Point of View

The novel is told in present tense by a third-person limited narrator that has complete access to all of Malone’s thoughts and feelings. This narrative choice serves to make Malone a likable character, despite all of his flaws and corruption. Because the reader has access to his thoughts, the reader is forced to see Malone as a human being and not a machine, and his plight and his suffering feel real.

Language and Meaning

The language of the novel is often stark, harsh, and brutal, which reflects the world of the story that the language is depicting, which is not a pretty place. One of the first descriptions of the setting reads as follows: “Now it’s before dawn and already hot, One of those summers when God the landlord refuses to turn the heat down or the air conditioning on—the city edgy...