Point of View

The novel and both short stories are told from the third-person, limited, point of view. The narrator in each case is entirely effaced, unnamed and completely reliable. Hornblower, the main character, is the protagonist and central figure in all the scenes in the text. The narrator divulges internal thoughts of the protagonist, but generally not of other characters. The majority of the story is told through action and dialogue; revealed thoughts are frequent but generally are used for characterization rather than plot development.

The third-person point of view allows Hornblower to be presented in a highly-sympathetic manner. For example, the narrative structure portrays a young Hornblower's doubts about inadvertently assisting McCool as intense but controlled. The narrative also allows portrayal of Hornblower's life situations as difficult but not pathetic. For example, in Hornblower's Temptation, Hornblower's disgust at facing a hanging is presented as a moral objection...