Narrator and point of view

The narrator in “Joe” by Peter Carey addresses the readers directly and builds a connection with them: “That is so like us, you have no idea.” (p. 133, ll. 1-2); “If you’ve ever seen anything like that you won’t easily forget it, believe me.” (p. 134, ll. 33-34)

His point of view is one of limited knowledge. He only knows what he finds out or observes; he does not know what the other characters think. This is why he makes an assumption about how Joe raped Shirley, but he cannot know for sure how it happened: “I mean we share a back fence. So he probably heard us singing songs for his birthday, while he did her.” (p. 135, ll. 1-2)

The narrator’s reliability is also questionable, as he does not seem to understand the gravity of rape, but talks of it as if it was a natural thing:

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