Changing Perspectives
An individual’s perspective is the result of a combination of factors: personal experience, age, knowledge and education, cultural expectations, and mood. Consider the solar eclipse that took place on April 8th.
We look at it in the present from a scientific standpoint. We understand the movements of the sun and the moon to the earth, and why the light changes throughout the process. We are in a society that can accurately predict the occurrence, both in time and location. News agencies and social media have been discussing it for months. Governments, mindful of their citizens, sent out warnings about how to safely view the eclipse through special lenses or pinhole cameras. Schools were closed so that parents could ensure curious children didn’t damage their eyes looking at the sun without protection. Some people travelled to locations that would afford them optimal viewing.
For me, the solar eclipse a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Being the huge nerd that I am, I’ve wanted to experience a solar eclipse since I first read about them. I was privileged enough to be able to view this one from within the path of totality. We made a point of taking the kids to where we could see it, and explained the physics to them.
Our location was overcast, but the clouds had gaps enough to give us plenty of glimpses throughout the process. It was a really strange twilight as the peak grew closer – the light dimmed, but didn’t gain any of the warmth of colours that you usually see at sunset, and the shadows looked wrong for the light levels. We were able to see the ring when the eclipse was at its peak, and it got dark and cold. Streetlights came on beyond the house. The birds got quiet. I even spotted a star or two. To the north, we could see a rim of colour like there is at dawn, but it’s never brighter to the north here.
It was awesome, in every sense of the word.
The kids were blown away. I had been concerned that they might find the sudden darkness frightening, but my little guy was actually upset that the light returned so quickly. His line, yelled at the sky, was, “The sun CAN’T come back out. Ever. Again!”
He’s in an absolutist phase right now.
Many people I know were excited about the prospect, and made special plans. Others kept to their regular schedules, but popped outside periodically to check on the progress, or to see the period of totality. For those who didn’t want to interrupt their day, electric lighting could be used to counter the sudden darkness.
Now consider the eclipse happening without the knowledge and technologies we have. Scholars might well have the knowledge of the celestial cycles, but would they be able to communicate the date of the impending eclipse to the populace? If the masses were uneducated, would they be frightened of the increasing dimness? Some cultures saw solar eclipses as signs from the gods, or the sun being temporarily eaten by a dragon or other such creature.
There’s a historical report of a battle in Anatolia being interrupted by a solar eclipse. Recorded by the Greek historian Herodotus as the Battle of the Eclipse[i], the Median and Lydian armies were so unnerved by the sudden change “of day into night” that they ceased fighting and started peace talks on the spot. Herodotus wrote that the eclipse had in fact been predicted by Thales of Miletus, although Thales seems to have only narrowed it down to the year, rather than the precise day and time. And clearly the information hadn’t been relayed to the combatants.
Scholars have since argued about the veracity of Herodotus’s account, but you can easily imagine such a reaction from people who didn’t understand what was going on.
How does this affect your writing? For any scene in your story, consider the point of view (POV) character. How does your character respond to a given circumstance: do they know what’s going on? Have they had such an experience before, or if not, have they been prepared for it? Is their personality such that they’re likely to be curious about something new, or sceptical, cynical, fearful, or blasé? Are they old enough to grasp the subtleties of a situation?
In the Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver[ii], the narration rotates between five related women: a mother and her four daughters, Americans who have come to the Congo as part of a Baptist mission in the 1960s. The changing perspectives are expertly expressed. Ruth May, the youngest, is a small child with a limited understanding of culture and politics but definite opinions about what she sees around her and what she’s been taught. She narrates in childish wording, sometimes getting things mixed up or wrong, but faithful to her understanding of the world. Rachel, the eldest, is a self-absorbed teenager who views everything only as is relates to herself. Not wanting to be there at all, she sneers at the locals, is aghast at the living conditions and the food, and bemoans the climate. She deliberately ignores the political situation for much of the book. Leah, one of the middle children, is adventurous and more willing to learn about her new environment, but she struggles with reconciling her father’s opinions with her observations of the local culture, and on her own front, with the gender role expectations in the village. The other characters are as complex in their own perspectives, and each adds a dimension to the reader’s understanding. I’ve reread this book several times and will return to it again. I highly recommend it to anyone as a great example of portraying character perspective and voice.
As an exercise, you can try viewing a given scene through various sets of eyes. If you’re using multiple POV throughout your story, which character would make the most interesting narrator for that scene? If you’re finding a scene is lacking punch, would changing up the POV make it better?
[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Eclipse
[ii] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7244.The_Poisonwood_Bible
