Narrator and point of view

Eileen Merriman’s short story “I Dare You” is a first-person narration by a narrator with limited knowledge. Jane narrates the events, and she can only share events as she perceives them.

The narrator’s limited knowledge can be observed through the fact that she does not have access to William or Carrie’s point of view or knowledge about events she did not witness. For example, she leaves William and Carrie alone and then wonders if Carrie kissed him: “I wondered if she’s kissed him on the lips. I wondered if she’d opened her mouth.” (ll. 134-135).

The story is split into two parts, which are distinguished from each other by the use of the past tense in the first part and the use of the present tense in the second part. The first part ends as the narrator states: “And then they were gone.” (l. 167); she then begins to narrate in the present t...