Point of View

Throughout the collection, the narration uses a limited perspective, meaning the narrational perspective is directly filtered through only one character’s perspective at any given time. The narration always uses either the first person or the third person, except in the case of “The Bowl,” which is written in the second person. The limited nature of the perspective is significant to the thematic dynamics of loneliness and bafflement that define many of the stories. For example, in “Loser,” loneliness is an explicit thematic element of the story. In “The Rememberer,” the story is defined by the growing metaphorical distance between Annie and Ben. Even in “Fugue,” when the perspective shifts, the perspective adheres to only one character at a time, highlighting the sense of isolation and disconnection between the characters.

This focus on individual perspectives is also relevant to the book’s exploration of internal...