Point of View

The story is written in the past tense and the third person. Geoffrey Betton is the point-of-view character, meaning the reader has direct access to Betton’s thoughts, feelings, and observations. However, the story subtly highlights occasional discrepancies between Betton’s words, actions, thoughts, and feelings. For example, at first, Betton appears to have become quite frustrated with his fame. He yearns for his previous notoriety. Those emotions appear to be fairly genuine, but Betton soon begins to struggle with conflicting emotions. Notably, when his second novel gains fairly little attention and is generally disliked by critics and readers, Betton finds himself craving the approbation and attention that he received for his first novel. These disparities showcase how a person’s self-perceptions may conflict with their own deeper desires.

Vyse is the other central character, and although the story never inhabits his perspective directly, his...