How Does Fifty Shades Of Grey Told By Christian Differ From The Original?

Fifty Shades of Grey from Christian’s point of view is a completely different reading experience to the original trilogy read through Ana’s eyes of Fifty Shades of Grey and on into Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades of Finished. Grey is Christian’s story, told in his words and from his point of view and it is very different from his portrayal as a cool, controlling billionaire with a dark and troubled past. Whilst it is true that Christian’s past has had a very damaging effect upon him, it also helps to explain his behavior and his need for control, which, we discover is a result of his being a survivor of some very dreadful circumstances of his childhood, abandoned as a baby by his crack-addicted mother, and sent to live with Christian’s adoptive parents, the Greys.

His inner-monologue is SO different from how Ana perceives him. He is constantly worried about losing her. There is so much anxiety in this book. This, instead of being just cold and controlling, we get to see that he is very afraid and can be very hurtful to those around him. The infamous contract scene is viewed VERY differently from Ana’s perspective, because we get to hear his inner-monologue, and we can see how scared he is that she will leave him. His jealousy of José and of other men is clearly rooted in his fear of abandonment. We also get to see his past relationships with Elena and Mrs. Robinson and how very, very awkward and messed up his past introductions to intimacy were.

While there is much about Christian that remains untouchable to readers via Ana’s perspective, the Christian Gray of Fifty Shades of Grey does read rather humanly in Fifty Shades: Grey. You can get a sense of Christian’s tongue-tied nature regarding flirtation in certain scenes (the peep-bofferisms for starters), and naturally, he is wracked with guilt in others (these grim, nocturnal encounters you will discover in later chapters, suffice it to say), as well as feeling miffed that Ana did not get that Beetle in the first place. With all of his virtues of course, none of them Redeeming of course, there are elements that explain why the Master does what he does. For the most part though, the greatest aspect of this special little book is how different the ending is from that of the main story, whereas, as was stated previously, the end of Fifty Shades of Grey leaves readers with a severely broken man, this narrative rather instantaneously returns to that masterful planning mode of his which we have grown so fond of in the trip through Fifty Shades of Grey with the Girl, Ana.

This is the alternate Christian perspective in ‘Grey’ (part one of the Fifty Shades of Grey novel ‘Fifty Shades’), a truly psychological in depth exploration of this much loved (and loathed) character. Ana has portrayed his intensity with a sort of romanticized desire but here in ‘Grey’ we can actually see the destruction that he is continuously causing and understand where it is coming from. Every control that he exercises on Ana has a reason behind it and it all stems back to his very damaged childhood. The sex scenes are also portrayed very differently through his eyes. Rather than excited nervous energy as described by Ana, we are given a deep insight into the incredibly calculated acts of BDSM that he conducts. It is apparent that Christian treats sex as an experiment to try and find a way to control his deeper emotional fears and to avoid genuine attachment. The novels portrayal of Elena is also given a completely new perspective through the eyes of Christian. In the original ‘Fifty Shades’ novel the reader saw Ana’s perspective of her ‘frenemy’ Elena but in the Alternate Novel ‘Grey’ the reader is given insight into the badly troubled mentor/protégé relationship that Christian had with Elena in the past and how it has greatly affected his outlook on love and relationships today. A lot of insight into the inner workings of Christian’s troubled mind are revealed in his thoughts during some of the very heated arguments between himself and Ana. Although he knows he is causing destruction he is powerless to stop it. The end of Ana’s story is left as a bit of a cliffhanger but not so for Christian. His ending seems more like a move in a game of chess.

Yes, he is struggling with the trauma he has experienced, but the focus on that also really drives home the massive amount of privilege he has. His internal monologues include him casually buying companies, threatening people, and using his teams of lawyers. And how this wealth influences his problem solving.