Point of View

A Certain Hunger is written from the first person point of view of the protagonist Dorothy Daniels. The author has presented the novel using this point of view because Dorothy is writing her memoir during her internment at Bedford Hills penitentiary in the narrative present. In Chapter 2, “Roast Parsnips,” Dorothy explains that she tries to “behave beautifully” in prison “so that I have paper, pens and occasional access to a computer” (21). Penning her memoir is Dorothy’s way of sustaining herself during her imprisonment. It is also the only way that Dorothy can reclaim an iota of control over her life and story.

Because Dorothy is a self-proclaimed psychopath, her tone is often inflected by her inflated ego. She not only fails to show remorse for the heinous crimes she has committed, but is perpetually conscious of her imagined audience. She perceives her memoir as...