Point of View

The point of view of "The Last Letter Home" is third person, omniscient and reliable. This is evidenced by the fact that the narrator knows the thoughts, feelings, beliefs and even prayers of the individual characters being focused on at that particular point in the narrative, usually Karl or Kristina. This point of view is important because the focus of the novel is on the hardships faced by the immigrants, and providing the characters' thoughts and feelings allows reader to better empathize with the difficulties they endured and why certain aspects of immigration were particularly trying.

The novel is written using mostly exposition with approximately a quarter of the story being told through dialogue. This is effective as it allows the narrator to fully explore each character's thoughts and feeling, in addition to providing the author with the opportunity to present background information about the Civil...