Jennifer Government Point-Of-View Analysis
Jennifer Government Point-Of-View Analysis
Imagine a world where your last name is the company you work for. Imagine a world where the United States includes all of North American, all of South America, all of Australia, the Pacific Islands, South Africa, India, Thailand and Russia. Welcome to Jennifer Government. The novel can be looked at by a reader as a simple, yet innovative story. The novel can also be seen as a deep, catawampus story with plenty of plot twists that are nicely blended together. Each successive chapter is told from the view from a different character; each chapter holds a different plot twist that keeps the reader guessing from one paragraph to the next; each chapter delves into sense of human emotion. Max Barry focuses strongly on the use of political satire plot of his story while using a unique style of third person limited point of view to bring about a story of deceit, and scandal.
Within the first few chapter of Jennifer Government, the reader will notice a unique style of narration. First the reader is following behind Hack Nike in his office building. Next the reader is behind Hayley McDonald’s, a student. A few turns of the pages and the reader is behind Buy Mitsui, a stock broker.
Barry takes the traditional style of third person limited and adds a spin to it. In traditional third person limited, a narrator becomes a shadow of character, follows that character around, and tells what he or she sees happening. Barry’s style of third person limited takes on a slight twist though. A reader could imagine there are several different narrators in Jennifer Government.
This style of point of view adds a new feeling while reading the novel. The reader will be looking through the eyes of someone shadowing Jennifer Government and seeing it in one style, but then on the next page, the reader will see what’s happening through the eyes of someone shadowing Billy NRA. Even though the narrator may change, the story will progress. You can compare the technique to a basketball game. One moment, the person is in the audience watching the game. The next moment the person is a player on the bench. Then the person becomes a player on the court taking shots. After that, the person changes into a referee calling the game. At the end, the person becomes the coach and calls the shots of the game. Even though the game is progressing, it is the same game, but it is now being viewed from five different points of view.
Barry’s unique style of point of view acts as an aid of an unpredictable plot. The novel opens up introducing Hack Nike who is just a lowly Merchandise Distribution Officer. Hack wanders onto one of the lower floors for a drink of water. There he is encountered by John Nike and John Nike. One John is in charge of new products, while the other John is vice-president. Hack is offered an instant promotion. He signs the papers and is informed of his duties. He must kill ten Nike customers.
That chapter ends and switches over to Hayley McDonald’s who wants a pair of Nike Mercuries. She heads to the local Wal-Mart, which is the size of a mall in these times, and is given $5,000 by a stranger to her. The reader can identify this character as Buy Mitsui. Hayley proceeds to buy her Nikes only to be shot and killed.
The reader is switched to the view of Jennifer Government. She has received an anonymous tip on the killing ahead of time but fails to stop it. Now Government is on a never ending quest to find the killer of young Hayley McDonald’s.
One of the main points of the rising action is the attempt to assassinate the present if the United States. The assassination attempt spans about five chapters. Consequently, the reader gets to look at this same attempt through the eyes of five different individuals on both the killing and counter-terrorism side.
Barry first lets you walk behind John Nike, vice-president of Nike. John is entering the building in which the assassination is to take place. John walks up the stairs and past body guards to get into place to give the signal to the assassin. Suddenly, the chapter ends.
Now the reader is following Jennifer Government. She realizes the plan and locks on a target for a vantage point for a sniper. She races to the hotel building in which