Point of View

The story is written from the point of view of the main character retelling the story of his life. Since it is told in first person past tense, the emotions and thoughts of the main character are given to the reader but not those of the other characters. This first person recitation in the past tense gives moments of foreshadowing that are helpful in understanding the tale. For example, when Severian is talking about the trouble he got into when he allowed Thecla to commit suicide the reader is then told that he also set Vodalus free later on. While the freeing of Vodalus is not explained in this book it does help the reader to understand much of what's going on.

The point of view will hinder the reader from time to time. Since the story is written as if someone already knows the time...