Then Fred posted about the narrator

The narrator in The House of Mirth takes the form of an objective third party observer.  This point of view is interesting because it allows the reader to hear and understand the thoughts and actions of many characters, as opposed to just the main character.  This leads to the reader sometimes knowing something before another character does, or knowing the true motives behind multiple people's actions.  Edith Wharton exemplifies this when she writes, "She looked so plaintively lovely as she proffered the request, so trustfully sure of his sympathy and understanding, that Trenor felt himself wishing that his wife could see how other women treated him- not battered wire-pullers like Mrs. Fisher, but a girl that most men would have given their boots to get such a look from," (Wharton, 66).  This passage shows the emotions and desires of Mr. Trenor, while the book commonly explains Lily's emotions.  The neutrality of the speaker in a situation gives the reader a better point of view.  If it were exclusively through the eyes of Lily Bart, the reader may become annoyed with her constant analyzing and planning to gain wealth and social status.  As her ventures in the beginning seemed to be shallow and mean, this may have discouraged the reader from liking Lily.  The fact that the narrator is omniscient also adds to the story.  It enables the reader to learn the motives and reasons behind an action or event in the story.  This well rounded narrator makes the book much easier to understand than any other point of view would, and it includes certain information that would be missed with another kind of narrator.