Point of View

The novel is told entirely from Askar’s perspective, but the narration occasionally alternates between first-person and second-person narration. The frame of the narrative is 18-year-old Askar’s reflections on his youth and childhood, and thus the narration is written in the past tense. The experiences presented in the novel are entirely from Askar’s perspective, and thus the reader has access to Askar’s specific thoughts, emotions, and observations. Meanwhile, the internal states of the other characters in the novel can only be inferred from Askar’s own observations of those characters. The instances of second-person narration serve to place the reader more directly into Askar’s experiences, while the first-person narration creates the effect of Askar discussing and expositing upon his experiences.

This narrative confinement to Askar’s perspective serves to simulate Askar’s own struggles with his limited perspective regarding the wider...