Point of View

The point of view shifts quite a bit throughout the book. The story is seen through the eyes of various characters, including Mazie, Anna, and Jim. The narration is usually third-person, but often first- or second-person, and sometimes it shifts without warning, so that it does not seem like the perceptions of just one character or narrator. When it is first-person, the character telling the story does not appear to be aware of a narrative flow, but is just living their daily life. When it is second-person, the narrator either treats the reader like just another poor character in the story, or speaks in a stilted manner to the reader, calling attention to the reader's distance from the pain and poverty of the story. Most of the time, the point of view seems to be that of someone who has grown up in the Holbrooks' situation...