We, the Fourth Person Perspective

by Kimberley M. McNamara

The Fourth Person Perspective/Point of View: is the WE.

A story told with a We narrator is in the first person plural; this is linguistically correct, the We is the first-person plural. But as with any POV, psychic distance is essential in how that narration is told. For example, the close third-person, the third person omniscient, first-person pov, second person pov, first-person omniscient, etc.

Some may call the Fourth Person POV: "The Royal We," "the editorial We," "The Collected Consciousness," or "The Hive Mind," but to do so is to not give the entire volume of meaning to the Fourth Person POV. 

First, some terms: 

The Royal We

The origin of the title' Royal We" dates to the twelfth century and is meant to encompass "God and I" or rather the King's authority as being divine. When the King or Emperor or Queen spoke as the We, the implication was the decision by We-the-Crown was by God and King. 

The Editorial We

The Editorial We can also be equally as pompous. This is the "We" found in the editorial opinion pages where an opinion is given, and the need to support the view is bolstered by the fact that "We" can see how reasonable this is. The Editorial We also strengthen from the Collected Consciousness, which according to sociologists, is the We of social norms. What the consensus of society deems typical or expected or are the laws set up by the society, this is the Collected Consciousness We as in: We in the "We, the prosecution." In novels, the protagonist often butts up against society's expectations or the collective by challenging the norm.

The HiveMind or The OverMind

The Hive Mind and OverMind (sometimes called the MegaMind) are often used interchangeably. Both are group minds, but there are differences. To form a group mind, at least two minds must be connected.

The HiveMind hinges on believing that many beings have a single purpose. Initially, bees were considered to share a single 'thought beam' transmitted by the hive; thus, one thought, many beings. However, recent studies reveal the Honey Bee hive makes decisions based upon a lobbied consensus. 

In science fiction writing, this Hive Mind concept went from many minds with a single purpose to a more considerable intelligence, the OverMind. The OverMind can be formed from individual minds until it is a separate entity from the individuals but is still fed by the energy of individual members. These members are reduced to cogs in the OverMind's machinations. The Over Mind can also be a separate intelligence that rules over members it has collected and compels them to adhere to the Over Mind's instructions. (Think of the Storm Troopers Star Wars). 

The Fourth-Person Perspective/POV

To understand the Fourth-Person Perspective/POV, knowing what it means to break the fourth wall of theatre/television/movie is helpful. The fourth wall is the audience watching the play as if peering into a fish bowl. The characters in the story are unaware of the audience.

The breaking of the fourth wall is when the characters are aware of the audience watching the actors play the characters. The artifice of the fourth wall being broken is evident in the sitcoms The Office and Abbott Elementary; these shows hinge on the fact that the staff characters are aware they are being filmed. These sitcom actors are also aware they are being watched and invite the viewer to infer from the facial expressions or asides directed to the viewer what that character is thinking or feeling. The viewer is invited to almost comment on the situation. This is not unlike Dickens, who turns to the reader and says: "Dear Reader, it rests with you and me…."(Hard Times, Dickens) The artifice is acknowledged; the wall is broken. 

In the Fourth Person Point of View, the reader is aware of the artifice of the We having connected consciences; the We is also cognizant the reader is aware of this. The individuals who form this group-minded We can enter and exist in the We; they can also leave the We and return. Further, the We act as both a narrator and character in the story. 

If you google the fourth person pov, you may be told that this is the We as in A Rose for Emily or Our Town, but the emergence of this fourth person pov is more than these two examples. The We of the fourth person pov is objective and subjective; it is both a character and a narrator, and the We participates in the story as a unit and as its separate parts. 

David Koh, in his article for Medium entitled The Fourth Person Perspective: the Emergence of the Collective Subjective, explains it as follows: 

"The 4th person functions as a collection of perspectives rather than a single objectivity. Commonly, "4" refers to the globe or an outside observer (the 4th wall) — words like global, objective, truth, and omniscient come to mind. But instead of understanding the truth as a single clear fact, the 4th person makes us realize that truth and clarity actually emerge from the sum of many parts and perspectives, a collective subjective."

Koh's article written in 2020 does a fantastic job of explaining how the fourth-person perspective began emerging through various media platforms, how the global-ness of our connectivity has contributed to this pov, and how this perspective applies to art, fiction, and more. I highly recommend you read his article. 

However, if you are like me and wish this perspective/POV in operation, consider the following: 

In the 2017 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Nick Jonas, and Karen Gillan), there is the following dialogue (captured by my closed caption written by McKenna, Pinker, Rosenberg & Sommers): 

Spencer/Bravestone: "This is the final level of the game. And I'm pretty sure this is a Bravestone thing." 

Fridge/Finbar: "Did he just refer to himself in the third person?"

Martha/Ruby: "Fourth person, I think."

The above dialogue may be broken down accordingly. Spencer is aware he is playing Bravestone; Bravestone is cognizant that, by definition, his character (Bravestone in the game Jumanji) must climb the statue and return the jewel to the eye of the Jaguar. The other characters are also aware of this definition and that this must be done by Braveston. Spencer's lines are uttered both as Spencer, connected to his high school cohort, and as Spencer, as Bravestone, connected to the other Jumanji players. Spencer's real-world friends and avatar buddies are also aware of these layers. The line is both objective and subjective. 

I decided to apply this definition of the fourth-person perspective to a book I recently read: We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry. Barry's novel makes a great case study. 

In We Ride Upon Sticks Barry sets up the We by introducing the field hockey team from Danvers High School. Their names and positions are given on a chart, and they proceed to lose their game at field hockey camp–the reader actually reads how awful this team is and is introduced to the team members. The team is understandably despondent, and the goalie decides she won't take this. She makes a secret pledge in a notebook. Her pledge is to join the dark side. She is terrific on goal in the next game, and her team wants to know her secret. One by one, the team members sign on and pledge to the dark side, the prince of darkness whom they name Emillo after Emillo Estevez, who happens to adorn the pledge notebook. Once the team has signed on, they become connected, and the consciousness of We assumes leadership of the story. Throughout the novel, the We of the team participates as a character and narrator; the team members sometimes have the spotlight on their individual plights for a beat or two, but then the reader returns to the We. 

"The 4th person is an emergent structure in which our individual narratives function as those separate individual parts or nodes that combine to create a larger complex narrative system. All of our individual subjective narratives, consisting of I, group together to create us. This grouping of subjectivities becomes an enclosed narrative system creating a new single entity — the 4th person." (Koh, David, 2020)

At one point, the field hockey coach signs the book and is baffled or appears to be baffled by hearing all the different voices in her head. The We deal with this fact by acknowledging: if you sign the book, you're in the We, but those who are of the We can block members from the We's knowledge if We so desire. This is a brilliant illustration of the We being aware of its collective self objectively and subjectively. 

Barry tells the story of the 1989 Danvers Field Hockey team and their quest for a state championship by embracing the fourth-person pov/perspective and never letting go. 

Should you want to explore this fourth-person perspective/pov please also consider:

• This is Paradise: Stories by Kristiana Kahakauwila --the first story rocks the We on multiple levels.

• Brave Deeds by David Abrams a team of AWOL soldiers make their way across Baghdad to attend a funeral of their Staff Sergeant. This band of brothers is the WE. Their individual stories are tapped as they move on foot across this war-torn city.

• Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett—the story of the prodigal child returning home is told by the We of a small town cemetery along side the epistolary entries. The emergent fourth-person perspective is evident.