Point of View

The novel is written from a third person free indirect point of view. In the novel's opening chapter, this third person narrative is limited to Dot Seed's perspective in her final minutes of life. In Chapters 2 through 35, the third person narrator then shifts back and forth between Jeanie and Julius Seed's perspectives. In some of the chapters, the narrative is divided between Jeanie and Julius's lenses, while in others, entire chapters are devoted separately to each twin. In Chapter 2, for example, the narrator remains behind Jeanie's vantage for the opening six pages. In the latter two pages, the narrator shifts outside the cottage, and follows Julius as he travels the "half a mile...through a small wood and then between the hedges of two fields" (13). In Chapter 3, the narrator remains with Julius throughout his visit to the Rawsons. In Chapter 4, the narrator shifts back to...