Point of View

"Clean, Cleaner, Cleanest" is written from a third-person perspective with limited access to Marie's thoughts. While there is no first-person narration, the story presents Marie's perspective as she reflects on her past thirty years as a motel maid. Thus, readers become acquainted with Marie's personality through the lens of the unnamed narrator. In the first paragraph, for example, the narrator says, "Nobody was allowed to be fully certain about God. And she'd never trusted anybody who claimed to be certain about God. You cannot be confident and faithful at the same time, she thought" (1). Here, as in the rest of the story, Marie's opinions are conveyed through a third party. This perspectival structure is significant when considering the goals of the story: Alexie wants to portray Marie as an exemplar of hard work, kind-heartedness, and dedication. At the same time, however, he wants to use...