Point of View

Confession Club is told exclusively from a third-person omniscient point of view, while the consciousnesses of the two protagonists, Iris and John, are privileged in that their narrations include their personal reflections and memories as part of the novel's exposition and not simple revealed through dialogue. As the only male central character, John's perspective is unique in that most of his inner life as depicted in flashbacks to his tour in Vietnam, his doomed marriage, and fearful childhood with a violent, domineering father and doting mother.

Yet, although John is plagued by his unresolved trauma in a way that clouds his view of what is best for him, when John comes to Mason, the narrator relates John's good impressions of the town and its folk, and his point of view becomes more reflective of the town's benevolent radiance. For as troubled as John is, he...