Point of View The first element that I will be writing about is point of view. The story that I am doing this on is There Are No Thieves in This Town by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The point of view in this story is third person omniscient which is when the narrator knows everything about the characters including their thoughts and feelings. It is written in third person because the author does not use I, he uses Ana, Damaso, the Negro, etc. Marquez writes about what the characters are doing and where they are at, “Damaso came back to the room at the crack of dawn. Ana, his wife, six months pregnant, was waiting for him seated on the bed, dressed and with her shoes on.” (Page 77 Par. 1) This shows that Damaso is coming home from robbing the pool hall and his wife, Ana, was waiting up for him worried.
The reason why this story is third person omniscient is because Marquez shows the character’s feelings as well as what they are doing. Some examples of this are: “Damaso realized that his wife wanted to tell him something with her look.” (pg 80 par. 2), “Damaso lit up again. The alcohol was leaving him in concentric waves, and he assumed once more the weight, the volume, and the responsibility of his limbs.”(pg 79 par 2), “Ana felt old and sloppy” (pg 84,par. 1), “In the sudden brightness, Damaso felt discovered, accused, and tried to run.” (pg84 par 8), “She sensed him smoking, breathing like an asthmatic, until the first light of dawn.” (86, 4), “Damaso was so excited.” (88, 2), “Ana realized that he’d been mulling over the idea since dusk.” (88 3), “Ana was exhausted that morning” (93, 3), and “Damaso felt relieved.” (96, 3) All of these quotes show the characters thoughts and emotions. That is why this story is third person omniscient.
Setting
The next element that I will be writing about is setting. The story I will be writing this on is There Are No Thieves in This Town by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I am not exactly sure where the story takes place for sure, however I do know that it is in a country that has pesos. “There were two hundred pesos” (83, 8). Damaso and Ana live in a town where everyone knows everyone so they all trust each other. So when the robbery happens no one knows it is Damaso because they trust him. “There are no thieves in this town. Everybody knows everybody else.” (82, 3) This story is all in the town that Damaso lives in. It takes the reader to Damaso’s house, “The Magazine covers which she herself had cut out and pasted to the walls until they were completely covered with pictures of movie stars were faded and colorless.” (95, 4) This shows us that they did not have very much money. Marquez also shows us that the town the characters live in is very hot. He shows the reader what kinds of things you would find in this town which would be almond trees, Syrians, and canvas awnings and that it is summer, “June,” (84, 7) He explains the town more when Damaso is going the return the pool balls, “The clamor of dogs pursued him to the end of the street, but then there was a ghostly silence. He avoided the sidewalks, trying to escape his own steps, which sounded huge and alien in the sleeping town. He took no precautions until he was in the empty lot at the rear door of the pool hall.” Also when Roque finds out it was Damaso, you can tell that it a townsperson that trusted him was in disbelief that this could be true. “Roque reddened and began to tremble.” (104,7)