Fiction and Truth in Literature - Essay Example

Fiction and Truth Ian McEwen is a well-known having written several novels. One notable work from his collection is the Atonement. In this novel, McEwen employees several aspects of postmodernism and the narrative technique used in the novel capture the conflict that exists between perceptions of truth and fiction. It also captures the elusiveness of memory. The novel presents rich information that enables the reader look at issues in a truth and fiction value. Death by Landscape is a tragic story written by Margaret Atwood. It is about a girl, Lois who loses a friend after going in an excursion. Lucy cannot be found. Lois is blamed for the death and she cannot cope up with lose. She visualizes the existence of her friend through her paintings. The two works are serious fictions that contain a truth-value. Serious fiction, as seen in Atonement and Death by Landscape cannot be argued to be “true,” The relationship between fiction and truth is much more complicated. McEwen makes use of perspicuity of narration that is thwarted by the unavailability of a reliable memory and a psychological feeling of guilty. The novel is well plotted and makes use of an unusual emotional-based conventional fiction. At another level, the novel makes use of meta-fiction that captures the gap between human incomprehension and novelistic project. The novel is set on a hot summer day in 1935 and centers on an adolescent would-be-writer called Briony Tallis. She has a rich taste for drama that makes her lie about a family friend called Robbie Turner (McEwan 3). At the beginning of the novel, events are described in way that depicts a shift between real events and the information produced through the consciousness of the characters involved. This earlier perception is changed when we understand that another character implicated in the events had influenced the perceptions of other characters in the novel. The novel is based on the act of atonement by Briony because of the crime that she had committed on the fateful day. McEwen foregrounds memory throughout the novel. Readers encounter instances where the narrator in the novel seeks to understand and criticizes events as they are presented. The narrator poses certain questions that show the lack of understanding of the events as they are presented. For instance, the narrator asks, “…But how had her mother materialized so quickly form Lola’s bedside? […] But if she was there being consoled by her mother on the Chesterfield, how did she come to remember the arrival of Dr McLaren in his black waistcoat and his old-fashioned raised shirt collar…” (McEwan 14) this question leaves the reader in suspense because the narrator does not get an answer to this question. However, towards the end of the novel, the reader gets to know that what was earlier presented as true or realistic was constructed in a fictional world. This is clearly seen when the narrator says, “…had become as ghostly as invention…” (McEwan 24) The fourth part of the novel presents Briony in her seventies. It shows her novel to have undergone several revisions, which are doubtful. She has been diagnosed with vascular dementia, a memory loss disease. She states that her childhood perceptions were far from reality. This makes us ask questions. If her perception was far from reality, what of the present state when she has memory loss? This shows that the truth-value in the novel cannot be depended upon. The multiple perceptions and the exploration of the consciousness of characters in the novel are a staged performance that exist in Briony’s imagination and are illusions of reality. As she says, “…There was a crime. However, there were also the lovers. Lovers and their happy ends have been on my mind all night long. As into the sunset, we sail. An unhappy inversion. It occurs to me that I have not travelled so very far after all, since I wrote my little play. Or rather, I’ve made a huge digression and doubled back to my starting place…” (McEwan 70) As the novel ends, the trials of Arabella that is performed on stage dramatically reflect Briony’s performance of her life as created in her imagination. In her act of atonement, Briony distorts history to her advantage and changes history to for the benefit of her conscience. The atonement seeks the understanding of authority in writing as well as the consciousness of the mind. These two are presented as factors that distort the truth and history. They present differing positions of truth and illusion. It is a manifestation of the ability of the guilty to use certain things to their advantage and to the disadvantage of the innocent. People make up stories to cover up truth that people do not know. Death by Landscape is a novel written by Margaret Atwood. The story centers on Lois who is widowed. She admires her displayed art collection on her new waterfront apartment yet the collection does not give her peace. The story is a gothic fiction because of its horrific ending. The story has two main characters one of whom disappears into the Canadian wilderness. It is a childhood story as Lois recalls her childhood summer time at Camp Manitou. She recalls the traditions that put her back into that time. She struggled at first because she could not adapt to the life at the camp. This is because she did not like writing letters to her parents. She also did not like sleeping in a room that was full of girls. However, she got used to this and enjoyed life at the camp. It is at this place that she forms a strong friendship with Lucy. The friendship lasted for years when they were in the camp and when they went back home. However, in their last summer, Lucy had changed and become disillusioned with her divorced parents. She also developed a relationship with a gardener’s helper. The camp is representative. It represents a domesticated wilderness that is a human construction that captures real wilderness. The climax of the story happens when the girls go to an excursion in the wilderness after a ceremony. Lucy and Lois separated from the campers and climbed a cliff to view the lake. Lucy excuses herself but does not come back. Lois heard a scream but could not locate it. The campers go back to the camp without Lucy. The police tried locating her but could not. Cappie one of the campers insinuated that Lois pushed Lucy (McEwan). When traumatic events happen in the lives of people especially when they are young, this shapes how people react to issues in their life as adults. These events can affect them either positively or negatively. This depends with way people cope with the stress from the traumatic events. Lois molds her life around the event that occurred at Camp Manitou. Her best friend called Lucy disappeared not to be found again. Lois was blamed for her friend’s disappearance. Despite the fact that she did not kill her friend, she feels guilty for not saving her friend. Lois lives a double life. She lives the present normal life and another one that cannot be seen. As stated in the novel, “…was living not one life but two: her own, and another, shadowy life that hovered around her and would not let itself be realized…” (Atwood 107). The guilt eats her up to the extent that she gets her family out of her mind because she cannot cope with the loss of her friend. The story is based on memory. Lois has put her paintings on the walls of her house. These paintings capture the scenery of camp Manitou the place where her friend disappeared. The story states, “…She looks at the paintings, she looks into them. Every one of them is a picture of Lucy. You can’t see her exactly, but she’s there…”(Atwood 118). Atwood shows the importance of the paintings to Lois. In fact, these pictures show the existence of Lucy inside Lois’ life. Lois believes that Lucy exists in the paintings in a symbolic way. Atwood writes, “…She hears something, almost hears it: a shout of recognition or of joy…” (Atwood 118). This story is a fiction that captures a relationship between truth and fiction. It is true that wilderness exists and this is captured through the paintings in the story. In conclusion, serious fiction cannot be argued as true. The relationship between fiction and truth is complicated because fiction can be used to express truth. For instance, the Atonement is a fiction that shows how people can use truth to exploit other people who are not aware of it. This fiction seems true but is not. Death by landscape also presents a picture of a real world situation. It presents realities that happen in wilderness, deaths that cannot be traced. However, it is a work of fiction. Both works are serious fiction but they cannot be taken as true. They can only be taken to present truth and facts. Therefore, it can be argued that serious fiction can present truth but cannot be said to be true. The relationship between fiction and truth is complicated. Works cited Atwood, Margaret and Alice Munro. Progress of Love / Death by Landscape. Brazil: Martins Editora, n.d. McEwan, Ian. Atonement. London: Random House, 2010. Read More