Point of View

Ralph is the consistent narrator, the teller of all of the stories in the book. Since he is describing events from his own life, the reader is often brought directly into Ralph's mind as he describes his innermost thoughts, dreams, and feelings. Ralph occasionally acknowledges the reader's presence and his own role as storyteller more directly, as in the first chapter when he reunites with Flick and then says, "I will now lightly pass over the ensuing sickening scene of boyhood companions meeting after years of elapsed time. Back-slappings, hollerings, and other classical maneuvers were performed. I told him why I had come back..."

Although most of the stories are written in the first person, occasionally Ralph uses the second person form to refer to "the rest of us," especially when discussing themes such as the four requisite moments of Truth in a person's life. This...