Perspective

The book is presented to the reader entirely from the perspective of its author, Doris Lessing, who offers her thoughts and ideas based on experience and research. Directly addressing the reader in first person, she never wavers from this personal interpretation of her topic to consider other viewpoints or to entertain opposing arguments from secondary sources. Quotes she uses, either from individuals of her acquaintance or from published writings, are selected to bolster her own arguments. By closing off perspectives other than her own except as aids to her viewpoints, Lessing admits no challengers. As a technique of persuasion, this one-sided approach is an attempt to deny the validity of opposing opinions, evidently with the goal of presenting the author's opinion as the only reasonable one. The use of this singular perspective allows Lessing to concentrate on making her points as forcefully as possible rather than presenting a...