Comparative Study: General Viewpoint and Vision
- The vision of the world offered to us by a text
- How we respond to that vision as readers
- The vision can change and shift
- The beginning and the end are key
Central Characters
Our impression of a central character can influence our sense of the general vision and viewpoint.
Room
Jack, the narrator of Room, is only 5yrs old when the novel begins, and has been held captive in a tiny shed for his entire life. However, Jack is a complex and engaging character who gains our sympathy from the outset. Oddly, it is Jack’s cheerful acceptance of the limitations of his life that is most heartbreaking in the early stages of the novel. He is delighted with the simplest of things and has no idea of what he is missing in the outside world. He is content to receive a hand-drawn picture of himself for his birthday but is impossible for us to share his positive view of life, particularly when he has to hang that picture inside Wardrobe so his captor will not see it. Jack is in constant danger from Old Nick and his limited understanding of that fact – thanks to Ma’s protection – does not make us optimistic for him. In fact, the opposite is the case. When he tells Ma that he looks forward to growing up ‘to be a giant’. Jack notices her expression change but he doesn’t realise that his innocent remark has reminded Ma of the impossibility of his staying in Room forever. Jack is a brave, loving, determined child and his selfless courage in agreeing to Ma’s plan to fake his death so he can escape Room gives us hope that he will eventually manage to make his way in life when he is free. Despite his terror during the escape, Jack focuses on saving Ma. He imagines Old Nick in Room with Ma, ‘the maddest ever’, and he manages to provide the police with enough information to find Room and release her.
Leaving Room does not provide Jack with a happy ever after ending and we soon see how damaged he has been by his incarceration. Even though he has a larger vocabulary and better mathematical ability than the average 5yr old, Dr Clay says Jack is ‘like a newborn in many ways’. He struggles with everything from managing stairs to interacting with the people he meets, saying he can only cope with other people if they ‘don’t touch me’. Jack, who seemed so capable and brave when he was in Room, is now shown to be a dysfunctional little boy. His continuing difficulties dismay Ma and, by extension the reader.
Over the course of the weeks following his escape, Jack’s physical and social skills begin to improve and we become guardedly optimistic about his future. Life may not be easy but Jack has shown such fortitude, determination and generosity of spirit that he seems as well-equipped as any other child could be to overcome the social and emotional deprivation of his imprisonment.
A Doll’s House
Nora in A Doll’s House makes a less favourable initial impression on us than Jack does in Room. Whereas we sympathise with Jack’s dreadful situation, Nora’s concerns seem frivolous. Her language is childish: she tells Torvald that he will have ‘a big salary and earn lots and lots of money’ and she begs him to let her spend a ‘tiny wee bit’ more at Christmas. However, we soon begin to see that Nora, while nothing like as in thrall to Torvald as Jack is to Old Nick, is living a subservient life in her own home. Torvald treats her as if she is his daughter rather than his wife, asking, ‘Hasn’t Miss Sweet Tooth been breaking rules in town today?’ Nora denies eating sweets, even though she has just eaten some macaroons. The idea that Torvald believes he can control every aspect of Nora’s life, from how much she spends on housekeeping to what she eats, creates a negative general vision and viewpoint. She cannot be honest with her husband or true to herself. Although Nora’s situation is far from ideal, it is hard to feel a great deal of sympathy with her at times. When her friend Christine Lind, who has fallen on hard times visits her Nora is at pains to point out to the childless, penniless widow that she, Nora, has ‘three lovely children’ and will soon have ‘heaps and heaps of money’ thanks to Torvald’s promotion. Nora’s insensitive boastfulness at this stage in the play does not give us much hope that she will develop into a more well-rounded, fulfilled character. However, Nora, like Jack, defies our expectations and proves she is capable of more than we might have first imagined. Stung by Christine’s saying she knows ‘so little of the burdens and troubles of life’, Nora reveals that she has taken out a loan to pay for a life saving trip to Italy when Torvald fell ill and that she has kept this from him, scrimping and saving to pay it back in secret. This is startling proof that she has a will of her own and the ability to make decisions without Torvald’s knowledge or permission. This information contributes to a slightly more positive vision and viewpoint as we know now that Nora is a more complex and engaging character than she first appeared. Sadly for Nora, Torvald sees nothing praiseworthy about her actions and is deeply angry when the truth comes out. Nora realises that if she stays with Torvald, she will never achieve her full potential and therefore decides to leave her home and family. Her choice, though difficult and sad, does allow us to hope that she will become the person her father and Torvald would not allow her to be and that she will find greater happiness as a result.
