Point of View

The Color of Lightning is told from the perspective of a third-person omniscient narrator. The narrator spans the perspectives of many characters, primarily Britt, Samuel, Mary, Jube, and Elizabeth. The narrator can access the present moment and speak directly to the reader, acting as a translator between different historical moments: “The streams ran clearer than they do now” (2). At times, the narrator also directly addresses the reader, pulling the events of the novel closer to the reader’s reality. The narrator claims that Britt looks at Tissoyo’s corpse “in a way we are not allowed to look at people when they are alive,” and that as a Quaker, “if you ask and ask sincerely you will be granted that inner light.” (321, 38).

Using a third-person omniscient narrator allows the reader to engage in each of the perspectives pertinent to the conflict on the western frontier...