Point of View

The Pat Hobby stories are written in the third person point of view. The stories normally remain with only one narrator, Pat Hobby. However, a few stories tell parts of the plot from the eyes of minor characters in order to show the reader things that cannot be seen from Pat's viewpoint. Pat's point of view is often unreliable, leaving the reader with the impression that Pat is an honest talent who has been misunderstood by those around him until the final sentences of the story when the truth of Pat's laziness and scheming can be seen.

The point of view in these stories work because they give the reader a close look at the stories from Pat's point of view. Since Pat's point of view is often unreliable, the reader is occasionally surprised to see how things turn out for Pat. Pat is delusional, believing...