Narration

"Many years after the war Jimmy Cross came to visit me at my home in Massachusetts, and for a full day...." (p. 26)

"You can tell a true war story by the questions you ask." (p. 78)

Throughout this novel, O'Brien uses  First Person Point of View. I find it interesting how, although the entire novel is in 1st person, there are several forms of storytelling O'Brien uses within the 1st person form. For example, in the first example, O'Brien is telling the story, giving description and detail, but the tone is different than that of the second quote. In the second quote, much more emotion is expressed and the phrasing within the passage following it gives less detail and more opinion. Now, looking back at the very first chapter, O'Brien yet again uses another form of point of view. Throughout the first 3 pages of the first chapter, O'Brien uses omniscent point of view. For example, "The things they carried were largely determined by necessity (p. 2). "  In this quote, O'Brien cuts himself off from his fellow soldiers, giving a distanced, yet connected perspective. These different forms of perspective provide sufficient detail while keeping the novel moving and helping the reader to sift through the plentiful information provided by the author.