Narrator and point of view

The short story is a first-person narration. One of the main characters, Lee, is also the narrator of the events: “I WAS SEVENTEEN when the tide went out. I felt it in my lungs. At the height of its run, my breath snared in my chest. I clutched my school shirt, gasped.” (ll. 1-2).

Using a first-person narrator gives readers access to his thoughts and feelings, making Lee’s character more relatable. We can empathise with his situation and feelings: “Through my jumper I could feel the roughness of his hand. I looked away from the sea, as though my unease was casual, irrelevant.” (ll. 79-81).

Part of the story is told in retrospect, which means the narrator already knows how some of the events unfold.

At times, the narrator takes on the perspective of the collective character of th...