Speech Sounds

Point of view (POV) refers to the perspective from which a story’s narration is written. “Speech Sounds” is written in the third-person limited point of view, meaning that the world and the story’s events are filtered through Rye’s perspective and are limited by what she knows. The POV adds to the mystery of the dystopian world, as there are several moments where the reader cannot be sure of something because Rye is not either. For example, when Rye sees the man chasing after the woman with a weapon in his hand, she is not entirely sure what it is at first: “He had something in his hand. Not a gun. A knife, perhaps” (Paragraph 82). Later, the narrative confirms it is a “long, slender boning knife” (Paragraph 87). The delay between the guess and the confirmation allows the reader to experience, in real time, Rye’s inability to make out the weapon while the man is running.

This limited POV also affects how the narration leads the reader to perceive various characters. Rye considers herself to be “less impaired.” We know this because she is left-handed: “She imitated his gesture, pointing toward the bus with her own left hand” (Paragraph 16).