Point of View

This novel is narrated from the first-person point of view of Ishraaq, Seema’s unborn baby. Consider the opening sentence of the novel: “My life outside my mother’s womb has just begun” (3). Ishraaq refers to “my” life and “my” mother indicating that he is talking about himself. He is an omniscient narrator because he knows things that happened before he was born. He is also aware of things that are happening between other people when he and Seema are not present.

Ishraaq speaks often directly to his grandmother. In Chapter 35, for instance, he asks: “Grandmother, where are you? What’s keeping you? Please return soon. There’s hope yet: there’s life in us still …” (341). Ishraaq calls out to his grandmother after his mother falls and hits her head on the bedside table, hoping she will come to their rescue. After his death, Ishraaq...