Point of View

The book’s primary narrative point of view is third person, limited. It focuses entirely on the experiences of central character and protagonist Dorothy, with portrayals of other characters defined in terms of how Dorothy sees, experiences, and interprets them. On the one hand, this tight focus on Dorothy seems intended to draw the reader closely and intimately into her life. On the other hand, the intensity of this focus comes across as almost obsessive, with the narrative spending significant portions of text portraying, and considering the meaning of, the smallest and most mundane of gestures, or behaviors.

This focus on minutiae, on the small details of Dorothy’s everyday life, is at the core of one of the book’s thematic points of view. This is its consideration of the various ways that Dorothy struggles to find some kind of meaning within her deep...