A Perspective on Perspective

Happy New Year.

I hope you all had a peaceful Christmas and a relaxing New Year and are now ready to face whatever 2014 has in store for you.

Since January is a month of new beginnings, I thought it might be a good idea to address a topic that transcends the realms of fiction and consider something that is fundamentally important for everyday life as well.

Perspective and Point of View

I'm sure that plenty of you have looked at the title and wondered what the heck I'm talking about.

Perspective is defined as, 'away of regarding situations, facts, etc, and judging their relative importance' while point of view is considered to be 'a mental viewpoint or attitude'. Basically, how does someone see a certain situation?

So let's use a brief example. You've been talking to a friend or a colleague and have made a comment that you consider to be a joke. Let's say it's a comment on how something is 'so gay' or how someone has 'done something blonde' (again, apologies for these examples). It's something that maybe doesn't mean anything to you but your colleague isn't reacting the way you thought. In fact, they've become angry with you and an argument has begun.

Many viewpoints but a rather limited understanding

It would be all too easy to blame your colleague for taking your comment the wrong way and to maintain your innocence. After all, you didn't mean anything by it and did not intend to start an argument. But that doesn't mean that you are in the clear.

What has happened is a clashing of perspectives. Someone has been hurt or angered by something that has been said because they see the comment in a different way from what was intended. It happens every day and can be the root of many arguments because everyone has a perspective which is as unique as they are. They can be shaped by past experiences, memories or even internal conflict, and they can sometimes clash.

For those of you who have read my blogs before, you will know that I addressed something similar when discussing character creation so some of this will no doubt sound familiar to you. But I'm certain that there's a few of you out there wondering why I appear to be rehashing something that I've already addressed or are wondering why I'm delving into something based more on psychology than character analysis (unless, of course, you have already become bored and have decided to watch videos on YouTube rather than continue this post). This isn't the first time I have done so, but my focus and examples will primarily come from books and films as usual, rather than academic knowledge.

What do you think?

Perspective or point of view can come in two guises; a perspective based on opinion and a perspective based on knowledge.

A perspective based on opinion is easy. After all, you're in the process of reading one. This entire blog is based on my opinions and I am fully aware that not everyone will agree with what I have to say. It is a biased perspective and can depend on my own thoughts or indeed the thoughts of others that I have absorbed along the way. Everyone has a unique perspective, but they are often created in very similar ways. We absorb opinions and constantly develop our own. We can change our minds based on new information or we can contradict what someone else says if we don't agree.

Perspectives have a tendency to colour everything we do and this is most obvious when reading something with a first-person narrative. The Hunger Games trilogy is a prime example of such a narrative. Katniss Everdeen guides us through her story every step of the way. We know that President Snow is someone to fear because she is afraid of him and makes an effort to project her feelings about him onto us. We are suspicious of Peeta and Finnick at first because she doesn't quite trust them and when she learns to let them in, we start to believe what they say.

But first-person narratives can also reveal some fundamental flaws with certain characters, including the narrator themselves. Critics and academics have spent years analysing the voice of Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby and have questioned his story because of this biased opinion. This is referred to as the 'Unreliable Narrator', and suspicions can grow regarding the reliability of certain statements or characters. After all, just because Nick sees Gatsby as an innocent, fun individual doesn't mean that he was, or that there wasn't a darker presence hidden behind a friendly façade.

Who is Gatsby?

This is one of the main reasons why adaptations of first-person narratives can be so difficult. The introspections and opinions of the character we are following can often be lost or can clutter the story that is being told. It's a different medium and adaptations can struggle to bring certain perspectives to life in the same way as they initially appeared.

But that is not to say it's impossible. The Hunger Games films added some extra scenes of President Snow so that we, as an audience, could develop the same uneasiness that Katniss feels towards him without her actively telling us 'You should be scared of him'. We can see that she is afraid, but that isn't enough. We have to experience it ourselves or a key element of the narrative is lost.

The first-person narrative isn't the only way that opinion based perspective can be portrayed. Many narratives use a close third-person perspective that focuses primarily on one or more characters. Their thoughts and opinions still come across and can often provide some very contradictory opinions of each other.