Casablanca
Rick, like Nora and Jack, surprises us over the course of the film and thus affects our view of the general vision and viewpoint. He is more similar to Nora than Jack in his development, however, in that he is not portrayed in a particularly sympathetic light at the start of the film, but we come to see that he had hidden depths.
Rick is, initially at least, far less impressive character than either Jack or Nora. Nora may be silly and childish in the opening of A Doll’s House, but her behaviour does not put anyone at risk. Rick, on the other hand, maintains an aloof, detached manner in the early stages of the film and seems not to care about the war or the fate of those trapped in Casablanca. Ugarte, a local criminal who has stolen letters of transit is arrested in Rick’s café by Captain Renault’s men. Renault informs Rick in advance that the arrest will be taking place, and warns Rick not to alert Ugarte: ‘If you are thinking of warning him, don’t put yourself out. He cannot possibly escape.’ Rick puts Renault’s mind at ease, replying, ‘I stick my neck out for nobody’. When the police chase Ugarte through the café, he begs Rick for help but receives none. As Urgarte is dragged away, a customer says, ‘When they come to get me, Rick, I hope you’ll be more of a help,’ but Rick merely repeats, ‘I stick my neck out for nobody’. His cynical attitude contributes to a negative general vision and viewpoint at this stage of the film.
Happily, as the story progresses, Rick, like Jack and Nora, shows that he is capable of more than we might have expected. He too, grows in stature as he faces and responds to challenges, even if his journey from self-interested cynic to self-sacrificing idealist is neither smooth nor easy. The arrival of Ilsa Lund in Casablanca is the beginning of Rick’s transformation. At first, he is deeply shaken by the reappearance of the woman who broke his heart in Paris, and he lashes out in bitter anger, refusing to help her or Laszlo secure the letters of transit they need to escape Casablanca. The mood is bleak as Rick sticks to his guns and even tells Ilsa, when she says Laszlo will die in Casablanca if Rick does not give her the letters, ‘What of it? I’m going to die in Casablanca. It’s a good spot for it’. However, we have seen that Rick is nothing like as cruel as he pretends to be. After all, he helped Annina and Jan Brandel win money for their passage to America, and he treats his staff with decency and kindness. This side of Rick comes to the fore eventually as he, like Jack and Nora, rises to the challenges he faces. Once he learns why Ilsa left him, Rick nobly arranges for her and Laszlo to make their escape together. His courage and selflessness create a positive and optimistic general vision and viewpoint.
Opening
The opening of a text can play an important role in establishing the general vision and viewpoint.
Room
The opening of Room creates a negative and unsettling general vision and viewpoint with the only positive note being the great love Ma and Jack share.
The novel opens on the morning of Jack’s 5th birthday. He tells us that he was ‘four last night going to sleep in Wardrobe’. We immediately feel uneasy at a little boy excitedly announcing his age and then mentioning, as if it were perfectly normal, that he went to sleep in a wardrobe. This unease increases as Jack discusses his birth with Ma. She says that she was deeply unhappy until she learned she was expecting him, and we learn that she gave birth to him on the rug in the room, It is still stained from that day, and Jack says Ma ‘cutted the cord’ herself. Jack refers to the rug and other objects in the room as if they were sentient beings. He even strokes Table, hoping to make ‘her’ scratches ‘better’. That he has to form emotional attachments to objects such as these indicates that Jack is lacking company and stimulation. The combination of Ma’s misery before Jack’s birth and the unsuitable living conditions contribute to a deeply negative general vision and viewpoint. The introduction of Old Nick strikes an ominous note.
