Point of View

The Black Pearl is told in the first person past tense, from the point of view of the protagonist, Ramun Salazar. The only events related in the story are those that Ramun directly experiences. Little background information is included, and the reader knows nothing of Ramun's earlier life, his schooling or even the exact number of siblings that he has.

This point of view allows the reader to understand Ramun's changing opinions of the Manta Diablo, from a childhood bogeyman, to an Indian superstition, to the devil incarnate and back to merely a large sea creature in a rational universe.

Much of the information that Ramun possesses comes from his grandfather, a well-educated man. From his grandfather, Ramun has learned that giant mantas eat shrimp and crabs and may weigh two or three tons. That information was considered correct in 1961, when The Black Pearl was published...