Time, Narrative Trickery and Truth in the Early Fiction of Muriel Spark
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Abstract
Using Wayne C. Booth’s observations on modern narrative technique and, specifically, the notion of the unreliable narrator, this paper explores the strategies employed by Muriel Spark in three of her early novels, The Comforters (1957), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961) and The Abbess of Crewe (1974). The use of omniscience and the controlling aspects of time and perspective, employed in different ways, are seen as essential tools in Spark’s mission to reveal moral truth through the medium of fiction and to illustrate her specifically Catholic view of our fallen world. The paper concludes with the suggestion that, in the 21st century, a satirical vision such as Muriel Spark’s might be frustrated and cease to be effective because of the dominance of ‘fake news’, ‘alternative truth’ and downright lies.
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Sage, L. (1974). Bugging the Nunnery [Review of the book The abbess of Crewe, by M. Spark]. The Observer, 10th November, p. 33.
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_____. (1961b). The comforters. Macmillan.
_____. (1961c). The prime of miss Jean Brodie. Macmillan.
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