Narrator and point of view

The story “Sunday in the Park” by Bel Kaufman is told from the point of view of a third-person narrator who has access to the main character’s thoughts and feelings. The story is told entirely from the woman’s perspective, which means the narrator has limited knowledge of the events.

The other characters are seen through the woman’s point of view, and the narrator makes several assumptions and judgments about them, some of which show bias. For instance, Joe is seen as “about Larry’s age but perhaps ten pounds heavier, a husky little boy with none of Larry’s quickness and sensitivity in his face” (p. 1, ll. 35-37). Similarly, the woman’s dislike and fear of the man on the bench possibly make her perceive him as larger than he is: “He was a big...