Week 9: Alejandra 

“Female Trouble” by Antonya Nelson is told from a third person point of view. The narrator describes in detail many of McBride’s opinions and emotions such as the way he feels about the different women in his life, “McBride vaguely remembered this about her, how she pulled you into her private chamber, made you feel that only you and she lived there…” (440). I’m perplexed as to the reason for not using a first person point of view. We get so much information about his observations and feelings. What are the advantages? One conflicting moment for me is on page 439, “She wore a large white nightgown with ruffles and lace, matronly on her though it would have seemed sexy and Victorian on someone else, someone skinny, anorexic, or strung out like a junkie, like the woman at the hospital, like Daisy.” There is no indication that this is what McBride had said or thought, yet at moments like this the narrator’s descriptions feel like they belong to McBride. McBride is confused by his own feelings so I guess that’s an advantage to the omniscient narrator. The narrator is able to provide some clarification about McBride’s feelings and on occasion the feelings of other characters. Overall, the voice of the narrator is very interesting...