The Plot of the Television
The plot television, fictional prose, provides vibrant imagery about the narrator's view of the television and what it reveals. By holding the subject familiar, the author has been good at representing the interior of the narrator's mind. The novel, written in the style of personal criticism, sketches an overview of the average person's pattern in culture, in which they waste their time watching television and becoming emotionally addicted to it.
The Narrator's Character Traits
The story's narrator is a female character. She seems to be possessed by TV viewing, with her entire life revolved around it. Her love for television is evidently being the platform where she gets the essential information and passes the time. From her narration, there are several character traits that can be used in describing woman that are inclusive of the following: being fun loving, observant, patient, human, attentive, judgmental, careful, as well as hardworking. Her narration could create a better image of television into the mind of the reader than it actually is: "more real than my own life" (p.87). The writing has a universal appeal, which is evident from the fact that the story has been written in 1989 but yet it does not seem obsolete in the modern society.
The Narrator's Fun Loving Nature
On her characterization process, the author tried to present the narrator as a lighthearted, lively, full of fun, and highly conscious individual. Her dedication to spending time in watching television is the indication of the same. Despite having a lot to do, the narrator spends her evenings having fun through watching television with her family. The article states that the woman stays on the television till late hours. She says that the story is made more interesting by the silence of the night. The character understands all the TV programs which demonstrates that she enjoys having fun through watching that makes her stay out at night. The narrator does not seem to be fascinated by just staying idle or going early to sleep, but she is happy when passing the time through TV watching. It seems to be a good platform for her to relax as she states that her day being tiring turns to be strange, and then turns into a movie. Hence, the screen is a platform for the narrator to have fun and relax from the day’s tiresomeness.
The Narrator's Emotional Connection to Television
The characterization is good at making the emotion of the narrator catch the reader's eye. The character is always consumed by the occurrence of events on the screens. For example, she demonstrates how her heart beats in the investigative report or other sad aired program. Given a person is not directly involved in the investigation, but the event affects her emotions by creating fear. Secondly, her smiling nature while watching the television is an indication that the TV sessions create happiness. Finally, being attracted to the male character is a sign that the teller is human and is affected emotionally by the program. Finally, the boredom that comes as a result of many advertisements and the buying is an indication of emotional effect. The narrator tries to buy as much as she can to promote the advertisers despite questioning the products. This is to show that the advertisement affects the consumption behavior due to their effect on the emotions. Hence, it is evident that the woman is emotional through the demonstration of happiness, boredom, fear, and interest. The emotion effects keep her stuck to the television programs, and it is what colors the story.
The Narrator's Patience
A patience full personality appears before the reader's mind as the narration progresses. The narrator demonstrates her patience through fun having moments. For example, she talks about many ads on the televisions. Despite being bored, the character does not switch off the TV. She lets them pass while waiting for her favorite program. Hence, the person patiently waits for her favorite TV show which she watches to the end. Secondly, the narrator describes certain movies or programs that fascinate her no matter how long they may last, she is stuck to them patiently till they come to an end. Finally, the character states that she watches her favorite programs till late nights despite the darkness and the cold. Hence, the narrator handles her fun with a lot of calmness, withstands the cold, boredom, time, and the late-night fear to ensure her favorite programs do not pass her.
The Narrator's Careful Nature
The characterization of the narrator as a careful personality is a highlight of the story. The narrator may be said to take a lot of caution in her personal life and while watching television. For example, the woman says that there is a lot of advertisement on some goods that they are pressured to buying. The narrator states that she does not buy all of them which may be attributed to the financial constraints. The choice may be attributed to the lack of confidence in the product as well. Secondly, the narrator makes choices on what she watches based on each member of the family's preference. He chooses what is fascinating, clean, and accommodative to those watching. The teller keeps switching on the TV to ensure her choice is wise and it will be accommodative to all the audiences. Hence, the character takes caution and it is evident that she is careful on her purchase and watching.
The Narrator's Attentive and Judgmental Nature
The author tried to make her character lively through making her attentive, judgmental, informative, hardworking, and observant. The tiny details on the screen cannot escape the attentive and observant eyes of the narrator. She is judgmental to each event that she watches on the TV. Her love for watching TV cannot let her take rest or do her own jobs timely. That is to say that the narrator is very attentive to the point of forgetting the daily activities. Also, the attentiveness creates emotions, which lead to the audience's smiles, fear, and following all the happenings in the programs. The character can narrate every program being watched without fail which can be attributed to her ability to follow attentively. Hence, she is very attentive which represents her ability to narrate the programs effectively, generate emotions, and make her spend a lot of time on the TV. Her urge to remain informative makes her watch TV even more. She is aware of which programs should be watched and which channel sponsors it. Her sense of judgment can be seen from her conception about her husband and mother as well as from her analysis of different programs on the TV. The hardworking mentality helps her in watching TV despite being tired from daily chores.
The Author's Success in Characterization
From the above discussions, it is evident that the author is successful in the characterization of her protagonist without putting much detail about her in writing. The short story creates appeal in the mind of the reader through the inclusion of indirect hints and transition of cohesive thought. The story includes many facets of an average person's life through the window of a TV. The pervasive and invasive control of TV and its involvement with the daily life of a person could not be depicted more interestingly in simple words as the author did through the characterization of her main subject. At the beginning of the story, the narrator seems to talk about the general aspects of things but as we come to an end more depth of the topic has been explored. There is a lot of development that can be noticed through the work. For example, the attentiveness to the programs, her watching and development of other traits which could not be seen at the beginning. Hence, there are plenty of character traits attributable to the actor which can be noticed from narration. They are inclusive of attentiveness, being careful, observant, judgmental, informed, patient, emotional, and fun-loving. The author is successful in her objective of developing an imagery of an average person's daily routine through mere TV watching, and she did it in the most interesting way possible.
