Delve into the intriguing world of first-person narration, a technique that draws us into the thoughts and feelings of others. Discover how films like 'Nickel Boys' and classics such as 'Lady in the Lake' use this perspective to create emotional depth. The discussion also explores the rise of personal narratives in modern media, raising questions about authenticity and connection. From literature to cinema, the complexities of identity and empathy are examined, revealing the challenges and beauty of seeing through another's eyes.
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insights INSIGHT
First-Person Paradox
First-person narration offers intimacy and distance, creating a paradox.
This intimacy puts you close to the narrator, while distance lets you see different perspectives.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Shifting Perspective in Nickel Boys
In Nickel Boys, Elwood's childhood perspective is shown by looking up at adults.
As he grows, the camera looks down, showing his changed perspective.
insights INSIGHT
Detachment in Nickel Boys
Hearing Elwood's voice off-screen in Nickel Boys created detachment for Naomi Fry.
This auditory disconnect counteracted the intended immersive experience.
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The novel, presented as the posthumously published memoirs of Humbert Humbert, explores themes of obsession, pedophilia, and the manipulation of reality. Humbert, a European intellectual and pedophile, becomes infatuated with Dolores Haze, whom he kidnaps and sexually abuses after marrying her mother. The narrative delves into the complex and disturbing relationship between Humbert and Lolita, highlighting issues of morality, solipsism, and the erasure of Lolita's independent identity. The book is known for its eloquent but deceptive narrator and its exploration of delusion, coercion, and cruelty.
THE NICKEL BOYS
Colson Whitehead
The Nickel Boys is a powerful and disturbing novel that delves into the horrors of Nickel Academy, a segregated juvenile reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. The story follows Elwood Curtis, a bright and idealistic young man who is falsely accused of stealing a car and sent to Nickel Academy. There, he and his friend Turner navigate the brutal and corrupt environment, marked by physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. The novel explores themes of systemic injustice, human perseverance, and the lasting impact of trauma. It alternates between the 1960s and the present, as the dark history of Nickel Academy is uncovered and its survivors come forward to share their experiences.
American Psychosis
How the Federal Government Destroyed the Mental Illness Treatment System
E. Fuller Torrey
In 'American Psychosis,' E. Fuller Torrey examines the historical and current state of mental health treatment in the United States, arguing that federal government policies have significantly contributed to the deterioration of the mental health care system. The book provides a detailed account of the changes in mental health care policies and their consequences, highlighting the need for reform and improved care for individuals with mental illnesses.
The Berlin stories
Christopher Isherwood
The Berlin Stories is an omnibus published in 1945, combining two of Christopher Isherwood's novels: *Mr. Norris Changes Trains* (1935) and *Goodbye to Berlin* (1939). The work is set in Jazz Age Berlin between 1930 and 1933, a period marked by the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The stories are semi-autobiographical, reflecting Isherwood's own experiences living in Berlin during this time. The characters include the enigmatic Arthur Norris, a masochistic and possibly communist businessman, and Sally Bowles, a young English cabaret singer based on Isherwood's friend Jean Ross. The novels portray a city of debauchery and despair, where characters live in ignorance or defiance of the impending national catastrophe. The work merges fact and fiction, providing a vivid and often comic yet poignant portrayal of marginal characters in a city on the brink of chaos.
The Adventures of Augie March
Saul Bellow
Set in Great Depression-era Chicago, the novel tracks Augie March's moral and emotional development from boyhood to adulthood. Augie navigates a series of careers and encounters, living by his wits and resolve. The story includes his relationships with his family, particularly his brothers Simon and Georgie, and his mentorship by the Machiavellian Grandma Lausch. Augie's journey takes him through various jobs, romantic relationships, and even service in the Merchant Marine during World War II, ultimately ending with him living in Paris involved in shady dealings and contemplating future adventures[1][5][4].
The first person is a narrative style as old as storytelling itself—one that, at its best, allows us to experience the world through another person’s eyes. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz trace how the technique has been used across mediums throughout history. They discuss the ways in which fiction writers have played with the unstable triangulation between author, reader, and narrator, as in Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita” and Bret Easton Ellis’s “American Psycho,” a book that adopts the perspective of a serial killer, and whose publication provoked public outcry. RaMell Ross’s “Nickel Boys”—an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s 2019 novel—is a bold new attempt to deploy the first person onscreen. The film points to a larger question about the bounds of narrative, and of selfhood: Can we ever truly occupy someone else’s point of view? “The answer, in large part, is no,” Cunningham says. “But that impossibility is, for me, the actual promise: not the promise of a final mind meld but a confrontation, a negotiation with the fact that our perspectives really are our own.”
Critics at Large | The New Yorker 
