Point of View

The novel uses limited third-person and limited first-person narrational modes, meaning the narration is written sometimes in the third person and sometimes in the first person, but the narration only ever conveys one character’s perspective at a time. Chapter breaks mark shifts between character perspectives. Point-of-view characters in the novel include Millie, Colman, Sophie, and various supporting characters such as Edith, Albert Holding, Red McCall, et cetera. Despite the fact that Joss is the central character, his perspective is never directly conveyed, as he is deceased. Instead, his life and perspective is conveyed through the other characters’ memories of him and theories about his life and interiority. In this way, the novel examines how a person’s identity and legacy are constructed by the memories and ideas of other people.

The novel also uses clashing views and perspective to contrast tolerance with the destructive...