Susan Sontag Writing Styles in The Way We Live Now

This Study Guide consists of approximately 42 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Way We Live Now.
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Susan Sontag Writing Styles in The Way We Live Now

This Study Guide consists of approximately 42 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Way We Live Now.
This section contains 574 words
(approx. 2 pages at 400 words per page)
Buy The Way We Live Now Study Guide

Point of View

The story's point of view is the most striking stylistic element of Sontag's story. It is told in the third person, through the voices of a large group of friends as they share information about a friend who has AIDS. No one character's perspective dominates the narration and the large number of characters creates a kaleidoscope effect. Within a single sentence, the perspective often shifts several times. The characters frequently disagree with each other and one of them, Quentin, objects to the constant references to the group as "we."

However, the experience forges a collective identity. The many individual voices that make up the group create a constantly shifting point of view, but the collective identity that they share lends the multiple points of view a certain unity. The fact that the friends are speaking to each other is more important than which particular friend is...

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This section contains 574 words
(approx. 2 pages at 400 words per page)
Buy The Way We Live Now Study Guide
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The Way We Live Now from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.