Point of View

The narrative point of view is one of the many interesting features of the novel Human Croquet. On the surface, the narrative is presented by the character Isobel who introduces herself at the opening of the book. In describing her role as narrator, Isobel says, "I am Isobel Fairfax, I am the alpha and omega of narrators (I am omniscient) and I know the beginning and end". This seems to say that Isobel is the narrator throughout, but in the matter of point of view it is not so simple.

The chapters that take place in the present, 1960, are told in the first person by Isobel, and the narrative perspective seems simple and straightforward. In other chapters, the setting is in the past, often when Isobel was too young to perceive events in a coherent manner or often many years before Isobel was born. These chapters...