Point of View

An American Marriage presents a story told from three different perspectives: Roy, a man falsely accused; Celestial, Roy’s wife; and Andre, Roy’s best friend and Celestial’s future husband. The three perspectives are crucial to the novel because they reinforce the theme that, as Andre puts it, “Obviously there are more sides to this story than just mine and hers” (102). As the novel reminds the reader, there are at least three versions of the story, and even more if include some of the opinionated parents, like Franklin, Big Roy and Carlos. This multiplicity of perspectives helps the reader refrain from judging any one character too harshly. Neither Celestial nor Roy is wholly right in their approach to their marriage. Both present their perspectives and both have compelling reasons for making the choices that they do.

This multiplicity of perspectives is presented through the...