The Assault

What is the author's style in The Assault by Harry Mulisch?

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The point of view is third person omniscient with a degree of authorial voice. The point of view utilizes the narration of one character whose story is told in a third person voice. Anton Steenwijk is a little boy when the book begins. Anton shares his story with the reader from a point of view that is distant from the events taking place, as though he is looking back on these events from a future point. There are times in the novel in which the author makes comments, such as when he mentions that the German who placed twelve-year-old Anton into the back of a car looked like the Germans popular in movies about the war. The author makes it clear to the reader that Anton grows into maturity and is looking back on these days when the story is written down.

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The Assault