Narrative Features in The Lady in the Van

The Lady in the Van is about the odd friendship between Bennett, a writer, and Miss Shepherd, an eccentric homeless woman. This paper intends to discuss the narrative features of the film version from David Bordwell’s three dimensions (narration, plot structure and story world) of film narrative. The film presents us with a unique point of view, a seemingly disjointed but implicitly connected plot structure, and a story world in which the characters have their own goals to achieve. Bennett and Miss Shepherd have got to know each other better in fifteen years. Miss Shepherd is Bennett’s guide in life, teaching him how to write and how to get along with his mother.

Influences on Care for Others: Attachment Security, Personal Suffering, and Similarity Between Helper and Care Recipient

Research indicates that dispositional attachment security fosters empathy, and that short-term increases in security (“security priming”) increase empathy and willingness to help others. In two experiments, we examined effects of recalling one’s own vulnerability ( feeling hurt by a relationship partner) and security priming on empathy for a recipient in need. In Study 1, the recipient was a middle-aged homeless woman (low similarity to participants); in Study 2, the recipient was a college-aged woman whose boyfriend had been unfaithful (high similarity to participants). In both studies, hurt feelings influenced participants’ empathy, but the nature of the influence varied as a function of target–participant similarity. In Study 1, hurt feelings decreased empathy and increased caregiving avoidance. In Study 2, hurt feelings not only increased empathy but also aroused caregiving anxiety. Furthermore, security priming weakened defensive barriers against helping: In Study 1, it reduced caregiving avoidance, and in Study 2, it reduced caregiving anxiety.