Point of View

Second Place gives us M’s first-person point of view. She addresses herself to someone called Jeffers, but the form of her monologue (whether written or spoken) remains unspecified. M has an insistent, almost overbearing narrative voice, with frequent exclamation points imparting a high level of intensity to a slow-moving plot. M’s exclamations (“So much for self-knowledge, Jeffers!”) and appeals (“Can you forgive me for that, Jeffers?”) often serve to trivialize or cast doubt on her point of view, with M effectively making light of her opinions, or soliciting approval for them (10, 14). She is a sharp observer of others, but also a self-scrutinizing narrator, whose introspective and repetitious digressions keep us constantly attuned to her moods and thought processes. The use of direct address ensures the personal, spontaneous tone, but it also shapes and restrains her otherwise rambling thoughts, with M explaining herself for...