Point of View

The novel is written from the first person point of view. The unnamed first person narrator is the primary narrative voice, as his perspective guides the reader into the opening sequences of the novel. However, after this narrator makes Jacques Austerlitz’s acquaintance, Austerlitz’s first person voice assumes center stage on the page. Throughout the majority of the novel, Austerlitz is telling the narrator “his own story” in his own words (43). The first person narrator thus assumes the role of the listener. While Austerlitz is telling the narrator his story, the narrator’s only intrusions appear in the form of dialogue tags or occasional asides to Austerlitz’s body language as he is speaking. The narrator’s first person voice will return, however, when Austerlitz pauses his story. Austerlitz’s voice will then assume narrative control once more whenever the men resume “the conversation...