Narration

"The Fat Girl" is told chronologically and covers a period of seventeen years, which is unusual for a short story. However, Dubus deftly handles this span of time and gives readers a full sense of Louise's life.

Steve Yarborough considers "The Fat Girl" a "compressed novel"—or a story in which years or even decades are compressed into one paragraph. Dubus alternates between summary sections—still filled with vivid details—and scene sections. The summary sections allow Dubus to give the reader all the necessary information, while the shorter scenes hone in on key points in Louise's life.

Point of View

The point of view of "The Fat Girl" is the third-person omniscient perspective. This means that the narration relates what Louise, as well as some of the other characters, think and feel. The primary focus, however, is on Louise.

The story never explicitly expresses...