Dark Water Narrator:

Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?

First Person (Central)

Did you notice how Pearl tells the story of her life as if we were friends with her? She doesn't bother with formalities or calling herself by name; instead she pretends we're hanging out with her over coffee and donuts. Listen to how she describes meeting Amiel:

I first saw Amiel de la Cruz Guerrero on the corner of one of those Etch A Sketch streets, where Alvarado meets Stage Coach. (3.1)

It's like we've already seen the places she's talking about—there's a familiarity between Pearl as the narrator and us as the reader that really ropes us into her tale. Since she tells us how it went down from her perspective (using "I") and is in the story, we call this first person central narrator.

But we also notice something more complex taking place here. Notice how she calls Amiel by name? She can't possibly know that before she has a conversation with him. Pearl makes sure to tell us about her life both in terms of what happened and how she feels about it later.