Point of View

The story is presented in third person from Gerald's perspective. This means that the reader is limited to knowing only what Gerald knows. For example, when Monique arrives at Aunt Queen's on Gerald's birthday, she has a daughter with her. Gerald only then learns that Aunt Queen had known about the child since her birth but that she was unsuccessful in her attempt to get custody of the little girl. These lapses in information are not a real problem because the reader learns about them as they become relevant to Gerald's life. Typically, a limited perspective means that the reader may have a biased view of the events. In this case, that doesn't seem to be true. For example, Gerald admits to sometimes drinking beer with the boys he spends time with. The fact that there are repeated tragedies in Gerald's life makes the perspective even...