Empathy in The Secret River and The Shape of Water Taigue Stevens 12th Grade

Empathy is about finding echoes of yourself in the eyes of others. The Shape of Water (2017) by Guillermo Del Toro is a magical realism film that follows mute heroine Eliza as she falls in love with a Fishman while facing the villainous Strickland. Meanwhile, The Secret River (2006) by Kate Grenville is a historical fiction novel that sees 19th contrary convict William Thornhill be exiled from London, making a new life for himself in New South Wales and coming to cultural differences with the Indigenous population. Although being from differing modes, both texts use their language features to invite the audience to feel empathy. The Shape of Water uses features such as body language, props and camera angles to invite empathy for Eliza, Zelda and the Fishman while The Secret River uses metaphors, zoomorphism and anaphora to invite the audience to feel empathy for Aboriginals and Thornhill.

Eliza, the protagonist of The Shape of Water often comes into conflict with the antagonist Strickland. In one scene, Strickland is interviewing Eliza and her friend Zelda saying, “It’s your obligation to report any detail no matter how small or trivial, trivial means unimportant”. By defining trivial, Strickland is assuming the women are...