his jacket, zipped it up to his neck, took the keys, and slammed the door. The message he received was short but forceful. As he walked down the damp sidewalk from the storm that had raged hours earlier, he looked at his wrist to see the time, but realized that he was not wearing his watch. He had left it on the nightstand. He leaned out of a window and saw that it was almost ten o'clock. He raised his hand, whistled, and a taxi pulled up. Once inside, he checked to see if his wallet was on him. He gave the driver the exact address and asked him to speed up. To reassure himself, he asked the taxi driver, who occasionally looked at him in the rearview mirror, to turn up the volume on the radio a bit, and hummed until he got out of the car, three songs later.
2. It was barely six o'clock, but the sun that filtered through the curtains did not allow him to continue sleeping. She put on her robe, slipped on her slippers, and quietly, so as not to wake anyone, went down the stairs. He shut himself up in the kitchen and, while the kettle was heating the water for tea, he leaned out the window, where he saw how the dew covered his garden, highlighting even more the tones of the grass and the flowers. It was cold, but the tea helped her feel less. She knew that a difficult day awaited her but she tried not to lose heart. When the clock struck seven, he went upstairs, grabbed the clothes he had prepared the night before, and took a hot shower, like every morning. Half an hour later, she was starting her car to work, while her husband waved her off from the porch with his cup of coffee in one hand and the newspaper in the other.
3. Was sated. Tired of cleaning other people's bathrooms, ironing husbands' shirts that weren't hers, and dealing with the whims of spoiled children. Every day he could bear less having to go to those succuchos that they installed in the gardens to relieve themselves, exclusively for those with a skin color like hers. Nor did she tolerate having to travel standing on public transport because she was not worthy of a seat, nor did she tolerate her children seeing her future fenced off because the city university did not accept the mixture.
4. As the scent passed through the kitchen door, she set the table. It seemed corny to him, but he put a white candle right in the center. He dusted off the record player and put on a jazz record to play in the background. He wasn't an expert on romance, but he knew she would appreciate it. While the meat was roasting, he finalized the details of the dessert: an apple pie that was his specialty. He adjusted the cushions of the armchair, poured himself wine in a glass and leaned against the wall, looking out the window waiting for his arrival. He was nervous, like it was the first time he had a date. But she was special, she always had been. And, after years of working together, he had finally dared to ask her to dinner. Everything had to be perfect or she would never forgive him.
5. I doubt it. But he decided not to wear it. He closed the door, took the elevator, went down the fourteen floors and greeted the security guard while adjusting his hat. He had barely been two of the 23 blocks that separated him from work when it started to rain. First they were thin drops, barely noticeable. But as he quickened his pace, the drops became more frequent and thicker. He arrived at the office as if a bucket of water had been thrown on him, just before entering. I would never go out without that blessed black umbrella, no matter how bright the sun was announced on the radio for the day.

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