Narrator and point of view

Kate Nivison’s “Just below the Surface” is a first-person narration by the main character, Indrani. The setting and events are only presented through her perspective:

It seemed to scratch and scrabble for a while, then it would stop, only to start again, and I was now thinking that this wasn’t anything mechanical like the fridge plying up. It sounded live. Suddenly I sat up in bed. It was mice! (p. 128, ll. 31-34)

The other characters’ thoughts and feelings are presented through the narrator’s interpretation, and it may or may not be correct: “I knew what she was thinking straight away. What are Asians doing in nice houses like those? Turning them into slums by the sound of it.” (p. 130, ll. 15-17). As the narration repeatedly highlights the narrator’s fearfulness at being treated with prejudice (p. 129, ll. 17-18), the Indrani might misinterpret certain remarks as signs of prejudice. However, Barry's fi...