Point of View

The novel is written in first person from a limited perspective. A limited perspective typically means the reader knows only what that character knows, when that character has the information. In this case, the perspective is affected by the fact that Grady is writing the story from some 70 years in the future. He is recounting the events that took place when he was only five years old. The reader has an obligation to examine the narrator's honesty, and his ability to be honest. One factor that naturally affects that in this story is that Grady is recalling events that happened 70 years earlier, but also that he was only five when these events occurred. Some readers may feel he cannot possibly remember some of the details he includes in the narrative. Many of these are minor, such as the color of a shirt worn by a...