I read an essay written by Orson Scott Card entitled, "The Problem of Evil in Fiction." It was an assignment for my college English class, five pages, with a simple comprehension quiz at the end. No big deal. Easy. I took the quiz and passed, and then forgot about it until about ten minutes ago. My assignment is to respond to one of four questions posed right below his essay. Ugh!
In his essay, Card justifies his depiction of evil in his literature and that depicted by others by claiming, that it "is impossible for a writer to convincingly violate his own conscience in his fiction." He also points out that there are two types of truth that authors have to contend with: the illusion of truth and the substance of truth. The illusion of truth is created for the reader to draw the him or her in to the story. That story has to connect on some level with the reader. As Card stated, "the reader insists on some correspondence between the surface details of the story and the reality that the read knows in his own life." I recently read Oliver Twist by David Copperfield. I knew that it was a work of fiction, but I felt as if I were in his shoes. As a parent, I wanted to swoop in and rescue him from the cruel treatment he received at the hands of the masters of the parish. I felt frozen in fear when I realized that Fagin attempted to kidnap and force Oliver back into a life of crime. Perhaps this rang true to me because I was almost kidnapped as a child.
Card asserted that the illusion of truth is not enough to convince readers. The author's own deep convictions will seep through the pages. Charles Dickens was just such an author that knew how to depict evil through Fagin. Yet Dickens' moral character refused to let Oliver succumb to or lose his life to the villains in that novel. This, the substance of truth, is the essence of an author's work. If he or she violates his or her personal convictions, readers will see right through the charade and may not connect with the book on a personal level.
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I enjoyed your writing style. I liked the part about being frozen with fear. It paints a great picture!
ReplyDeleteI agree, you have a great writing style. Good example explaining what the substance and illusion of truth are.
ReplyDeleteMiranda Thomas Jan 21,2012
ReplyDeleteIt was a very good pieace that you wrote. You know how to write. I am still trying to figure everything out I guessI'm late but I wil see if this works and maybe I have figured out how to comment on someone elses work. You did very good