Narrator and point of view

The short story “The Decline of the West” by Hanif Kureishi is narrated in the past tense by an unknown third-person narrator. The dialogue, however, is in the present tense.

The narrator’s point of view is limited because it only offers insight about Mike’s state of mind and follows the plot as he sees and experiences it. The narrator presents Mike’s emotions after he gets fired, shows his wishes and desires (ll. 1-3), describes his concerns (ll. 86-87), and talks about his memories (l. 41) and actions (l. 91).

The other characters are mostly presented through their actions and words: “Billy, who Mike wished wouldn’t grow up, but wanted to suspend at this age for ever, reiterated, ‘Stop arguing and tell me whether we’re definitely going to get my guitar on Saturday!’ ” (ll. 142-144). Here, we can see Billy’s behaviour, but only Mike’s thoughts are being described by the narrator. There is no insight about Billy’s thoughts. However, there are some instances...