Point of View and narration

In the early morning hours of a day in October, Hull travelled to Santa Barbara on a little coastal steamer that was rusty with age. He had come from Margaret’s Isle. After the revolt of Port Sebastian, he had spent the summer there loafing on the bench of a harbour pub. This helped his foot to heal. According to the Wanted! placard, posted by the police, he limped because of a bullet wound.

In this extract from the opening of the story the point of view is outside Hull. Information is delivered by an external narrator who is not a character within the story. Then in the final line of the extract,without any change in narrator being signalled, the source of the information becomes the Wanted! placard and, by extension, the state government or the police.

The state forces clearly wish to capture Hull for his part in the revolt at Port Sebastian, and are ranged against him later in the story at Santa Barbara. So is this poster a trust-worthy source of information? Or could it be government propaganda?

Hull, Johann

Without Hull there is no revolt. He is the first character mentioned in the story and the seed of, or the catalyst for the revolt.