Point of View

What Jamie Saw by Carolyn Coman is written in the third-person narrative, limited omniscient. The story is told for the most part from eight-year-old Jamie's point of view. By using this approach, the author is able to poignantly portray the tender feelings and confusions of a child who had been subjected to abuse and who had witnessed the potential brutal injury of his baby sister. The reader is privy to a child's thoughts and emotions and his struggle to find a safe place after a life-changing and threatening event.

When a friend advised Jamie's mother not to live in a remote area because she and kids would be "sitting ducks", the youngster didn't understand what "ducks" had to do with where they lived. In incidents such as these, the author is able to show the confusion of a child who hears bits and pieces of conversations...