Point of View

Lives of Girls and Women is told in first-person perspective, narrated by Del Jordan, the central character in the "stories" that together make up the whole of the book. The voice changes, however, from the beginning of the book through the end. In some cases, the point of view loops back upon itself. For example, Del (like many young women) decides for herself that a life of marriage, children and domesticity is not for her. Later, she finds herself heading toward exactly that life and finding it to be precisely what she has wanted.

The omniscient point of view gives the reader a view of the larger reality of Del's life, too. Readers learn her views not only about her own world and the changes that occur to her own body and around her, but also about the wider world of religion, society, one's station in...