Point of View

Fanny Fern uses the third person omniscient point of view in Ruth Hall. She takes the reader into the minds of the various characters in multiple locations while still maintaining an idea that the reader is a separate entity who is observing what is going on rather than being part of the action.

For example, in Chapter XIII, when Mrs. Hall is snooping through Ruth and Harry's house trying to find fault with Ruth's housekeeping, the reader is set apart, watching what Mrs. Hall is doing and even taunting her to open the china cabinet. The all-knowing narrator already knows that there will be no evidence in the cabinet and teases the old lady from afar as she looks for clues.

Another good example of the use of the third person omniscient is after Daisy dies. In chapter XXIII, the third person omniscient point of view...