Point of View

Though Matigari is a novel written in the third person, it often stays quite close to the perspective of its eponymous protagonist, Matigari. The most telling example of how the novel privileges Matigari’s perspective above those of other people is its use of free indirect discourse, meaning internal dialogue (thoughts) that are not set off from the rest of the text with quotation marks, the way that externalized dialogue is. This technique is only ever used to grant the reader closer insight into Matigari’s thoughts and perspective. Used in this way the technique ensures that Matigari remains the novel’s central focus and its moral center.

Some examples of these techniques include moments like this one in the text, when the narration suddenly shifts from the third-person into free indirect discourse: “He quickened his pace and followed the children and the tractor. His...