One of the main aspects of a story that truly keeps our attention is character. A person is more likely to enjoy, maintain interest in, or be more intimately engaged with a story if they can relate to or are intrigued by a character or characters. In order for this to happen an author must demonstrate good characterization, the art and technique of representing fictional personages. Characterization relies heavily on narration and point of view. In John Cheever's "Goodbye, My Brother" and Tobias Wolff's "Powder," the point of view of the narration is limited to one person. Known as first-person narration, the story is told from the "I" perspective and the reader only can understand the story from the narrator's point of view.

Because of first-person narration, the reader is provided with easy access to the main character's thoughts, allowing only a glimpse of the antagonists in "Goodbye...