Point of View

The Robber Bride is approached from a historical point of view. History professor Tony serves as the overall narrator, although Charis and Roz, in turn, provide their personal accounts of Zenia as well. Tony gathers their three stories together in an attempt to create a historical chronicle of Zenia's life. The key to understanding the point of view in The Robber Bride is Tony's belief that the dead are in the hands of the living. As a historian, Tony acknowledges that no matter how carefully one reconstructs history, the dead cannot speak for themselves. All history, then, is both arbitrary and subjective. The living may find meaning from studying history, but Tony's belief is that any such meaning is necessarily skewed by the lens of the viewer.

Although it is Tony's perspective which dominates the tale, the author advises the reader that Tony's perspective is subjective...