Point of View

The story is told by a narrator who is also the author, making the story an autobiographical narrative. The narrator is telling events from his memory, describing what life was like for him as a little boy. Instead of using the word "I," he talks about himself in the third person, as 'the little black boy.' The little black boy is treated more like a character in a story than the narrator's younger self. The narrator also sometimes addresses the reader directly, as well as talking directly to characters and to his répondeurs. It is easier to think of the main character as two different people. One is the adult version, the narrator who is telling us the story. The other is the little black boy, the narrator's younger self who is still naive and learning about the world, and who is unaware that...