Narrator

The unnamed narrator is the story’s primary character, whose biases, emotions, and history heavily shapes readers' perspective of the events that unfold. Readers learn little about the narrator in the way of facts, other than that he is Jewish, lives in South Florida, married Deborah 22 years ago, has a son named Trevor, and considers himself both secular and politically liberal. However, it is clear from his thoughts and dialogue that he is not only secular but somewhat dismissive of Judaism as a religion, especially in its ultra-Orthodox variant as personified by Mark and Lauren. Tellingly, in a story where names hold a great deal of meaning about each character, the narrator remains unnamed throughout. This may reflect his nonchalance about his cultural history, or else his ambiguous and dynamic relationship to religious tradition, both of which are typified in the names of others.

The narrator’s unwillingness...