To See through the Eyes of a Child

How do you see me, with innocent eyes gazing up?
A man to be feared, like a father unworthy of the title?
Or another wanderer through this thing called life
A haggard reflection of the future?
Tell me, what does the child see?
He sees what we teach him to
Yes, but there is more.  More to the child's gaze
Closer to the truth of things then is comfortable
And so the wicked rail in that reflection
And so Just smile and pray;
'Forget the sins of the Father
And walk bold, little one, head held high
So that we might be reflected in glory
And know but a moment of Hope
In your innocent eyes, gazing up.'
Before I sat down to write this, I had just finished reading a passage in Steven Erikson's, The Crippled God that struck me so deeply I had to put the book down.  I won't go into details, lest this turn into some half-hearted review.  The important thing here is the essence of what I read.  It was the way that two characters were seen, through the eyes of a child, a refugee, that left me so shaken.

Today, let me speak of perspective.  Namely, the perspective of child, when it comes to fiction.

I have heard this same argument come up, over and over again, 'Bah, I liked it until those kids showed up.'  This is has been most predominate in movies, usually ones that are seen as 'action flicks' in my experience.  The best example that I can think of, off the top of my head, is the third Mad Max movie; Beyond Thunderdome.  Max, the badass, wandering Road Warrior finds a group a children, alone in the wasteland and sets himself up as their protector.  For some reason, there are folk out there that refuse to see, not only the relevance, but the use these children.  And I can only shake my head.

In a story as dark as Mad Max, why do we need a bunch of ignorant kids running around?  Perspective.  And we need that perspective, in this particular case.  Because, through the eyes of the children, we can see Max as the man he once was.  A father.  A protector.  A man whose primary focus was not a scavenger's survival, as it had become, but the well being of those who could not defend themselves.  We are reminded that, at his core, Max is not the Anti-Hero that we claim him to be, but is indeed a true Hero.

You see, the value of a child's perspective is inexperience.  A child has less to judge you on, less examples to view you beside.  He can look at you, compare you to the few people in his life and deem you good or bad. It's as we grow older that we begin to form these judgements and it is out experience that can hinder us.  We see someone that resembles another that hurt us, and so with eyes narrowed, we steel ourselves against them.  We can hear words from someone that echoes hurtful words heard years ago, and so we place the new speaker with the old, in a place of harsh judgement.  But not the child.  The child sees only what we present them.  Good or ill.  And in that, they can cast true judgement.

This is, suffice to say, very useful for the fiction writer.  With a simple passage, told from the eyes of a child, the writer can either turn your opinion of a character on its head, or profoundly reaffirm what you already thought.  For, in the writer's eyes, there is not purer judge of character then a Child.

That Villain who killed the Hero's love?  Well, what do we think of him when we see him through the eyes of his daughter?  How does she feel when he hugs her tight?

And what of the Hero?  What do we think when that child sees her father cut down by him?

Of course, we, as the audience, are privy to things that the child is not.  We know that the villain is a murder and probably worse, but that's the point.  It is to evoke something in us beyond right and wrong, good or evil.  To make our eyes brim with tears for that child, even as the plot becomes resolved.  The Hero has won, but for the child, loss has only begun.  To her, the Hero is the Villain and we are reminded about the Eye of the Beholder.  We are reminded that ever Hero is someone's Villain.

Whether it be in fiction, or in life, never discount that innocent gaze, looking up.  For adults will see you as they choose to see you, but for the child, only truth is revealed.