Jack says that he doesn’t think Old Nick came into the room the previous night as ‘the air’s always different if he came’. There is a sense of menace surrounding this shadowy and mysterious figure from whom Jack has to hide every night. The only positive aspect of the opening is the great love between Ma and Jack. It is clear that Jack has given Ma’s life purpose in her darkest hours, and she does her utmost to feed, educate and entertain him. However, we can never lose sight f the fact that even her vest is not good enough for a five year old child. Ma’s attempts to care for Jack and his cheerful acceptance of his lot – he knows no different – cannot take from the dreadful, bleak reality that a mother and child are imprisoned in a tiny room and are under the control of a menacing, evil figure.
A Doll’s House
The opening of A Doll’s House initially seems far more positive than the opening of Room. There could hardly be a greater difference between the two domestic settings. Nora Helmer arrives home to her neat, cheerful, welcoming abode, bringing a basket of parcels and a Christmas tree. She laughs to herself as she eats some macaroons from a packet in her pocket. Compared to the limited resources in Room, Nora seems to have every reason to be happy. However, the optimism is dampened somewhat by the introduction of Nora’s husband, Torvald. He is nothing like as menacing a figure as Old Nick, but Nora seems slightly anxious in his presence. She ‘goes cautiously’ to his study door which seems an odd way for a wife to behave. Torvald’s first words to Nora are intended to be loving and light-hearted, but they are patronising and demeaning. He calls Nora his ‘little lark’ and ‘little squirrel’. When he comes out of his study, Torvald begins lecturing Nora about ‘wasting money’ and although his tone is playful, his meaning is serious. He treats Nora like a child rather than an adult woman and shows that he believes he is superior to her because he is the man of the household. Torvald’s belief in his complete authority over the woman who should be his equal in the marriage creates a negative general vision and viewpoint.
Although Nora does not seem to mind Torvald’s domineering manner, her apparent contentment does not provide us with the same positive feeling as does the strong bond between Ma and Jack. We cannot forget that Nora’s wariness when approaching Torvald’s study, and the breakdown of the Helmer family unit is foreshadowed by Nora’s comment about the present she has bought for her little daughter. Nora claims that the ‘doll and dolly’s bedstead’ will soon be broken into pieces by the child’s rough handling. As the title of the play is A Doll’s House, it is not difficult to see the warning inherent in this seemingly throwaway remark. Overall, then, although Nora and Torvald are in a far more fortunate position than Ma and Jack, we cannot feel optimistic about their future happiness.
Casablanca
The opening of Casablanca is very different to the other two texts. Both Room and A Doll’s House begin by focusing on individuals and relationships, while Casablanca opens with a dramatic political message. The seriousness of the ‘tortuous’ refugee trial to Casablanca for those fleeing the German occupation and the huge scale of the misery contribute to a deeply negative general vision and viewpoint. However, some may find the poignancy of Jack and Ma’s efforts to find joy in their horrific circumstances more affecting than the tales of Second World War refugees, or they may relate more to the seemingly inconsequential, but nevertheless depressing, control that Torvald exerts over his wife.
In the opening of all three texts, there is a sense of menace and awareness of a threat that has not yet been fully unleashed, to varying degrees. Old Nick in Room has created a dreadful prison for Jack and Ma, and the mention of his visits causing even the air to be different leaves us with little hope for the young mother and child. Torvald is far less dangerous, but his coercive control is nonetheless an obvious obstacle to Nora’s ability to achieve fulfilment, and her anxiety is unsettling.
The looming threat in Casablanca is the advancing German army and the Nazis’ ability to prevent those who want to do so from escaping to the freedom of the Americas. The shooting dead of a member of the French Resistance under the poster of Petain proves just how deadly is the danger posed by those in authority. Although Casablanca is ostensibly free, it is under the command of Vichy France, a German puppet state. Anyone resisting authority is dealth with swiftly and mercilessly. The threat of physical danger in Room and Casablanca means that the general vision and viewpoint in these two texts is overwhelmingly negative at the beginning, more so than in A Doll’s House, where there is a deep sense of unease but no actual fear of physical harm.
