Point of View

"Fever" does not maintain any one consistent point of view. Much of the story is told from Allen's perspective, both from the first-person and third-person point of view; it is he who describes the dead bodies, the transformed city, and Dr. Rush's efforts and experiments. Allen is the character that readers most closely identify with. He appears to be knowledgeable and sincere in his desire to help fever victims and in his concern for chronicling life before and during the epidemic. Because he is a person of authority and respect in his community and because he shows such care for the victims of the disease, Allen's opinions and reflections are generally trusted.

However, many other voices, some of them not easily identifiable, emerge to give a more complete story and to broaden the story's field of inquiry. These other voices, which include persons who range throughout...