Narrator and point of view

Rather unusually, the short story “The Sweet Business” by Mary Griese is narrated in the second person. The second-person point of view uses the pronoun “you”, but this “you” is not aimed at the reader. Instead, the main character is addressing herself, almost as if her mind is racing in the style called stream of consciousness. 

The choice of second-person narration is no coincidence. It has most likely been chosen deliberately to underline how the main character tries to distance herself from the difficult situation she finds herself in. She dislikes having her in-laws stay over and impose their own lifestyle on her, which is so unlike her own. Therefore, she tries to detach herself from the situation in her mind by creating a false distance to it. 

Also, the second-person point of view almost gives the impression that the main character feels like she is watching herself from the outside. This again leads back to her attempt to distance herself from the situation. She does no...