In A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf makes the statement that, "Fiction here is likely to contain more truth than fact." I strongly agree with this statement. Truth is more of a personal understanding; it is knowledge that has been gained or understood within an individuals mind over the course of their lifetime. We constantly search for truth within our everyday lives -- truths about the world and those around us, as well as truths about ourselves and our direction in life.
Fiction serves as a means to finding truth. Though the characters or story plot may not be based on actual facts, fiction allows us to look passed the definite details and enables us to focus more on the message being conveyed within the work. In this, we are now able to view fiction as a means to obtaining a greater form of truth. This kind of truth moves beyond the little details that mean nothing to us as individuals. Truth can vary from person to person and is open for disagreement and discussion. Life, in and of itself, is uncertain so what would make us think that the things that define it have to be certain?
It seems you and Casey are talking about a lot of the same issues. http://caseyslivesandtimes.blogspot.com/
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ReplyDeleteI totally agree. I also think fiction provides an outlet for people to tell the truth without reservation. Excuse the cliche, but sometimes "the truth hurts;" fiction allows us to separate the truth from ourselves and look at it in a new way. It's kind of like what we said when we were talking about similes/metaphors: they allow the writer to distance themselves from the subject. Some things are tough (or embarrassing or emotionally painful) to write about. I think the "fiction" label kind of allows for a "don't hold back" approach.
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