Narrator and point of view

The short story “The Middle Children” by Rayda Jacobs is a third-person narration using the protagonist’s point of view. The narrator is outside the events but he/she relies on Sabah’s perspective to convey the events: “The other girl was like herself. Not white, not black, but the offspring of many races: the neurotic middle child of a dysfunctional womb.” (p. 22, ll. 15-16)

The narrator knows what Sabah feels and thinks, but has limited knowledge on the other characters: “But could Stephanie escape who she was? Could you take a born-again pill without your Ovaltine and wake up someone else?” (p. 23, ll. 31-32)

Consequently, readers do not know what will happen to Sabah or what the other characters think or intend. Readers are just as surpri...