Question

In Rashomon (1950), each character tells the same story from his or her limited perspective, restricted to his or her own information, prejudices, and motivations. What kind of narration is this?

a. direct address
b. restricted
c. omniscient"

Answer 1

Rashomon employs third-person limited narration, where the story is told from the restricted viewpoints of individual characters, as opposed to an omniscient, all-knowing perspective. This type of narration allows the audience to see through the eyes of each character, often providing a biased view of events.

Step-by-step explanation:

In Rashomon (1950), each character recounts the same event from their own unique perspective, which includes their personal information, biases, and motives. This sort of storytelling employs a third-person limited narration, where the narrative is delivered by a storyteller outside the story who uses third-person pronouns such as 'he', 'she', and 'they', without referring to themselves using 'I', 'you', or 'we'.

Unlike an omniscient narrator, who knows everything about all characters and can see into their thoughts and motivations, a third-person limited narrator conveys the story from one or several characters' viewpoints, with a restricted view confined to what those characters know and perceive.

The narration in Rashomon is thus not omniscient but restricted, as each viewpoint offers only a piece of the overall puzzle, heavily influenced by individual subjectivities. This stands in contrast to the all-encompassing perspective an omniscient narrator would provide.