Point of View

The novel is written from an omniscient third person point of view. This narrative stance grants the reader access to the intimate thoughts, feelings, and experiences of all five of the novel's main characters: Graham, Annie, Frieda, Sarah, and Lucas. While some chapters focus on one character's perspective, other chapters combine the vantages of all the characters at once. The third person perspective point of view also enacts the characters' feelings of detachment from themselves. All five members of the family experience sensations of alienation from their true selves. Unable to access or convey the depth of their emotional considerations, they cannot tell their stories in their own words, or from their own first person vantages. The third person perspective also allows Graham, Annie, Frieda, Sarah, and Lucas to share the narrative. The author uses this omniscient voice to unite them, even when they are...