The Little Words (Part 1)

A pirate bay = some water and some sand. The Pirate Bay = the world's most resilient torrent site.

There are some very small words in the English language which most often escape notice. The word ‘the’ for instance, the words ‘if,’ ‘of,’ and ‘or.’ These are words that as writers, we use, and need, but don’t take the time to really think about.

Dictionary.com gave me this, and it aligns well with what I already had in mind for the word’s definition:

     The 

definite article (used, especially before a noun, with a specifying or particularizing effect, as opposed to the indefinite or generalizing force of the indefinite article a or an )

The reason to use ‘the’ instead of ‘a’ or ‘an’, is to draw the reader’s imagination to the most readily, or most obvious comparison available to the idea you, as the author, are putting forward. For instance, by saying ‘the doctor’ you can pull the reader’s mind to any doctor previously mentioned, or at the front of the reader’s mind. This allows comparisons that would otherwise be obvious, to be more carefully hidden, while retaining their power to influence your reader’s perception of the narrative. After an obvious Frankenstein reference, saying ‘the doctor’ will call to mind not only Victor Frankenstein as an individual, but will also associate Mary Shelley’s  protagonist’s willingness to meddle with creation, or play God, with ‘the doctor’ in your own narrative. 

What ‘the’ does is cue the reader’s mind to search for the most readily available example of a specific noun. The difference between ‘a mansion’ and ‘the mansion’ is that the first is a large house, while the second is likely old and haunted. Where this is not always true, of course, it bears keeping in mind that the words haunted and mansion are closely associated. Where ‘the’ will attempt to maintain these associations, ‘a’ or ‘an’ will disassociate the object and allow you as the author to describe the piece.

The trick is using this word to your advantage, and removing it where it will conjure an image which conflicts with the one you are attempting to portray. If something is very specific to your narrative, it is important to describe it first, create an image in your reader’s mind, and later draw it forth by calling it ‘the noun.’ You have to be aware, that if you say ‘the zombie,’ you have accidentally conveyed to your audience that the creature is a decaying, slow-witted, flesh-hungry and evil creature. If your zombie is anything other than a ‘normal’ movie zombie, then saying a zombie lends itself more readily to explanation. The words will even flow more evenly into description if used in their proper manners:

1) “The zombie approached, a decaying, shambling thing, intestines trailing behind as it stumbled forward.” 

2)“A zombie broke from the clearing, strands of black sinew grown of the Helio virus webbed each leg and it bounded like an ape towards its prey.”

There are reasons for both the general and the specific: Where you don’t have time in the narrative to describe, a specific title such as ‘thejoker,’ or ‘the thief,’ can conjure a powerful image in the reader’s mind with little development required on your part. R.A. Salvatore’s works spring to mind as a perfect example of this narrative device: quite often, and I believe quite intentionally, Salvatore says ‘the Halfling,’ ‘the Drow,’ and ‘the barbarian’ when describing Regis, Drizzt and Wulfgar respectively. Each time these words are used they ask the reader to recall their most recent image of the character. 

By saying ‘The Drow approached,’ the reader is immediately made certain of the character’s identity; who could it be but Drizzt? If Salvatore was intending to introduce a new character, reintroduce a character who hasn’t been focused on in a while, or just keep the reader in suspense as to the Drow’s identity, then he would use the vague ‘a Drow.’ Or an even more vague example: ‘A dark figure appeared on the horizon and then vanished from sight.’ Again, if Salvatore said: ‘The dark figure appeared on the horizon and then vanished from sight,’ there would be no doubt in the reader’s mind who the dark figure was.

In short, there are a few things to take into account: 

‘a’ or ‘an’:  General: Should be used to described qualities of a narrative which you feel are unique to your writing. Should be used the first time something is described, planting an image to be retrieved later. Does not call other interpretations to mind, and essentially conjures a blank slate in your reader’s mind. For instance, ‘a drow’ might look like this:

(A fan drawn image, but of a random drow, rather than of Drizzt. I typed in: ‘a drow’.) Site: http://elvenawakening.blogspot.com/2006/01/drow-elve.html

 

‘the’:  Specific: Links the reader’s thoughts to other instances of similar nouns creating more depth in a character with less work. If the character has been earlier described, links the reader’s mind to that description, rather than outside descriptions. Does not leave much room for customization: when a writer says ‘the vampire’ there is a immediate assumption that the normal stereotypes of a vampire will apply to this character, regardless of how he is otherwise flavoured. ‘The’ calls to mind a specific entity; to Salvatore readers, it conjures this: 

Drizzt: the old picture didn't work.

Try it for yourself: throw ‘the X’ and ‘a X’ into a google image search, and see what you come up with.