Point of View

While reviewing for the short story test, I reread "Hills Like White Elephants" and it got me thinking about how important point of view is. In this story, we only see what the author allows us to see, so a lot of information is lost. How exactly does the girl feel? Is it possible that what she says in the dialogue could contradict her true feelings and thoughts? And what about the man... We notice that he's probably just trying to get the girl to agree with him for a personal gain, but could he be torn up about this too?

These are the questions that well forever follow point of view, and that's why it's so important for some stories to have the point of view they do. Maybe a different one would drastically change the entire story, and the true meaning could be lost...

Too much yet just enough.

The love for others, like the love Phoenix has for her grandson, has always been a popular topic. "Love can make you unstoppable," many say. If it can, successfully, take Phoenix on an arduous journey then it can help me with whatever I need aid in. And it has often been romanticized as well. Humans love to see love.

But I think sometimes it's too much.

Sometimes it's sad that there's too much love; because it's forbidden, or idealistic, or just not reciprocated. It can tear you apart; create a monster that just wants to be wanted. It can be sad and sick and desperate and dangerous. It can keep you from so much.

But sometimes it's just enough.

Sometimes it's happy that there's so much love; because it's incredible, and ethereal, and just splendid. It can build you up; create a real person that just loves to be loved. It can be happy and heavenly and blissful and bewildering. It can show you the world.

Creatures driven and derided by vanity, aren't we

"Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity, and my eyes burned with anguish and anger." - Araby, page 190.

After reading this last sentence in Araby, I thought a lot about being trivial and material and shallow and vain. Everyone does it. I do it. I constantly do it and it makes me angry that I could lower myself to that kind of thinking. We often forget the things of real, honest importance in our lives, and replace them with stupid stuff of quick pleasure or temporary happiness, just to save us from a little discomfort or boredom. When will we be able to separate the two and only choose that of relevance? Will it ever happen? Or will we always be able to see ourselves as "creatures driven and derided by vanity"? Of course, the narrator is only thinking of the girl he fancies, but this thought applies to the entire world and all the creatures in it. We, as humans, were gifted the ability to reason and we should view it as a privilege, not a right. Determine what is trivial in your life and if it really makes you happy. If it doesn't? Replace it with something of real importance. 

And not from the cold for there was none.

"Standing there trembling in the water and not from the cold for there was none." -pg 141

Late Wednesday night, I had to stop. This small, jumble of words had such an impact on me, it made me stop reading. Why did this quote resonate so much within me? What did it teach me?

A physical response is not always due to a physical event, I have learned. Some might laugh because something funny happened, or cry because something hurt them, or tremble because they're cold.


However,

I respond because I feel.

I laugh because I feel courageous or confident or energetic.

I cry because I feel enraged or devastated or empty.

I tremble because I feel overwhelmed or terrified or loved. Or even all three.


As John Grady Cole looked at Alejandra, she trembled. She trembled because she was overwhelmed and terrified and loved. She didn't respond because she was cold; she responded because she felt. And sometimes those feelings have more of an impact than any physical event could ever have. React to them. Respond.


"Me quieres? she said. Yes, he said. He said her name. God yes, he said." -pg 141