firstperson

First person is a narrative perspective in which the narrator participates in the events of the story and refers to themselves using first-person pronouns such as I or we. This point of view foregrounds the narrator’s experiences, thoughts, and feelings, yielding an intimate but subjective account of events. It contrasts with second person (you) and third person (he, she, they) perspectives.

In literature, first-person narration creates immediacy and verisimilitude but limits knowledge to what the narrator knows or perceives; reliability varies. The form can be restricted to a single character or extended through diaries, letters, or multiple narrators using we. It is common in confessional, epistolary, and coming‑of‑age works, and has been employed by authors across periods, including Huckleberry Finn, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Great Gatsby, among others.

Historically, first-person narration has ancient roots but gained prominence in modern prose with diary-like and epistolary forms. It is widely used in novels to express personal voice, bias, and introspection, and it can be employed for dramatic irony when readers question the narrator’s trustworthiness.

In other media, first-person applies to presentation perspective as well. In film, voiceover can convey a first-person viewpoint, while in video games it describes the player’s camera position and experience from the protagonist’s eyes, with the first-person shooter genre emphasizing that viewpoint for interactive action.

In linguistics and academic writing, first-person pronouns indicate authorial stance or personal involvement. Some style guides discourage or limit first-person usage in formal expository writing, while others endorse it for reflective or methodological statements. See also second person and third person.