The Orchard Keeper | Style

The Orchard Keeper Style

Point of View

The book is narrated in the third-person perspective. Generally speaking, a given section of the book follows only one character and the narrator's knowledge is limited to the character's perspective. As a result, the important ironies in the book are never made explicit; it is up to the reader to make those kinds of connections.

One feature of the narration that will be immediately noticeable to the reader is how McCarthy often makes the identity of the characters obscure. He will often write several paragraphs with only personal pronouns and may never provide their referent. It is never completely unclear who is doing what, though, as the reader can at least figure out who is who from certain contextual clues. There is certainly a distinct purpose for this obscurity, as ignorance is one of the main motifs throughout the story's plot. For example, the story's crucial irony is the fact...
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