Point of View and Narration

"A Horse and Two Goats" is narrated in the third person by an omniscient narrator who reports clearly and objectively on the characters' words, actions, and memories, but who does not comment or judge. The narrator describes Kritam's erosion and Muni's decline dispassionately, without regret; conversations between Muni and his wife, or Muni and the shopman, are told from Muni's perspective, but with his calm acceptance of whatever fate brings him. This restraint is important to the understated humor of the dialogue between Muni and the American; Narayan trusts the reader to interpret the absurd conversation without his having to say through his narrator, "Notice that this response has nothing to do with the question asked," or "See the irony in this remark." When the two men leave the place where they met, each taking away something of value, neither has been accused by...