Point of View

"Debbie and Julie" opens with the image of Julie looking in the mirror and closes with her private thoughts as she drifts off to sleep, suggesting that the story is centrally concerned with Julie's consciousness and self-perception. It is narrated from a third-person point of view. The narrator is not a participant in the events described but has a point of view closely aligned with that of Julie, with full access to her inner thoughts and feelings. This is described in literary terms as limited omniscience. The narrator's omniscience or "all-knowingness" is limited because it does not extend beyond Julie's consciousness. For example, readers aren't given access to Julie's father's experience of her homecoming, only Julie's perceptions of his experience.

Structure

"Debbie and Julie" concerns extreme changes taking place in the protagonist's life and in her outlook, and its plot reflects these changes. Julie is a...