Welcome to a blog that chronicles the learning of a group of high school students and their teacher.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
It's All About Perspective
Think about your favorite movie or book. From which perspective is the book/film told? Retell or re-imagine the story from another perspective. What would be different? Lost? Enhanced?
The movie and book 2001: A Space Odyssey is told from the point of view of David Bowman, an astronaut. If the story were to be told from HAL's viewpoint, the story would be less a story of exploration and finding our origins, and more a story on the slow mental degeneration of a synthetic personality. This version of the story would start much differently and never get to Jupiter and TMA-2. It would start at HAL's 'childhood', AKA when he was initially programmed and taught to think. The conflict would start when he was instructed to lie - something that all his programming and teaching had gone against. The action would rise as HAL was forced deeper into dementia and would climax when HAL tries to kill the crew. The falling action and resolution would be Bowman's systematic destruction of HAL's higher functions. The story would lose all significant parts on the possible origins of man and intelligence, but it would bring in questions about what it means to be alive and what's considered 'sentient'.
The story of She's the Man was told from the perspective of Viola. Had the story been told from the perspective of Duke, the story would be completely different. The audience wouldn't know about Viola's past experience of not being able to join the boys' soccer team. The audience just would have been introduced to a new boy that had enrolled to Illyria and liked to play soccer. We would miss the comdedic element of this girl pretending to be a boy and then falling in love with Duke hence creating this comedic love triangle. A lot of comedy would be missed if told from another person's perspective besides Viola's.
In, "Along Came a Spider," by James Patterson, most of the story is told from the perspective of the main character, Alex Cross. However, some chapters are written from Alex Cross' nemesis, Gary Soneji. Had the entire story been told from one perspective or the other, the insight into each character's mind, personality, and feelings would be lost. The reader will learn a lot about both characters, just by how it is written. Told entirely in one perspective, the reader would only see how Alex Cross or Gary Soneji views things, rather than both. The only thing that could be enhanced is more insight into one of those characters. But that isn't necessary to completely understand the story.
One of my all time favorite movies is He's Just Not That Into You. I love how every character has their own story but in the end they are all connected. This movie is told through the perspective of every character but focusing mostly on the women and their opinions about relationships and men. Now if the movie was flipped and told only from the male perspective then I think it would be a completely different story. Men and women, sometimes, have comepletely different thoughts about love, relationships, sex, ect. So I think it would be interesting to see how it would play out in their minds.
My favorite movie is Atlantis. It starred Michael J Fox as a character named Milo. The perspective is based in the form of Milo. He is a linguist and cartographer in an old museum and he has been trying to find the lost city of Atlantis. His grandfather did the same thing but never found Atlantis before he died but he did find the journal of the guy who did. When Milo gets the journal, he gathers up a crew and goes on a journey to find the lost city and when he does, he learns that the crew is all mercenaries and plan to take control of Atlantis and a great battle ensues. The good guys win and Milo stays in Atlantis to be the king and the others leave to tell the tale and Atlantis is safe. If the story was told from a different perspective though, such as the mercenaries, the story would be awfully different. The mercenaries planned to take control of Atlantis by capturing their power source and selling it to the Nazis for a HUGE profit. A power source strong enough to keep a city alive for hundreds, even thousands, of years would be worth big money and it would also help the world's power crisis. The mercenaries didn't know that the village would die out without the power source though. The leader of the mercenaries, named Rourke, didn't care. If the story was in his perspective, the whole point of the story would just to get an unknown power source to the surface and make money. There would be no learning or a fight to defend the city or lessons of right and wrong. Rourke would simply die in the last scene and the movie would be over and we wouldn't care about the people of Atlantis. With Milo telling the story, we grow closer to the people of Atlantis and feel awful when Rourke takes the power source and we're on the edge of our seat throughout the entire last battle scene, hoping for the good guys to win. I'm very glad that Milo told the story.
