Point of View

“The Man Who Walked on the Moon” is written from the first-person point of view of the unnamed main character. Thus, the narrator’s internal experiences dictate the short story’s action, tension, conflict, and stakes, as the narrator is relaying his experiences in his own words. Throughout his account, the narrator employs a steady, declarative narrative tone. His unwavering confidence in himself and his social blindness therefore bleed into his manner of speaking and narrating. The author establishes these facets of the narrator’s perspective and voice within the opening paragraphs of the short story. “I, too,” the narrator begins his account, “was once an astronaut. As you see me sitting here, in this modest café with its distant glimpse of Copacabana Beach, you probably assume that I am a man of few achievements” (1105). In spite of the narrator’s outwardly fragile and unkempt...