Storytelling: Fictional Narratives, Imaginary People, and the Reader's Real Life

Why Readers Read Fiction

Psychologist Victor Nell claims, "We willingly enter the world of fiction because of the skepticism to which our adult sophistication condemns us: we long for safe places-or love we can entirely trust, a truth we can entirely believe. Fiction meets that need precisely because we know it to be false so that we can willingly suspend our reality." ⁹ Novels allow for people to enter into someone else's mind and share their thoughts and feelings, which is something that cannot be offered in real life. By human nature, we long to connect with people and the world around us.

Also due to our nature, we hope and long for happiness to be present in our lives. It's as if we are in search of our happily ever after; we hope for the characters in our books to find peace by the end of the story to justify that a happy ending can exist in the world.

Character Identification

Character identification is something that happens within the reader, based solely on his or her reaction to the character or situations presented in the text by the author. Character identification often invites empathy, where the reader in some way connects to one of the above aspects, even when the character and reader differ from each other in all sorts of practical ways. "Keith Oatley believes that readers' personal experiences of patterns of emotional response provoke sympathy for characters, especially as readers identify with characters' goals and plans." ¹⁰ J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and Kathryn Stockett's The Help are both examples of narratives that I was able to identify with. Both books in separate ways have evoked emotional responses while I was their audience. I cried when Sirius died in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, understanding what it meant to lose a loved one. I laughed out loud when Minny's unmentionable incident was revealed, rooting for her in the battle against Hilly. Hilly reminded of a girl from high school who acted as if she was entitled to everything. Minny acted out the revenge I secretly wanted to get against my own Mrs. Hilly.

Just as film served this purpose in the 1930s, fictional books are a means of escape for readers. Books allow for us to switch off one world and turn on another. It takes one's mind away from the problems and pressures of life, shuts one's mind to the tensions and worries of the day, forgets everything and allows us to escape to this make-believe world of a different life, place and time. Books can also serve as companions; we can become emotionally connected to a narrative because there is something present we can identify with. The two genres that I chose for this unit—historical fiction and science fiction—are good examples of these revelations in that they each allow for us to be absorbed in the characters story but we walk away feeling connected to that character and his or her story. Science fiction is the least restrained by reality and allows more creative freedom. Ray Bradbury uses his creativity to his advantage and lets the human race find a way to live on another plant. However, even though this is a fictional story, we can relate to Margot and the other students because bullying is a real-life issue prevalent in schools today. Christopher Paul Curtis creates a beautiful historical fiction novel where we see life through ten-year old Kenny's eyes.