Point of View

The short story is written from the third person point of view. Over the course of the short story, the third person narrator’s gaze and attention shift between the boy and the mother and father. At the start of the short story, the narrator centralizes the two-year-old boy’s perspective. Indeed, she opens the story by introducing the narrative world by way of the boy’s perception of it: “Many times over his two years of life, the boy has heard laughter or cries coming from his parent’s bedroom. It’s hard to know how he would react if he ever found out what his parents really do while he’s asleep: watch TV” (3). The second sentence in this opening paragraph indicates that the narrator has access to more information about the narrative world than the little boy. This line therefore foreshadows the...