Point of View

Take My Hand is written from the main character Civil Townsend’s first person point of view. This intimate first person perspective grants the reader access to Civil’s internal world, and therefore to her most private thoughts and vulnerable feelings. Furthermore, Civil uses the direct address throughout the narrative, thus engendering an even more intimate narrative tone. Take My Hand is the product of Civil’s work to process her past and to relay her past experiences to her daughter, Anne. In Part I, Chapter 1, the author introduces these formal aspects when Civil tells Anne, “You know a little about the sisters, about the case that engulfed the country, but you don’t know the whole story. And it is time for me to tell you” (5). Civil then sets out to relay her personal history in her own words to her daughter. Her voice...