Point of View

Graceful Burdens is written from an omniscient third person point of view. This third person narrator possesses both an authoritative and intimate knowledge of the narrative world. At the start of the story, the narrator assumes a more assured and unbiased tone, teaching the reader about the narrative world. For example, while describing the appearance and operations of the Omaha Public Library and its baby-borrowing amenities, the narrator explains that after the babies turn three, they are sent to "state orphanages," "pharmaceutical companies or the CDC or the government for reasons no one liked to contemplate" (3). The narrator goes on to explain why and how "these matters were determined," but again emphasizes that no one likes to "dwell on the fate of borrowed babies" because there are so many "deeply unfair things" in the world (3). In this passage, the narrator employs a sterilized, unemotional stance...