Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?
First Person (Central Narrator)
Ever notice that a lot of young-adult novels use the first person? Maybe you've never thought about it before because you've been too busy crushing on Tris and Four, but it's totally a thing. Think of your favorite young-adult novels, then think of who the narrator is and what pronouns they use. If the "I's" have it, congratulations—your favorite book fits the trend.
Part of the reason young-adult authors love first person is because of the intimacy readers get with the main character. Face it—whether you want to or not, part of the experiencing of reading Tales of the Madman Underground is getting to know Karl well. Really well. Sometimes better than you want to. By following him through the minute details of five days in his life, we get an up-close and personal look at what it's like to be a high school senior at the worst place on earth (from his perspective), as well as his thoughts on the people in his life.
Here's something else really cool about this book's narrative technique—whether you realize it or not, it's following in the footsteps of a very specific literary tradition: the unreliable YA narrator. Interestingly enough, Karl is reading about one of his predecessors in Gratz's class—yup, that's right, we're talking about the original Madman himself, Huck Finn. The other famous character Barnes is obviously echoing through Karl is Holden Caulfield, whose sarcastic, bitter outlook on the world, especially against authority figures, is reflected in Karl's own thoughts.
Need an example? Check out Karl's diatribe about how his past shrinks have told him working so much is a defense mechanism:
They always said it like it was something wrong. There is nothing wrong with having a defense if you're attacked, I said inside, where they couldn't get on my tits, trying to make me say, "Oh, now I understand everything and I am all better Mister Shrink Sir and now I will live just like you think I should. (6.15)
To summarize, Karl thinks adults are a bunch of phonies who just don't get it. Sound familiar?