Third-person Point of View

The point of view describes the perspective from which the story is told, while structure is the way the author sets up the plot of the story. These qualities are linked in Mystic River. Lehane uses a third-person omniscient point of view, allowing readers to see every character and action from an all-knowing perspective. This allows the reader insight into characters' motives and thoughts. Lehane uses this technique to create a structure of shifting perspectives. Mystic River is told in brief episodes that move between the characters and their thread of the story.

Inner Monologue

Conversation between characters is called dialogue, while a character's thought process is an inner monologue. Lehane uses a significant amount of revealing dialogue between characters in Mystic River, but also discloses Sean's, Dave's, and Jimmy's innermost thoughts and motivations through their internal voices. The characters do not talk to themselves...