Point of View

The novel is narrated in third person point of view. The focus of each chapter, however, shifts. At times, the point of view is limited to a single character for the chapter. Later in the novel, however, the third-person perspective becomes more omniscient, as it jumps between the perspectives and focus of various characters within a single chapter.

Because of the third person point of view focused through individual characters, the reader is able to see how multiple people can view the same event or the same person in very different ways. Because the point of view remains consistently third person, the novel remains unified.

The novel also uses point of view to explore the idea of how perspective shapes identity and reality. In different chapters, the third person narrator will take on other voices and tones: gossip, secrets, fellow Irishmen. At times the point...