Point of View

The narrative is written from the first person subjective point of view, that of its central character, William Masen. Aspects of the point of view are therefore, and unavoidably, defined by his personality and background - a certain intellectualized distance of perspective (he's a scientist by profession), a certain pompousness of tone (he's got more education than his family and many of the people around him), and above all a certain middle-class flavor to his morality. This is perhaps more significant than it might be in other narratives because he is also British, because the British class-system is strictly defined and upheld, and because the British middle class, to make a very broad generalization, takes itself, its rules and safeties and behaviors, very seriously. In other words, a member of the British middle class is highly likely to place questions of morality and propriety high on...