Identity

The author has written the novel from the third person limited point of view in order to enact Alex’s haphazard search for a sense of self. This third person narrator has exclusive access to Alex’s consciousness throughout The Guest. The narrator therefore describes and presents the narrative world strictly in accordance with how Alex sees and interacts with it. The author intentionally does not have Alex narrate her account from her first person point of view, as doing so would affect Alex’s realized sense of self. At the start of the novel, Alex is indeed attempting to disassociate from the version of herself she has come to know over the years. Specifically, she is using her relationship with Simon in order to erase her past self and to don a new, fabricated identity. She is confident this plan will save her from the...