Point of View

The majority of the novel is written in the first person from Otto’s perspective. Otto’s narrative voice is casual and conversational, occasionally addressing the reader directly. The reader’s understanding of the plot is limited to what Otto senses. Much of Xavier’s exploration of the train without Otto is not evident in the novel. Otto’s confusion and disorientation are translated to the reader through Otto’s own feelings and reflections on the events. Otto himself is an unreliable narrator, as noted by Xavier, who writes in his letter to Ava that Otto’s “abuse of linguistic function is almost demonic”, and that “You’d be stupid to take anything Otto Shin says at face value” (206).

There are two major exceptions to this perspective. The first is Xavier’s childhood train story in Chapter 5. Although this is ostensibly from Otto’s perspective...