The Round House Lesson Plan

Who is the narrator of The Round House and what is their perspective from which they are telling the story? How do you know? What is the impact of telling the story this way?

The story is told by Joe Coutts, the first-person narrator. He is 13 years old in the story, but he is telling it from the future. The book makes this clear from the first page when Joe says:

“You would think then that I would’ve stopped, a 13-year-old boy with better things to do, but on the contrary” (1).

Attentive readers will note that telling the story from the future ensures that readers know the narrator ends up at least somewhat okay—otherwise, he wouldn’t be there to tell the story. It...