Point of View

The Silence of the Girls is written predominantly from the first-person narrative perspective of Briseis, Trojan wife of King Mynes. This intimate point-of-view offers a look into the thoughts and feelings of Briseis throughout her internment in the Greek compound and is, therefore, important for conveying the experiences of Trojan women enslaved by Greek warriors. By writing from the first-person perspective of a female narrator, Barker finally gives Trojan women the undivided attention their stories deserve.

Briseis is an honest, cynical, and rational narrator, but her biased struggle to look beyond Achilles’ violent exterior initially prevents her from sympathizing with his suffering. Only through stories Patroclus shares about Achilles’ childhood can Briseis begin to understand but never fully forgive Achilles for his murder of her family, destruction of her city, and often inconsiderate behavior towards her personally.

Substantial sections of the text are expositional and...