Point of View

The story is written in first person by Stephen Chan. The entire story is a journal of Stephen's life, thoughts, and dreams. The first person point of view works well in this instance because it allows Stephen to make discoveries and learn details on his own. That's important because he comes to know specific people better through those discoveries. The story would likely have been less effective had it been from an omniscient point of view or even third person. Stephen's journal begins on his trip to Tarumi and ends on his trip back to Hong Kong more than a year later. The fact that he tells only of that period of time is also effective to this particular point of view, especially since he takes the opportunity to share memories and knowledge of previous events. There is plenty of dialog to hold the reader's interest...