A Cool Thing About Fiction

In my class recently, we were talking about how to engage in dialogue with people who hold opposing viewpoints. The basic steps were to listen to what they were saying, articulate what you have in common, and add your own information.


It struck me what an advantage fiction writers have in this whole process. We don't just listen to other people's points of view--we can inhabit them. Writing (or reading) fiction gives you a chance to step outside the limitations of your own perspective and imagine someone else's world.


Take, for example, a pro-choice rally I went to in March 2006. Standing on the Old Courthouse steps in downtown St. Louis, I was simultaneously involved in the protest and intrigued by the counterdemonstration across the street: a small group of people with posters of dismembered fetuses. The signs looked old, as if they had seen many protests. I was particularly struck by a mother and her two children, since I had considered bringing my own son out in the drizzly afternoon. As I looked at the woman and her son and daughter, I wondered what it would be like to be brought up in a strongly pro-life household. When I got home, I jotted down an idea for a story about a teenage boy who is starting to question his role in his family.


Now, I'm not claiming I did a perfect job of getting inside the pro-life mother's mind; my critique group was sharply divided on that point. And from a political point of view, I see the value of taking a stand and unapologetically fighting for what I believe. From a personal perspective, however, I think we need to work hard to listen to and communicate with people who have opposing viewpoints. Part of what I love about fiction is that it allows us to cross the street and see that the people there are not Others, but fellow human beings.