"A Thief in the Village" begins with a story told by a girl whose storytelling has been praised by an English teacher. It was a story told to her by her father, and she writes it down at her teacher's request. Having her story come first, by way of introducing the main story, serves three important purposes. First, it tells us that the story is from the past; it is her father's story from when he was a boy, and the Jamaica depicted in it must be understood as the Jamaica of a generation ago. Matters such as public transport may today be more modern than in the story, and the village may be not be so isolated as it was then. Second, it tells us that although the story may be a work of fiction, the author Berry wants us to think of its settings...