On the Advantages and Disadvantages of the Dual Narrative

Sofia Alvarado Mendoza ’18 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
First person narrative has long crowded the YA genre. However, the new favorite trend is to have a dual first person narrative, with alternating chapters between two characters. In theory, this is a clever way to tell a story by showing not only what each character knows, but also that which they don’t. However, in most cases authors do not spend the necessary time developing a strong voice for each of their narrators. Therefore, both voices melt into one leaving the reader confused as to which character is speaking.
Authors who have used this strategy successfully include Marie Lu, Lauren Oliver and Rainbow Rowell. In the Legend trilogy, Lu demonstrates how well-developed her characters are through their narrative voices. She leaves no room for the reader to confuse the strong, methodical, orderly voice of June with the lively, scrambled voice of Day. Lauren Oliver demonstrates the power behind this tool with Requiem, the final book in the Delirium trilogy. By concluding her story with voices from characters in opposite fighting sides, Oliver creates for the reader a broader and better understanding of the conflict she spent two books developing. Using this narrative allows her to step away from the good versus evil trope and create a more complex dispute that reflects the world is not just black and white. With Eleanor and Park, Rowell demonstrates the power of the dual narrative in creating a stronger emotional connection for the reader.
Many other authors have attempted and failed to use this trope. Veronica Roth, Beth Revis and Amie Kauffman and Meagan Spooner come to mind. Roth attempted to introduce this strategy in the conclusion to the Divergent series, Allegiant. Although her reasons for the change are made apparent by the novel’s shocking ending, there is not a big enough necessity in the rest of the novel to use this type of narrative. The similar thought process and language use with both characters reflects a lack of understanding of who these characters are. Revis uses the dual narrative in Across the Universe trilogy but in trying to keep the reader interested by created mystery, both characters end up not only keeping secrets from one another, but also from the reader, losing the great advantage that the dual narrative could have had in the story. Finally, These Broken Stars by co-authors Kauffman and Spooner has a similar problem to Allegiant in regards to the lack of distinction between both narrative voices. This issue becomes problematic because it reflects a lack of character development. In contrast to Lu’s Day and June, Lilac’s and Traver’s voices are practically interchangeable and easily mistaken. These characters come from completely different backgrounds and their individual voices should be a reflection of that.
Dual narratives can enrich a story in countless ways. When used correctly, they can strengthen the reader’s connection to the characters, create mystery, highlight a character’s personality traits, or add a level of complexity to a story. On the other hand, poorly developed narrative voices reflect lack of character understanding and development.  A dual narrative should be used only if it is necessary for the story. Writers should ask themselves how the use of it enriches their story. In addition, developing a narrative voice for main characters is a great strategy to identify whether characters are well developed and could work as a great writing exercise.