Point of View

The perspective of the novel is somewhat unorthodox in the way that it utilizes Arnie Mesnikoff as the narrator. Throughout the novel, Arnie is narrating Cantor’s story. Therefore, one could argue that the narrative is Arnie’s perspective on Cantor’s story. However, the vast majority of the novel simply reads as if it were utilizing a conventional third-person limited narrator, and since the story of the novel is Cantor’s own story, one could also view the narrative as being told from Cantor’s perspective. One would also have to make the caveat that Arnie’s narration of his meeting with Cantor is from Arnie’s perspective, but this caveat would be necessary in very little of the overall narrative.

One of the potential functions of Arnie acting as narrator for Cantor’s story is to reinforce the notion of history as an...