Point of View

The Casual Vacancy is written in the third-person and omniscient perspective. Nearly all of the characters have a scene, chapter, or part that is written from their perspective, so that the reader can hear their thoughts and internal feelings, and how the world around them is perceived. Though this method was popular in turn-of-the-century literature, it has fallen out of fashion. One advantage to the third-person and omniscient perspective is that the author has the ability to create real empathy and understanding for all of the characters. Even Rowling's most detested characters have feelings, motives, and also forgivable faults.

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Though the perspective changes frequently, sometimes divided only by a paragraph break, there are a few main characters: Andrew Price, Samantha Mollison, Gavin, Sukhvinder, Kay Bawden and Krystal Weedon. Consequently, these characters are also the easiest to sympathize with, although they are often at odds with each...