The Man of the Crowd

“The Man of the Crowd” is written from a first-person point of view, giving readers the narrator’s perspective on the events of the story. This type of narration allows readers access to the narrator’s thoughts, giving a sense of the narrator’s psychological depth. Each detail the narrator notices gives insight into his interests and values, but it does not grant access to the interests, values, or thoughts of other characters. In this way, the point of view limits readers’ ability to fully grasp the setting, characters, and events.

The sense of the narrator’s psychological depth is only heightened by the suggestion that his perceptions might be unreliable. It is unclear whether his pursuit of the old man causes the old man distress, because “no moment did he see that I watched him” (Paragraph 17). The narrator may be under the impression that the old man is unaware of his presence, but it is not proof, and it does not account for the old man’s uneasiness. The mysteriousness of the narrator’s psychology further highlights how difficult it is to understand the city and the people who make up the crowd.