Point of View

The point of view of American Dirt is third-person, yet the author often engages multiple perspectives of the events, most frequently those of Lydia and Luca. In order to capture Luca’s eight-year-old perspective Cummins uses language and observations associated with children. For example, she has him note the wonders that only a child would notice such as how the colorful homes “look like LEGOS” (57). Cummins opens the work with Luca’s perspective of the murderous spree to build empathy for those living in violence. On occasion, she invokes second-person when extolling the dangers of the train: "You must match your speed to the train's" (107).

Luca’s juvenile perspective contrasts Lydia’s and underscores her interests as a mother. Lydia looks at all of her choices and decisions through the lens of motherhood. She routinely puts his needs before hers, and frequently reflects that she...