Point of View

Each of these stories features different characters. Each is told by a different narrator. For instance, the stories “Bettering Myself” and “A Dark and Winding Road” are told by first-person narrators. In these stories, the narrators are given names, Miss Mooney and Charles respectively, giving the reader the sense that they are reading the story of a specific, unique person. This feeling of reading the story of a specific person contrasts with the stories written by unnamed first-person narrators. These include stories like “The Locked Room” and “Slumming.” Because the narrators are never given a name, they seem somewhat disconnected from their reader. These narrators could be anyone, not a specific individual.

Some of Moshfegh’s stories feature a third-person narrator. These third-person narrators generally focus on one specific character. The story “Mr. Wu” is an example of this third-person narration. This narrator focuses only...