Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?
Third Person (Limited Omniscient)
The title is our first clue that this book isn't just about one person. In fact, both Flora and Ulysses share the limelight throughout the tale. So, it's natural to hear from both of them when it comes to the narrative technique. Take the whole vacuum cleaner incident. When Flora sees what's happening, we're told:
Flora ran from her room. She ran down the stairs. As she ran, she thought, For a cynic, I am a surprisingly helpful person. (4.1)
Notice how we don't just hear what she's doing, we also hear what she's thinking. If we were just watching her, we wouldn't get that last sentence about what she thinks when she runs. And this, of course, is pretty helpful information, since we get to know more about her character than she reveals through speech. The narrator's got a ticket into Flora's brain, in other words.
And the same is true when it comes to Ulysses. At one point, for instance, as he listens to what the humans around him are saying, we get the inside scoop from the squirrel's perspective:
Okay. Sure. Let's eat. What wonderful words those are, thought Ulysses. (27.1)
When it comes to Ulysses, it's important that we hear his thoughts, because though he's a maniac on a typewriter, he doesn't actually speak. So without his thoughts, there's a whole lot we'd never know. And since Flora is the only one who really communicates with the little squirrel, we'd miss out on a big part of the book if we never got to spy inside his (ever-expanding) mind.
The narrator—whoever they may be—can only hop into the brains of Flora and Ulysses, though, so for everyone else in the story we're left to decipher bits about them based on what they do and say. This keeps our focus firmly on Flora and Ulysses, though, which is perfect since they're the stars of the show.