Point of View

The story is narrated in the first person, who readers can assume is Magda. Because of the first-person narrative, the story reads as if it has been written specifically for the reader, almost as if the author were writing a letter. The only time the first-person narration is altered is in chapter twelve, when the reader is privy to several actual letters, supposedly written by one character to another. However, even in the letters, of course, the point of view remains first person.

With the first-person narration, the story has a feel of a documentary, giving the plot of the story more authenticity. The narrator sounds as if she is merely relating events that have happened to her, and there is no reason to doubt her. The disadvantage of using the first-person narrator is that the reader has no access to the thoughts of all the...