In the novel Beloved narration helps to develop and move the plot of the story forward. In the case of the narrator in this novel he or she is an omniscient narrator. This helps get insight into the minds of the characters we get to learn about them individually from an outside source thereby there is really no bias about the characters when it comes to each other. However there are times in the book when the narrator becomes one of the characters, thereby changing it from omniscient to a first person narrator. This in turn leads us to understand the complexity’s of each character because when they have a turn we can really see the type of person they are and understand their biases as it pertains to the other characters. This is because from the point of view of the omniscient narrator we get a general idea and see into their mind but here we get into the nitty-gritty parts of them. This leads our understanding of the characters to become more rounded.

Also narration plays a role in the development of the mood and general feeling of the piece. At times when it gets dark being able to read the story from the point of view of someone looking in helps us to understand and really feel what is going on. For example when we learn about the dog and it being hit over the head with a hammer that is really dark but looking in we get the context about why it was done whereas if it was first person we would see it from their point of view and that would change our understanding of the event.  Another way that narration helps the story is that in this context with the depth of detail we get we are drawn into the world. It makes us feel like we are part of the world and are witnessing everything first hand it makes it seem as if we are almost the narrator viewing this through a telescope.