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General Vision and Viewpoint - Coggle Diagram
General Vision and Viewpoint
Some Like it Hot
Opening
Spoof of 1920’s/1930’s gangster movies
Even the title hints at sexual innuendo – viewers expect fun, jokes, laughter
Opening jazz music (‘Sugar Blues/Runnin Wild by Adolf Deutsch and band) is sensual and kind of associated with seedy nightclubs, even striptease bards of the time, so again, right from the beginning the audience is expecting something fun, risqué and physical.
The opening sets a humorous, light-hearted, fun tone which dominates the movie
Even all the violence and shooting is not ominous – after the hail of bullets during the opening ‘hearse’ scene, nobody is hurt or killed. It’s clear that even the violence is light-hearted.
Central Characters
How the viewers react and relate to the central characters can colour our impression of the general vision and viewpoint of the text.
Initially, Joe, Jerry and Sugar are presented in a rather negative light.
All 3 central characters have little personal integrity and are out for what they can get even if this means lying and cheating.
Joe, for example, is a cruel womaniser and the viewer feels sorry for Nellie and sees Joe as selfish and heartless.
Sugar, for example, seems very calculating in that she’s happy the band is going to Florida so she can ‘get’ herself a millionaire.
Whilst Sugar seems shallow and calculating though, she has only given up on love because she has been stung so many times. The audience cannot help but like her vulnerability and sweetness
Joe seems to be the most empathetic and likeable character and this gives us hope from the outset of the film. For example, he takes the blame for Sugar’s whisky.
The viewer may doubt the possibility of a happy ending as we watch the central characters lie, cheat and act cynically and selfishly – ex. Sugar using Junior, Joe using his alter ego Junior to seduce Sugar and Jerry using Osgood for his money.
However, by the end, the majority of viewer sympathise with the 3 central characters. Joe becomes a better, more sensitive man and genuinely falls in love with Sugar. Sugar genuinely loves Joe and no longer cares about the money and Jerry sees Osgood is a kind and loving man and envisages a life with him.
Ultimately, this ending leaves us with a positive and optimistic outlook.
Ending
Overwhelmingly optimistic and positive
Joe becomes a better man and really cares for Sugar. What initially was a cynical exercise of taking advantage of each other has turned into a real and meaningful relationship.
Jerry and Osgood’s predicament is arguable far more complicated in that both are men and yet when Osgood finds out the Daphne is in fact Jerry, a man, he is unfazed and simply loves who he loves. This pushed boundaries for a film of its time with the message that love is love regardless of gender roles.
The film ends with the message that everyone can be loved for who they really are.
Room
Opening
The novel opens with a very simple statement from a child: “Today I’m five”. It is followed by the young narrator’s observation that he was “four last night going to sleep in Wardrobe.” The juxtaposition about a normal childhood comment on a birthday and a remark about sleeping in a wardrobe sets a jarring tone and makes us uneasy straight away.
The child then discusses his birth with his Ma and we learn that Ma was very unhappy prior to her child’s birth and details such as Jack seeing the stain on the rug where he was born and the fact that Ma “cutted the cord” herself lets us know that she gave birth alone in this room.
Ma’s utter misery before Jack’s birth creates a deeply negative general vision and viewpoint from the beginning.
Jack then says he doesn’t think “he came last night after nine” because “the air’s always different if he came.” The introduction of this strange man strikes an ominous note. We don’t know who ‘Old Nick’ is yet but the introduction of this shadowy figure seems menacing.
Jack has given names to all the objects in the room, as indicated by the capital letters (Meltedy Spoon). The fact that a young child has formed close attachments to objects tells us that he is lacking the company of other children.
Jack is cheerful and happily mentions the “thousands of things to do every morning” but that we see are repetitive unstimulating tasks. This heightens the sadness of his situation because he hasn’t a clue what he is missing.
