Hoot

The most common viewpoint in fiction is the “third-person omniscient perspective,” the viewpoint of an all-seeing narrator. Hook uses a different approach, “third-person limited perspective,” in which the story is told by a narrator from the viewpoint of one of the characters. Hook takes this approach a step further by sharing the perspective across three characters.

With few exceptions, the story is told, in turn, from the points of view of Roy, Curly, and Delinko. Roy is the central protagonist; Curly represents the interests of the Mother Paula corporation and serves as the main antagonist by proxy; and Delinko, who stands in for the city of Coconut Cove, is caught in the middle. When we are with Roy, we see the story from his youthful viewpoint; when we are with Curly, we see things through his impatient eyes; and when we are with Delinko, we see the events as he sees them, simply and without much intelligence.

Because the tale is told sequentially from their viewpoints, this unique use of the third-person limited perspective naturally gives prominence to Roy, Curly, and Delinko, who effectively become the three most important characters.