Point of View

The novel is written in the limited third-person with a narrator who exclusively follows Guylain’s inner thoughts and feelings as the novel progresses. This establishes Guylain as the primary protagonist and highlights his dramatic character arc from the lesser developments on the non-protagonists. It also allows the reader to trace the exact, often unconscious development of Guylain’s attitude towards life, which evolves from a deep depression to an energetic optimism. However, half-way through the novel Julie’s journal is introduced as a book within a book. This mise en abyme literary device introduces an entirely separate first-person narrative that only merges with the central story-line at the novel’s close. It is important that Julie writes in the first person because this adds a level of intimacy to Guylain’s experience of reading her unfiltered thoughts. It also allows her personality to be...