Point of View

The novel deploys a third-person point of view throughout its length, but that point of view oscillates between Hằng and LeeRoy's perspectives. This construction allows Lại to deliver a cultural critique of the gap in privilege between their experiences, often juxtaposing their priorities with one another by oscillating between their perspectives. Furthermore, the toggling of perspectives allows Lại to create a more empathetic project, one that contextualizes LeeRoy's indelicate treatment of Hằng through his privileged patterns of thought and also allows her to push more deeply into the psychology behind Hằng's guilt and trauma.

The opening sequence of the novel serves as a powerful example of the kind of critique that Lại hopes to levy through her use of perspective and point of view, as it finds Hằng and LeeRoy traveling toward the same destination at the same...