Points of View

Mildred D. Taylor writes The Road to Memphis in a first-person narrative style. Cassie Logan tells the story exclusively from her point of view. This style brings in a greater level of personality to her character than the omniscient narrator style, as the reader sees all other characters through Cassie's eyes. Her deepest feelings come through when she falls for Solomon, and her terror is palatable when she is caught trying to use the gas station restroom.

Cassie explains how other characters feel or think about the situations from their speech and behaviors. She puts her father on a pedestal, which is not uncommon among daughters. She has a deep respect for her older brother, Stacey. Tension sometimes builds between herself, her mother and grandmother, as Cassie begins to assert her young adulthood while still being a child. When any member of the group is harassed...