Point of View

William Nicholson tells his novel "The Wind Singer" from the third-person omniscient. This is done for several reasons. Principally, the vast scope of characters, places, and events, require a third-person omniscient narrator to conduct the plot. This allows effortless transitions between characters and different places, as well as simultaneous events occurring in polar places. Secondarily, there are events and conversations between people that a limited-omniscient, first-person narrator would not be privy to, but are nevertheless crucial to the reader for the direction of the plot (such as Maslo Inch's plotting to break the spirit of the Hath family). Thirdly, in order to engage the reader and keep the plot moving along with the fast pace of the adventure itself, Nicholson uses third person to avoid the oftentimes distracting nature and slowness that can be consistent with first-person narration, where much emphasis is spent on thought and...