The Journalist and the Murderer | Style

The Journalist and the Murderer Style

Point of View

Malcolm uses the first-person point of view throughout the book, which renders her a constant presence in the book. However, she complicates her position at the end of the book. In the afterword, Malcolm states that the journalist's—and her own— "I" character is "almost pure invention." She considers the "I" to function as a dispassionate narrator, one that can be as impartial as the third-person voice, which is much more widely used in nonfiction texts. Despite her claims, it is difficult at times to distinguish the narrative "I" from the Malcolm "I"; at one point she even makes certain to distinguish the two by referring to "(the actual) I." The ' T' puts forth strong assertions, such as the one that opens her work, but is this "I" simply expressing a narrative opinion or Malcolm's opinion? When Malcolm admits to long being troubled by the "unhealthiness of the journalist-subject relationship,"...
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