Point of View

The story is narrated in a first person point of view by Achakka. She is a Brahmin in the village of Kanthapura. Throughout the story, she reveals little about her character, but the reader is still able to track her progression from being skeptical of Moorthy to full acceptance and devotion to his cause. The book reads as a kind of oral history of the village of Kanthapura. As an elderly woman in the village, Achakka is very familiar with the people of Kanthapura. However, she also has her own opinions regarding the people of the village, and these are voiced occasionally throughout the book. For example, when she describes Bhatta as "money meant Bhatta -- always smiling, always ready, always friendly" (20). Her intimate knowledge of the villagers allows the reader to track dramatic character changes in the book; perhaps most notably, the changes that...