The positive note at the beginning is the great love Ma and Jack share. The daily routine is her ensuring that Jack is fit, healthy and educated as he can possibly be in Room.
We learnt hat Jack is still breastfeeding too which shows that he needs any source of nourishment he can get. Even Jack’s upbeat narration cannot take away from the fact that this young woman and her little boy are locked in a tiny room under the control of a menacing figure.
Central Characters
Jack is the 5-year old narrator and is a complex and engaging character who gains our sympathy from the outset.
Jack’s description of their daily routine is told in a way that indicated he enjoys it and he thinks he’s busy. However, the sparsity of food, space, company and stimulation mean that the reader just cannot share in his high spirits.
Jack is too young to understand the gravity of his situation. He is thrilled to be growing and that he will “get bigger and bigger and bigger” and yet he does not understand why Ma’s face is “gone flat”. We know that Ma knows that Jack cannot live in this room forever. Ironically, Jack’s very happiness contributes to the negative general vision and viewpoint. He is looking forward to a future that we know he cannot have.
Ma learns that Old Nick has lost his job and fears the bank will foreclose on his house. She must now plan their escape. Even jack sees the reality and fears that he going to “mess it all up and Old Nick will bury me for real.” The bid for freedom is the point of highest tension
Although he is only young, Jack is willing to fake his own death and risk being buried alive to escape and save his mother. His bravery, love and determination give us hope that jack will manage to make his way in the outside world.
Jack does struggle to cope with daily life in the 2nd half of the novel. As Dr Clay says, he is “like a newborn in many ways”. He bumps into things, stares at a woman breastfeeding, touches his cousins private parts and cannot stand being looked at or touched. He will have many challenges in the future.
However, Dr Clay gives hope when he says Jack is still plastic and will eventually forget the ordeal he lived through. We can see Jack grow even in the 3 weeks after leaving room: watching games with step-grandpa, developing a conscience etc.
We have a guarded optimism for Jack’s future when we see the strides he takes in only three weeks.
The 2nd central character is Ma, 26 years old, abducted at age 19 by Old Nick.
She gains our admiration and respect from the outset for how she cares for Jack and showers him with love despite the circumstances.
Ma’s selfless devotion to her son is matched only by her utter helplessness. Jack is growing and she knows she cannot hide him in a wardrobe forever. It is hard to be optimistic about Ma and Jack’s future at this point of the novel.
Ma decides to escape and she is so convincing with her crying over her ‘dead son’ when Old Nick comes in that jack nearly believes that she is not pretending. We know that she is not pretending. She knows the odds are stacked against her and that her son may well die. Her bravery and self-sacrifice are admirable.
Ma’s troubles do not end after her escape. The lowest point in the novel is when she attempts suicide after their escape. Escape is not actually the end of their troubles but the start of a new set of challenges.
Eventually, Ma and Jack move into a independent living facility and whilst there is no doubt that she will be scarred forever by what has happened to her, there is some hope that she will eventually find some sort of peace
Ending
The novel ends with Ma and Jack visiting Room again at jack’s request. Ma asks if Jack likes the world, to which he replies “Yeah. Not everything.” We see that he is not fully integrated into the world outside the shed where he spent the first 5 years of his life. We wonder will he ever fully integrate into the world.
Jack says he is “choosing for both” he and Ma when he insists on visiting Room This shows he’s growing in independence and maybe it is the right thing to do for closure.
Ma is traumatised at seeing the shed where she was imprisoned and raped again but she goes to give Jack closure. Her selflessness is heart-warming.
Shockingly, the first thing Ma and Jack see in the garden is the hole where Ma’s first baby was buried.
The fact that Ma summons the courage to go into Room shows how strong and resilient she is and gives us hope that she does have the strength to find peace and fulfilment in the future.
Jack thinks they’ve come to the wrong place because Room is so small and not what he remembers. This is a good sign that he is already moving on. Dr Cray says five year olds are “still plastic” too which gives hope that Jack won’t be traumatised.
