Spies Belonging
Statement of Intention: ‘Our sense of reality is never the same as others’ suggests the nature of developed psychological mindsets that people build through the course of life, and the factors that influence this mindset to alter one persons perception of reality. This expository essay aims to inform and explain, using three different points of evidence that link back to the contending argument. The intended audience are Students and Adults that are assumed to be educated that would be reading a newspaper or magazine exert, assuming that the audience would have little prior knowledge to the related topic. The language used in the essay aims for a level of sophistication that the reader would expect. The essay draws on Michael Frayns ‘Spies’
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Novel which provides examples on how different perspectives hold different views on reality, along with a couple of other points of evidence.
Our version of events is never always true. People interpret different events and happenings differently based on their upbringing; values, beliefs, experiences, family, friends etc. These things shape us and define is but ultimately they can often cloud our perception so no two realities can ever be the same. Not one individual is biologically identical or psychologically identical, nor does one individual live an identical life to another, our reality is subject to change as we develop as a human being, mentally, physically and spiritually.
The idea of one persons reality never being identical to any others, along with the concept of mental and biological differences is constantly exposed to us throughout the novel ‘Spies’ by Michael Frayn.
In the novel where a character named Keith who had always seemed to adopt a ‘Domineering’ persona against ‘Stephen’ who was a vulnerable young child with little social interest at school. Keith may have adopted this persona from his father who was ignorant of his son and only had seemed to communicate with him when he needed something, or he felt he needed to because Keith had done something wrong. Supporting the concept that values and mentality are often adopted in a persons upbringing. An incident where Stephen had broken Keith's trust had caused Keith to forcibly take physical action on Stephen, though throughout the book it is only narrated through one characters perspective, Stephens. Stephen believes that Keith is enraged because he thinks he has done something wrong, when the knife is being held to Stephens neck he thinks to himself why Keith's mother wears a scarf, this suggestion immediately prompts us to look at Keith's perspective of the situation and encourages us to consider what may be happening in Keith's life, could there be some motive behind his violence? Frayns spies is a credible portrayal of how how we can never really know somebody, and that out perception is always skewed in certain
situations.
Conflict and war provides us with a dominant understanding of how people can be mentally and physically altered through a series of events. Wilfred Owens poem “Dulce Et Decorum Est” latin translating to “Sweet and fitting it is to die for ones country”. Owen introduces to us the glorious ideal of dying for your country in the title. Through throughout the poem owen outlines the brutality of war and events that coincide it such as death, horror and grief. In his last stanza he almost smashes this outdated and naive perception that it is good to die for ones country that he states, the ‘old’ uphold. Owen provides us with information that proves that all the propaganda surrounding WWII provides us with a blurred reality, throughout the poem he makes it clear that war is not a great thing “obscene as cancer” he says, it may seem all great and glorifying until you can actually experience the harsh reality of it. In a similar vein the mythology and romanticizing of the ANZAC day legend shows how perceptions always alter our view of the world. Many of the people who attend the ANZAC day dawn service get the glorified version of what really happened that day on the coastlines of Galipolli. In a sense the reality is blurred for many who attend these services, we are encouraged to think of what it was like for the old veterans who had fought in these wars. In reality we can not come to terms of how it was for one to fight in a war, though we are exposed to the ideas and explanations of what it was like. At ANZAC dawn services are we ever getting the perspective of how it was for the Turkish, the people who died for their country and what it was worth?
We as individuals experience many different events, occasions, occurrences that eventually shape us as the person we are. What we believe and what we decide is reality is formed by our own perception and prejudice. As the above examples show us there is always a different way of interpreting a situation, a different story to be told or someone else's built perception of the world. As such, no two realities can be the same.
Sourced from: Own writing
Novel which provides examples on how different perspectives hold different views on reality, along with a couple of other points of evidence.
Our version of events is never always true. People interpret different events and happenings differently based on their upbringing; values, beliefs, experiences, family, friends etc. These things shape us and define is but ultimately they can often cloud our perception so no two realities can ever be the same. Not one individual is biologically identical or psychologically identical, nor does one individual live an identical life to another, our reality is subject to change as we develop as a human being, mentally, physically and spiritually.
The idea of one persons reality never being identical to any others, along with the concept of mental and biological differences is constantly exposed to us throughout the novel ‘Spies’ by Michael Frayn.
In the novel where a character named Keith who had always seemed to adopt a ‘Domineering’ persona against ‘Stephen’ who was a vulnerable young child with little social interest at school. Keith may have adopted this persona from his father who was ignorant of his son and only had seemed to communicate with him when he needed something, or he felt he needed to because Keith had done something wrong. Supporting the concept that values and mentality are often adopted in a persons upbringing. An incident where Stephen had broken Keith's trust had caused Keith to forcibly take physical action on Stephen, though throughout the book it is only narrated through one characters perspective, Stephens. Stephen believes that Keith is enraged because he thinks he has done something wrong, when the knife is being held to Stephens neck he thinks to himself why Keith's mother wears a scarf, this suggestion immediately prompts us to look at Keith's perspective of the situation and encourages us to consider what may be happening in Keith's life, could there be some motive behind his violence? Frayns spies is a credible portrayal of how how we can never really know somebody, and that out perception is always skewed in certain
situations.
Conflict and war provides us with a dominant understanding of how people can be mentally and physically altered through a series of events. Wilfred Owens poem “Dulce Et Decorum Est” latin translating to “Sweet and fitting it is to die for ones country”. Owen introduces to us the glorious ideal of dying for your country in the title. Through throughout the poem owen outlines the brutality of war and events that coincide it such as death, horror and grief. In his last stanza he almost smashes this outdated and naive perception that it is good to die for ones country that he states, the ‘old’ uphold. Owen provides us with information that proves that all the propaganda surrounding WWII provides us with a blurred reality, throughout the poem he makes it clear that war is not a great thing “obscene as cancer” he says, it may seem all great and glorifying until you can actually experience the harsh reality of it. In a similar vein the mythology and romanticizing of the ANZAC day legend shows how perceptions always alter our view of the world. Many of the people who attend the ANZAC day dawn service get the glorified version of what really happened that day on the coastlines of Galipolli. In a sense the reality is blurred for many who attend these services, we are encouraged to think of what it was like for the old veterans who had fought in these wars. In reality we can not come to terms of how it was for one to fight in a war, though we are exposed to the ideas and explanations of what it was like. At ANZAC dawn services are we ever getting the perspective of how it was for the Turkish, the people who died for their country and what it was worth?
We as individuals experience many different events, occasions, occurrences that eventually shape us as the person we are. What we believe and what we decide is reality is formed by our own perception and prejudice. As the above examples show us there is always a different way of interpreting a situation, a different story to be told or someone else's built perception of the world. As such, no two realities can be the same.
Sourced from: Own writing