General Vision and Viewpoint
General Vision and Viewpoint
Lies of Silence, Dancing at Lughnasa & Il Postino
The general vision or viewpoint relates to the authors or directors outlook on life. This outlook affects our own perspective on the text and the world of the text. The author shows us his own outlook through the plot, characters, relationships, the society in the text and also through language – the main viewpoint can be seen in one key single moment.
Lies of Silence is set in Northern Ireland in a society bitterly divided thanks to some ancient political/religious conflict. There are some moments of light – even happiness (almost) but mainly it is a gloomy, dark novel – the viewpoint is grim. Even the way the book opens is pessimistic and it sets the tone for the rest of the story. At the beginning of the novel, Michael Dillon is depressed at the familiar sight of armed policemen in armoured cars. Michael feels that there is a certain lawlessness in the current society and this is shown in the image of their guns ‘cowboy-low on their thighs’ suggesting something belonging to the Wild West. Michael feels completely dejected at this point – ‘Why should he stay here, why should anyone in their senses stay here?’
The relationships in the text vary – Michael and Andrea are briefly happy but the outcome of this affair only adds to the gloomy nature of the story. When the novel begins it is clear that Michael’s and Moira’s marriage is over – Michael is already in an affair with a Canadian journalist named Andrea. Michael is planning on leaving his wife but he has yet to tell her: ‘He we married and hiding their affair from his wife.’ He married Moira for the wrong reasons – he liked the idea of other men envying his woman: ‘She was tall, beautiful and very flirtatious.’ Even Moira knows that Michael no longer loves her and attributes this to her having lost her looks, telling us that Michael’s love was purely superficial. Moira’s defiance of the IRA (when she publicly denounces the
Lies of Silence, Dancing at Lughnasa & Il Postino
The general vision or viewpoint relates to the authors or directors outlook on life. This outlook affects our own perspective on the text and the world of the text. The author shows us his own outlook through the plot, characters, relationships, the society in the text and also through language – the main viewpoint can be seen in one key single moment.
Lies of Silence is set in Northern Ireland in a society bitterly divided thanks to some ancient political/religious conflict. There are some moments of light – even happiness (almost) but mainly it is a gloomy, dark novel – the viewpoint is grim. Even the way the book opens is pessimistic and it sets the tone for the rest of the story. At the beginning of the novel, Michael Dillon is depressed at the familiar sight of armed policemen in armoured cars. Michael feels that there is a certain lawlessness in the current society and this is shown in the image of their guns ‘cowboy-low on their thighs’ suggesting something belonging to the Wild West. Michael feels completely dejected at this point – ‘Why should he stay here, why should anyone in their senses stay here?’
The relationships in the text vary – Michael and Andrea are briefly happy but the outcome of this affair only adds to the gloomy nature of the story. When the novel begins it is clear that Michael’s and Moira’s marriage is over – Michael is already in an affair with a Canadian journalist named Andrea. Michael is planning on leaving his wife but he has yet to tell her: ‘He we married and hiding their affair from his wife.’ He married Moira for the wrong reasons – he liked the idea of other men envying his woman: ‘She was tall, beautiful and very flirtatious.’ Even Moira knows that Michael no longer loves her and attributes this to her having lost her looks, telling us that Michael’s love was purely superficial. Moira’s defiance of the IRA (when she publicly denounces the