Point of View

The novel is written from the main character Libertie Sampson's first person point of view. By writing the novel from her main character's first person perspective, the author grants Libertie narrative authority. The first person narration also offers the reader an intimate entrance into Libertie's distinct experience. Although the narrative frequently references the sociopolitical conflicts of 1860s America, because Libertie is a young girl for the majority of the novel, she does not entirely understand these dynamics. Therefore, Libertie's point of view is not unlike that of the contemporary American citizen, probing the proverbial pages of the past for answers to her nation's history. The reader might refer to Libertie's early interpretations of freedom by way of example. When she visits her father's grave, Libertie says that she imagines "that new place he'd journeyed to in death: Freedom . . . I imagined Freedom was a cool, dark...