Point of View

The novel is narrated in the third-person past by an omniscient narrator. The narrator is able to dip in and out of any character’s head at will, but the majority of time in the story is spent with the narrator inside Ralph’s head. However, the narrator starts the story with a focus on Keith and his parents: “Keith, the boy in the rumpled shorts and shirt, did not know he was being watched as he entered Room 215 of the Mountain View Inn. Neither did his mother and father, who both looked hot and tired” (1). Here, the narrator uses her omniscience in order to create tension. The reader does not yet know that Keith and his parents are being watched by Ralph the mouse. When the second chapter begins and the narrator zooms into Ralph’s consciousness to watch the Gridleys enter the Mountain...