Point of View

The story is told from the third-person limited point of view – that is, from the perspective of central character and protagonist Commander George Krause. The events of the story are portrayed and considered as he experiences them, with the other characters being considered and portrayed solely in relation to Krause. This point of view makes for a close, focused relationship between the reader and the story – that is, both the events of the plot and the contemplations that trigger, or are triggered by, those events. There is a clear sense that as the novel progresses, the reader is in the middle of the action with Krause as he makes moment-by-moment decisions, goes through both surges of memory and the ocean, and becomes increasingly fatigued as he endures several forms of suffering in the name of duty.

Considerations of duty are, in fact, at the heart...