Yesterday a friend and I started a dispute over the response of Westerners to Israel’s invasion of Gaza. I say started a dispute, because I know it’s not over yet. In fact, this could be one of those topics that will haunt our friendship for years to come.
Etiquette dictates that if you want to remain friends with somebody, you should never discuss religion or politics with them. Over the fifteen years Chris and I have been friends, we’ve discussed religion and politics a number of times, and have rarely agreed on anything.
It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about global warming, the existence of God, or whether Barack Obama will make an effective leader—the likelihood of us having the same feelings (he would prefer the word “thoughts”) on the matter are about 1 in 567,832,486. (Having taken statistics, he would also point out that the likelihood is actually more like 1 in 7, down from about 1 in 10).
Whatever.
The point is, the ability for us to remain friends despite disagreeing on important matters, is one of the things I value the most in our friendship.
(It also helps that he’s not a rabid ideologue who is unwilling to consider other people’s points of view. And that he’s intelligent, thoughtful, loyal, considerate, funny, and a number of other things that make him fun to be around).
What does this have to do with writing?
Everything.
In my opinion, the best fiction does what journalism so often fails to do: it presents the perspective of characters we might normally find disagreeable, even dislikeable, and makes us understand their motivations.
Some of the most iconic characters in literature—Dostoyevsky’s Raskolnikov, Emily Bronte’s Heathcliff, E. Annie Proulx’s Quoyle, or even Batman—are characters who in real life we likely wouldn’t choose to be friends with. And yet, even if they are murderous, psychopathic, cowardly, or wounded, we come to empathize with them.
I don’t want to read—or write—books with characters who are just like me (only way better than I could ever be) because that would get really boring, really fast. For similar reasons, I don’t want all my friends to agree with me on everything all the time, because that too would get boring after a while.
The best fiction makes us stretch: often, so do the best friendships.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I don't like Sarah Palin all that much -- I will always prefer the non-senator in the group.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the fiction -- Raskolnikov was my favorite for a long time, despite his minor character flaws.
Oh, and Kari says that you forgot to mention that I'm cute too.
Why wouldn't you hate Fidel Castro anyhow? Didn't he imprison most of the homosexual population of Cuba? Doesn't that weaken his progressive bone fides just a bit? You always evade me on this one.