Point of View

The story is told from a first-person point of view, probably the author's. Ruark does not reveal until about halfway through the book what the name of the boy is, and when he does make a reference to "Bobby," it becomes apparent that Bobby is Robert Ruark himself. Other details, like the fact that Bobby wants to be a writer some day, indicate that this is autobiographical, but it is never obvious. The revealing of the identity of the narrator goes along with the narrator growing and becoming more aware of the world around him, so it is almost as though he gains the identity as he ages. As a small child, there is no need to identify the narrator as "Bobby" or "Robert Ruark," because to a small child, the entire world revolves around them. It does not even occur to childish Bobby to identify...