ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on narratology, a particular theory of narrative, and looks at such matters as narration, focalisation, the manipulation of time and the concept of character. Narratology has come under fire in recent years for a view of narrative which is too stripped of context. It is certainly true that narratology is somewhat reductive. Narration determines the degree of involvement and ideological investment of the narrator: the distance or nearness to the material, and the degree of empathy and control. The following sections outline some of the considerations which go into setting up the narration, and rewrite the same passage demonstrating different aspects of narrative technique. The obvious choices for the homodiegetic narrator would be Sophie or one of the board members, because they are the people who are privy to the relevant information.
