Point of View

Brie Spangler tells her novel Beast in the first-person limited-omniscient narrative mode from the point of view of main character, Dylan Ingvarsson. This is done for at least two reasons. First, Dylan is a very introverted, very private kid who keeps his thoughts and feelings to himself as routine mocking and bullying destroy his confidence and cause him to shy away from the public. Even JP and Dylan’s mom do not know all of Dylan’s inmost thoughts and feelings – but the reader is given privileged access to Dylan that no one else has by being swept up into Dylan’s personal narrative. This gives the reader unique insight into Dylan’s evolution as a character. Second, the things Dylan is experiencing – from his physical nature to his dating of a transgendered girl – are things that can only truly be understood by the words...