Literature Glossary

Don’t be an oxymoron. Know your literary terms.

Over 200 literary terms, Shmooped to perfection.

Omniscience

Definition:

A word usually used in relation to narrators, omniscience means all-knowingness. If a narrator is omniscient, he or she has the god-like ability to see and know everything going on in the world of the novel, the lucky duck. Omniscience is often a feature of third-person narration, which makes sense, because it would be awfully hard for a first-person narrator to read the minds of the characters around her.

Want to see an omniscient narrator in all their awesome, knowledgey glory? Meet the narrator of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. He knows what's up.