Point of View

This novel is told consistently through a third-person omniscient narrator. The narrator’s omniscience is establishing right away in the first line. The novel opens with the statement that, “By now these events are forgotten” (3). The events, it becomes clear, are the arrival of Colonel Drake and the drilling for oil that establishes Bakerton as a town. The narrator is able to state knowingly that no one remembers these early days of Bakerton, and goes on to offer the reader an account of the second-hand memories. This insight identifies the narrator as omniscient and allows the story that follows to present multiple perspectives on the drilling in Bakerton from the many characters involved.

Throughout the novel, the narrator reveals the thoughts, actions, and motives of a variety of characters. The focus of the narration varies, with some chapters featuring a single character and other switching...