The Postcard

Point of view, or perspective, is the proximity to the story the characters possess relative to the reader. In The Postcard, the author uses multiple points of view to achieve the sensation of the rapid passing of time as well as to detach readers from some characters while ingratiating them to others.

In Book 1, the characters who will soon die are narrated in the distant third-person perspective. They were not able to tell their own stories, because each of them met their end at Auschwitz. Thus, their lives were pieced together after the fact by relatives who did not exist when they lived. Their story is, by default, one of extreme distance. This distance is felt most notably with Nachman and Esther, whom the reader sees in glimpses. Their own deaths are not reported, but presumed as the story progresses without them. Ephraïm and Emma are distant characters as well, though readers are given their thoughts and emotions at times. Their children, Noémie and Jacques, are touched on in more personal detail, including insights from journals and personal writings. Finally, Lélia is seen through the protagonist, who is the first and only character in first-person point of view.