In Susanna Rowson's novel Charlotte Temple, the main character dies; this spoiler is given immediately at the beginning of the book, leaving no doubt that Charlotte Temple will continue to live a happy life. With a (rather horrific) death undoubtedly present in the story, the potential for post-life encounters arises... especially those with ghosts. Who recounts the tragic events that led to Charlotte's death? With a story full of detail, emotion, tone and insight, we readers can logically believe that the mysterious narrator is none other than the ghost of Charlotte Temple. Charlotte's ghost cannot rest in peace in the afterlife because her mortal life was robbed by stupid mistakes. Therefore, the only way to deal with entrapment in this realm is to ensure that other mortals do not endure the tragedy that has befallen Charlotte Temple. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay On numerous occasions in the novel, the narrator addresses the reader directly. The narrative moves from story, to backstory, to reader, back to story, creating an elaborate, colloquial recollection of events: “Now, my dear sober matron…” (Rowson, 28), “Oh my dear girls… .” (29), “Look, my dear friends…” (34). All these cases demonstrate the narrator's purposeful communication. Moving away from the temporal sequence of events, we can assume that the narrator already knows what happens and has the freedom to add further information as he wishes. Furthermore, because the narrator shows the power to speak personally to the reader, readers have the opportunity to get to know the narrator in turn. In the “telling” nature of the narrative, the narrator includes his disposition in the towards men. In introducing the budding romantic relationship between Charlotte and Montraville, the narrator adds brief fragments that suggest cynical feelings towards male characters: "In affairs of love, a young heart is never more in danger than when tempted by a handsome young soldier" (28 ). This phrase, saturated with sarcasm, drips with cynical tones that only a person with little love experience can possess. To be more direct, the narrator concludes this chapter with direct instructions on relationships with men: “… rest assured, the days of romance are now gone; no woman can escape against her inclination: then kneel down every morning, and ask the benevolent heaven to keep you free from temptation, or, if it pleases you to suffer yourself to be tried, pray for strength of mind to resist the impulse of inclination when it goes against the perceptions of religion and virtue" (29). This final sentence of the chapter almost implores the girls to stay away from the temptations of young love and hold fast to the virtues they have been taught. This desperate expression of education points towards a narrator who has experienced the disadvantages of leaving virtue for love and only wishes to prevent other girls from falling to the same fate. The omniscient presence of the narrator is a perspective not easily attributed to one person. This narrator is always present and has the power to know what other characters think, but he is never exactly in agreement with their perspectives. It is the presence of someone who already knows what will happen and is in the room with a given character but not the character himself. This familiarity establishes already formed opinions about the characters, tones of agitation, intimacy, sarcasm and other emotions. These qualities are portrayed throughout the narrative style. For example, when he meets Mademoiselle La Rue, the narrator immediately tells thereader what kind of person he is: "But Mademoiselle possessed too much spirit of intrigue to remain long without adventure" (27). This indication of character shows him to be someone who already knew La Rue and guides the reader with the personal knowledge that the narrator possesses. Because in this depiction of Charlotte Temple with Charlotte's ghost summarizing the story, you can see in the language relating to Charlotte's character that a very personal touch is given. To reach this stage of post-mortem status, Charlotte died during childbirth: “…a sudden ray of joy passed over her languid features, she raised her eyes to heaven –– and then closed them forever” (116). Before could such a peaceful end occur, after the birth of the child Charlotte suffered immensely from hysteria and general disorientation as she withered physically Such a traumatic end certainly allows for the opportunity to haunt, as suggested by Arthur Redding in his book Haints Redding discusses of the disturbing culture exhibited in several examples of American literature and of the fertile ground of haunting that arises from trauma “Traumatic experience introduces a radical and disabling aporia into the conventional narrative mechanism through which human beings construct a coherent understanding of the world. and our place within it” (Redding, 4). The purpose of this ghost goes far beyond adding a paranormal experience or telling a story through an abstract perspective. “The revenant – a ghost who returns to the scene of the crime – often serves as a stand-in for a violence that cannot be overcome, and perhaps not even named” (4). Charlotte's ghost serves as a means of recounting the events that happened to her personally and that now haunt her tremendously. This trauma that Redding talks about is related to Rowson's authorship in writing Charlotte Temple. In his book, Redding