Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?
All of Them (Except Second Person)
One of the hardest tasks you will have in reading this poem is simply figuring out who the heck is narrating at any given moment. The work starts off in third person (omniscient) as Philoctete performs for the tourists: "'This is how, one sunrise, we cut down them canoes.'/Philoctete smiles for the tourists" (I.i.3). But pretty soon, we have a first person omniscient narrator who's having a quasi-mystical experience with a foam bust of Homer (II.iii.14).
We're confident that you can handle those narrative changes—but that said, let's discuss Chapter V. Here, the narrator shifts from his third-person observations of Major Plunkett and Maud to a first-person reflection:
[…] but for Dennis, in his khaki shirt
[…] the crusted tourists were corpses in the desert
from the Afrika Korps. Pro Rommel, pro mori.
The regimental brandies stiffened on the shelves
near Napoleonic cognacs. All history
in a dusty Beefeater's gin. We helped ourselves
to these green islands like olives from a saucer (V.i.25)
It's not clear if we're to accept this as the narrator's first-person commentary, or if it is an unmarked dip into Major Plunkett's consciousness. We do know, though, that in section iii, the first-person narrator is definitely Major Plunkett himself.
Because Walcott's work contains autobiographical elements, it's tempting to talk about the narrator and the author as one entity—but be careful. The narrator warns us about doing this because "every 'I' is a/fiction finally" (V.ii.28). Walcott is really interested in playing with the limits of narrative voice and presence (thank you, postmodernism).
We see this most clearly in his visits with his parents and his participation in the fiction of the narrative—like attending Maud's funeral or speaking with Major Plunkett at the bank. Because he (the author, the narrator) becomes so entangled in the narrative, it can be tough to figure out whose eyes we're looking through at any given point. So make sure you keep yours open.