Point of View

The novel is written from a third person limited point of view. This means that the third person narrator’s narrative access is limited to the protagonist Ray McMillian’s consciousness. The ways in which the narrator describes the narrative world and its stakes is thus dictated by Ray’s character. The ways that Ray sees, responds to, and processes the narrative conflicts bleed into the narrative body throughout the novel. The reader might refer to the opening passage of Chapter 2, “Day 1: Darkness,” by way of example: “The next few hours were a blur, and all that he could remember afterward was how he’d repeatedly opened and closed the violin case. Every time he was absolutely certain—absolutely convinced—that if he opened the case one more time, this time—this time—the violin would be there, glowing, its tiger stripes shimmering like flames...