Point of View

The novel is narrated from the third person past tense point of view, describing events and situations solely from the perspective of its central character and protagonist, twelve year old David. This means that the actions and feelings of other characters are experienced by the reader solely through the lens of David's interpretation - in other words, the reader sees the other characters and their actions as David sees them, considers them, and reacts to them. The main narrative benefit of this point of view is to engage the reader thoroughly and deeply in David's experiences. This takes place on several levels - firstly, in he and the reader sharing the same experiences at the same time. For example, he and the reader both experience his appearance for the first time in Chapter 3 (up to that point, the narrative carefully avoids describing how he looks) while...