Point of View

This novel is told from the point of view of a third-person narrator through a variety of characters of focus including Patricia, Richard, Looksmart, Bheki, Beauty, and John. Higginson divides the chapters of his novel into sections with each section focusing on the thoughts, feelings, emotions, and actions of only one character. These sections are labeled with the name of the character who will be of focus in that section.

The use of a third-person narrator to convey the thoughts and emotions of each character is an ideal way to convey the information he hopes to convey. The intent is to demonstrate how each character remembers and interprets situations differently, making it difficult to determine the “truth” of any particular situation. For instance, even after Beauty tells Looksmart and Patricia that Richard did unchain his dog with the hopes that it would maul and kill...