Example
Below is a piece of writing that explores the unreliability
of perspectives by critically ‘talking back’ to Berlin’s ‘Point of View’. We
cannot believe with certainty any voice that is presented. This is similar to
Berlin’s story where we are unsure of who the narrator actually is. As you read
this piece consider how the writer positions the reader to perceive the
narrator, but also present a different perspective on the character.
You might like to read Lucia Berlin’s ‘Point of View’. See
the link below.
Saturday woke Henrietta up in the early hours of the
morning. It rolled her over, peeled open her eyes and wouldn’t let her go back
to sleep. 12:10 am flashed on the fluorescent green digital clock on the side
table next to the bed. Her routine was annoyingly broken. The warmth of her new
Intelligent Electric Blanket had failed to keep her asleep for the full eight
hours she required to be alert and diligent during the day. Despite the cold
she could feel in the atmosphere, Henrietta pulled back her covers and slipped
out of bed. Her feet creaked on the wooden floors.
Hearing a car pull up outside she went to the window, pulled
the curtain back. Foggy windows. She moved her hand back and forth like a car
windscreen wiper. The warmth of her hand melted the steam, revealing in the
streetlight the urban landscape and a car chugging to a halt. She watched
intently.
The driver reclined his seat and took rest for the night. He
tightened his jacket and crossed his arms then turned his head, as if
forgetting something, to listen to the purring of cars in the distance. The
moon cast foreboding shadows over the driver and lit up the back, revealing a
child sleeping in a car seat, blankets strewn across the body. An old fashioned
suitcase sat in the space beside the child like a passenger. It was even locked
in by a seat belt.
She remembered a local news report of a father being accused
of child abuse for sleeping with his son in a car. They were on their way to
visit family and stopped off to rest for the night out front of an IGA, saving
on a night’s accommodation.
They’re runaways though. She just knew it.
Exercise
a Choose a
character in the story to write about. Below are some possibilities:
• the narrator
• Henrietta
• Dr. B.
• the person
driving the car
• the old man in
Chekhov’s “Grief”
• Shirley,
Henrietta’s predecessor
b What
cultural ideas are being explored through the way Berlin represents this
character. What are your thoughts about her perspective and the way she
explores this perspective?
c Talk back to
‘Point of View’ by creating a piece of writing from this character’s
perspective (about 500-800 words) using an authentic voice. Reflect on Berlin’s
perspective and the way she has presented this perspective in her story, but
offer fresh insights into Berlin’s character.
You might also like to use similar writing techniques to
Berlin such as raw description of the everyday, dialogue and the transcendental
mixed in with description and truncated sentences.
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