Point of View

The point of view of Nathan Bright is third-person, and stays in the present tense until he revisits memories that provide context to the reader. Nathan is a quiet man, and the reader is more aware of his state of mind than the rest of his family since his internal processes are the basis of this mystery novel. While Nathan's mental state is questioned by his family, and his skewed moral compass has led him to some bad decisions, it would be too strong to consider him an unreliable narrator. His actions with his ex-father-in-law may have destroyed his reputation in the town, but the audience is compelled to support Nathan since they understand the reasoning behind his decision making. That said, Harper challenges Nathan's reliability as a narrator through his incident with Keith, and moreover with the way he is interpreted by the society...