Point of View

The point of view is third person. The main character is Father Tim, therefore most of the novel is seen through his eyes. However, the author also moves into the minds of other townspeople from time to time, allowing the reader to see how the townspeople feel about Father Tim and the things that are happening in the town around them. The point of view has some elements of the omniscient point of view, but it is limited in that the point of view tends to have some distance from the characters, allowing them to keep some things private until the author is ready to reveal these things to the reader. For example, Father Tim decides to buy the rectory toward the end of the novel, but the reader does not learn that this is his intention until after the purchase has been made.

The point...