Narrator and point of view

The excerpt from the novel How to get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid is written in the second person. The second-person point of view uses the pronoun “you”. The use of the second person narration makes the narrator more relatable and sympathetic to the reader. It is also consistent with the title of the novel, which resembles that of a self-help book. Self-help books address the reader directly and give advice. 

Despite the use of second-person narrative, the perspective remains that of the teenage boy who works at the DVD store. This allows the reader access to his thoughts and feelings. For instance:

For the past several months, your one secret indulgence, which you are both deeply guilty about and fiercely committed to, has been the daily purchase of a quarter-liter packet of milk. This consumes ten percent of your salary, the precise amount of raise you neglected to inform your father you received. Per week, your milk habit is also roughly equivalent to the price your employer’s customers are willing to pay for the delivery of one pirated DVD, a fact that alternately angers you in its preposterousness and soothes you by putting your theft from your family into dimini...