Point of View

"Some Other, Better Otto" is written from a close third person point of view. Throughout the story, the narrator, therefore, resides strictly behind the protagonist Otto's consciousness. This narrative vantage both grants access to Otto's most intimate thoughts and feelings, and enacts the distance he feels from himself. Though Otto shows no qualms about vocalizing his negative opinions and contrary beliefs to those closest to him, he is reluctant to acknowledge and confront the real reasons for his misery. The point of view establishes and inhabits the resistance Otto feels toward productive self-reflection and lasting revelation.

Throughout the narrative, the narrator shifts frequently between depictions of Otto in conversation with others and excavations of his troubled interior. In the passages describing Otto's private thoughts, the narrator absorbs and adopts Otto's beliefs and opinions. For example, at the start of the story, after Otto's dialogue with...