Point of View

Deacon King Kong is narrated by an omniscient third-person narrator, with the point of view of various characters being alternatively centered so the reader can have access to their thoughts, emotions, and memories. The most frequent POV characters are Sportcoat, Deems, and the Elephant. However, many other characters, major and minor alike, take up the point of view throughout the novel. Jet, Sister Gee, Potts, and Earl make up the rest of the novel’s points of view. The narrative structure notably shifts depending on which character is taking over the point of view. For example, when the focus is on Sportcoat, the shooting is never explicitly referenced, showing Sportcoat’s trouble remembering it and his active denial and suppression of the memory itself. Jet and Potts, being police officers, have their narratives focusing on tangible, specific things and facts that they see and hear...