Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors. His is the first name that comes to mind when I am asked these questions: Whos's your favorite author? What's your favorite book? Who is your virtual BFF? Which writer's life intrigues you the most? Who's going to be Husband #2 (Just kidding, Husband #1! Haha!)? I could go on...
V.Steele
9/16/2018 04:50:55 pm
In the novel Catcher in the Rye J.D.Salinger, the narrator and protagonist, Holden Caulfield, uses slight deception in order to soften the blow of his experiences. Holden Caulfield got kicked out of school due to him failing most of his classes however in the beginning of the novel he states “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies” (Salinger 60). Holden was dissatisfied with the real reason he could no longer attend Elkton Hills High School so he made up a reason he was pleased with. Neil Gaiman states that “Fiction is the lie that tells the truth, after all.” Even though Holden Caulfield wasn’t telling the truth about what really made him leave the school, what he said emphasized his mindset and was able to show a lot about the truth of that social stances of the time period. The youth culture in 1945 was emphasized by the idea of breaking out of social norms and being rebellious. This was shown in a lot of literature following Catcher in the Rye, and by Holden saying this it shows this nature. His lies are emphasizing the truths of the world around him.
E. Dickinson
9/16/2018 05:39:28 pm
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, he creates a character called Roger Chillingworth. Chillingworth is the estranged husband of main character Hester Prynne who, when he finds out that Hester is pregnant with someone else's child, vows to get revenge. While posing as a doctor, he uses "medicine" on Dimmesdale (the object of his revenge). He also tells Dimmesdale that there is a force near him that does not wish him well. We all know that the force is Chillingworth, but he never explicitly tells Dimmesdale that he is the enemy.
Champ forever
9/16/2018 06:03:52 pm
The power of this quote is unimaginable it is telling about those people, those lies, those myths which we used to believe that they were not real they pretented that we are seeing is not a truth but you can't hide the truth it will come out one day or another maybe after some year's or decade's it will come out it will reveal itself what will you do then hmmm; that shame how are you going to hide how will you face the truth. I read a book back when I was in 10th grade it was about a shepherd who was told that his dream is telling him to follow his personal legend and what was his legend you know a treasure, a girl. Now we all think that the dream you had it's true maybe something will happen but in the end we are disappointed because what we expected didn't actually happen. Back to that boy, he used to think that wow how can he live life which no other man can imagine he believed in omens and dreams thinking that they lead me to a treasure you know everything is good, life seems perfect and we all are thinking that ofcourse the boy will experience something he didn't expected; that's the truth but the boy learned a lesson that these omens and dreams were not real and that our destiny is not decided by these omens and dream but it is deided by what you do right now or in the present. All that truth about this omen stuff seemed a fiction to the boy but it was not he kept on believing until came a point where he realized that it was the truth he should have listened to it.
tucker
9/16/2018 07:37:27 pm
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, deceit and lies were not uncommon at all. For example, at the very beginning of the novel, the narrator explains that he has never been one to judge others without knowing them, but then proceeds to judge everything and everyone he encounters throughout the plot. Gaiman’s quote, “fiction is the lie that tells the truth, after all,” can be used as a lens on The Great Gatsby in that it shows how many of Gatsby’s lies were simply slanted truths. During the novel, Gatsby was in the car with Daisy, his obsession, when the car hit and killed a woman. Daisy was driving, however, Gatsby lied, claiming that it was his fault in order to protect her. At the moment that the car hit the victim, Gatsby’s hand was on the steering wheel -- so it was not a complete lie. On the other hand, he was not in the driver’s seat and he did not steer into the woman. This fictional lie told the truth in that it showed Gatsby’s willingness to do anything for Daisy. It showed that he would take the blame of murder for her.
Pen
9/16/2018 08:28:59 pm
In the Crucible by Arthur Miller, 3 girls, Abigail, Mary, and Betty, were caught in the forest with their slave, Tituba, in what had appeared to be witchcraft. When questioned, Abigail recalls how they had danced while Tituba was the one who had been conjuring with magic and the dead. In reality, the girls did dance, but Abigail had also drunken a potion that would kill the wife of someone she loved. Here, Abigail tells the truth, but told it slant; Abigail told the townspeople the information they wanted to hear and what would provide the girls their innocence. If Abigail had told them that she took part in witchcraft, they surely would have arrested and even killed her. By telling the truth slant, she protected herself and eventually gave herself the power to prosecute anyone as a witch. Gaiman’s quote, “Fiction is the lie that tells the truth, after all” represents The Crucible; the plot of the story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the time of the witch trials where people were accused of being witches. The novel was published during the time of the Red Scare in the US where the everyone had been accusing one another of being a spy for the Soviet Union. By using this novel and the Salem Witch Trials as an allusion for the Red Scare, Miller showed how paranoid and chaotic the government and its citizens had become.
Blues Clues
9/16/2018 10:13:19 pm
In looking for Alaska by John Green, Miles the main character and his friends Alaska and Chip all lie throughout the book. Miles and his friends hang out in the woods were they collaborate,drink and smoke. The group often comes up with pranks to do on the rich prep kids (the weekday warriors); when they get caught from doing these pranks they always lie saying that it wasn’t them or one of them would take the blame and say that the other had nothing to do with it. One particular night Miles and his friends were out in the woods drinking and alaska gets a call from her boyfriend to go pick him up. She then asks Miles and Chip to make a distraction so the Warden doesn't see her leave the campus. The next day Miles and Chip wake up to an announcement on the intercom that Alaska has died in a car accident. Later on when Miles and Chip get questioned if they know anything about Alaska's death they say “She got drunk, The Colonel and I went to sleep, and I guess she drove off campus." And that became the standard lie.” This is a major example of Neil Gaiman’s quote, “Fiction is the lie that tells the truth, after all.” Miles and Chip told the truth were Alaska got drunk, but told the truth with a slant. When they said that they woke up and Alaska was gone when they actually helped her leave campus.
Phantom
9/16/2018 11:56:36 pm
"Fiction is a lie that tells the truth" is a way of describing how the made up scenarios in fictional stories can reveal a deeper meaning like a lesson. In this way, a writer is telling the truth slant in order to get a reader to recognize an idea without a direct confrontation like in nonfiction passages. The truth is there, it just hold these added effects to seem more appealing and eye-catching. For example, many fantasy fictions have characters that are destined for a general greatness. The concept of destiny can be interpreted as a lesson of fuffilling one's roll in life. The Percy Jackson series are a solid example of a teenager with a destiny dilemma. Percy's situation leads him into difficulties. He has to deal with Zeus's rage and terrifying monsters while wanting to live a normal life with his mother. The mythological monsters are not only a dilemma to the plot of the series, but they are exaggerated reminders of the duties he must do. The beasts, magic, and mythology are the "lies" which surround the deeper "truth" or meaning to the story. When the truth is told slant, it can be more interesting, intriguing and far more influential.
Edgar Wright
9/20/2018 10:54:47 pm
Neil Gaiman once said that, “Fiction is the lie that tells the truth. After all.” Every Element about Fiction comes from a person's imagination. However, It is through these facades that authors are able to convey truthful anecdotes or relevant information. A Streetcar named desire was a made up play about Stanley abusing his wife Stella. No one in this play existed, nor did any event actually occur in our time. However, the subtle commentary on gender roles in the 1950s resonated with many men and women in that era. It was through these fake characters that Tennessee Williams was able to say what he thought was the truth on the way wives were being treated. Many Wives related to Stella, and you could remove the couple and add any other couple with the same results. So even though fiction like Streetcar are technically fake, It is through these made up scenarios that answers to real world problems can be acquired. Comments are closed.
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