Point of View

Most of the scenes in "A Hero of France" are told in third-person limited omniscient with a focus on Mathieu as the lead character. Mathieu is indeed the titular "Hero of France" even though several sequences of scenes in the novel do not involve him whatsoever -- i.e., when Chantal poses as Gillen's mother during a mission in the opening chapter of the book (28-45). Mathieu is also the only character who we see when he is not working -- for instance, when relaxing at night at his house (19-25) -- while all of the other characters only appear when they are doing something that is directly involved with Resistance work.

The limited omniscient narration style means that, when Mathieu encounters danger, the reader effectively "learns" about the threat alongside Mathieu, through his eyes, instead of immediately being informed, thoroughly, what the threat actually...