Citing E. M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel, Gary D. Cox reminds us of Lawrence's prophetic role and says there is a "sense of ultimacy" in Lawrence's work.

While Lawrence's message is "fundamentally at odds" with other prophetic writers like Dostoevsky, Cox finds similarity in their prophetic tone of voice, and he goes on to note their divergent, differently motivated departures from traditional Christianity, but also the intense fascination Lawrence had with the famous Russian author. While Cox finds the most Dostoevsky influence in Women in Love, certainly this prophetic tone is everywhere in The Rainbow, where all the characters are struggling toward or resisting, with varying degrees of consciousness, some ultimate important change, which as Forster points out, is not all that well defined for the reader.

The voice telling the story, while seemingly that of an omniscient narrator, changes position in relation to characters and events...