Narrative Criticism and the Book of Mormon

This paper suggests the use of narrative criticism, a recent literary interpretive tool, as a favorable method of Book of Mormon interpretation. As an example of narrative interpretation, the Samuel the Lamanite narrative in Helaman 13–16 is analyzed as a discrete narrative portion of the Book of Mormon for the exploration of the possibilities of a narrative critical approach to its text. Instead of focusing on the content of Samuel’s exhortations, lamentations, and prophecies in order to understand these passages, I interpret the surrounding narrative and find it serves as an impressive complement to the doctrinal content of Samuel’s discourse.