A lot of people are familiar with the movie, "Alice in Wonderland." It's a movie about how the curiosity of a young girl gets her in a lot of trouble in a strange world filled with plants, places, and creatures she had never seen before. Her adventure and objective is to kill the jabberwockee. Her main foe, howver is the Queen of Hearts. What if the story was written differently though? Say in the eyes of the Queen of Hearts. Her objective is simply to kill Alice with her per jabberwockee. All she's trying to do is keep hold of her thrown over Wonderland. If the story was written in the terms of the Queen of Hearts, the whole story would be flip flopped. It would be about a queen that was the lesser to her sister and rose up to gain her power only to be defeated by a random young girl. Also some of the irony in the story would disappear along with some of the characters like the Cheshire Cat because he doesn't talk to the Queen. Yet the vengeance of the Queen would be greater and also the depression when she loses everything.
Harry Potter is written in the form of an outside perspective. You get insight into everyone's lives but only what they say and not what they are thinking. The story would have been drastically different if it was in the perspective of a character like Harry. First of all, not all of the scenes include Harry in them so we would have lost all of that information because he would not have been there to experience what happened. Also, the story infers or the characters say outright what they are thinking the majority of the time so I wonder if the information received from Harry would have even been that different. I really do not believe it would have. I think that, again, we would have lost some vital information between other people such Ron and Hermione. I can't imagine how telling the story from one person's point of view would enhance this book specifically. I personally imagine that the story would get rather boring just focusing on Harry the whole time; not to mention we wouldn't get to see Daniel Radcliff very often either, which is also a downside. I believe that J.K. Rowling made the right decision on perspective and had she chosen any other way to write the story I do not think it would have been as affective or popular.
One of my favorite books is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This and all of the other Harry Potter books in the series, is told in the perspective of Harry Potter. He is the main character. Now, in this book, the readers are introduced to a character by the name of Luna Lovegood. Luna is sort of a airy, scatter minded young woman. She just lives life as it comes to her. If this book were to be told from the perspective of Luna, the whole story would be lost. We would lose what happens to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The struggle of Harry would not be seen. We would see what happens to Luna. Readers would get to see the Ravenclaw common room, what her classes were, and maybe some of the mean and cruel things other people say to her. We may learn secrets about Luna and her past. Readers would see what thoughts that she has and some insecurities of hers.
One of my favorite books is Twilight. The story is told from Bella's perspective. It allows the reader to have an insight on Bella's feelings and emotions toward Edward, her dad, and basically everyone who belongs in her life. The reader gets to see what Bella's thoughts are toward the vampires and the werewolves. If Twilight was told from a different perspective, it would change the entire story. For example, Edward could have told the story, but the reader would not get insight from a regular person's point of view. The plot would then consist of Edward's struggles with Bella. He could talk about his feelings and thoughts as well. It would probably still consist of some sort of love story, but Edward may talk about how hard it is to be around Bella or other humans. He may discuss his protectiveness of Bella or why he does not want her to become a vampire. The reader would then lose the thoughts and emotions that Bella has but gain the feelings and thoughts of Edward. Edward's point of view could help the reader know more about the struggles he has as a vampire, but the reader would not get full insight on Bella's confusion and interest with Edward and the Cullen family.
My favorite book, "Thirteen Reasons Why", is told in third person. There are some parts that are told in first person though. The story is based on all the reasons why she killed herself and he is listening to her on a tape recorder. If it was told by someone else that was not listed on the tapes, the story would be a lot different. I don't think they would different feelings of her life considering they were not mentioned as one of the reasons she killed herself. I think I would be lost if it used a different perspective because I feel like her telling her story, you can understand better. You also get the boy's point of view of the situation considering he knows he is mentioned on the tapes and is curious of what he might have done to lead her to what she has done.
The movie The Notebook is told from the perspective of Noah. If the movie/book was told in the perspective of Allie, it may have been different. The movie is so sweet because Noah is reading Allie a book of their lives. She now has Alzheimer's in her old age. The story couldn't be told from Allie's point of view because she wouldn't even remember how it went. This would have changed the story tremendously. This would have made the story blochy & less easy to understand. There would have been bits & pieces left out because she wouldn't be able to remember because of her disease. Allie doesn't even remember her own children. Sometimes she has these moments when she can actually remember Noah & other things.