Let's use the Discworld series as another example. Not every story in this series is told using the same characters but they do enjoy crossing over into other narratives. One prime example comes from Commander Samuel Vimes, a member of the Watch of Ankh-Morpork (basically he's a policeman). During the course of these books we learn about his intelligence, his love of the job, his love of his family and the difficulties of ensuring that the law is upheld across the city regardless of position or class. But in a city like Ankh-Morpork, there are many other characters present and several books choose to centre on them instead. The Truth revolves around William De Worde's attempts to create a newspaper and the Watch keeps popping up. Suddenly, Vimes is not the brilliant character or the hero we've come to know and love. He is a problem, someone who seems to be making William's life difficult and preventing him from achieving his goals by not sharing information or generally preventing William from getting what he needs to stay in business. On the flipside, when William, or his staff, appears in a book centred on the Watch, they are seen as annoyances that enjoy getting in the way.

The same people. Different perspectives.

However, as I mentioned earlier, there is another kind of perspective; the kind that relies on knowledge and understanding.

What do you know?

Let's use your work colleague here again and claim that they are an acquaintance of yours. You haven't known them very long before you made the comment that angered them. Now if they were someone you knew well, you would probably have known to not say this because it's a sensitive topic or it's just something they don't like to hear. It's the difference between an innocent mistake and a deliberate attempt to antagonise. People react differently based on what they know about a situation or issue. It's why we are more likely to trust a professional over someone who is just learning themselves or why we might treat someone slightly differently if we discovered they were seriously ill.

This is something that is mainly seen in minor characters such as the pencil-pushing, glory-seeking superior or the love-struck colleague who cause problems for the protagonist by doing things that make life difficult. But we only catch glimpses of these people and it's rarely when they are in their element or doing their jobs, moments when they would have an opportunity to show their competence or skill. We see them as comic relief or obstacles because they are reacting to the protagonist. Our knowledge of them reflects how we see them.

A prime example comes from Lin Beifong from Legend of Korra, an officer of the law and metal-bender. During the course of the second season, Lin suddenly seemed less competent at her job for no apparent reason. She dismissed the claims of Mako, who was investigating a crime, and preferred to listen to two lazy colleagues who kept looking for an easy solution. It is easy to see why Mako was getting frustrated and ended up making a few reckless choices.

But let's look at the situation based on what Lin knew at the time. Mako was a rookie in the ranks, didn't appear to have solid evidence backing up his claims and kept bringing his suspicions to Lin at inappropriate moments. His own past wasn't exactly squeaky clean and there was plenty of room to doubt him. In contrast were the two detectives, people who had not only been on the force for a while, but had clearly been promoted. There is reference made to detective 'openings', much like any other job vacancy, so these two had clearly applied and been considered the best candidates for these positions.

Calculating or ignorant? Bad writing or a believable reaction?

Minor characters often get a tough break in the narrative because we simply aren't given enough time with them to form any sort of opinion. The more we learn, the more our perspectives on them can change and this can often be reflected in the understanding of the main character.

Let's look at Harry Potter for a moment, or rather the character of Dumbledore. One scene that has stayed with fans since the beginning was with the Mirror of Erised. Because our perspective is with Harry, we see what he sees. We know what he desires. But when Harry shares the Mirror with Ron and Dumbledore, both Harry and the reader experience a problem; we can't see what Ron and Dumbledore see reflected in the Mirror. We trust what they tell us because Harry trusts them, even if we feel that what Dumbledore sees is a bit odd. It is only much later, when we learn more about Dumbledore's life and past regrets, that we start to view that scene with new eyes. Harry's knowledge and our understanding is no longer what it used to be. We don't believe what he told us in the first book because our trust in him has changed.

Reflections

Perspective shapes everything, no matter what form it comes in. It is not just about how someone might approach a situation. It's about how someone might think, or how they view people and situations.

So the work colleague you angered? Maybe they found your comments hurtful, even if you didn't mean them to be, or it was the final straw of a very bad day. Not everyone is going to see things the way you do or know everything that you know. In the words of Atticus Finch, 'You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.'

It's the beginning of a new year. Let's make an effort to understand a different point of view.

Quick update

It has been a long time since my previous post and my plans to re-read the whole Harry Potter series is still in effect. Sadly though, it must be confessed that I have not had the opportunity to pick up the first book due to reality giving me a kick in the backside.

Suffice to say I am once again unemployed and so the vast majority of my belongings, including the aforementioned books, are about to begin their new life in boxes until this changes. I may be able to get hold of the books another way and still continue my plans but it is much more likely that they will be put on hold until such times as I get settled elsewhere.

However, not all news is bad and I will continue to blog as and when I find myself with something to say. Hopefully I can continue writing about interesting topics that you might want to read and will continue to analyse things that you may never have considered in the meantime.

Make no mistake, I have not abandoned my plans. They have just been put on hold and I hope that it will not be long before I find myself able to take them up again.

Alohomora!

