Point of View

This novel is presented in first person, but the narrator changes with every chapter. Black is the most frequent narrator. Shekure, the murderer and Enishte are all also frequent narrators. The illustrations, as given voice by the storyteller, also appear as narrators. The different narrators are like individual dabs of paint in a painting, each providing one piece of a bigger picture. The effect is something like looking at a picture of the world in the novel. The point of view is not quite omniscient, but because the point of view sometimes shifts within one scene, it is nearly omniscient, showing different character's emotions for the same situation. This point of view also provides two different looks at the afterlife, which provide important reinforcement of the religious significance of the novel.

The novel includes long passages of dialog. The main themes are presented as discussions between...