Point of View

Murphy uses a third person omniscient narrator in Correspondents. This narrative stance allows Murphy to span great lengths of time in the novel, starting in 1912 and narrating up to the present day. The narrative stance also allows an in-depth look at the varied lives and perspectives in the novel in a way that is not compromised by the subject position of a first-person narrator. The third person omniscient narrator is able to tell the stories of both Iraqis and Americans with ease in the novel.

The omniscient narrator moves in most closely to the perspectives of Rita Khoury and Nabil al-Jumaili and spends most of the novel telling their stories. While the third person stance effectively renders the feelings and experiences of Rita, it also allows for enough distance to tell the story chronologically and in an understandable way even when Rita is experiencing chaos...