Point of View

The Long Take features a narrator with the third person limited perspective, meaning they only focus on capturing the interior life of one character, and it is narrated in the present tense. In this case, that character is Walker, a veteran recently returned from fighting in World War II and suffering the effects of PTSD. Walker is defined by his reticence, until the end of the book, he refuses to speak about his experiences in the war, but the author provides snippets from his memory and his journal so the reader can gain a greater understanding of his thought process, his fears, and his pain. These are written in first person, which creates a greater intimacy between Walker and the reader. For example, he writes of his continued longing for his girlfriend back in Nova Scotia, Annie MacLeod: “I think of her all the time...