One of my favorite movies is Easy A and it is told from the point of view of Olive. If the story were instead told by the antagonist, Marianne, the story would have a completely different meaning. The audience would not know any of Olive's story; instead they would only know what Marianne knew. Instead of knowing that Olive sarcastically told her best friend that she slept with a guy, the audience would know that Marianne overheard the story and believed it was true, which in turn leads the audience to believe it is true as well. Instead of knowing that the guidance counselor was having an affair with Marianne's boyfriend, the audience would only know what the boyfriend told Marianne: that Olive was sleeping with her boyfriend. The main difference between the two stories would be that from Olive's perspective, we know exactly what happens, whereas from Marianne's perspective, we would only know the twisted outer story.
The movie The Notebook is told from the perspective of Noah. If the movie/book was told in the perspective of Allie, it may have been different. The movie is so sweet because Noah is reading Allie a book of their lives. She now has Alzheimer's in her old age. The story couldn't be told from Allie's point of view because she wouldn't even remember how it went. This would have changed the story tremendously. This would have made the story blochy & less easy to understand. There would have been bits & pieces left out because she wouldn't be able to remember because of her disease. Allie doesn't even remember her own children. Sometimes she has these moments when she can actually remember Noah & other things.
Mean Girls is told from the perspective of the main character Africa, if it were to be told from another perspective, such as Karen, it would mostly likely be a simpler version of the story where a lot of things don't make sense making it reflective of her. In her perspective the story line of Africa and her two friends scheming together would be lost since she was not involved as would the development of the relationship between Africa and Aaron. The focus would be more on Karen's relationship with Regina and Gretchen and how they interact, which would give us a better understanding of those characters. Changing the perspective of the movie would completely change the entire story.
My favorite book is Ghost Recon: Combat Ops. The story is told through the eyes of Captain Scott Mitchel, the team leader. If the story was retold from another perspective, say from the perspective of the base commander, we would lose a lot of the story. We would not see the firefights in the tunnels, we would not see Ramirez kill the driver. All in all, we would see the political situation of the town in which they are stationed and understand the tension there is a better light, the tension between the Recon captains from an unbiased perspective, and the firefights local to the fire-base enhanced. We would lose the mystery, the darkness, and the gritty realism of war.
The movie "She's the Man" is told from the main charcter's (Viola) perspective. If the story was told from a different person's perspective, such as Duke's (her love interest), we wouldn't know that Viola is pretending to be a boy when she's really a girl. Because we wouldn't know this from Duke's perspective, we wouldn't get to see all of the comical situations she goes through trying to act/look like a boy. Also, we wouldn't get the background on what the story is really about. It would just be a movie about some new guy trying to make the soccer team at a new school. However, it would make for a surprising twist in the story if we would find out later that Viola's really a girl than if we just knew it all along like in the original movie. So those are some situations that would be different and/or lost.
However, if the story was told from Duke's perspective, we could see what he thinks about Viola while she's pretending to be a boy; how deep their friendship really is. That would enhance teh viewers' understanding of the development of their romantic relationship at the end of the movie.
In The Notebook, Noah tells the story of him and Allie when they were younger. It is told from his perspective. It would be much different if it was told from Allie's perspective. I think if it was told from Allie's perspective the story would lose a lot of meaning. Since it is a love story, it is more meaningful that the boy tells the story since boys usually aren't very sincere. It shows how much he loves her. Since Allie has Alzheimer's, it would be impossible for her to tell the story from her perspective anyways. I think the audience would feel less connected to Noah if it was not told by him. The story would not be as cute, in my opinion. I do not think anything would be enhanced if the perspective were to change.
In The Notebook, Noah tells the story of him and Allie when they were younger. It is told from his perspective. It would be much different if it was told from Allie's perspective. I think if it was told from Allie's perspective the story would lose a lot of meaning. Since it is a love story, it is more meaningful that the boy tells the story since boys usually aren't very sincere. It shows how much he loves her. Since Allie has Alzheimer's, it would be impossible for her to tell the story from her perspective anyways. I think the audience would feel less connected to Noah if it was not told by him. The story would not be as cute, in my opinion. I do not think anything would be enhanced if the perspective were to change.