describes how ghosts emerge in literature as ways of dealing with the unknown. “Ghosts have a way of saying what cannot be said; personifies and expresses those peoples, events or aspects of their past that have been violently disappeared or repressed” (4). Starting from this understanding, it is essential to remember the traumas that Rowson experienced in his life. As a bystander during the Revolutionary War, the violent events affected her very personally. “At the beginning of the Revolutionary War Lieutenant Haswell remained stubbornly loyal to England and was placed under house arrest. He was later moved with his family to Hingham, his property was confiscated, and they lived on the charity of the town” (History of American Women Online). This event in Rowson's life creates profound psychological and sociological trauma which, as Redding states, can in turn be projected into works in the form of haunted entities. To better understand the reasoning behind a ghost narrator, we must consider other aspects impacting Rowson's portrayal that are critical to reaching this conclusion. Rowson's experience as a successful actress inherently suggests the added dramatic edge. This background gives space for readers to not be surprised by the dramatic addition of a ghost narrator. Along with drama, which follows the Romantic period in literature, the concept of ghosts is not seen as whimsical but rather as a gothic addition to the story. Remembering that the Romantic period thrived on its amoral themes, exploiting the dead as ghosts teaching lessons would not be seen as wrong or immoral. As important as it is to consider the authorial mentality behind narration, it is equally important to remember what the general conception of narration is. In Peter's academic bookLang, Disputable Core Concepts of Narrative Theory, author Sten Wistrand writes about narrative theory in his “Time for Departure? The minimum starting principle: a critical examination. In this article, the overall study of narrative is encapsulated: “Someone tells someone else on some occasion and for some purpose that something happened” (Wistrand, 15). This simple description of the use of narration refers to the purpose of Charlotte's ghost in narration. The "someone" in this situation is the ghost of Charlotte who speaks to the girls with the aim of preventing a horrible fate. Wistrand goes on to describe the limitations and advantages of narration in stories. “But compared to the real world, the imaginary world can be considered “incomplete” since it would be impossible for the author of a novel to mention and describe everything that could belong to this implicit world” (15). Understanding Wistrand's statement implies that narrative in fiction is somewhat rudimentary or incomplete. It cannot be that an author can dump every detail he creates in a made-up story on the shoulders of the narrator to include him in the course of the story. By having a ghost narrator, the author here creates an elaborate and personal layer. The order of events goes from the plot occurred to the plot revised with first-hand experience adding personal touches. Charlotte's ghost acting as narrator functions as Rowson's agent in giving more room for errors in authorship by denying the tiny details that could not be adequately included in the story. Part of the "fault" goes to the ghost narrative as an imperfect narrator with some prejudices due to the haunted nature. If a mortal narrator were to take on the responsibility of telling the story, he would have the burden of being responsible for what the reader relates to and how the reader assimilates that information. This explanation of general narrative functions covers the purposes of narrative in any fictional story. There are, however, narrative functions that serve the purpose of ghost stories. These specific functions are explained in Tommi Auvinen's academic journal “The Ghost Leader: An Empirical Study on Narrative Leadership”. In this diary, Auvien creates the specific qualities demonstrated with narratives involving a non-present narrator. He includes three necessities for what he calls “phantom leadership.” These needs are: “'First, there is a leader (with material, organic and/or mental origins) who acquires leadership power more or less in the organizational narrative.” “Second, narrative leadership is a panoptic phenomenon that may not be much more than the conscious awareness of monitoring authority.” “Third, storytelling has to do with the construction of leadership (the “birth” or emergence as well as the “death” or rejection of the assumed leader). It is a kind of dynamic interaction process between humans and speech; experiences are told..." (Auvinen, 1). In this ghost guide, Auvien gives the example of Santa Claus: “At the beginning of December he came to me and said: “Daddy! I'm really looking forward to Christmas. I'm tired of being ordered and I don't like Santa's elves anymore. Besides, I've never seen them" (1). Through the example of Auvien's son we discover the qualities of what constitutes phantom leadership. Ghost leadership can be applied metaphorically to non-haunted stories as well. “It is a discursive character, a leader who is constructed in the organizational narrative and exists in the reality of meaning” (1). Metaphorically, phantom leadership would be discovered simply when the leadership narrative is passed from one person to another. Charlotte's ghost ties into this concept too.