Point of View

The author writes the novel from Jonas Woldemariam's first person point of view. Jonas, therefore, has sole narrative authority. The reader is initially compelled to trust his version of each and every storied event and remembrance. However, this relationship between narrator and audience, becomes increasingly complicated the more Jonas admits to his compulsive lying habits. If Jonas is incapable of telling the truth at work and in his marriage, the reader begins to wonder how much of his narrative rendering she can believe. Jonas seems, therefore, unreliable as both a protagonist and a storyteller. The reader, then, begins looking to Jonas's companions and surroundings for evidence of the truth.

These blurry boundaries between fiction and reality compel the reader's engagement in the author's subtextual thematic interests, particularly those regarding both the dangers and powers of any artist's reimagining and recollection. As the novel evolves, the...