Shift in Perspective in The Hours by Michael Cunningham

In "The Hours" by Micheal Cunningham, Laura Brown experiences a shift in perspective which affects both her life and the lives of those around her. After she experiences this shift, Laura begins to focus on her specific needs, rather than the needs of her family. Although Cunningham uses the concept of perspective to give a personal insight into Laura’s specific thoughts and emotions, the character of Laura Brown fails to communicate why her perspective had shifted with other characters in the book. 

This shift in perspective can be first seen in the first few paragraphs of chapter five during the car ride to pick up her son, Richie. After spending a significant portion of her afternoon in a hotel room, Laura is disoriented with her surroundings and finds it hard to discern what is reality and what is fiction. “She is herself and not herself” and starts to question her role as both a wife and mother. After leaving the hotel, she feels that she is separated from her former life, and although she isn’t fully committed to the idea, she begins to wonder what would happen if she were to not pick up Richie and instead “drive away again.” Even though she has no intention to abandon her family, her experiences in the hotel room have left her a changed woman and she begins to think of abandonment as a viable option. 

As Laura drives up to Mrs. Latch’s house, she “is overtaken by a sensation of unbeing” and realizes that she has been thinking “kindly, even longingly, of death.” While she is picking up Richie from Mrs. Latch’s house, Laura senses some tension between her and Richie as he “continues staring at her with teary, abashed suspicion, as if she might not be his mother at all.” Laura begins to realize that Richie is aware of her circumstances, and subconsciously, he is able to understand that she was either thinking of suicide, or abandoning Richie and his father due to the currrent situation she was in. 

Laura realizes that Richie is able to see through the veneer of her falsified happiness and she feels as if Richie “spends almost every waking hour in her presence.” Laura believes that Richie can see through all of the lies that she has made up, such as seeing her with Kitty, or watching her bury the first cake in the garbage while making a second one. This makes her even more distressed as she feels that “he would know when she’s lying.” She begins to realize that since Richie is a part of her, he will always know “when something is wrong” or “when and how much she has failed.”

In conclusion, perspective is a crucial concept in Laura Brown’s story in the Hours. Laura’s shift in perspective also shows her shift in priorities, since she wants to be separated from her current life and start a new life of her own. Because of this, we are able to see what anguish and pain it causes other characters in the book, especially since she is unable to communicate her shift in priorities to her husband and child properly.