Point of View

The Silence is told from a third-person omniscient point of view. The narrator freely floats from setting to setting and reveals the inner thoughts and perceptions of characters. Some of the characters are more transparent than others. For the majority of the novel, the narrator most closely aligns with Diane’s thoughts and perceptions, however this may simply be a function of Diane’s character being the most perceptive and reflective character in the novel. Overall, the narrator very rarely explains the meaning, or the why, of anything, and instead mostly relates actions, thoughts and recounts dialogue. There are a few examples of the narrator sharing his or her own observations. These are rare but important contributions. In the first chapter, the narrator explains how air travel affects Jim and Tessa’s communication: “Here, in the air, much of what the couple said to each...