Point of View

The novel is told from the point of view of both the narrator and Raif Efendi. The introduction of Raif through the point of view of the narrator in the opening section of the novel serves to build suspense for the introduction of the diary later on. The narrator’s recollections of Raif inform the reader that he is someone who had a profound effect on the narrator, when he reveals in the opening line of the novel that: “Of all the people I have chanced upon in life, there is no one who has left a greater impression” than Raif (1).

However, it is not until the end of the novel, and the end of Raif’s diary, that the reader comes to understand why Raif’s story is so significant for the narrator. In the section told from the narrator’s perspective, he reveals...