The Schwa Was Here

What is the author's style in The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman?

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The story is told from Antsy's point of view in the first-person narrative. Antsy is the main character of the book, despite the fact that most of the actual story revolves around Calvin Schwa. Even the book's title refers to the Schwa rather than Antsy. However, it is vitally important that the story is told from Antsy's point of view and not from the Schwa's point of view. The Schwa is supposed to be ordinary and forgettable, to the extent that people rarely notice him. If the story were told from his point of view he would be too prominent in it. He would constantly be talking to the reader, and so demanding attention on every page. This would be completely at odds with his character, as well as a bad representation of what life is actually like for him. With Antsy narrating, however, the Schwa can fade into the background and even be forgotten at points. Antsy is a very loud and interesting character, which means that the reader is often distracted by what is happening to him. This causes the Schwa to slip from the reader's mind, neatly demonstrating that the Schwa effect can even affect the readers themselves.

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