Point of View

The narrative unfolds in the third person. Pennyfeather is front and center as the “object” to which life happens, incapable of exercising any control. Hence the third person is the most appropriate. The reader, although not omniscient, is able to see the ramifications of the action from this viewpoint. There are no soliloquies or monologues performed by Paul as might be expected from a more thinking person. However, he is the frequent recipient of such discourses from others who serve as the voice of the author.

Setting

The action occurs in various settings. It opens in the quadrangle of Scone College, with Pennyfeather’s humiliating assault. It moves to London, returning several times as our hero transits through the metropolis. A large section of the narrative occurs in Llanabba Castle in North Wales. Mrs. Beste-Chetwynde’s invitation takes Pennyfeather to the ancestral home of King...