Point of View

This novel is told by a narrator from the third person point of view. The narrator has no part in the action of the novel but oversees what is happening. The narrator is omniscient to a degree but his focus seems to center the viewpoints of particular characters during different parts of the novel.

In the first part of the novel, the viewpoint is focused on Holston as he decides to be put out for cleaning, then goes through with his punishment. If it were not for this emphasis on Holston’s thoughts, the reader would not know what a person sent out for cleaning is really seeing and really feeling. It is from Holston that it is learned why people clean, even those who say they won’t.

Until her death at the conclusion of the second part of the novel, the narration is...