What is the narrator point of view in the novel, Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights?

The story is told by the narrator, who takes a perspective from about 1000 years in the future. The narrator usually speaks objectively, informing the reader of events without commentary. Though sometimes he is more opinionated, and there are certainly instances when his comments are questionable in their reliability. Rushdie’s use of humor complicates the narrator’s reliability. The narrator speaks, for instance, of Mr Geronimo’s many small ailments and discomforts that have come with age. And within the same paragraph comments, “A man of his type, big, fit, strong, shrugged off niggles and got on with his day” (21). If this statement is intended to invoke irony, one would need to read the novel very carefully not to miss any of the narrator’s sarcasm. Rushdie writes such that this statement flows into the descriptions of Mr Geronimo’s ailments.

The other perspectives taken are those of characters. Many passages detail characters’ thoughts at great length, such as Dunia’s reflection on opening wormholes during the War. “During the time of separation, she often dreamed about reuniting the Duniazát, releasing their powers and building a better world with their help” (257). There is even a difference in punctuation between some chapters, in which one character’s quotations are not punctuated at all. This highlights their perspective as the primary one for that chapter, but the perspective varies between chapters.