Point of View

The story is told from the third person omniscient point of view – that is, from the perspective of a narrator who is able to see into, and comment on, the inner lives and experiences of all the characters. The central narrative perspective is that of protagonist Nnu Ego, whose experiences and attitudes are the central focus of the story: it begins with her and ends with her, and the chapters between that beginning and ending deal primarily with her life. There are also, however, several sections in the narrative where the inner life and outer experiences of other characters take focus: this is what takes the central narrative point of view into the omniscient. Notable examples of this include the sections that describe the experiences of Nnu Ego’s father, Agbadi (Chapter2); her second husband, Nnaife (Chapter 12); and her son Oshia (the incident with the...