Point of View

The story is told from the third person omniscient point of view, meaning that the objective narrator describes situations and events from the inner and outer perspective of all the characters ... that is, at least in the work's early stages. For about the first third, the work divides its narrative attention almost equally between Harriet and David, becoming more and more focused on Harriet, and eventually Ben, as the family's experience and/or identity both become more DEFINED by the attitudes and experiences of the two characters. In other words, style reflects substance, context reflects content, and what's going on between the characters is reflective of certain of the work's technical elements. It's important to note, however, what while the narrative offers glimpses into the mind and spirit of all the other characters, at least to some degree, there are no such insights offered into the...