In the story The Hobbit, the perspective comes from Bilbo Baggins's point of view. If it was told from Thorin's perspective, for example, the story would be completely different and the effect would be lost. In this tale, Thorin is already dedicated to the task of going and getting his home back and defeating the dragon that is there. Bilbo doesn't start out his way. He is brought into the adventures and with his perspective we see his inner thoughts of him being homesick, scared, thrilled, doubt, etc. With Thorin it wouldn't be as interesting. He has already been through those kinds of adventures while Bilbo is just now experiencing all of them. If this specific story was told from any other perspective, it would be as effective. We wouldn't get the feel of someone being brought into a whole new atmosphere, in over his head, experiencing the craziest and most wonderful things in his life.
In "The Great Gatsby", everything the reader comprehends is through the eyes of Nick Carraway. Though Nick says he is not judgmental, as the story progresses from Nicks point of view, the reader learns that Nick is very judgmental. If "The Great Gatsby" was told through the eyes of a different character, like Gatsby, you would lose a lot of the story. If the book was told from Gatsby's perspective, the reader would definitely learn more about him, but I feel like you would lose large parts of the story. If Gatsby was the narrator, I feel like the story would focus all on his obsession with Daisy and would easily become shallow and unenjoyable. If Gatsby was the narrator the reader would lose the evolution of the character Nick (one of my favorite aspects of the book).
One of my favorite books ever is In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. The story is told in first person, but the perspective changes back and forth between four sisters, alternating every few chapters. The action spans several years, and the reader gets to see how each character develops over time, and how the stories of the four sisters intertwine. If the story were told from the perspective of just one of the sisters, I think we would really miss out on what was going on in the lives of the other sisters. The story wouldn't be complete if it were told from just one perspective. For instance, they all end up (more or less) joining an underground rebellion movement, but each sister has her own reason for joining and her own unique experiences that lead her to that point. Plus, the book is historical fiction, and the four sisters were real people, so it woudn't be historically complete without all four stories. And while this could have been accomplished with a third-person omniscient perspective, writing in first person lets us get to know the sisters much more personally.
The movie and book 2001: A Space Odyssey is told from the point of view of David Bowman, an astronaut. If the story were to be told from HAL's viewpoint, the story would be less a story of exploration and finding our origins, and more a story on the slow mental degeneration of a synthetic personality. This version of the story would start much differently and never get to Jupiter and TMA-2. It would start at HAL's 'childhood', AKA when he was initially programmed and taught to think. The conflict would start when he was instructed to lie - something that all his programming and teaching had gone against. The action would rise as HAL was forced deeper into dementia and would climax when HAL tries to kill the crew. The falling action and resolution would be Bowman's systematic destruction of HAL's higher functions. The story would lose all significant parts on the possible origins of man and intelligence, but it would bring in questions about what it means to be alive and what's considered 'sentient'.
ReplyDeleteThe story of She's the Man was told from the perspective of Viola. Had the story been told from the perspective of Duke, the story would be completely different. The audience wouldn't know about Viola's past experience of not being able to join the boys' soccer team. The audience just would have been introduced to a new boy that had enrolled to Illyria and liked to play soccer. We would miss the comdedic element of this girl pretending to be a boy and then falling in love with Duke hence creating this comedic love triangle. A lot of comedy would be missed if told from another person's perspective besides Viola's.
ReplyDeleteIn, "Along Came a Spider," by James Patterson, most of the story is told from the perspective of the main character, Alex Cross. However, some chapters are written from Alex Cross' nemesis, Gary Soneji. Had the entire story been told from one perspective or the other, the insight into each character's mind, personality, and feelings would be lost. The reader will learn a lot about both characters, just by how it is written. Told entirely in one perspective, the reader would only see how Alex Cross or Gary Soneji views things, rather than both. The only thing that could be enhanced is more insight into one of those characters. But that isn't necessary to completely understand the story.
