▁same ▁day . ▁The ▁protagon ist ' s ▁err ands ▁are ▁surrounded ▁by ▁the ▁rec urr ing ▁le it mot if ▁of ▁hyper ▁real , ▁ever - present ▁screens ▁which ▁report ▁the ▁progress ▁of ▁the ▁plane ▁and ▁the ▁march ▁Per ow ne ▁has ▁earlier ▁encountered . ▁Saturday ▁is ▁in ▁t une ▁with ▁its ▁protagon ist ' s ▁literary ▁t ast es ; ▁" mag ical ▁real ism " ▁it ▁is ▁not . ▁The ▁ 2 6 - hour ▁narr ative ▁led ▁critics ▁to ▁compare ▁the ▁book ▁to ▁similar ▁nov els , ▁especially ▁U ly ss es ▁by ▁James ▁Joy ce , ▁which ▁features ▁a ▁man ▁crossing ▁a ▁city , ▁and ▁Virginia ▁W ool f ' s ▁Mrs . ▁D allow ay , ▁of ▁which ▁Mich iko ▁K ak ut ani ▁described ▁Saturday ▁as ▁an ▁" up - to - the - m oment , ▁post - 9 / 1 1 ▁variation ." ▁ ▁The ▁novel ▁is ▁narr ated ▁in ▁the ▁third ▁person , ▁limited ▁point ▁of ▁view : ▁the ▁reader ▁lear ns ▁of ▁events ▁as ▁Per ow ne ▁does . ▁Using ▁the ▁free ▁indirect ▁style ▁the ▁narr ator ▁inhab its ▁Per ow ne , ▁a ▁neu ros ur geon , ▁who ▁often ▁thinks ▁r ation ally , ▁explaining ▁phen omena ▁using ▁medical ▁termin ology . ▁This ▁allows ▁Mc E wan ▁to ▁capture ▁some ▁of ▁the ▁" white ▁noise ▁that ▁we ▁almost ▁forget ▁as ▁soon ▁as ▁we ▁think ▁it , ▁unless ▁we ▁stop ▁and ▁write ▁it ▁down ." ▁H itch ens ▁highlight ed ▁how