Point of View

The novel is written from the third person point of view. This third person narrator possesses an expansive and intimate knowledge of the narrative world and its eclectic cast of characters. In each narrative subsection, the narrator dips into a new narrative strand, each of which presents one of the main five character's particular circumstances. In the sections labeled with Konstance's, Zeno's, Seymour's, Anna's, and Omeir's names, the narration is limited to the named character's perspective. However, in each of these limited subsections, the narrator often provides omniscient commentary on the larger narrative world, or insight into the author's subtextual thematic explorations. For example, in one of Omeir's subsections from Two, "Aethon Has a Vision," while describing Omeir's first days and weeks with the sultan's men, the narrator says: "Why are they here and where are they going and when will they leave" (63)? These questions...