In all three texts, the opening raises the idea of being trapped or confined in some way. Jack and Ma are literally held against their will; Nora struggles to maintain a sense of self in the face of her husband’s controlling behaviour; while those in the film who reach Casablanca are not guaranteed to escape. After the murder of the German couriers, Captain Renault has his men round up anyone who may be ‘suspicious’, along with liberals and a ‘beautiful young girl’ for his own amusement. As is the case in the other two texts, the opening of the film leaves us with little hope and a great deal of pessimism.
Ending
The ending of a text can change or reinforce our initial impression of the general vision and viewpoint.
Room
The ending of Room provides us with a more positive general vision and viewpoint than does the beginning. Ma and Jack have been free from captivity for some time now and are making steps – albeit gradual ones – towards independent living. The novel concludes on a reflective note. Jack asks Ma if they can visit Room one last time. She is surprised by the request and asks if he likes the outside world. Jack replies, ‘Yeah. Not everything’. He spent the first five years of his life in a tiny shed, so it is sad but understandable that he should have difficulties adjusting to normal life. His hankering to return to Room leads us to wonder if he will ever fully recover from the trauma of his early childhood or if he is irreparable damaged. However, Jack shows unexpected strength and maturity when he tells Ma that he is ‘choosing for both’ of them when he decides to visit Room again. He is taking charge and growing up, despite his slow start. Ma struggles with the idea of seeing Room again and is so distressed when she sees the excavated grave of her little daughter that she vomits on the grass. Still Ma’s selflessness means that she does what Jack needs, and if he can only find closure through going back to Room, she is willing to support him. That she is able to enter her former prison at all is a testament to her courage and points to her having the resilience to overcome the horror she has been through and, therefore, find peace and happiness in the future. Jack is astonished to find that Room is far smaller than he remembered and that it is already unfamiliar to him in many ways. He says ‘Good-bye’ to everything one last time and he and Ma leave the ‘twenty-first century dungeon’ forever. The novel ends at such an early stage in Jack’s life that we cannot know for sure how his life will turn out. However, he and Ma have their freedom and one another. They have survived against the odds and Jack has opportunities now that seemed impossible on the morning of his fifth birthday. While we cannot be entirely optimistic about the future. Ma and Jack have made the best of everything they could in their lives so far and will more than likely continue to do so.
A Doll’s House
Unlike Room, the ending of ADH reinforces rather than changes the general vision and viewpoint of the text. Nora, faced with Torvald’s refusal to consider her needs as equal to his own, makes the difficult decision to leave her husband and family. At the end of Room, both Jack and Ma have more control over their lives and are, therefore, on a path to personal fulfilment. Nora sees the opposite future in store for her if she stays with Torvald. He reacts to the news about her secret loan with anger and then, when the threat of blackmail is removed, relief. He tells Nora that he will control every aspect of her life from now on; he will be her will and her conscience and she will be ‘both wife and child’ to him. This is deeply depressing, as it shows that Torvald is even less capable of recognising and understanding his wife’s true nature and needs than he was at the start of the play. His selfishness is in stark contrast to Ma’s generosity of spirit in helping Jack find closure about Room, even though it is incredibly difficult for her. At the end of the novel, Ma and Jack face the future together and their united front as well as their great love for one another creates a sense of optimism. Life may be hard, but they will face it together. Nora on the other hand, realises at last that she is completely alone and has been married to a stranger all these years. An audience may take some solace in the knowledge that Nora is likely to find self-fulfilment and achieve her potential when she leaves Torvald’s control, but it comes at a very high price for her and her family. The only other note of hope at the end of the play is Torvald’s reaction to Nora’s comment about ‘the most wonderful thing of all’ needing to happen if they are ever to have a chance of rebuilding their life together. We don’t know what the outcome of the thought process will be, and the outcome for the marriage is even less certain than Jack and Ma’s future because Torvald and Nora must face their challenges separately, without one another’s loving support.
