Book Anatomy · Daddy Long Legs
Daddy Long Legs: Viewpoint and narration
14 lenses on viewpoint and narration for Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 E10 E11 E12 E13 E14
E1. Person and tense: first or third, past or present. Count
First person, mixed tense. In the narration, past forms come 664 times and present forms 668 times.
E2. Whose viewpoint is each chapter? Both
first person. See the full lens on the book page.
E3. Share of the book told by each viewpoint character. Both
The entire book is told from Judy Abbott's viewpoint. She is the sole narrator, sharing her perspective through letters and reflections across all thirteen chapters.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6
E4. Narrative distance: close inside a head, or far off? AI
Narrative distance is very close and intimate. Judy writes directly to her benefactor and the reader, sharing immediate thoughts, feelings and reactions. The voice is conversational and personal throughout.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6
So I've decided to call you Dear Daddy-Long-Legs. I hope you won't mind. It's just a private pet name we won't tell Mrs. Lippett. (Ch 1, para 60)
I'm still 'Jerusha' in the catalogue, but I'm 'Judy' everywhere else. (Ch 2, para 26)
Would you be terribly displeased, Daddy, if I didn't turn out to be a Great Author after all, but just a Plain Girl? (Ch 5, para 64)
E5. Strict viewpoint or head hopping? AI
The book maintains strict viewpoint from Judy's perspective. The reader only knows what Judy knows and learns the mystery of Daddy-Long-Legs's identity when she does, in chapter 13.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6
Then you laughed and held out your hand and said, 'Dear little Judy, couldn't you guess that I was Daddy-Long-Legs? (Ch 13, para 5)
E6. Is the narrator reliable? Where are the cracks? AI
Judy is largely reliable but her self-awareness grows across the book. She misreads her own feelings about Master Jervie until late in the story. Her invented family history in chapter 5 shows her capable of self-deception.
Chapters: Ch 5, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 12
Would you be terribly displeased, Daddy, if I didn't turn out to be a Great Author after all, but just a Plain Girl? (Ch 5, para 64)
It's different with me than with other girls. They can take things naturally from people. They have fathers and brothers and aunts and uncles; but I can't be on any such relations with any one. (Ch 6, para 66)
E7. Frames and tales within tales. AI
The book contains no frames or tales within tales. It is a straightforward epistolary narrative told through Judy's letters and reflections without nested stories.
E8. Narrator asides and addresses to the reader. Both
12 paragraphs where the narrator seems to speak to the reader or about the telling. (rough estimate from word lists)
Ch 3, para 27: Let me see if I can't think of something else pleasant-- Oh, yes! I'm learning to skate, and can glide about quite respectably all by myself. Also I've …
Ch 3, para 56: Please forget about that dreadful letter I sent you last week--I was feeling terribly lonely and miserable and sore-throaty the night I wrote. I didn't know it, but …
Ch 4, para 10: DEAR SIR: I am in receipt of a letter from Mrs. Lippett. She hopes that I am doing well in deportment and studies. Since I probably have no …
Ch 4, para 31: I started to tell you about the campus. I wish you'd come for a little visit and let me walk you about and say:
Ch 4, para 47: I wish you'd come and have tea some day and let me see if I like you. But wouldn't it be dreadful if I didn't? However, I know …
Ch 4, para 88: PS. (2) If you are thinking of raising chickens, let me recommend Buff Orpingtons. They haven't any pin feathers.
Judy frequently addresses her benefactor directly and speaks to the reader through asides. She comments on her own writing, asks rhetorical questions and reflects on her narrative choices throughout.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6
So I've decided to call you Dear Daddy-Long-Legs. I hope you won't mind. It's just a private pet name we won't tell Mrs. Lippett. (Ch 1, para 60)
Given a tall rich man who hates girls, but is very generous to one quite impertinent girl, what does he look like? (Ch 2, para 66)
PS. On reading this over, I find that it isn't all Stevenson. There are one or two glancing references to Master Jervie. (Ch 8, para 42)
E9. Documents used: letters, diaries, reports, by type and sender. Both
How often each kind of document is named in the narration. (rough estimate from word lists)
| Document | Mentions |
|---|---|
| letter | 67 |
| will | 55 |
| note | 7 |
| report | 2 |
| manuscript | 1 |
| journal | 1 |
| newspaper | 1 |
The book is primarily composed of Judy's monthly letters to Daddy-Long-Legs. She also receives letters from him and from Master Jervie. Letters are the main document type and primary narrative vehicle.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6
On the strength of that impertinent paper, he has offered to send you to college. (Ch 1, para 35)
So I've decided to call you Dear Daddy-Long-Legs. I hope you won't mind. It's just a private pet name we won't tell Mrs. Lippett. (Ch 1, para 60)
There are two others! I have been receiving beautiful long letters this winter from Master Jervie (with typewritten envelopes so Julia won't recognize the writing). (Ch 10, para 10)
E10. What the narrator hides, and where the reader knows more than the lead. AI
The reader knows Daddy-Long-Legs's identity only when Judy discovers it in chapter 13. Judy hides her true feelings about Master Jervie from herself until late in the story, so the reader shares her confusion.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6
Then you laughed and held out your hand and said, 'Dear little Judy, couldn't you guess that I was Daddy-Long-Legs? (Ch 13, para 5)
E11. Free indirect style: where the narrator slips into a character's voice. AI
The book uses free indirect style sparingly. Judy's voice dominates, but occasional shifts show her adopting literary or philosophical tones when discussing books and ideas.
Chapters: Ch 3, Ch 6, Ch 8, Ch 11
Emily Bronte was quite young when she wrote it, and had never been outside of Haworth churchyard. She had never known any men in her life; how COULD she imagine a man like Heathcliffe? (Ch 3, para 77)
I sat up half of last night reading Jane Eyre. Are you old enough, Daddy, to remember sixty years ago? And, if so, did people talk that way? (Ch 6, para 79)
The world is so full of a number of things, I am sure we should all be as happy as kings. (Ch 8, para 22)
E12. How thought is shown: tagged, italic or blended. Count
Thought is mostly shown with tags like thought, wondered, reflected.
| Tag | Times |
|---|---|
| thought | 21 |
| wondered | 1 |
| reflected | 1 |
| said to himself | 0 |
| said to herself | 0 |
| asked himself | 0 |
| asked herself | 0 |
| told himself | 0 |
E13. What triggers each change of viewpoint? AI
There are no viewpoint changes. Judy is the sole narrator throughout all thirteen chapters. The narrative perspective remains consistent from beginning to end.
E14. Hindsight: where an older narrator comments on events. AI
Judy occasionally reflects on past events with hindsight, particularly in chapter 7 where she comments on her orphanage years. The final chapter includes brief hindsight as she recognises the truth about her benefactor.
Chapters: Ch 7, Ch 13
Our lives were absolutely monotonous and uneventful. Nothing nice ever happened, except ice-cream on Sundays, and even that was regular. (Ch 7, para 1)
Duty was the one quality that was encouraged. I don't think children ought to know the meaning of the word; it's odious, detestable. (Ch 7, para 3)
Then you laughed and held out your hand and said, 'Dear little Judy, couldn't you guess that I was Daddy-Long-Legs? (Ch 13, para 5)
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