In "The Real Thing" and "The Figure In The Carpet," by Henry James, both narrators remain nameless throughout the story. Although we may think that James had two different motives to keep the narrators nameless, the central reason why James kept the narrators anonymous was for one great reason: their failure. In "The Real Thing," the narrator fails to draw the "real" thing to his own specifications. In "The Figure In The Carpet," the narrator fails to uncover the secret behind Vereker's writing style, which makes his novels so great. Failure is something embarrassing; but when people don't know who one is, especially their name, than failure is more manageable to accept because you don't know them and they don't know you. Therefore, James' motive to leave the narrators nameless is because of the artist's failure to draw the "real" thing, and the narrator's failure to uncover Vereker's secret.
            
             In "The Real Thing," when we are first introduced to the narrator, we are given a limited amount of information. We are told that the narrator is an artist, he draws portraits, unlike Mr. Rivet who drew landscapes, and has a need for models, "It was only then...he has told them how I worked in black and white, for magazines, for story books, for sketches of contemporary life, and consequently had copious employment for models,"(James, Pg. 205). We are also told that the once he laid his eyes upon the Monarchs, he thought he was on his way to fortune, "But that fortune was by so much...the moment my visitors wished to be 'done' for nothing,"(James, Pg. 205) yet we haven't found out any information regarding the artist's name. Similarly, in "The Figure In The Carpet," we learn about the narrator's occupation, his financial situation, and about his friends. The narrator is a book revi...