Point of View

The novel is written from a third person limited point of view. This means that the third person narrator remains closest to the main character Vic Van Allen's vantage point throughout the novel. Therefore, the narrator inhabits Vic's consciousness and describes the narrative world, circumstances, and stakes by way of Vic's distinct lens. The narrator not only sees the world through Vic's eyes, but adopts the language of Vic's thoughts, opinions, and convictions. The author establishes this inextricable connection between the main character and the narrator within the first chapter of the novel. The reader might refer to a passage from the scene following Vic and Mary's conversation by way of example. Vic wonders why women think that "even women who had married for love and had had a child and a fairly happy married life, [believed] they would prefer a man who demanded nothing...