Point of View

"The Evening the Morning and the Night" is written from Lynn's first person point of view. By writing the story from Lynn's vantage point, the author is able to fully access and inhabit the consciousness of an individual living with Duryea-Gode disease. Lynn's experience with DGD is driven by fear and impulsiveness. Much of her narration, therefore, is driven by these same overpowering emotions. Lynn's first person point of view acts as a guide to Butler's unfamiliar fictional world while infusing the narrative with mystery and tension. Because Lynn is a native of this narrative realm and is intimate with DGD, she does not immediately explain the exact parameters of the disease. For example, at the story's start, she mentions her desire for "independence" and her stint at "a Duryea-Gode disease ward" (401). However, she blatantly refuses to speak of her experience there, saying: "I won't...