The Nine Tailors: Changes Rung on an Old Theme in Two Short Touches and Two Full Peals Style

The Nine Tailors: Changes Rung on an Old Theme in Two Short Touches and Two Full Peals Style

Point of View

The Nine Tailors is told using omniscient third person narration. Frequently, the author takes the reader inside a character's thoughts. These inner thoughts, although told in the third person, usually stay in character. At one point, this third person narrative is presented as a stream-of-consciousness passage, where one can see every stray thought flitting through Lord Peter's brain as he listens to the funeral service for the mystery man, hearing the bell tolling and puzzling out the mystery. Several characters are chosen for the author to "step inside", with the most common ones being Lord Peter, Mr. Blundell, Hilary Thorpe, and occasionally Mrs. Venables. At other times, especially during descriptions of the countryside, the third-person narrative uses less of the "angel on the shoulder" technique and more of the "eye of God" technique, able to see the whole countryside in detail and give broad details.