Point of View

With the exception of the introduction and the final chapter in the second part of the novel, Brian Selznick tells "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" from the third-person limited omniscient point of view. The narrator, as it turns out, is Hugo himself, telling a story through the workings of an automaton he has crafted to tell his own story, as though he were an outsider to the events that transpired in his life. The novel is told in limited-omniscience in order to create suspense and build up mysteries which must then be solved. The reader only discovers, learns, and understands things as Hugo comes into the possession of such knowledge, making the suspense and mystery possible. The introduction and final chapter are told in the first-person perspective, from the point of view of Hugo himself, writing through his automaton. This is done so readers know...