Point of View

The general perspective of the narrator is third person omniscient with a greater focus on Saeed and Nadia’s perspective, though the narrator seems to be able to access other perspectives and stories as well. Certainly, the narrator seems to know the fates of other characters, especially their deaths. When Saeed’s father tells his son to leave him alone in the city and travel without him, the narrator has access into what Saeed’s father is thinking and, crucially, what he thinks but does not say to his son.

From a third person perspective, the narrator also has access into the stories of other migrants who are also using the doors to travel. However, these representations are more distant and factual in their quality. For example, the reader is not given any sense for why or how the woman returns to fetch her daughter...