What is a third-person narrator and why might an author choose to feature one?

In third-person point of view, the author is narrating a story about the characters, referring to them by name, or using the third-person pronouns “he,” “she,” and “they.”

In literature, the third-person point of view follows multiple characters and narrative arcs, as they move in and out of the story. A third-person narrator can be all-knowing (omniscient) aware of each character’s thoughts and feelings, but they may sometimes appear to be restricted in their knowledge of these events (limited) - focused on a single character, or aware only of what certain characters say and do.

The omniscient narrator knows everything about the story and its characters. An author would choose to use this method so that the narrator can enter anyone’s mind, move freely through time, and give the reader their own opinions and observations as well as those of the characters.