Point of View

The story is written from the first-person perspective of the narrator, who remains unnamed throughout the story. This point of view helps foster a sense of intimacy with the narrator as she shares her worries and concerns. It also creates dramatic irony in the story, as readers are privy to the narrator's thoughts that she does not share out loud. This perspective makes readers aware of the narrator's feelings of sadness, loneliness, and abandonment, and immerses them in her critiques and judgments about Kamala. Readers will undoubtedly feel sympathy for the narrator and may even feel contemptuous toward Kamala themselves. However, the memory of the narrator's husband helps diffuse some of this tension, as he serves as the narrator's – and the reader's – reminder that the narrator's situation at Malliga Homes is circumstantial. In the form of a memory, the narrator's late husband essentially keeps the...