Incident at Hawk's Hill | Style

Incident at Hawk's Hill Style

Point of View

Incident at Hawk's Hill is told in third person past tense with an omnipotent point of view. This rather remote perspective allows Eckert to paint a sweeping historical account of the natural history of Manitoba in the prologue. It also allows the author to include information from a wide range of viewpoints. The narrative at times dips into the minds of the female badger, Ben, William MacDonald, George Burton and Ben's mother.

This construction creates a sense of a complete natural universe outside humans that Ben is aware of. This alternate reality is not accessible to other people. Thus, Ben's "handicap" also confers a special power to understand and appreciate animals.

The omnipotent point of view creates more emotional distance than a first-person narrative, or a novel with one or two viewpoints. Due to the highly emotional nature of Eckert's content, including the killing of several animals, an attack by...
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