Point of View

"Old Mortality" and "Pale Horse, Pale Rider" are seen primarily through Miranda's third-person point of view, which sometimes shifts to first-person stream-of consciousness. In "Old Mortality," Miranda feels like the wonderful experiences of others are explained to her, so that she can almost understand why the old people remember the past so fondly. To Miranda's perception, she is still waiting for the chance to experience life for herself. As the story jumps through Miranda's life, her perceptions and feelings change, and the tone of the story goes along with Miranda's development. Miranda has a moment of epiphany when she understands that she can choose to behave like a grown-up. "Miranda, seeing Maria from the height of her fourteen years suddenly joining with their father to laugh at her, made an instant decision and laughed with them at herself" (Old Mortality, Part Two, pg. 60.) When Miranda is...