Narrator and point of view

The short story “The Girls in Their Summer Dresses” by Irwin Shaw is told by an anonymous third-person narrator. An important element to note here is that the narrator does not offer many details about the way in which the characters are feeling; in fact, we never know what Michael actually thinks when looking at other women or what Frances truly feels regarding her husband.

The narrator relies on dialogue to render the story and functions mainly as an observer. This is reinforced by the matter-of-fact observations, such as “she said” (l. 15), “he said” (l. 16), “Michael asked” (l. 22), or “Frances leaned over” (l. 29). As you have seen, the narrator mainly describes the characters’ gestures and reactions and leaves the characters to unravel their conflict through their dialogue.

The narrator...