Point of View

A Step from Heaven is told in first person voice from the limited point of view of the main character, Young Ju. The story centers around Young Ju and how she receives and interprets the information around her, which is sometimes flawed. Since the novel begins with Young Ju as a baby, the details are sparse and not always accurate. How the baby interprets the conversations around her are not always reliable. The primary example of this is Young Ju's confusion of Mi Gook with Heaven. Her mother tells her that they must fly in an airplane to get to Mi Gook, and Halmoni has told her that Heaven is in the sky. Her child's mind natuarly connects and combines the two places. Young Ju's perspective, as a child, is limited to her understanding, therefore limiting the reader's insight into the action.

The voice and point...