Point of View

The novel is told from the perspective of an omniscient third-person-past narrator. Because of the omniscience, the narrator is able to access the interior thoughts and feelings of any person in the novel. Interestingly, the narrator also accesses the interior thoughts and feelings of Patrasche, who is a dog. The narrator presents the interior life of Patrasche as on an equal footing with all of the human characters by using the same quality of language and empathy to describe both dogs and humans. When Patrasche is rescued by Jehan and Nello, for example, the narrator says: “So then, when Patrasche arose, himself again, strong, big, gaunt, powerful, his great wistful eyes had a gentle astonishment in them that there were no curses to rouse him and no blows to drive him; and his heart awakened to a mighty love, which never wavered once in its...