ReplyDeleteOne of my all time favorite movies is He's Just Not That Into You. I love how every character has their own story but in the end they are all connected. This movie is told through the perspective of every character but focusing mostly on the women and their opinions about relationships and men. Now if the movie was flipped and told only from the male perspective then I think it would be a completely different story. Men and women, sometimes, have comepletely different thoughts about love, relationships, sex, ect. So I think it would be interesting to see how it would play out in their minds.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite movie is Atlantis. It starred Michael J Fox as a character named Milo. The perspective is based in the form of Milo. He is a linguist and cartographer in an old museum and he has been trying to find the lost city of Atlantis. His grandfather did the same thing but never found Atlantis before he died but he did find the journal of the guy who did. When Milo gets the journal, he gathers up a crew and goes on a journey to find the lost city and when he does, he learns that the crew is all mercenaries and plan to take control of Atlantis and a great battle ensues. The good guys win and Milo stays in Atlantis to be the king and the others leave to tell the tale and Atlantis is safe.
ReplyDeleteIf the story was told from a different perspective though, such as the mercenaries, the story would be awfully different. The mercenaries planned to take control of Atlantis by capturing their power source and selling it to the Nazis for a HUGE profit. A power source strong enough to keep a city alive for hundreds, even thousands, of years would be worth big money and it would also help the world's power crisis. The mercenaries didn't know that the village would die out without the power source though. The leader of the mercenaries, named Rourke, didn't care. If the story was in his perspective, the whole point of the story would just to get an unknown power source to the surface and make money. There would be no learning or a fight to defend the city or lessons of right and wrong. Rourke would simply die in the last scene and the movie would be over and we wouldn't care about the people of Atlantis. With Milo telling the story, we grow closer to the people of Atlantis and feel awful when Rourke takes the power source and we're on the edge of our seat throughout the entire last battle scene, hoping for the good guys to win. I'm very glad that Milo told the story.
A lot of people are familiar with the movie, "Alice in Wonderland." It's a movie about how the curiosity of a young girl gets her in a lot of trouble in a strange world filled with plants, places, and creatures she had never seen before. Her adventure and objective is to kill the jabberwockee. Her main foe, howver is the Queen of Hearts. What if the story was written differently though? Say in the eyes of the Queen of Hearts. Her objective is simply to kill Alice with her per jabberwockee. All she's trying to do is keep hold of her thrown over Wonderland. If the story was written in the terms of the Queen of Hearts, the whole story would be flip flopped. It would be about a queen that was the lesser to her sister and rose up to gain her power only to be defeated by a random young girl. Also some of the irony in the story would disappear along with some of the characters like the Cheshire Cat because he doesn't talk to the Queen. Yet the vengeance of the Queen would be greater and also the depression when she loses everything.
ReplyDeleteHarry Potter is written in the form of an outside perspective. You get insight into everyone's lives but only what they say and not what they are thinking. The story would have been drastically different if it was in the perspective of a character like Harry. First of all, not all of the scenes include Harry in them so we would have lost all of that information because he would not have been there to experience what happened. Also, the story infers or the characters say outright what they are thinking the majority of the time so I wonder if the information received from Harry would have even been that different. I really do not believe it would have. I think that, again, we would have lost some vital information between other people such Ron and Hermione. I can't imagine how telling the story from one person's point of view would enhance this book specifically. I personally imagine that the story would get rather boring just focusing on Harry the whole time; not to mention we wouldn't get to see Daniel Radcliff very often either, which is also a downside. I believe that J.K. Rowling made the right decision on perspective and had she chosen any other way to write the story I do not think it would have been as affective or popular.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite books is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This and all of the other Harry Potter books in the series, is told in the perspective of Harry Potter. He is the main character. Now, in this book, the readers are introduced to a character by the name of Luna Lovegood. Luna is sort of a airy, scatter minded young woman. She just lives life as it comes to her. If this book were to be told from the perspective of Luna, the whole story would be lost. We would lose what happens to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The struggle of Harry would not be seen. We would see what happens to Luna. Readers would get to see the Ravenclaw common room, what her classes were, and maybe some of the mean and cruel things other people say to her. We may learn secrets about Luna and her past. Readers would see what thoughts that she has and some insecurities of hers.