Point of View

The majority of this novel is told from the third person point of view of an omniscient narrator. This narrator knows all of the thoughts and emotions of all of the characters. He reports on the actions and thoughts of all of the characters with no emphasis on any particular character. This omniscient narration is important because this narrator is able to follow the actions of a variety of different characters. He can follow Holly in Dayton just as well as he can follow Ralph’s actions in Flint City. A first-person point of view would not have worked for this novel because it would have been too narrow. There is no way a single character could relate everything that happens in the book. A first-person point of view would also give an emphasis on the character chosen to be the narrator and would, perhaps...