What is the author's style in Brown Girl, Brownstones by Paule Marshall?

Brown Girl, Brownstones is told by a third-person narrator, who has access to the inner thoughts of a few characters. Most of the book is seen through Selina's eyes, but sometimes the view shifts to someone like Miss Thompson, or Suggie. Once in a while, the narrator foreshadows something that is going to happen by using symbolic imagery, such as emphasizing the end of spring and the end of the day, to show that Selina and Clive's relationship is nearing its end, but for the most part, the future is a mystery. Often Selina's point of view takes a fanciful turn, and she imagines herself as other people. For example, she identifies with Suggie after they drink rum together, as the narrator says, "On her way downstairs, the rum coiling hot in her stomach, she felt that she, like Suggie, carried the sun inside her" (Book 2, Pastorale, p. 52). Selina's imagination enlarges her viewpoint, allowing her to imagine being Suggie or containing the sun, but also it helps her identify with people from different walks of life, such as Miss Mary, or Miss Thompson.

Selina's point of view is an important combination of Barbadian immigrant and native-born American. Selina has grown up surrounded by people of her own race, and until she comes face to face with patronizing racism, she does not realize how many white people view her. When her point of view is suddenly expanded, she realizes that "their idea of her was only an illusion, yet so powerful that it would stalk her down the years, confront her in each mirror and from the safe circle of their eyes, surprise her even in the gleaming surface of a table" (Book 4, Selina, chap. 9, p. 291). On the other hand, Selina enjoys her West Indian heritage, taking delight in dancing to Barbadian calypso.