The banner for the story Hi! I’m here! is dark and difficult to see clearly for a reason.
Isolated people often remain unseen, physically and emotionally.
The story is about three woman who are isolated by their circumstances. It is the subject of the blog post Hi! I’m Here Short Story.
Each of these three women have internalised feelings, struggles, and frustrations that are not obvious to the wider community. Their level of isolation limits their access to others and compounds the loneliness and feelings of the loss of their previous lives.
The colours chosen for the banner make the detail harder to see, just as the struggles of other people in the community can be hard to see.
Point of View
Split into three parts, the story is told in second, third, and first person.
Second person is useful for characters who are in denial or so overwhelmed by their situation that they cannot view it from a logical first-person perspective. It comes into play when an experience is too personal to be viewed objectively by a third person. Carol, the wife in an abusive marriage who struggles to free herself from her coercive husband, is a perfect candidate for second person point of view.
Many women find themselves in the position of Angela, who gave up her career to be a stay-at-home mum. It is a common frustration that most readers can relate to from an objective perspective. Hence, the third-person point of view is appropriate.
While disabled people are regularly about in the community, they tend to be categorised by their impairment, rather than seen as an individual. Erin, who lost her career when she lost her mobility, feels this disregard on a personal level. The first-person perspective helps to engage with her feelings in a deeper way.
Artwork
Senivpetro. 2019. Photograph of dancing woman. Sourced from Freepik.
The artwork incorporated into the banner is a metaphor for internal upheaval. The line art is drawn over a picture of a dancing woman, as if the lines are ropes zig-zagged from nail to nail, so tight that the contour of her body is defined. She sees out but can no longer move. The picture of the woman is later removed so the ropes are all the memory of her that remains.
Trapped Woman, 2019, Digital Drawing.
In the story banner, the muting of contrast between the ropes and background adds a further impression of disappearance, which is another destructive sensation caused by isolation.
Wow Helen!
I really enjoyed all aspects of this post. The artwork is brilliant and I appreciate your thoughts about point of view.
All the best
Vivien
Thanks Vivien.
I am pleased you like the artwork. While the subject matter is dark, I enjoyed creating it.
As far as point of view goes, when we were studying writing, it took me a while to get my head around the different uses of point of view. Now, I consider it important to characterisation as well as how a story is told.