Point of View

The point of view of The Widows of Malabar Hill is third person limited. Readers are able to get into the thoughts of Perveen, but other characters are understood through their actions and words. The world is seen through Perveen’s eyes and discerned through her thought processes. For example, when the newspaper obituary omitted the names of Omar Farids’ wives and daughters, the text reads, “had they been left out on the obituary because they were considered unimportant . . . or because the Times editor thought the details of a philanthropic Indian businessman’s polygamy would cast a negative aspect” (19)? Though not noted directly as Perveen’s thoughts, it becomes clear in context that Perveen’s internal questions, judgments, and observations are the only ones available to readers. As too often the case in a human’s life, our thoughts can overcome us, creating scenarios and...