Point of View

The story is told from the third person, limited point of view - that is, from the perspective of protagonist Ida. The term "limited" refers to the fact that the narrative explores only her feelings, her experiences, and her interpretations of those experiences, without providing similar and/or equal interpretation to the experiences of the other characters. In other words, the narrative and thematic focus is entirely on Ida, with considerations of both incident and theme being filtered from the position of her personal context. She drives the narrative in the same way as she drives her father's Model T.

In terms of the book's thematic point of view, and as previously discussed, virtually everything about the narrative is geared to and/or defined by its contention that education is both essential and valuable. Here it's important to note the relationship between the narrative and thematic...