Point of View

Bee Season is written entirely from the perspective of an omniscient narrator. This technique serves two specific purposes. First of all, the narrative transitions between past and present at several points in the story. This serves to maintain smooth flow and continuity. Also, the events which take place in a particular character's past are interwoven into their present circumstance. The omniscient narrator's point of view (as it applies to past happenings) is one example of an "aside," a break in present action, which allows the reader to follow the narrative without the experience of being completely removed from the linear trajectory of the novel. For example, the inclusion of biographical information pertinent to certain characters (such as Saul and Miriam Naumann), told from the omniscient narrator's point of view, functions to keep the narrative moving in a forward direction.

The narrator's voice in this novel is...