Casablanca
The ending of Casablanca, like the ending of Room, changes out initial impression of the general vision and viewpoint. At the start of the film, the focus is on a German invasion, desperate refugees and corrupt authority figures such as Captain Renault. The ending of the film, however, leaves us with the message that the human spirit can prevail and that there is always hope, even in the bleakest of times. Yet, as in the other two texts, the ending of Casablanca is not clear-cut. There is no typical happy ever after in the novel, play or film. Instead, we are left, to varying degrees, with uncertainties and ambiguities. Things may be better than they were at the start of the texts, but that is not to say that they are perfect.
The conclusion of Casablanca, like that of ADH, defies convention. But while Nora’s decision to leave Torvald reinforces the negative vision and viewpoint of the text, in that Nora must strike out on her own and leave her children in order to grow as a person, Rick and Ilsa’s parting at the end of Casablanca is an act of mutual sacrifice and patriotism. As Rick tells Ilsa, she needs to support Laszlo in his efforts to resist the Nazi regime; ‘You’re part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the ground and you’re not with him, you’ll regret it’. Ilsa loves Rick but she accepts her role in the war effort and she leaves with Laszlo. While the end of a romantic love affair is sad, we know that Ilsa does care for Laszlo, even if she knows now that as a young girl she was struck by his idealism and that, ‘she looked up to him and worshipped him with a feeling she supposed was love’. Still, that must suffice at the end of the film, as the greater good demands the Allied cause be put before personal feelings. At the start of the film, it seemed that the German forces would prevail, but the bravery of three people at the end of the film gives us hope for a better future.
As in Room, where Ma and Jack face an uncertain future, but one they are determined to face together, so Rick and his unlikely companion Renault join forces at the end of the film and determine to make the best of their situation. In one respect, Rick and Renault’s situation is the reverse of Ma and Jack’s. At the end of the text, the latter are no longer in fear of their lives whereas Rick and Renault will be in grave danger for the duration of the war. However, they accept this with stoicism and good humour. As they walk away from the airport hangar together, Rick tells Renault that he thinks this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. It may not be the traditional Hollywood happy ending, but Casablanca nevertheless leaves us with a feeling of optimism and hope that was not present at the start of the film.
Relationships
Relationships can influence our sense of the general vision and viewpoint.
Room
Although Ma and Jack’s plight is dreadful, the bond they share is the one bright light in a bleak tale. They sustain one another during their captivity and after their escape.
That is not to say that Ma and Jack’s relationship is plain sailing. One of the biggest challenges it faces is that Ma constantly longs for freedom while Jack is content where he is, oblivious to his imprisonment. Ma has kept the truth from him so that he will not be discontented. Unlike Jack, she knows there is a whole world outside and that Room is ‘only a tiny stinky piece of it’. She eventually persuades him that they must join forces to break out, and her plan succeeds.
When Jack brings the police to rescue Ma, she is delighted and says they can ‘do anything now’ because they are free. Jack is stressed and exhausted by his brief foray into the world outside Room and wants to go back. He cannot stop crying when Ma says they will never return. Their needs and desires are do different at this stage that it is difficult to be overly optimistic about their relationship.
Ma and Jack are separated for the first time when Ma attempts suicide following an intrusive interview. The interviewer suggests that Ma was being cruel by keeping Jack with her rather than asking Old Nick to leave him at a hospital so that he could be adopted. The interviewer points out that Jack ‘needed a wider world’ but the one Ma could give him ‘got narrower’ as he grew. Ma is deeply distressed to think that what she considered to be a nurturing and positive relationship might actually have been an act of selfishness. This is a low point of the novel, and it seems to indicate that even her love for Jack is not enough to sustain Ma now.
Ma gradually recovers from her suicide attempt, but while she is receiving treatment Jack forms a bond with Grandma and Steppa and begins to make his own way in the world. This is a source of both joy and sorrow to Ma. Ultimately, however, the lessening of intensity in Ma and Jack’s relationship is a healthy sign and it gives us hope that both may go on to lead fulfilling and independent lives.
