Point of View

The novel is told in third-person present-tense narration, but it is told strictly from Simón’s perspective. Every event that the narrative relays directly is something that Simón directly observes, and everything that the narrative relays secondhand is information that Simón has become aware of through secondhand sources. Because Simón is the main point-of-view character, the drama of the novel centers around Simón’s struggle to mentor Davíd, protect Davíd from dangerous influences, and decide whether or not he (Simón) truly is the best person to act as Davíd’s main guiding influence. In many ways, Davíd is the central character because he is the object of so much focus from those around him. However, if Davíd were also the point-of-view character, the reader would be deprived of Simón’s many insights into...