Narrator and point of view

The short story “Karma” by Khushwant Singh is told by a third-person omniscient narrator. The story is mainly told through the perspectives of the two main characters - Sir Mohan Lal and Lachmi. We also get a brief view of the two soldiers' thoughts towards the end of the story.

The point of view of the two main characters is also shown through dialogue, for example when Lachmi tells the coolie about herself: “ ‘I am only a native woman. I can’t understand English and don’t know their ways, so I keep to my zenana interclass.’ ” (p. 179, l. 29-31)

The narrator is generally not explicit about what happens in the story. While he describes the characters and the events in detail, he does not comment further on the implications of the characters...