Narrator and point of view

The short story “DHSS” by Doris Lessing is told from the point of view of a third-person narrator. The narrator is limited to the information that can be gathered from witnessing the characters’ reactions and interactions with each other: “Several times she seemed about to approach somebody who had just come out of the Underground…” (p. 62, ll. 3-4). Also, we never learn how many children the woman has because she does not share that information. We also do not know the names of the two characters, because neither of them introduces themselves. The narrator also seems to be objective, as he or she offers no opinion about the character’s interactions.

The narrator can guess the characters’ motivations and thought process by observing their actions: “It was evident he needed to go on telling her, but she shook her head to say she wasn’t interested.” (p. 64,...