Point of View

The story’s narration is written in the past tense and the third person, almost solely from Norah’s perspective. The story’s emotional arc is centered around Norah’s personal ordeals as related to her time in the facility. Although the story does not generally give a direct accounting of Norah’s emotional states, the story encouraged the reader to empathize with Norah through the detailed descriptions of the physical and mental torture that Norah undergoes at the facility. The partial emotional distance of the narration may also reflect Norah’s personal resilience, combined with a possible sense of resignation, acceptance, or numbness in the face of her horrific, three-year ordeal. This resignation can be seen, for example, in her decision not to repeatedly beg her parents to remove her form the facility.

The narrative occasionally investigates the perspectives of Norah’s parents as...