The narrative technique of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, like that of the other New Testament parables, is quite different from that of "The Stationmaster." The parables of Jesus as quoted in Luke and the other synoptic Gospels are in thirdperson, omniscient-narrator form. Their basic style is simple, direct, succinct, and unambiguous; they are homely in subject and setting, and devoid of the "literary." In them, the narrator is not a participant in the story told. In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, which has more conversation than perhaps any other biblical parable, the mode of narration and the mode of speech of all the characters is basically the same; the speech of the different characters is differentiated by what they say, rather than by a different manner of speaking. The words of the father and each of the two sons fit into the one style...