Point of View

The majority of the story is written in first person from Harper's point of view, which is very limited. The exception are letters from the killer, addressed to his father. These are also limited with the writer limiting his facts, indicating that his "father" knows the facts of the story so that his letters need only provide particular facts. The story is written in chronological order with occasional flashbacks to provide information to the reader. These are done well so that they are not confusing. For example, the story of how Miles was thrown into the flooded fort where he encountered the snake is revealed through a conversation between Harper and Dr. Lenz. In this way, the reader gets insight into Miles' past without interrupting the flow of the story.

It's interesting that there are occasional lapses into past tense though the majority of the story...