Narrator and point of view

“Debbie and Julie” by Doris Lessing is a third-person narration conveyed using the point of view of the main character, Julie.

The narrator has unlimited access to Julie’s thoughts, memories, and flashbacks: “…remembering all the feasts she had had with Debbie, the pizzas that arrived all hours of the day and night…” (p. 103, ll. 12-14)

However, because the narrator only uses Julie’s point of view this also implies that he/she has limited knowledge of the other characters and the way the events unfold. For instance, we do not find out what happened to Julie’s baby until Julie finds out from a TV news report: “Hot waves of jealousy went through Julie when she saw how the nurse smiled down at the little face seen briefly by Julie in the torchlight…” (p. 107, ll. 9-11)

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