Point of View

The novel is told in the first person ("I") by the character Teague Summer. The use of this technique means that the reader gains insight into the minds of the other characters only through Summer's direct interactions with them and the thoughts and opinions he expresses. No scene can take place in the novel unless Summer participates in it or observes it.

Often in a first-person narrative, the narrator is the principal character and main focus of interest for the reader, in which case he or she is sometimes referred to as a central narrator. But this is not always the case. The narrator's purpose may be to tell the story of another character, not himself, in which case he is sometimes called a peripheral narrator. Which kind of narrator is telling the story is often apparent at the beginning of the novel. In Hatter Fox...