Perspective

The story was written in first person entirely from the perspective of the author, Riva Minsky. Like all stories of first person, the reader must be aware that the author's perspective is subject to her personal objectives. Riva said that her three younger brothers were willing to give up anything in order to make life better for Riva and for their family. She told about their sacrifices and their insistence that she hold to her hope for a better future. She hardly mentions her own hardships or sacrifices at all. She told of taking a job braiding rugs so that she could stay home with her sick brother and of continuing that job when her health was so poor that she was bedridden. But she glossed over these sacrifices, focusing instead on the efforts of her brothers. It seems likely that this is because all three of her...