Point of View

Irene Nemirovsky writes her novel from an omnipotent point of view, allowing the reader to see into each character's thinking and conversations through dialogue and prose. We are able to look through the eyes of Jean-Marie as he recuperates and observes the farm family, and even through the eyes of the Pericand's cat as he escapes his basket and tastes fresh blood for the first time. She is able to take her readers in and out of different characters' mindsets, as well as their environments, through rich description and meaningful dialogue.

The author puts herself in the minds of her characters and not only lives temporarily as the characters themselves, but also describes them as she sees them, sometimes blatantly and sometimes through implication. An example is the description of Jeanne Michaud's experience of hitting the ground waiting for a bomb to drop. We see the...