Recognition vs Realization

In the process of coming to an understanding, an audience and the characters of a story begin at a point of near ignorance, begin to recognize details, then put them together to come to a realization. In storytelling, whether through film, literature, or other media, the audience is often presented with one of two different perspectives through which to recognize and realize: first person or omniscient. In first-person, the audience realizes things in tandem with the characters, while from an omniscient perspective they are presented with the gift of dramatic irony. In film editing, this dichotomy is described as suspense versus surprise; suspense occurs when the audience sees omnisciently and recognizes before the characters do, while surprise occurs when an audience and the characters realize something at the same time.

Joseph Conrad builds elements of both suspense and surprise in Heart of Darkness, as Marlow traverses the Congo River, knowing that his goal is to get to Mr. Kurtz, but without realizing why until he arrives. Other characters on the way foreshadow the ultimate fact that he is there to kill Kurtz, but he, as well as most readers, do not realize it until Marlow does, at the climax of the story.

Carlos Fuentes also blurs the line between suspense and surprise in the eerie Aura, presenting a wholly new perspective by directly addressing the reader as “you” in command form. The main character, Felipe, as he becomes intoxicated by the airless enclosure of a dying old woman’s home and falls for her illusion of youth and beauty in the form of the beautiful Aura. Everything is revealed to the audience as it is revealed to the character, in the purest way possible, and as Felipe gets dragged further into the dying widow’s twisted obsessions, so does the audience.

At its essence, recognition is intuitive, fed by hints, foreshadowing, and gut instinct. Realization is a step beyond, through a slower and more linear process, into full understanding and comprehension.