Point of View

The point of view in Paradise of the Blind is from Hang in the first person perspective. Hang is telling her story when she is an adult living in Russia. While she is telling her story she is making a reluctant journey to visit her uncle whom she dislikes. It is on her train ride that she dips back into remembered reveries of her childhood and her eventual trip to Russia. She is telling her own coming-of-age story. As the story progresses the reveries are chronological and begin to catch up with the present time—with the past and present converging at the end of the novel. Memories are woven throughout as her journey on the train reminds her of different moments in her life.

Setting

The present day setting is mid-seventies Russia where Hang has been sent to work as an “exported worker”. She...