Structure

Eyal Press writes his book Beautiful Souls in the first-person omniscient perspective from his own point of view, and in which the reader is directly spoken to throughout. Press not only recounts the events and actions of the lives of the people he details in his books, but frequently references himself, and sometimes offers his personal opinion on things, such as the subject of disputed lands in Israel. Press writes in the first-person because his book is essentially a personal quest he has undertaken to determine why ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances make moral choices, no matter how difficult times may be. Press’s investigation includes personal reflections and accounts of time spent with those he is interviewing, and includes his own thoughts on the Israeli land situation because he himself is an Israeli who moved to America. The very personal, first-person nature of Press’s narrative...