The Narrator

The unnamed narrator of this novel is an in-utero fetus, living in the womb of Trudy Cairncross. The narrator is incredibly wise for his age and can make observations regarding the outside world using inferences and his listening skills.

It is very clear that he cares for his father and wishes for him to not be killed by Trudy and Claude. His relationship with his mother is much different. Sometimes the narrator states that he loves his mother to an almost unnatural extent, while at other points in the novel, it seems like he wants to kill Trudy. This seems to coincide with his struggle between wanting to exist and not wanting to live in the world ravaged by war, climate change, and poverty.

The narrator also mirrors the titular character in the William Shakespeare play, Hamlet. This is evident through the fact that his mother and...