Narrator and point of view

Claire Keegan’s “Close to the Water’s Edge” is narrated by a limited third-person narrator. The narrator is limited because he or she knows only what the main character is thinking and feeling and does not have insight into the minds of the other characters. 

The narrator adopts the young man’s point of view on the events: “Another man, in a gold-braided uniform, brings round the car. The millionaire tips him and gets in behind the driver’s seat even though the restaurant is less than a ten-minute walk around the strand.” (p. 146, ll. 29-31). The detail about the restaurant being within walking distance of the building complex indicates the young man’s disapproval at being driven there and, implicitly, of Richard’s lavish lifestyle. The narration al...