The narrative technique used in "The Mill on the Floss" could be described as the "omniscient narrator" method. This means that the narrator knows absolutely everything about the characters' thoughts, motives, eventual fate and so on; even if he or she does not reveal everything to the reader, we are in no doubt that s/he knows. This type of narrator has a rather godlike perspective on the action, and in fact one name for this method is the "eye of God" technique.
Eliot allows the reader to see the narrator and author as one, as if the story were an account of real events which she has witnessed. This method is very different from the "unreliable narrator" method, where the narrator is usually a character involved in the action, who has a limited and often biased view of events. Nelly Dean in "Wuthering Heights" is a good example of this type of narrator.
Eliot allows the reader to see the narrator and author as one, as if the story were an account of real events which she has witnessed. This method is very different from the "unreliable narrator" method, where the narrator is usually a character involved in the action, who has a limited and often biased view of events. Nelly Dean in "Wuthering Heights" is a good example of this type of narrator.