Using any literary text studied on the third year literature courses identify and discuss the various voices the respective authors employ and how effective are these voices in the articulation of the themes and characters in these texts. NGABIRANO ANDREW

Literary polyphony is an approach derived from the theoretical works of Baktin.The concept/word comes from the Greek ‘’ poly’’ meaning plural and ‘’ phones’’ translated as sounds in Batkin’s sense of the word he means the use of many voices especially in the epic novel.IN the glossary provided with Baktin’s book it is written that the voice ‘’is the speaking personality, the speaking consciousness. A voice always has a will or desire behind it, its own timbre and overtimes[p.434] and therefore we can analyze a novel such as Joseph Andrews in terms of literary polyphony. The first voice the reader encounters in the novel Joseph Andrews is the narrator. The narrator is either seen through description or oral and the narrator is a true reflection of Authorial intrusion and in the novel Joseph Andrews the author introduces the life of Andrew and gives an incite about his life and he regards him as a very strongman with outstanding background as it is clear in the opening chapter ‘’A good man therefore is a standing lesson to all his acquaintances and of far greater use in that narrow circle than a good book But as it often happens that the best men are little known and consequently cannot extend the usefulness of their examples a great joy.’’ Hence through the above voice of the Author helps the reader understand the novel since he directly addresses the reader about successful men who are not known and he also puts across a message usually life of Good men is short and usually does not leave any mark behind. Therefore through the above message from the Author the reader gets enough incite about what is going to take place in the novel Joseph Andrews hence keeping the interest of the reader. However the Author is not the only one entitled to have voice since all other characters also have one and the voices of different characters are like stereotypes and are inspired by people met by the Author and this is done through focalization where there is first person and third person Henry Fielding novel Joseph Andrew introduces voices from different characters for example in chapter 5 the voice of the lady Booby is brought forth as quoted below “As young as you are replied the lady “ lam convinced you are no stranger to the passion. come Joe says tell me truly who is the happy girl whose eyes have made a conquest of you.” Through the above voice of lady Booby we are able to understand the society in which Joseph Andrews is living. This creates suspense within the novel because we do not know what Joseph will do in turn to the love lady Booby has for him and through the above voice we are able to extract the theme of love and that is the love lady Booby has for his house boy Joseph Andrews. Through the paraphrase the author gives as Joseph is answering his boss lady Booby.”Joseph returned that all the women he had ever seen were equally indifferent” shows the omniscient nature of the author who is able to enter into Andrews head and above all be there when lady Booby is making advances to his servant. Hence through the Authorial intrusion we have been able to determine the character of Joseph as independent minded and open minded and he explains to lady that he has not yet got a girlfriend hence making the novel Joseph Andrews a must read novel since it handles moral degeneration within the society. The Author effectively uses the voice of lady Booby to describe her character in chapter 5 “Oh then said the lady you are a general lover indeed you handsome fellows are like handsome women are very long and difficult in fixing but you shall never persuade me that your heart so insusceptible of affection but pray answer me this question suppose a lady should happen to like you suppose she should prefer you to all your sex and admit you to the same familiarities as you might have hoped for if you had” Through the above voice we can easily determine the character of the lady Booby as a very impatient woman an unfaithful since this takes place shortly after the death of her husband and this made her remain un settled. Henry Fielding effectively uses the voice to communicate his message to the society he did this artfully through the letter Joseph sends to Pamera in chapter seven “Do not tell anybody dear Pamera do not tell anybody but she ordered me to sit down by her bed side when she was naked in bed and she held my hand and talked exactly as a lady does to her sweetheart in a stage play which I have seen in Covent Garden.” Finally through the above voice as an example of focalization the Author uses voice to move his meaning and indicates the challenges young ones face as they are moving through the challenging life and he also indicates the naivety of Joseph to fail to understand the woman and this also builds trauma within Joseph himself. REFERENCES Richards I A Practical criticism: a study of literary judgement London Kegan Paul 1929 Peek J and Coyle, M.[1995].Practical criticism Basingstoke:Palgrave Croft S, Cross H. 2002 Literature Criticism and style: A practical Guide to advanced level English Lliterature.Oxford university press