Point of View

The novel is written in third person from limited perspectives of two characters, Hideki Kaneshiro and Ray Majors. Hideki is a 14-year-old boy from Okinawa who has been forced into the Blood and Iron Student Corps, a branch of the military for young boys. Ray is a private in the United States Marines and arrives with other Americans on the shores of Okinawa as part of a larger military campaign. The perspectives of each is limited by their knowledge and their experiences. In some cases, the characters are greatly limited, meaning the information revealed to the reader is also limited. The main example of this is seen in Hideki's perspective. He is Okinawan by birth and belief, but he has been affected by the Japanese influence. Hideki believes he should fight against the Americans because the Japanese have instructed him to do so. However, a...