Speaking in Third Person

"Does Phyllis remember the lash?" asked Flaminius.

The girl's eyes widened with fear. "Yes," she said.

"Then say so," said Flaminius.

I whispered in Gorean to Ho-Tu, as though I could not understand what was transpiring. "What is he doing with them?"

Ho-Tu shrugged. "He is teaching them they are slaves," he said.

"I remember the lash," said Phyllis.

"Phyllis remembers the lash," corrected Flaminius.

"I am not a child!" she cried.

"You are a slave," said Flaminius.

"No," she said. "No!"

"I see," said Flaminius, sadly, "it will be necessary to beat you."

"Phyllis remembers the lash," said the girl numbly.
Assassin of Gor     Book 5     Page 131

Behind me I heard Virginia and Phyllis cry out with pain. I turned a bit to see that Ho-Sorl had a fist in the hair of each, twisting it, pulling their heads back to him. "Slaves," said he, "will not speak of what they see today."

"No, Master!" said Virginia.

"No, no!" cried Phyllis. Ho-Sorl's hand twisted her head and hair cruelly. "No, Master!" cried Phyllis. "No, Master! Phyllis will not speak!"
Assassin of Gor     Book 5     Page 221

Lana then approached Targo.

She knelt before him, ingratiatingly, and put her head down. "Please, Master," she wheedled. "Let it be done to the other girls, if you wish, but not to Lana. Lana would not like it. It would make Lana sad. Lana would be happy if master would not have it done to her."
Captive of Gor     Book 7     Pages 158 - 159

"Who!" she demanded.

"I did," I cried. "I did!"

"Speak as a slave!" demanded Ute.

"El-in-or betrayed Ute!" I cried. "El-in-or betrayed Ute!"
Captive of Gor     Book 7     Page 287

"Master," she whispered.

"Yes?" I said.

"May I be taught to dance?" she asked.

"Who is 'I'?" I questioned.

"Alyena, your slave girl, Master," she whispered, "begs to be taught to dance."

"Perhaps she will be taught," I said.

"She is grateful," said the girl.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Page 91

"Do you want Darlene branded?" she asked.

"No," I said, "of course not!" I was surprised that she had spoken of herself as she did, using her name. This is not uncommon, of course, among Gorean female slaves.
Fighting Slave of Gor     Book 14     Page 147

"Perhaps I should switch you again, tomorrow," said Iwoso.

"Please do not do so, Mistress," said Bloketu. I gathered that Iwoso's switchings, in their way, tended to be quite efficient. They were probably administered to the bare skin, with the girl tied in such a way as to maximize their effect.

"Beg properly," said Iwoso.

"Bloketu, the maiden, begs her mistress not to switch her," sobbed Bloketu.
Blood Brothers of Gor     Book 18     Page 381

"Does Ina beg food of her captor?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "Ina begs food of her captor."
Vagabonds of Gor     Book 24     Page 249

I must decide how to tell this story. They have permitted me that much. It is my story, a very personal story, and so, it seems, one might most naturally use first-person discourse, and say, for example, "I did this," and "I saw that," and so on, and yet I am reluctant, afflicted with a certain timidity, to affect this voice. Perhaps I could speak more straightforwardly, more candidly, if I saw myself as another might see me, and yet, at the same time, saw myself, as well, from within, candidly, openly, hiding nothing, as one within, as I myself, might know me. So then I might say "She did this," and "She saw that," knowing that the "she" is myself, my own sentient, so much, sometimes so painfully so, self-aware self. How shall one speak? Perhaps I shall shift my modality of discourse, as seems appropriate, given what I must say, what I must tell. I do not know. How foolish to hesitate before such a small matter you might suppose, but to me it does not seem so small at all. It might seem a simple thing, how to tell a story, but it is not so easy for me. You might, of course, I do not know you, find no difficulty in this. But had you had my experiences, and were you I, were you faced with yourself, and frightened, or disconcerted, or shamed, you might, too, seek to distance yourself from that most sensitive, usually most zealously concealed, of subject matters, yourself. So I thought that I might begin, at least, by speaking in the third person, by considering myself, by seeing myself, from within and without, rather as an object, a particular object. Too, this is, I conjecture, in my current reality, not altogether unfitting; indeed, it is altogether appropriate, for you see that is what I now am, categorically, explicitly, an object, and not merely in the eyes of the law, but such irremediably, incontrovertibly, in the very reality of this world. So perhaps then I should write of myself as an object, for that is what I now am, as a simple matter of fact, an object, no longer a person, that no longer, if I were once that, but an object, to be sure, a very particular object, but one of countless hundreds, perhaps thousands of such, I do not know, in many cities, and towns, and camps and villages, like me, a vital, sentient, so much alive, so vulnerable, essentially helpless, beautiful I am told, object.
Prize of Gor     Book 27     Pages 1 - 2

"You may speak," he said, after a time.

"Master's slave loves him," she whispered.
Prize of Gor     Book 27     Page 548


The narrative, I fear is only too obviously a first-person story, though I have tried to tell it with some objectivity, largely in the third person, as perhaps befits a collared slave. To be sure, I fear my feelings have often intruded themselves. Indeed, sometimes I fear that I have spoken in the first person and not the third. This is then, I conjecture, a first-person narrative expressed largely, humbly, I trust, in the third person.
Prize of Gor     Book 27     Page 708

"Perhaps you should beg to be collared," I said.

"Please, Master," she said, "collar me."

"Who begs?" I inquired.

"Jane," she said, "Jane, the slave of Pertinax of Tarncamp, begs to be collared."

"It will be done," said Pertinax.
Swordsmen of Gor     Book 29     Page 305

"Speak," I said to the slave.

"The slave," she whispered, "is eager to serve master."
Swordsmen of Gor     Book 29     Page 514

"Speak," I said.

"It is the hope of this girl," said the first, "that her service will be found pleasing by masters."

"It is the hope of this girl," said the second, "that her service will be found pleasing by masters."

"Speak," I said.

"It is the hope of this girl," said the first, "that if her service is not found pleasing by masters, she will be well punished."

"It is the hope of this girl," said the second, "that if her service is not found pleasing by masters, she will be well punished."
Mariners of Gor     Book 30     Page 429

"Alcinoë would do much to please her master," she whispered.

"Speak louder, slave," I said.

"Alcinoë would do much to please her master," she said.
Mariners of Gor     Book 30     Page 146

"Mistress has erred," I said. "I am not red-silk."

"Who speaks?" asked an instructress.

"Allison," I said. "This slave speaks." I felt tears form in my eyes.

"And what has she to say?" asked an instructress.

"She says," I said, "that she is not red-silk, that she is white-silk."
Conspirators of Gor     Book 31     Page 85

"Is Mistress pleased?" I asked.

"You may put that differently," said the Lady Bina.

"Is Mistress pleased with Allison?" I asked.
Conspirators of Gor     Book 31     Page 216

"May I speak?" she asked.

"Does Saru wish to speak?" I asked.

"Yes," she said, "Saru wishes to speak."
Rebels of Gor     Book 33     Page 135