Point of View

This novel is told from the point of view of a third-person omniscient narrator. In Chapter 1, for instance, the narrator reports Clara’s thoughts: “Oh, no, no, no, thought Clara Morrow as she walked toward the closed doors” (1). Later, in Chapter 4, the narrator records Gamache’s thoughts: “The Chief waited. He could see the struggle in Peter and Gamache let the silence stretch on. Better to wait a few minutes for the full truth than push him and risk getting only half” (49). Beauvoir is another character whose thoughts and emotions the narrator knows and conveys to his reader: “Beauvoir closed his eyes. And then he did remember. Last night. Seeing the video over and over, as though for the first time. Seeing himself hit. / And Gamache leaving. Turning his back. Leaving him to die alone” (300-301).

The third-person narration works well because the novel is...