Narrator and point of view

The short story “The Third Dumpster” by Gish Jen is narrated in the past tense by a third-person narrator. 

The narrator is reliable because he or she appears to recount the events as they happen. The narrator’s credibility is not compromised in any way and the reader’s understanding of the text is not impaired.

The narrator is subjective. Even though he or she tells the story from a third-person point of view, the narrator generally shares some of the characters’ thoughts and opinions and can be subjective. For example, the narrator notes that the house is challenging to renovate, agreeing with Morehouse’s observation about the walls: “See these walls? Morehouse had said. And he was right” (ll. 31-32). Moreover, the narrator also seems to be critical of some of the characters’ actions: “Goodwin was dangerous with a sledgehammer, especially to himself” (ll. 49-50).

The narration mainly follows Goodwin’s point of view: “How Goodwin wished he had said that!” (l. 166). However, the narrator is able to enter into the mind of other characters and explore their wish...