Point of View

The novel’s narration is written in the third person and the past tense. The novel’s perspective is generally limited to Patrick’s feelings, thoughts, memories, and observations, as he is the protagonist. This adherence to Patrick’s perspective is integral in examining Patrick’s personal struggles as inherently connected to his outlook and emotional landscape. This idea is prominent throughout the novel, sometimes very explicitly, such as when Patrick thinks to himself, “How could he think his way out of the problem when the problem was the way he thought” (167). The novel juxtaposes Patrick’s self-destructive actions with his self-destructive thought processes in order to demonstrate how one’s inner life directly shapes and affects one’s external life.

Although Patrick’s perspective takes primacy in the novel, his perspective is very often placed in contrasting juxtaposition with the perspectives of other characters...