Narrator and point of view

The story “The Man Who Loved Flowers” by Stephen King is a third-person narrative with multiple points of view.

The narrator is outside the plot, which focuses on the young man, and follows him like a camera on a movie set: “The young man crossed Sixty-third Street, walking with a bounce in his step and that same half-smile on his lips.” (p. 175, ll. 21-22); “The young man passed the flower-stand and the sound of the bad news faded” (p. 176, ll. 17-18). This has the effect of the narrator mapping the man’s whereabouts and recording other people’s reactions to him.

The narrator has insight into all the characters’ thoughts and feelings and uses their points of view. For instance, the narrator knows exactly what the old lady is thinking while looking at the young man: “… the old woman found herself thinking with a moment's sweet nostalgia that in spring anyone can be beauti...