Point of View

The author uses an interesting narrator for this novel. He is an unnamed observer of the action in the novel as well as a participant in much of the action. Strangely, though, the author shifts from the direct point of view of the narrator to a more omniscient, impersonal observer from time to time to describe action, which the narrator does not directly observe. Presumably our narrator found out about these episodes from some other source later. The novel itself is a retelling of the events of the town from the narrator's point of view. He often inserts his own opinion of who is to blame for certain events and lets on that he knows what will happen in the future, often with significant foreshadowing.

The narrator is a close friend of Stepan's and a peripheral member of his circle. He is also deeply devoted and...