The story is told from the first person point of view of the narrator, whose name is never revealed. This technique allows the author to share with the reader all the inner turmoil the young man is experiencing related to his father's death, his lack of social standing among his schoolmates and his imminent departure from the island.

The story, which is set on the island of Barbados, contains minimal dialogue, but the local dialect is very obvious in the character of Miss Brewster when she chastises the young man for not visiting his father until now. "And you is such a poor-great, high-school educated bastard that you not acting too proud to come in here, because it is a almshouse and not a private ward, to see your own father! And you didn' even have the presence o' mind to bring along a orange...