Narrator and point of view
“Every Good Boy” by David Nicholls is a first-person account of past events in the life of a boy-narrator. Given that the story is told in retrospect, we may assume that, at the time of the narration, the storyteller is much older. However, in the short story, he uses his point of view from the age of nine, from the time of the main events.
“The kid’s going to play it. You’re going to learn, aren’t you, maestro?”
At the age of nine I was remarkable for being entirely without ability. (ll. 8-9)
This is also suggested by the way the piano is described from a child’s perspective as a “black lacquered monster” (l. 2) or “satanic” (l. 162).
Using his perspective as a young boy helps the narrator give a humorous note to the short story and make reade...