Point of View

Tom Rob Smith tells his novel “The Secret Speech” in the third person limited-omniscient narrative mode. The third-person narrative mode allows Smith to trace the movements of multiple character sin multiple places, tying together disparate and distant events and actions with a single unifying voice by way of a singular, third person narrator. The limited-omniscience aspect of the narration provides for suspense, urgency, and realism, in that characters in the novel do not know everything that is going on at every moment, and come to learn and discover things only as the reader comes to learn and discover them as well. This also allows Smith to provide contextual detail, vis-à-vis the Communist world, Communist politics, and the effects the Secret Speech has on the Soviet empire.

Language and Meaning

Tom Rob Smith tells his novel “The Secret Speech” in language that is simple and...