Question

“CREE-E-EEKETY-CRUCK-CRICK! cree-e-eekety-cruck-crick!” sang out the big wheel of the mill upon the river Dee, for it was old and ricketty and had worked many years grinding corn for the miller; so from morning till night it creaked and growled and complained as if rebelling against the work it must do. And the country people, at work in the fields far away, would raise their heads when the soft summer breezes wafted the sound of the wheel to their ears and say, “The jolly miller is grinding his corn.” And again, at the times when the mill was shut down and no sound of the wheel reached them, they said to one another, “The jolly miller has no corn to grind to-day,” or, “The miller is oiling the great wheel.” But they would miss the creaking, monotonous noise, and feel more content when the mill started again and made music for them as they worked.

The miller was not an old man, nor a sour man, nor a bad man; on the contrary he could be heard singing at his work most of the time. But the words of his song would alone have kept people away from him, for they were always these:

“I care for nobody, no! not I,

Since nobody cares for me.”

The reason nobody cares for the miller is because he won’t let them. It is the fault of the man himself, not the fault of the people! However true this may have been, it is also true the miller had no friends, and equally sure that he cared to have none, for it did not make him a bit unhappy.

At last a change came over the miller’s life. He was standing one evening beside the river, watching the moonbeams play upon the water, when something came floating down the stream. It looked to him like a big black box; so he got a long pole drew it within reach just above the big wheel. It was fortunate he saved it in the nick of time.

When the miller had pulled the floating object upon the bank he found it really was a box. He lifted it carefully and carried it into the mill-house, placing it upon the floor while he lighted a candle. Then he cut the cord, opened the box, and behold! a little baby lay within it, sweetly sleeping upon a pillow!

The miller was so surprised that he stopped singing and gazed with big eyes at the beautiful face of the little stranger. And while he gazed its eyes opened—two beautiful, pleading blue eyes,--and the little one smiled and stretched out her arms toward him.

“Well, well!” said the miller, “where on earth did you come from?” The miller now had someone to care for!

___

Adapted from The Jolly Miller, by L. Frank Baum, Public domain.

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Questions
How does the narrator’s perspective impact the story?

The narrator has a third-person omniscient perspective, so the reader knows that the country people do not care for the miller.

The narrator has a third-person omniscient perspective, so the reader knows that the miller is considering moving away from the countryside.

The narrator has a first-person perspective, which makes the reader believe that the miller is a sour and bad man.

The narrator has a third-person limited perspective, so the reader only knows the feelings of the baby in the box.

Answer 1

The first option is correct.

The narrator uses a third-person omniscient voice—telling things about the miller’s thoughts and motives and about the country people’s attitudes—so the reader knows that the country people do not care for the miller.