Point of View

Breathing Lessons is written in a third-person point of view and told in an alternating narrative shared by Maggie and Ira Moran. Because the story is told from both Maggie and Ira’s points of view the reader is able to understand how their memories and perceptions conflict with one another. Some of the stories are told by both of them and reader sees how their different personalities and perspectives transform the events they both relate. This narrative method also allows the audience to understand the two very different views that Ira and Maggie have of their marriage and their consistent miscommunication with one another. Although the events of the novel are narrated by Ira and Maggie, the narrative is told in a third-person point of view and Ira and Maggie never refer to themselves as “I.” This illustrates the theme of the novel that...