Narrator and point of view

The events in Hanif Kureishi’s short story “Weddings and Beheadings” are told from the point of view of a first-person narrator, who is also the main character. This is seen from the start, through the use of the first-person pronoun “I”: “I have gathered the equipment together and now I am waiting for them to arrive.” (p. 207, ll. 1-2)

The narrator is an aspiring filmmaker, who is currently forced to film beheadings by a group of extremists. The short story is a monologue, a confession that the narrator makes to the reader, while he is waiting for “the thugs” (p. 208, l. 1.) to arrive and take him to another execution. The narrator recounts his job in explicit detail, at the same time giving the reader access to some of his thoughts.

Throughout the story, the narr...