In We Were Here, Matt De La Peña writes the novel in a vigorously opinionated point of view, told by Miguel Castañeda. This is salient as many of Miguel’s thoughts explain the character and plot. Matt De La Peña uses a single first-person point of view to create an aspect that is very key to this story, but changing the point of view could give the narrator a different mindset that establishes a contrasting plot.

Miguel’s transition shows as the story progresses. For instance, Miguel displays a lack of self-confidence and acceptance at the beginning of the book. When Miguel first entered the group home, he avoided contact with anyone but himself (De La Peña 31). When a fellow member approaches him, he would either not communicate or lecture discouragingly to agitate them. In other words, as you read the story, you can see a transition in his attitude and thoughts about other characters. Miguel starts to see the wonder in others instead of their flaws. If this book was in a third person perspective, we would not be able to see the thoughts and the transition of a character such as Miguel. Having the novel in the first-person point of view can influence the reader by allowing the character to speak to the reader. It is one of the many ways an author can hook the reader to a certain book and draw them into an imaginary realm.

Miguel stumbles upon many new figures in the story and has extremely critical opinions about many of them. At the beginning of the story, he interpreted Mong as a mental maniac, “I try to imagine I’m just dreaming. But I know it’s not true. I’m awake. And Mong’s really standing over my bed with his arms crossed. Smiling. Thinking the bad things he could do to me.” (De La Peña 32). In spite of his early thoughts, as the story progressed, not only did he think less of him, but he also made friends with him, “To have so many bad things happen in one life? No wonder Mong never ate anything and was always tired and throwing up all over the place. No wonder he was so pissed off and wanted to fight everybody.” (De La Peña 136). Hence, Miguel’s thoughts make the story opinionated, it makes the story more gratifying to the reader as Miguel’s thoughts very critical and sometimes even racist. Each story has a different character personality, authors such as Matt De La Peña create a unique aura in every book.

Readers experiencing a character’s thoughts during an impactful event is essential for understanding personality. Internal monologue guides the audience by allowing them to understand how a character would react in a certain situation. When Miguel looks over the files on the beach, his feelings are conveyed by the point of view. “My eyes bugged as I flipped to the next page” (De La Peña 134). Matt De La Peña’s style creates an environment that syncs the reader’s emotions with the character’s feelings. As a result, astonishment fills the reader’s head page after page. Ordinarily, Miguel’s reaction makes it so the book feels more realistic and enhances the experience gained from the novel.

When a novel revolves around a point of view, perspective crucially shows conveying thoughts, especially as a first-person written story. Character discovery and actions can show the individual development, and can also hook and let the reader visualize an experience. Miguel’s point of view shows a strong opinion and lets the reader join in the story as the plot advances.