Point of View

The News from Paraguay is told in the third person. The point of view is mostly that of the main character Ella and her lover Franco. They selfishly see the world revolving around them. Ella's letters (which take on Ella's first-person perspective) show her simple, superficial outlook of her life with Franco. She manages to see the good things around her and revel in them: her beautiful palace, her children and the luxury they live in. Somehow, she is able to either ignore or morally justify the suffering that her husband causes to the people around her. Thousands of people are jailed and killed for no reason. Thousands more starve to death. This does not affect Ella more than momentarily.

Franco's point of view is even more startling than Ella's. The man literally has no sense of right and wrong. He is devoid of conscience or...