It is no surprise to many of you (if indeed anyone is reading this) to find that I am a Harry Potter fan. Let's be honest, there were not many people in my age group who weren't. I have certainly encountered a number of adults who have mixed feelings about it, including one English teacher who claimed that she was forever grateful to J.K Rowling for teaching an entire generation how to pronounce 'Hermione' correctly.

It is very difficult to find someone who hasn't encountered the series in some form or another. Between the publicity and marketing that surrounded the books, to the point that a delay in publishing date was actually considered newsworthy, to the trailers and marketing for the films, Harry Potter was considered somewhat legendary in the realms of children's literature. Never before had a fantasy series aimed for children become so global, to the point that publishers are still looking for something that can replace the gap it left in the market. At least four of the books were in the top 25 for the Nation's favourite books (conducted by the BBC in 2003), when the series wasn't even complete. And that doesn't include the games, spin-offs and Pottermore itself. It spawned debates, brought up questions and, for many of my classmates, made reading popular.

And these were the covers for children!

I was about 10 years old when I was first given a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone in an attempt to encourage my reading habit and give me something new to read that was suitable for my age group while still being challenging. Let me tell you, that is something that is difficult to achieve. I devoured that book and when I discovered that three had already been published at that point I may have (read 'did') made myself a bit of a pest during book fairs and trips to the bookshops, absolutely begging my parents to let me have the second book at the very least. After all, at this point I had no pocket money and my birthday was too far away.

Fast forward to Christmas and I had apparently been successful, because not only did I receive Chamber of Secrets but I was given all three books at once in a boxed set, and instantly handed my single copy to my little sister so that she could start her own discovery of Harry Potter and the world of Hogwarts that I had come to know and love. Her journey took a very different turn than mine, but we will get into that later.

Those three were the only books in the series that I did not directly buy myself and in a way, I am grateful for that because it meant that when I bought each book, I was buying it for myself and nobody else. They were my property. The journeys I had with these characters were mine. I didn't have to share them. I still did, but that was only because my siblings were only starting to discover why I loved the series so much and I wanted to talk to someone about it. In time, they bought their own copies and stopped borrowing mine.

I grew up with Harry, Ron and Hermione, eventually overtaking them in terms of age. But at no point when exploring their world through their eyes did I start getting annoyed at them because I was older than they were and felt I knew better. I may not have known anything about fighting a magical war and having a powerful wizard getting ready to kill me whenever I let my guard down. But I knew the struggles of school, how a teacher could make or break your desire to learn, the effort to find friends I could trust and the difficulty of living up to other people's expectations, no matter your age.

The last book was published in 2007 just before I left for university, and the last film was released in 2011, just after I had completed my undergraduate degree. I said goodbye to Harry at the same time I was saying goodbye to some pretty important stages in my life and that sense of endings and beginnings stayed with me for a long time.

But as we all know, time does not stand still. It moves on, twisting and turning without any regard for what we were or where we could end up. I am now 24, and rapidly approaching my 25th birthday. It has been almost three years since I last picked up a Harry Potter book and many more since I read the entire series from beginning to end. Life has carried on, but Hogwarts and the Boy-who-lived have been travelling alongside me in many different guises. I own a couple of Harry Potter games. I am part of Pottermore. I have plans to travel to see Harry Potter World with my sister at some point.

But all of this has made me wonder, what was it about Harry Potter that touched us so? Was it the fact that this mistreated little boy was someone special that appealed to us? Was it the thought of a magical world beyond us that caught our attention? Was it something to do with the author and how she treated us through her writing? Or, dare I ask, was it simply the fact that it came at the right time, when the Internet was growing and becoming more commonplace thereby allowing fans to connect across a global scale?

Creative Genius or Lucky Hack?

I love analysing and picking things apart, so now I am taking this moment to set myself a challenge; to read through the entire Harry Potter series and write about my thoughts and feelings book by book. I may mention films occasionally but this will be very much centred on what made me a fan at the start. Now that I know what's ahead and a lot of background information, what do I notice about the characters and the events surrounding them? Do I understand where everyone is coming from or do I still think someone is making the wrong choice? What do I notice about the writing itself and how does it change as the series goes on?

But most importantly, do I still have the same love for the world that J.K Rowling created that I did when I finished that first book all those years ago? Does it deserve a place in my adult heart or is it something that should be looked back on with a sense of nostalgia?

I don't know the answers but hopefully I can uncover something new on this journey and I invite you to pick up your wands, solemnly swear you are up to no good and come with me as I re-discover the world of Harry Potter!