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Monday, October 20, 2014

Literary Fiction and Empathy

How can reading fiction help you understand others? Use Hamlet as an example to explore your own thinking process and reactions to a character's innermost thoughts/struggles.

Reading fictional stories in novels or for five solemn minutes helps me understand social behavior in a more clearer way than reading in a nonfictional story. Putting more detail on the character such as dialogue, indirect/direct characterization, tone, metaphors, and all other literary elements create a staircase in learning one person as oneself progresses. Like Hamlet, we could relate him to a movie star/character, but really, we want to know how he's going to handle all the feelings inside of him. I wonder at the fact that he keeps a plain expression, a noble stance at the people he likes and the people he dislikes. Audiences know that with a switch in dialogue or a whole other scene, Hamlet struggles to find his destiny of revenge. Since revenge isn't the case his father wants, young Hamlet makes decisions based on merciful output if so. Readers like to see a character fight a conflict they know will end bad enough.

I as a reader know that empathizing a character's innermost thoughts/struggles is what makes us human. Fiction brings in human qualities that haven't been expressed in nonfiction, per se, it's deeper to connect to one who has ambitions and goals.

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