Point of View

Etter’s novel Ripe is told through a first person point of view, exclusively through the lens of Cassie, a tech worker living in San Francisco. The author chooses to employ this point of view in order to grant the reader access to Cassie’s internal thoughts and emotions as she attempts to find meaning, navigate depression, and cope with the elitist culture at her job. Throughout the narrative, Cassie’s internal sphere is at odds with the persona she dons to appease others. She tells the reader, “To survive here, I have split myself in two: my true self and my false self. My fake self rises up to take over when the demands are too great” (7). While she smiles affably and fanes enthusiasm for VOYAGER, she feels disconnected from her coworkers and herself. By way of example, when Sasha gives her a porcelain...