Why does literature move us emotionally? Paul Bloom, professor of psychology at Yale University, connects feelings to fiction in a recent article.[1] Bloom contends novels increase our belief that facts in stories are true. For instance, we have enough information from stories about courtrooms, hospitals, and police stations to know that people do commit murder. We also know from novels that justice for a murder may not be satisfying to those who have lost their loved one. So, if we’re reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet we are not surprised that people kill each other, or that our attempts to make the guilty pay sometimes backfire, or that our search for justice can be elusive. Hamlet seems real because we connect to the story emotionally, seeing Hamlet in real life.
But I wondered as I read Bloom’s article, what if the novel I was reading did not simply seem real, but could actually become real? What if it is possible to create a monster as did Frankenstein? What if supernatural beings like Dracula’s vampires exist? What if it is probable that we have split personalities like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? I think you see where I’m going. Sure, fiction moves us emotionally because fiction seems real. But what if novels come true? What if I concluded the novelist was telling me that my worst fears can be realized? What if I find truth in fiction to be true of me?
Summer fiction reading found me confronting some of my questions. Alan Paton’s Too Late the Phalarope made me ponder my inability to communicate what I hide from others. G. K. Chesterton’s Father Brown mysteries were constant reminders that I am capable of heinous crimes because I am a sinner. Re-reading Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray confirmed that self-centered choices impact everyone around me. William Golding’s The Spire had me questioning “Do I do what I do for my own self-interest or pride?” The westerns of Robert B. Parker made me contemplate “Am I above the law or is there a law outside of me?” Cormac McCarthy’s The Road made me wonder if I could live life without hope. And Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo made clear again that human evil is not simply generated from genetics or environment; people practice evil because they have made a choice to enjoy evil.
Professor Bloom is right: there is an emotional connection between us and the novels we read. Books are written out of a person’s reality. Reading novels moves us emotionally because what we see in a book’s pages we see in ourselves. I understand the emotions of a book’s characters because I have the same feelings. Stories that ring true have universal appeal for all people, all places, and all time. The true Truth of an author’s writing reflects principles embedded within our world. So novels reflect what is really, real. But novels can also come true because there is Truth in fiction. For Moody Radio, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found.
Mark has been studying monster novels over the past year. He sleeps with the nightlight on. Dr. Mark Eckel is Professor of Leadership, Education & Discipleship at Capital Seminary & Graduate School. Aired on Moody Radio, Fall, 2010.
[1] https://chronicle.com/article/The-Pleasures-of-Imagination/65678/