In film, there is a device called a “reversal”, similar to a peripety in literature. It occurs when you are expecting one thing and the opposite happens. It is a clever device because it quickly shifts the audience’s perception to reveal character. It can also be used to illuminate a plot point using the unexpected.
Say two characters are having a conversation about something innocuous. Something so uncontroversial everyone in agreement, including the reader. Then with one sentence, the entire scene takes a dark turn. We realise that one character’s interpretation of that conversation is completely different to the other character’s. Maybe the second character is burning with rage. We see the things through the second character’s eyes and everything takes on a new meaning.
Reversals can be used to initiate the story’s nadir — Nicholas Sparks jumps to mind as an author who uses the device this way. And it can be used as a call to action for the reader, where the protagonist is unexpectedly thwarted in their mission — like in Silkwood. You might even use it to leave the reader with thought-provoking uncertainty, like in The Grownups.
Can you work a reversal into your story to aid character and plot development? Or perhaps to accentuate a theme or higher purpose?