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite books is Twilight. The story is told from Bella's perspective. It allows the reader to have an insight on Bella's feelings and emotions toward Edward, her dad, and basically everyone who belongs in her life. The reader gets to see what Bella's thoughts are toward the vampires and the werewolves. If Twilight was told from a different perspective, it would change the entire story. For example, Edward could have told the story, but the reader would not get insight from a regular person's point of view. The plot would then consist of Edward's struggles with Bella. He could talk about his feelings and thoughts as well. It would probably still consist of some sort of love story, but Edward may talk about how hard it is to be around Bella or other humans. He may discuss his protectiveness of Bella or why he does not want her to become a vampire. The reader would then lose the thoughts and emotions that Bella has but gain the feelings and thoughts of Edward. Edward's point of view could help the reader know more about the struggles he has as a vampire, but the reader would not get full insight on Bella's confusion and interest with Edward and the Cullen family.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite book, "Thirteen Reasons Why", is told in third person. There are some parts that are told in first person though. The story is based on all the reasons why she killed herself and he is listening to her on a tape recorder. If it was told by someone else that was not listed on the tapes, the story would be a lot different. I don't think they would different feelings of her life considering they were not mentioned as one of the reasons she killed herself. I think I would be lost if it used a different perspective because I feel like her telling her story, you can understand better. You also get the boy's point of view of the situation considering he knows he is mentioned on the tapes and is curious of what he might have done to lead her to what she has done.
ReplyDeleteThe movie The Notebook is told from the perspective of Noah. If the movie/book was told in the perspective of Allie, it may have been different. The movie is so sweet because Noah is reading Allie a book of their lives. She now has Alzheimer's in her old age. The story couldn't be told from Allie's point of view because she wouldn't even remember how it went. This would have changed the story tremendously. This would have made the story blochy & less easy to understand. There would have been bits & pieces left out because she wouldn't be able to remember because of her disease. Allie doesn't even remember her own children. Sometimes she has these moments when she can actually remember Noah & other things.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite movies is Easy A and it is told from the point of view of Olive. If the story were instead told by the antagonist, Marianne, the story would have a completely different meaning. The audience would not know any of Olive's story; instead they would only know what Marianne knew. Instead of knowing that Olive sarcastically told her best friend that she slept with a guy, the audience would know that Marianne overheard the story and believed it was true, which in turn leads the audience to believe it is true as well. Instead of knowing that the guidance counselor was having an affair with Marianne's boyfriend, the audience would only know what the boyfriend told Marianne: that Olive was sleeping with her boyfriend. The main difference between the two stories would be that from Olive's perspective, we know exactly what happens, whereas from Marianne's perspective, we would only know the twisted outer story.
ReplyDeleteThe movie The Notebook is told from the perspective of Noah. If the movie/book was told in the perspective of Allie, it may have been different. The movie is so sweet because Noah is reading Allie a book of their lives. She now has Alzheimer's in her old age. The story couldn't be told from Allie's point of view because she wouldn't even remember how it went. This would have changed the story tremendously. This would have made the story blochy & less easy to understand. There would have been bits & pieces left out because she wouldn't be able to remember because of her disease. Allie doesn't even remember her own children. Sometimes she has these moments when she can actually remember Noah & other things.
ReplyDeleteMean Girls is told from the perspective of the main character Africa, if it were to be told from another perspective, such as Karen, it would mostly likely be a simpler version of the story where a lot of things don't make sense making it reflective of her. In her perspective the story line of Africa and her two friends scheming together would be lost since she was not involved as would the development of the relationship between Africa and Aaron. The focus would be more on Karen's relationship with Regina and Gretchen and how they interact, which would give us a better understanding of those characters. Changing the perspective of the movie would completely change the entire story.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite book is Ghost Recon: Combat Ops. The story is told through the eyes of Captain Scott Mitchel, the team leader. If the story was retold from another perspective, say from the perspective of the base commander, we would lose a lot of the story. We would not see the firefights in the tunnels, we would not see Ramirez kill the driver. All in all, we would see the political situation of the town in which they are stationed and understand the tension there is a better light, the tension between the Recon captains from an unbiased perspective, and the firefights local to the fire-base enhanced. We would lose the mystery, the darkness, and the gritty realism of war.
