Power of Perspective

The Power of Perspective Perspective is something that every individual has and it is something that heavily influences the way that one thinks about their role in society. Without perspective it would be difficult to judge what an individual can and cannot do within the realm of reason. If an individual is a police officer, then their perspective will be very different to that of a criminal as a police officer will be aware that in order to fill their role, they must abide by the law and the criminal will understand that they will often be required take a great risks in order to avoid the law. This can also be seen in the novel 1984 by George Orwell in the views of the protagonist, Winston Smith. For Winston, his perspective is determined by how he fits into the Party, what his role and obligation to the Party is, and what the limitations are that the Party place on him. Stemming from this, his personal belief is what he can and can’t do to within the limitations that the Party place on him and the limitations that he places on himself to ensure protection from the Party. Throughout the story, Winston’s perspectives and personal beliefs change many times; always following the same pattern. This is that when his perspective of where he fits into the Party changes and his perspective of the limitations that they place on him change, for better or for worse, his belief in what he allowed to do and capable of doing changes in the same manner. If his perspective changes for better, then his personal beliefs will change for better as well and vice versa. This progression can be seen first when at the beginning of the story, when his perspective is bleak and he believes that he can do nothing. Once he meets Julia, his perspective improves from the austerity of before and he begins to believe that he can act proactively. Finally, this progression goes backwards when he is caught and he once again loses his hope and feels that he can do nothing. When