Three Narrative Layers

"The Problem of Pain."

Hloch, introducing "The Problem of Pain," refers to himself as "Hloch." The unnamed narrator of the outer narrative of the story refers to himself as "I." Although we understand that Peter Berg recounts his experience on Avalon to that unnamed narrator, the inner narrative about that experience, when we eventually read it, is presented in the third person. Its viewpoint character is "Pete." We have penetrated to the heart of the story. From here, we must climb back out again. When Pete's experience has reached its climax, the first person narrator returns to complete the account of his conversation with Pete. And, when the outer narrative - and with it the short story - ends, we the readers return to Hloch who does not look back but introduces the next story although, in the Earth Book, that story is "How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson," introducing Adzel, followed by "Margin of Profit," introducing van Rijn, whereas, in The Technic Civilization Saga, it is "Margin...," followed by "How To Be Ethnic..." The Chronology of Technic Civilization presents these two stories as contemporaneous so that arguably the order of presentation does not matter although, for what it is worth, I prefer the background of the Polesotechnic League to be sketched in, by Adzel's story, before van Rijn comes on stage. (He makes enough noise once he arrives.)