SOURCE: "Point of View in White Narcissus," in Studies in Canadian Literature, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1978, pp. 119-23.

In the following essay, Clever notes that Knister's narrative technique in White Narcissus, undermines the effectiveness of the novel.

[In his introduction to White Narcissus], Philip Child claims that in Raymond Knister's White Narcissus "the narrative is in the third person, but it is told through Richard's consciousness even though the story is more Ada's than his." If the story were told this way, the novel would be less disconcerting to read. In fact, Knister has little control over point of view, as Child's later comment, "In the case of Richard and Ada … the core of their characters is blurred by the fog of their wavering moods," tacitly acknowledges.

A casual reader looking into the book might concur with Child's first assertion. In the opening paragraphs Knister lets us into Richard's consciousness...