Mildred Pierce Point Of View Analysis

Point of view, as Dr. Casper simply put it, is “who is telling the story.” Although Dr. Casper’s definition indicates that point of view is an unsophisticated literary element, it actually plays a complex and significant role in the development of, in the case of Mildred Pierce, a film or novel. In both film and literature, the writer provides us with point of view. James M. Cain, author of the novel, and Ranald MacDougall, screenwriter of the Michael Curtiz film, take tremendously different approaches to developing point of view in their respective works. The film adaptation of Mildred Pierce offers a first person outside point of view, with Mildred herself narrating the sequence of events. Mildred’s narration establishes a biased perspective …show more content…
This third person view is not omniscient; it is not “all-knowing” or “all-seeing,” as Dr. Casper defined the omniscient point of view. It is limited to knowing and seeing all of Mildred, which allows for great character development of the novel’s protagonist. A significant difference between the novel and the film is that the film provides consumers with much stronger visuals. This is a given when comparing any film to a novel, as the story in films takes place on screen. The novel compensates for its lack of visuals by offering a much more objective, detailed perspective of Mildred. The narrator describes Mildred’s internal thoughts and feelings very vividly and specifically. For example, Cain writes “Veda’s simulation of surprise was so cool, so calculated, so insolent,” showing that Mildred is well aware and resentful of Veda’s manipulative tactics, in this case regarding Veda’s ploy to out Mildred on her waitressing job (Cain, 85). Viewers of the film do not gain this great of a grasp on Mildred’s judgments, as Mildred, the film’s narrator, offers a more biased and less self-aware depiction of the story than the book’s narrator