Point of View

The story is written in first person from the perspective of Caitlin. This is an extremely limited perspective and is appropriate to the story. Caitlin's take on what happens is important in that it is Caitlin's life that come apart over the course of the story line. For example, it is related early on that Cass runs away but the reader knows only what Caitlin knows about the situation—that Cass left a present for Caitlin and a note for her parents. Cass's motivation and her later admissions regarding the pressures that led her to this decision are not revealed until Caitlin comes to understand them. This limited perspective is also vital in that Caitlin does not know what motivates Rogerson to his fits of violence, other than what she has seen of his own abusive father. Caitlin's lack of understanding of Rogerson's motivations and...