Narrator and point of view

The short story “The Stone Boy” by Gina Berriault is told by a third-person narrator. The events are told in retrospect, as indicated by the past tense: “Arnold drew his overalls and raveling gray sweater over his naked body. In the other narrow bed his brother Eugene went on sleeping, undisturbed by the alarm clock's rusty ring.” (p. 1, ll. 1-2)

Throughout the story, the narrator mostly adopts Arnold’s point of view of the events: “Arnold, watching his brother sleeping, felt a peculiar dismay” (p. 1, l. 3). However, the end of the story reveals that the narrator did not share all of Arnold’s feelings with the reader. For instance, when he realizes his  brother is dead, Arnold comes across as emotionless, as he goes and picks peas. Later on, it is revealed that Arnold actually felt terror upon discovering Eugie’s death: “He had expected her to tell him to come in, to...