Point of View

Memory of Water is written from the main character Noria’s first person point of view. This means that the entirety of the narrative is filtered through Noria’s distinct manner of seeing, perceiving, and interacting with the world around her. The reader’s understanding of the narrative world is therefore dependent upon and dictated by Noria’s lens and voice. Writing the novel from the main character’s first person perspective also allows the author to particularize and humanize her overarching thematic concerns. This means that Itäranta’s explorations regarding autonomy, loss, and change are lodged within and embodied by Noria’s distinct first person consciousness and narration.

Because Noria is writing her story in the final days and hours of her life, her narration employs a double-I effect. This means that Noria is writing from her perspective in the narrative present about...