payment page
The narrator uses third-person limited point of view. Readers have access to Seth’s thoughts and feelings alone. We see the story’s events, hear what is said, and know other characters, at least in part, from Seth’s perspective. We can only infer what other characters think and feel from what Seth observes of their behavior.
This point of view is especially effective in the story because, like Seth, readers begin with one impression of Adam, and, as the story progresses, that impression changes. At first, Adam appears to be a tough guy, although the narrator provides objective hints, such as how he smokes, that this view may be inaccurate. Over the course of the story, as the narrator reveals Seth’s increasingly ambivalent feelings, readers are likely to feel the same ambivalence. Adam, Seth begins to suspect, is dangerous. At the story’s end, Seth does not state how his feelings toward Adam have changed, but readers can infer that he has concluded that Adam is a fraud, and we are likely to agree with Seth’s view.
The limited perspective also adds to the story’s suspense and provides dramatic irony. For example, when the black car exits the highway and drives up behind the boys, readers see it, but Seth does not. Then, during the fight, Seth cannot see Adam, but neither can readers. Like Seth, readers are likely to wonder where he is and what he is doing. Even at the story’s conclusion, readers do not know with certainty that Adam was not being held at knifepoint, although we’re likely to conclude that he was not.
