Point of View

This story is told from the first-person point of view of Mike. He tells the story of his crime of seducing and then arranging Ellie’s death so that he could inherit her money. It is not until he returns home and sees Ellie’s ghost that he realizes how evil he is and that he could have been happy living with her. In his story, he tells the build-up to his murder of Greta, the woman who suggested to him that he should kill Ellie as if he does not know that anything is wrong. He does not tell his readers about his part in Ellie’s death or the fact he knew Greta before he met Ellie until the end of the novel.

Language and Meaning

Because this novel is set in England, it uses the English vernacular. Money is described in terms...