Hell-bent on escapism! That’s what you must be when your favorite genre is Fantasy. So some people think. If you love fantasy, then you must hate dealing with the real world. At first glance, this can certainly be the case; fantasy is all about creating an entirely new set of rules for our universe and throwing out the old ones. Upon closer inspection, though, the fault in this thinking is evident. With every fantasy novel written, deep parallels to our own lives come to light, and these can’t be ignored for the sake of comfort.
Lud in The Mist, for example, is an excellent commentary on substance abuse. The effects of fairy fruit, which has become a widespread addiction in the novel, are not completely known, but enough clues show that it’s a mind-altering substance. At the novel’s first publication, the prohibition in America probably inspired the work. While the author, Hope Mirrlees, was in England at the time (which never had a full-out ban on alcohol), it is still very possible she heard about it via world news. Even in today’s world, fairy fruit could be an easy connection to drug abuse/anti-drug laws. That being said, I don’t know enough about Mirrlees to postulate whether or not, outside of the context of the novel, she’d be for “legalizing it”.
Other examples of real-life parallels could be J.R.R. Tolkien’s and C.S. Lewis’s incorporation of their own experiences into their fantasy literature. These two men are arguably the most influential fantasy writers so far. Most all of Tolkien’s battle scenes in both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings have a high sense of realism, invoking in the reader the genuine rush and horror of battle. Tolkien’s experiences in World War I on the front lines, where two of his closest friends died, no doubt contributed to the authenticity of his work. For example, speculation exists that the aftermath of the Battle of the Somme inspired the Dead Marshes depicted in The Two Towers. C.S. Lewis drew inspiration for Aslan the lion from the New Testament of the Bible and in turn converted to Protestantism - yet again, a reflection of the author’s life within their fiction.
Fantasy, while otherworldly, is a reflection of our real lives and the problems we face. This fact shouldn’t be ignored or brushed aside due to it being an inconvenient truth. This should be an excuse for writers to embrace diversity and experiences from their own lives and throw them into their works. This adds a sense of realism to the writing and makes a fantasy world deeper than just an escape.
Lud in The Mist, for example, is an excellent commentary on substance abuse. The effects of fairy fruit, which has become a widespread addiction in the novel, are not completely known, but enough clues show that it’s a mind-altering substance. At the novel’s first publication, the prohibition in America probably inspired the work. While the author, Hope Mirrlees, was in England at the time (which never had a full-out ban on alcohol), it is still very possible she heard about it via world news. Even in today’s world, fairy fruit could be an easy connection to drug abuse/anti-drug laws. That being said, I don’t know enough about Mirrlees to postulate whether or not, outside of the context of the novel, she’d be for “legalizing it”.
Other examples of real-life parallels could be J.R.R. Tolkien’s and C.S. Lewis’s incorporation of their own experiences into their fantasy literature. These two men are arguably the most influential fantasy writers so far. Most all of Tolkien’s battle scenes in both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings have a high sense of realism, invoking in the reader the genuine rush and horror of battle. Tolkien’s experiences in World War I on the front lines, where two of his closest friends died, no doubt contributed to the authenticity of his work. For example, speculation exists that the aftermath of the Battle of the Somme inspired the Dead Marshes depicted in The Two Towers. C.S. Lewis drew inspiration for Aslan the lion from the New Testament of the Bible and in turn converted to Protestantism - yet again, a reflection of the author’s life within their fiction.
Fantasy, while otherworldly, is a reflection of our real lives and the problems we face. This fact shouldn’t be ignored or brushed aside due to it being an inconvenient truth. This should be an excuse for writers to embrace diversity and experiences from their own lives and throw them into their works. This adds a sense of realism to the writing and makes a fantasy world deeper than just an escape.
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