Tug of Voice: Author Versus Narrator in Okri’s The Famished Road

Abstract

The uniqueness of any writer’s product is contingent upon the effective manoeuvering of relevant fictional methods to realise certain narrative objectives. This study aims at examining the point of view as a fictional method or technique available to Okri in The Famished Road. This is in order to demonstrate the extent to which he has applied it to discover meaning, effect or his vision of society. Therefore, the concept of narrative point of view, as well as, the issues of who tells the tale in the novel – the author or the narrator? – shall be considered. Also of importance in the study is the implication of Okri’s point of view (the oscillation between the voice of the author and that of Azaro, the narrator) in this novel both as the manner through which matter is revealed, and also, as the weak link in the chain as regards his narrative technique.