Point of View

The novel is narrated from the first person subjective point of view, that of its central character, Walter Starbuck. Starbuck is in his eighties, an aspect of his character and identity (i.e., his point of view) that can be seen as manifesting in the book's sometimes rambling, often stream of consciousness, frequently contemplative narrative style. It's the point of view of a man who seems to be resigned to both what his life has been and what it's about to become, a point of view somehow both wise and bewildered, heavily ironic and disarmingly frank, self-aware and quaintly naïve - or perhaps naively quaint. Another important aspect of Starbuck's character that defines point of view is his relative lack of an individualized personality. As previously discussed, he lives most of his life in reaction to what other people see of him, think of him...