Factual Origins of Fiction

The fiction we read often has a large effect on our lives. As such, it’s important to understand where this fiction originates. Authors draw from reality to create their works of fiction, and almost all works of fiction have their roots in either factual places or events. Authors also try to put themselves into their works to give them more character.

                  Edgar Allan Poe’s 1843 work “The Black Cat” is a good example of a work of fiction with factual roots. Despite featuring supernatural elements, this short story contains many of Poe’s personality traits and vices. The narrator in “The Black Cat” is heavily against alcoholism and goes to great lengths to show how damaging it is (as evidenced by his frequent “for what disease is like Alcohol”) (Poe). This is rooted in reality, as Poe was rumored to have an issue with alcohol dependence. It even appears that Poe died of alcoholism, while the medical records surrounding his death have been lost, the newspapers reported that his death was caused by “cerebral inflammation” and “congestion of the brain” (at the time common euphemisms for alcoholism).

                  Almost forty years before “The Black Cat”, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1804 work “The Minister’s Black Veil” draws even more heavily from factual events and locations. Though never mentioned directly in the story, the setting of “The Minister’s Black Veil” seems to be a town  similar to Salem, Massachusetts, where Hawthorne was born and raised. The similarities between fact and fiction don’t end there: “The Minister’s Black Veil” draws a lot of inspiration from a real man known as Handkerchief Moody who, like the minister in the story, wore a handkerchief over his face. Handkerchief Moody wore his handkerchief after accidentally murdering his friend, starting after the funeral and never taking it off for the rest of his life. The minister in the story also starts wearing the veil and keeps it on until his funeral.

                  Two hundred and ten years after “The Minister’s Black Veil”, fiction with a basis in fact is being reported as fact by major news corporations to fit certain agendas. The best example of this is conservative media that panders to the 50+ age demographic. Due to the nature of conservative republican viewpoints, these media outlets have to distort reality to fit the narrative of their viewers because viewers bring advertising revenue. Nancy Grace’s creatively named HLN show Nancy Grace is arguably the worst offender in this category, bending the truth and sometimes outright lying about hot-button issues to attract viewers. For example, her stance on recreational marijuana is that it turns people into monsters and killers (as famously seen here). This, of course, is blatantly untrue. However, there is a basis in fact: some people do in fact smoke marijuana to deal with withdrawals from hard drugs or prescription abuse, and this often leads to THC in the systems of violent criminals.

                  In conclusion, the fiction that we read often has a basis in reality. Whether the author derives inspiration from real events or real places, the outcome is a work of fiction that can often have a large effect on our lives.