ReplyDeleteThe movie "She's the Man" is told from the main charcter's (Viola) perspective. If the story was told from a different person's perspective, such as Duke's (her love interest), we wouldn't know that Viola is pretending to be a boy when she's really a girl. Because we wouldn't know this from Duke's perspective, we wouldn't get to see all of the comical situations she goes through trying to act/look like a boy. Also, we wouldn't get the background on what the story is really about. It would just be a movie about some new guy trying to make the soccer team at a new school. However, it would make for a surprising twist in the story if we would find out later that Viola's really a girl than if we just knew it all along like in the original movie. So those are some situations that would be different and/or lost.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if the story was told from Duke's perspective, we could see what he thinks about Viola while she's pretending to be a boy; how deep their friendship really is. That would enhance teh viewers' understanding of the development of their romantic relationship at the end of the movie.
In The Notebook, Noah tells the story of him and Allie when they were younger. It is told from his perspective. It would be much different if it was told from Allie's perspective. I think if it was told from Allie's perspective the story would lose a lot of meaning. Since it is a love story, it is more meaningful that the boy tells the story since boys usually aren't very sincere. It shows how much he loves her. Since Allie has Alzheimer's, it would be impossible for her to tell the story from her perspective anyways. I think the audience would feel less connected to Noah if it was not told by him. The story would not be as cute, in my opinion. I do not think anything would be enhanced if the perspective were to change.
ReplyDeleteIn The Notebook, Noah tells the story of him and Allie when they were younger. It is told from his perspective. It would be much different if it was told from Allie's perspective. I think if it was told from Allie's perspective the story would lose a lot of meaning. Since it is a love story, it is more meaningful that the boy tells the story since boys usually aren't very sincere. It shows how much he loves her. Since Allie has Alzheimer's, it would be impossible for her to tell the story from her perspective anyways. I think the audience would feel less connected to Noah if it was not told by him. The story would not be as cute, in my opinion. I do not think anything would be enhanced if the perspective were to change.
ReplyDeleteIn the story The Hobbit, the perspective comes from Bilbo Baggins's point of view. If it was told from Thorin's perspective, for example, the story would be completely different and the effect would be lost. In this tale, Thorin is already dedicated to the task of going and getting his home back and defeating the dragon that is there. Bilbo doesn't start out his way. He is brought into the adventures and with his perspective we see his inner thoughts of him being homesick, scared, thrilled, doubt, etc. With Thorin it wouldn't be as interesting. He has already been through those kinds of adventures while Bilbo is just now experiencing all of them. If this specific story was told from any other perspective, it would be as effective. We wouldn't get the feel of someone being brought into a whole new atmosphere, in over his head, experiencing the craziest and most wonderful things in his life.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Great Gatsby", everything the reader comprehends is through the eyes of Nick Carraway. Though Nick says he is not judgmental, as the story progresses from Nicks point of view, the reader learns that Nick is very judgmental. If "The Great Gatsby" was told through the eyes of a different character, like Gatsby, you would lose a lot of the story. If the book was told from Gatsby's perspective, the reader would definitely learn more about him, but I feel like you would lose large parts of the story. If Gatsby was the narrator, I feel like the story would focus all on his obsession with Daisy and would easily become shallow and unenjoyable. If Gatsby was the narrator the reader would lose the evolution of the character Nick (one of my favorite aspects of the book).
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite books ever is In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. The story is told in first person, but the perspective changes back and forth between four sisters, alternating every few chapters. The action spans several years, and the reader gets to see how each character develops over time, and how the stories of the four sisters intertwine. If the story were told from the perspective of just one of the sisters, I think we would really miss out on what was going on in the lives of the other sisters. The story wouldn't be complete if it were told from just one perspective. For instance, they all end up (more or less) joining an underground rebellion movement, but each sister has her own reason for joining and her own unique experiences that lead her to that point. Plus, the book is historical fiction, and the four sisters were real people, so it woudn't be historically complete without all four stories. And while this could have been accomplished with a third-person omniscient perspective, writing in first person lets us get to know the sisters much more personally.
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