Point of View

This story is told from an omniscient third person point of view. The omniscient point of view allows the author to tell a complete story of what is happening instead of focusing on one character or one character’s point of view. The story is told without bias but it is clear from the way the characters are described which ones are the villains and which ones are the heroes. The omniscient point of view allows the narrator to describe the thoughts, actions, and motivations of characters in Moscow’s SVR, like Zyuganov, as well as the ones in America’s CIA offices, like Benford. The narrator also describes the motivations and thoughts of characters like Angevine, who decides to sell secrets to the Russians because he is so angry that he was passed over for a promotion.

Language and Meaning

Because this is a...