Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?
First Person (Peripheral Narrator)
The narrative voice in Eugenides' novel is one of the most interesting things about it, at least for literary nerds like us. Sure, first person peripheral narrators are a dime a dozen in the novel, but a first-person plural is something special. The narrative voice comes from the chorus of voices made up of neighborhood boys. We can't pin down just one boy as the leader or main voice; they are a collective, almost a Greek chorus, describing a shared experience. Here they describe the homecoming dance:
We held their sweaty palms, turning them under the mirrored ball. We lost them in the vastness of their dresses and found them again, squeezed the pulp of their bodies and inhaled the perfume of their exertion. A few of us grew brave enough to insert our legs between theirs and to press our agony against them. (3.178)
Who is "we"? We know some of the boys' names that seem to be included in that "we" (see the Narrators' Character Analysis for more on this) but the narrative style conveys the strong sense of shared experience and common perspective. It also adds a dreamy quality to the writing.
Eugenides thought that reviewers would have mentioned the "Greek chorus" thing less if the author hadn't been of Greek descent himself (source).