Point of View

Throughout the novel, Li employs the first-person perspective in order to craft the narrative illusion that Agnès herself is the author of The Book of Goose. In the opening pages of the novel, Agnès learns that her friend, Fabienne, has died in childbirth. This loss prompts Agnès to return to writing; she considers that “it is not Fabienne’s ghost that has licked the nib of my pen clean, or opened the notebook to this fresh page, but sometimes one person’s death is another person’s parole paper. I may not have gained full freedom, but I am free enough” (9). Here, the character of Agnès exerts authorial claim over the very “page” (9) that the reader encounters. The first-person perspective blurs the distinction between Agnès (the fictional author) and Li (the extratextual author). By utilizing the first-person point of view...