Point of View

The Murderer's Ape is written in first person from the limited view of Sally Jones. Sally is a gorilla, and she relates the story by typing it on a typewriter. She begins by saying that she hopes writing it all down will help her end her nightmares. This is the first piece of foreshadowing, other than the novel's title. As is typical of a first-person novel, the reader gets only the information Sally has. However, Sally is writing this from a future time based on her memories. That means she is able to fill in details that she discovered out of order. For example, she does not know how Inspector Umbelino finds all the information to convict a fellow officer and free Henry until much later. Inspector Umbelino later tells Sally all about his investigation. She reveals that information to the reader.

There are some...