Sasha in Narrative Control

Abstract

The second autodiegetic¹ novel in the Rhys canon — Good Morning, Midnight — differs from its predecessor most particularly in the sense that, throughout the text, the impression is created that Sasha is in firm control of her own narrative, and that the picture which she presents of herself to the implied reader is one which has been carefully striven for. To a great extent, Sasha’s own self-irony accounts for this impression. We see it arise through a distinct bifurcation of her voice into two parts, which allows her, at times, to engage in a mental dialogue with herself. She puts this divided voice both to comic and serious use, and in the course of this chapter I shall examine it closely as it operates in each of these dimensions. But we also see her exercise great control over the emotional content of her discourse, careful always to recount the most painful episodes in her life with a detachment which actually manages to augment the sense of suffering. An analysis of the means by which she achieves this will form another substantial part of this chapter.