Point of View

The point of view of "First Love" is third person in the frame story, but it is first person in the narrative that Vladimir Petrovich tells about his first love. The first person point of view of the narrative is limited and somewhat reliable. The fact that the point of view is limited can be seen by the fact that Vladimir can only tell his listeners about his own thoughts and feelings and the things that he observes. The reliability of the point of view is complex as Vladimir can only report upon what he knows at the time. While something may appear to be a certain way at one point in the narrative, Vladimir may reveal it to be different later when he learns the truth of the matter.

The point of view is important to this novel since the narrative is being told to...