Perspective In Mark Twain's The Mysterious Stranger

Throughout history, perspective has always had a major impact on the way a person interprets information. Perspective is a powerful tool that allows one to view the world around them through their own lens. A change in perspective can lead to insightful thoughts and personal betterment. Over the years, changes in perspective have been a common topic of fictional works of literature. In The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain, a group of boys meets a stranger who reveals himself to be Satan’s nephew. When the stranger reveals his true personality the boys learn valuable lessons about morality and human nature. Many people who exist in our world also gain knowledge and happiness from changes in perspective. The singer Abel Tesfaye, known as The

In The Mysterious Stranger, a novel by Mark Twain, three European boys meet a friendly stranger in the woods who seems to possess otherworldly capabilities. The stranger begins to make innocent objects of the boys’ choices appear out of thin air. The stranger proceeds to reveal himself as Satan, the nephew and namesake of the famous fallen angel who now resides in Hell. Through his kind demeanor, Satan manages to convince the group that he is not like his uncle. He creates his own humans out of clay and allows the boys to make some of their own before giving the clay people life. Eventually, the clay humans begin to quarrel and Satan crushes them with his fingers. This shocks the boys as Satan had told them that he was a perfect angel capable of doing no wrong: “It made us miserable, for we loved him, and had thought him so noble and so beautiful and gracious, and had honestly believed he was an angel; and to have him do this cruel thing - ah, it lowered him so, and we had had such pride in him.” (Twain, 27). Their perspective on divine beings was shifted by Satan’s decision

The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, grew up as a poverty-stricken teenager in Toronto. Abel began to use drugs at the age of eleven and dropped out of school at seventeen. In the years that followed, the young musician would chase a hedonistic, drug-fueled lifestyle. The first tracks Abel would ever make under the moniker The Weeknd were anthems that appealed to the addicted, lonely, and depressed. His music shifted violently from desperate pleas for help to triumphant stories that painted pictures of his extreme drug use and success with women. Throughout the release of his first few musical projects, The Weeknd continued to enthrall listeners with his talent, subject matter, and point of view. To Abel, pleasure was all that mattered and sex and drugs were more important than morality. This is exemplified in many of his early songs, where he sings about cheating on women in a thoughtless manner, portraying themes of emptiness and apathy that permeate throughout his early material. Fans of his music empathized with the unique, dark, and depressing thoughts that he expressed through his lyrics, making The Weeknd a loved pariah in a music industry dominated by joy. However, his status as an outcast could not be maintained for long, and his near-perfect voice allowed him to break into the mainstream. As Abel rose to fame, his name became known to