Point of View

Obie is Man Enough is written from the main character Obie’s first person point of view. This means that Obie’s voice guides the entirety of the narrative. The author has allowed Obie to tell his own story in his own words as a way to capture and convey the complexities of his journey towards self-discovery and self-actualization. If the author had written the novel from the third person point of view, for example, Obie’s desire and work to claim who he is without fear and to own his identity with pride would not be as apparent.

Because Obie is still in middle school, his narration is dictated by his age and understanding of the world. Therefore, the way that he responds to, processes, and internalizes the world around him aligns with where he is in his life at the start of the...