What is the narrator point of view in the novel, What Happened to Rachel Riley?

This novel is not told through strict chronological narration. Rather, it is told through narration with the addition of numerous documents, text threads, and podcast transcripts. The narration is all told from the first person point of view of the protagonist, Anna Hunt. This point of view serves the novel well because the main premise of the novel is that Anna wants to find out what happened to Rachel in school last year. All of the other students at the school know what happened, so if Swinarksi would have focused on other points of view as well, the reader would have more information than the protagonist, and the reader would not be able to follow along with the mystery as it unfolds. By the end of the novel, Anna has pieced together all that has happened, and as such, the reader understands what happened both before Anna arrived and what continues to happen.

The first person point of view also allows the reader to better understand Anna’s emotions. This is important for numerous reasons. First, Anna’s belief in the injustice of Rachel’s ostracism demonstrates that people should take Rachel’s situation seriously even though most of the characters do not. Another reason it is important is because it gives more gravity towards the harassment that Anna herself experiences. All along, she wants people to stand up for themselves and stand up for others. When her own bra strap is snapped, however, she is too overwhelmed to respond. She does not know what to do, and she goes and cries in the bathroom. Because the reader knows what Anna values and how other people before her responded, the first person point of view allows the reader to see the specific motivations and psychological struggles that come along with her being a victim. The reader can feel her shame even when that shame is misplaced.