A Doll’s House
While Ma and Jack’s relationship is the uplifting aspect of Room, Torvald and Nora’s unequal and unhappy marriage contributed to a negative and pessimistic general vision and viewpoint in ADH. They do not sustain one another; Torvald treats Nora as a child rather than a partner and she gradually comes to see that this is not really love.
Ma is as unselfish as she can be, doing all in her power to care for Jack, and when she is accused of not putting him first, she is so devastated that she loses the will to live. Torvald, on the other hand, is quite content in his selfishness and doubles down on it when the relationship falters. He treats Nora like a plaything, making her dance in a way that sexually excites him and then reacting with shock when she refuses to sleep with him; ‘You won’t – you won’t? Am I not your husband?’ Nora’s feelings and desires mean nothing to him and his insistence on controlling her presents us with a bleak view of their marriage.
Like Ma, Nora lies for what she believes are good reasons, and does not tell Torvald that she took out a loan to pay for a life-saving trip to Italy when he was ill. Although she acts with the best of intentions, concealing the truth causes her great stress and when the lie is revealed, Torvald turns on her angrily. He can only think of himself and how Nora’s actions will affect his reputation. The risk of public shame is quickly removed when Krogstad sends a second letter withdrawing his threat to blackmail the Helmers, but the damage is done. Nora sees that she has been married to a stranger all along and that she cannot continue in this vein. She leaves Torvald and her children, unsure if she will ever be back. This parting of ways is far bleaker than the gradual and natural lessening of Ma and Jack’s reliance on one another. Whereas their slowly changing relationship bodes well for the future, Torvald and Nora’s separation leaves little room for optimism. Nora says both she and Torvald would have to be greatly changed for their marriage ever to be ‘a real wedlock’. The only note of slight optimism is an indication that Torvald may be willing to consider revising his attitude. ‘A hope flashes across his mind’ as Nora shuts the door behind her. It is hard to imagine Torvald being capable of such change, but the possibility is not totally ruled out.
Casablanca
For the early part of Casablanca, the central relationship, like that in ADH, contributes to a negative general vision and viewpoint. When Rick’s former lover Ilsa arrives unexpectedly in Casablanca, his composure is shattered. He never expected to see her again after she left him in Paris, and her reappearance in his life opens old wounds. Bitter and angry, Rick cannot see past his own pain. He deliberately hurts Ilsa with his cutting, sarcastic comments on what he sees as her faithlessness, asking if she left him for Laszlo or if there were ‘others in between’. At this stage in the film, it seems that the central relationship is damaging and destructive, and there appears to be little hope that matters will improve.
As in the other two texts, deception plays an important role in the relationship. Ilsa lies by omission, not telling Rick that she was married to Laszlo. Her reasons for lying are, like Ma and Nora’s well intentioned. Laszlo is a famous figure in the Resistance and were it widely known that Ilsa was his wife, she would be in danger. When she finally manages to tell him the truth. Rick unlike Torvald, puts his own feelings and wounded pride aside and devises a plan to help Ilsa and Laszlo escape to America. This selflessness gives us hope for Ilsa and Laszlo’s safety, but we realise that it also means the end of the relationship between Rick and Ilsa. Ilsa must remain with her husband and Rick will have to part from her once more. The final goodbye, although moving, leaves us with a sense of optimism, as we know that Rick has done the right thing. His relationship with Ilsa had the potential to help or jeopardise the war effort, and by allowing her to leave with Laszlo, Rick had put the needs of many before his own. He knows Laszlo needs Ilsa and, as he tells her, their love triangle doesn’t amount to ‘a hill of beans’ in a war-torn world. As in the other two texts, therefore, the relationship in Casablanca is a source of both joy and sorrow. Just as Jack and Ma must grow apart in order to grow as individuals, and Nora must leave Torvald to have any chance of leading a fulfilling life, so Rick and Ilsa must part ways for the greater good. Our sadness at the end of their love affair is, therefore, tempered by a hope that their courage and selflessness will be of benefit to countless others.