Point of View

The novel is divided between two perspectives: that of Beauty, and that of Robin, and each of these characters uses a first-person narrative to tell their stories and describe the events they experience. The fact that Robin and Beauty are so different in so many ways including race, age, and background, means that the narrative takes on two different tones depending on who is telling the story at that particular time.

When Beauty is narrating, the reader is able to step into her mind and understand the events of the novel through the eyes of an oppressed black woman in a racist world where she is seen as inferior. Because the narration is influenced by these political undertones, experiences that the reader may not necessarily be familiar with become real and deep, and even tangible; we enter into a world that might be different than...