Likes

Point of view is the perspective from which a story is told. “Likes” is told from the third-person limited perspective, following Dave and revealing his observations and thoughts. Sarah Shun-lien Bynum shows Ivy’s Instagram posts and Dave and his daughter’s interactions through Dave’s eyes. The narrative point of view parallels the alienation Dave feels from his daughter—and from other adults, like the physical therapist and, at times, his wife. Though Dave tries desperately to understand Ivy, he always feels distant or separate from her, reflected in how the text remains only with his thoughts. Alongside these feelings of alienation, the narrative point of view gives insight into Dave’s anxious mental state more broadly. He is constantly preoccupied with how he is perceived (not unlike his daughter), fretting about whether the therapist thinks he’s a bad father, for example. While things happen around him, Dave gets lost in his thoughts, obsessing about his daughter’s feelings or the election. As such, the story’s point of view helps convey Dave’s emotional state.