Jack says goodbye to Room and only takes away the picture of him that Ma did for his birthday. He says he looks small in it which shows that Jack has outgrown Room and that although the outside world is not perfect, it is better than this cramped prison.
The beginning of the book, Jack’s 5th birthday was a big milestone and the ending is too. Leaving room is a momentous occasion at the end and we see that Jack is capable of gettingover his emotional attachment to Room.
The novel ends at such an early stage in jack’s life that we are nor sure how life will turn out for him or Ma. However, we have seen the pair survive against all the odds and their determination and love for each other gives us hope that they will make the best out of what is to come.
A Doll’s House
Opening
The opening appears optimistic. Nora is home from Christmas shopping, humming a song, cheerful and coming home to what appears to be a lovely, confortable home.
The mood is upbeat and positive
The introduction of Torvald dampens the mood a bit – Nora “goes cautiously” to his study door – why is she anxious about his presence in the house?
He calls out to Nora “Is that my little lark twittering” which seems very condescending and then says “Don’t disturb me” even though he called out and initiated the talk.
Torvald is a negative force in the play – he is patronising; treats Nora like a child and even “takes her playfully by the ear”.
The incident with the macaroons appears trivial and yet it is sign of a weak relationship that Nora has to lie about eating sweets.
He is misogynistic and allows Nora no autonomy. He won’t even let her manage the household budget.
Despite Torvald, Nora does appear happy though at the start.
The choice of present may be symbolic – she buys a doll and a cheap bed for her daughter but thinks her daughter will break them into pieces – is this a foreshadowing of the family breakdown that is to come?
Central Characters
At the beginning, Nora is presented in a rather negative light – she appears immature, childish and overly dependant on her husband. There does not seem to be any real hope of her achieving independence or fulfilment.
Nora’s initial treatment of her friend Christine Linde reinforces this negative impression of Nora. Nora never wrote to her when she lost her husband 3 years ago. Miss Linde has no children and lost her husband and Nora boasts about her “three lovely children” and about Torvald’s promotion. She seems really selfish.
We do begin to see a different side to her though. When Christine tells her that she knows “so little of the burdens and troubles of life”, Nora tells her about the illegal loan she had taken out when Torvald was ill. This is proof that Nora has a will of her own and appears to be a deeper character than we initially thought.
We admire how she works, scrimps and saves to pay off the loan. However, we now fear for her future because we know she has to lie to her husband, which shows she is in a dysfunctional relationship, and we know Torvald will go mad if he finds out.
Torvald is an antagonistic force. His behaviour contributes to a depressing general vision and viewpoint.
He is a selfish, pompous and controlling character.
When he complains that Krogstad “can do what he likes with me, ask anything he likes of me, give me any orders he pleases – I dare not refuse”, he does not even see that this is exactly what he does to Nora.
Ending
The ending tells us that in life there is no guarantee of personal fulfilment.
It’s depressing to think that she has “never been happy” and has been living with a “strange man” for 8 years.
Torvald’s reaction to both letters is deeply depressing. He turns on her savagely after letter 1 and then wants to exert total control over Nora after letter 2.
However, this at least is a turning point for Nora – she knows she must escape him.
A pessimistic mood reigns at the end because even with his wife leaving him, Torvald cannot see Nora’s point of view.
How a reader responds to the end is a matter of personal interpretation.
Like the German actress who would not play Ibsen’s ending, even some modern readers are shocked at Nora walking out on her husband and her children. Some would see a mother walking away from her children as immoral, bleak and depressing.
Other readers argue that Nora must do this though, to break the cycle and stop being treated as a doll-child. As the door closes on Nora, some see this as her about to achieve a more fulfilling, happier future.
The stage direction at the end says that ‘A hope flashes across his (Torvald) mind’. Is this a note of hope that Torvald sees the error of his ways and sees that by changing he can win Nora back?