Question

Read the following passage carefully:

Mr. Henderson worked with the quiet, obsessive dedication of a monk copying manuscripts, though his devotion was pledged entirely to pine boards and wood glue. From my bedroom window, I could watch him in his open garage, hunched over his workbench under the harsh glare of a single hanging bulb. He was building birdhouses—not the simple, functional boxes that bluebirds might actually nest in, but towering, multi-tiered Victorian mansions, complete with tiny bay windows, miniature wraparound porches, and shingles sliced from empty soda cans. The neighborhood boys occasionally lingered by his driveway to mock the absurdity of a three-foot-tall wooden palace destined to rot in the summer humidity. Mr. Henderson, however, never seemed to hear them, or perhaps he simply categorized their laughter as another ambient neighborhood noise, no more disruptive than the drone of lawnmowers or the barking of retrievers. I often wondered if he envisioned a specific, aristocratic breed of sparrow occupying those grand suites, or if the construction itself was the only destination he cared to reach. When he finally hoisted the finished structures onto tall poles in his backyard, they stood like lonely monuments to an audience that never arrived; no bird ever crossed their thresholds, yet Mr. Henderson would stand at his fence each evening, hands in his pockets, gazing up at the empty perches with a serene, unmistakable satisfaction.

Which of the following best describes the narrator's role and perspective in the passage?