Point of View

This story is told both by a third-person omniscient narrator and a first-person narrator. A third-person omniscient narrator is necessary because this novel covers such a long time frame, from 1933 to 2017. Even though Dot, who served as the point of connection for the community, lived to be 101, she died in 2002 so she would not have been able to serve as a first-person narrator for the entire novel. The action of the novel also is spread over a good deal of physical space. For instance, at one point Bud and Peggy are stationed in Germany. Idgie and Julian live in Florida. Ruthie lives in Atlanta when she is married. It would have been difficult for any one first-person narrator to cover all of those locations. Additionally, the third person omniscient narrator can describe both Ruthie and Mr. Merris’ anguish that Bud is lost, while at the...