October 21, 2016 - 17:35
Billy Beede is not the only narrator made available throughout the journey to Willa Mae’s body. By diving into different character’s minds, Parks allows her readers to better understand the various aspects of Billy Beede as a character. By externalizing the reader’s point of view from a story based solely on Billy’s bias, Parks provides an opportunity for the reader to understand a well-rounded version of the events occurring throughout the novel. Parks specifically uses this tactic in moments that dramatize and exemplify Billy’s behavior as well as highlight the dramatic irony that occurs. While the reader understands who Billy is, the current narrator does not and it is through this unique lens that the audience is able to grasp a new aspect of Billy. However, it is also important to note that while this does provide an outsider’s perspective, it also bars the reader from understanding what Billy is thinking at the moment. The use of third party perspectives gives insight into the characterization of Billy Beede even though it is accompanied by various disadvantages.
Is Billy angry, worried, or confused? The reader can only imagine what Billy is going through when she realizes the trickery and shame that Snipes has put her through. Parks deciding to narrate this moment through the eyes of Alberta Snipes provides another angle of Billy that further enhances the reader’s knowledge. While Billy is never given an opportunity to outright state what she is feeling at the time, the reader is allowed to draw their own conclusions as they understand the slight actions Alberta notices that enhances Billy’s character. At first glance, one would expect Billy to feel hurt or saddened by the events that had unfolded before her. However, the vague description Alberta provides, as she describes how “a look comes into [Billy’s] eyes” leave the reader curious and unknowing (Parks 69). The reader then draws their own conclusion, one that has no clear answer precisely because Billy never shares her mind with the reader. Instead, the smaller details that are included in Alberta’s perspective such as the worry appearing in her voice, the bounce in her steps, the quick lighting and putting out of the flame, all highlight aspects of Billy that would have been lost otherwise. While the readers are deprived of what is going on in Billy’s eyes, they are instead given her physical reactions. These views of Billy seem to humanize her by showing that she displays human reactions such as worry, rage, and even impulse although her perspective depicts her as someone calculating and logical. Her burning of the dress is told in a much more objective fashion through Alberta’s eyes. Even though she lights the fire, “as quick as she starts it, like she done changed her mind, she stomps on the dress, putting the fire out” that provides the factual truth of the events occurring there (Parks 69). Although there are major aspects that are lost from being unable to view Billy’s mind, the outside view in these situations provides more material for the reader to use to create their own conclusions.
Third person perspectives, even when not directly connected to Billy, seek to highlight other aspects of her. The “Ring Trick” that Billy schemes with her family is played out in front of Birdie. Birdie’s narration throughout the passage describes the trick going on in front of her, and as Parks uses dramatic irony, the reader is painfully aware that both she and her husband are currently in the middle of getting scammed. Even though Billy is nowhere named in this scene, the reader is able to assume that Billy is the “gal, in a big straw hat, [who] is walking away fast down the road” (Parks 208). Birdie’s observation of the Finder and her husband making a call makes it obvious to the reader that the trick had been successfully pulled. The lack of narration from any of the members of the trick itself provides another insight into the scene. The reader views the seemingly flawless plan and understands that Billy’s planning had been successful. Had the story been from any of the perspectives of the schemers, it would have been near impossible to see throughout until the end.
When the narration is external from Billy’s mind, the reader both loses and gains various insights of her character. The stranger’s view provides a bystander’s outlook as well as the physical reactions that Billy displays. While the audience loses the thoughts that may have been going through Billy’s mind, they are instead given a perspective in which they are able to draw conclusions from and characterize Billy Beede. This well-rounded version of the novel may not provide all of the truths, but provide the truths in each person’s view.