Point of View

The story is told from the first-person viewpoint of the narrator. The narrator is a writer, and he knew Charles Strickland at the beginning of Strickland's painting career. Thus, the story only includes information that the narrator himself has access to, and he is an ordinary man, with no divine knowledge. The narrator is elusive about his own identity, revealing little about his own character, except through descriptions of his interactions with others. He hints that he is English writer George Crabbe, and notes that Crabbe has fallen into obscurity. Crabbe is often in the dark about what is going on, even when he is in the midst of the action. In addition, he does not even like Strickland, nor think he is a genius, so he does not try to find out more while Strickland is alive.

Several times, Crabbe interviews someone else connected with...