The Power of Fiction: How Stories Shape Memory and Identity

Memories are unreliable. Each time we remember that sepia-filtered moment, the moment shifts and reinvents itself. Memories make us who we are; they are a reminder of who we were and who we would like to become. Whilst the memories of our own life are vital to our self-understanding, there also exist memories that hold similar importance – the memories of fiction.

The Origins of Fiction and Its Power

Fiction etymologically originates from the old Latin word fingere, meaning “to form” or “to contrive”. In modern English, it means something closer to “invented” or “imaginary”. Yes, Esther Greenwood of The Bell Jar was a fictional character, but one who lived much the same experiences as the author Sylvia Plath herself.

Writers never write from nothing; our memories often define the characters we write and the lives they lead. Readers will know that sometimes a protagonist will describe an experience that touches us almost personally.

The memories we experience when reading fiction can feel personal, as if we lived them ourselves. Arguably, we did. Psychologists have found that reading fiction can expand upon our own self-identity. The experience of reading a compelling piece of literature can change who we are and steer us as much as a real, lived experience.

Books That Influence Our Lives

Books have a profound influence on readers. There are articles detailing how works of literature significantly changed the lives of the people who read them. Crystal Hana Kim, author of If You Leave Me, was “deeply connected” to Anne from L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. This inspired her to write her own novel, filled with other complex and intelligent female characters.

Everyone has their own reason for living the lives they do. We would be surprised to find how many of their dreams were nurtured from works of fiction. When we read about heroic doctors, witty novelists, or life-saving psychologists, something can fall into place inside of us. It is a rare thing to feel seen and understood, and fiction is often the medium that feels the most accepting.

Unforgettable Moments in Literature

If I were to ask you if there were certain passages or quotes that you remember vividly, I’m sure you would not remain silent. These are moments that transcended simple pages of paper and emblazoned themselves on your heart and memory. If you were a romantic, perhaps it was Mr. Darcy’s confession of love to Elizabeth Bennett, or the bittersweet ending for Noah and Allie in The Notebook.  

It is not rare to read something that makes you feel something so grand that you chase the feeling for the rest of your life, or at least in every book you read since. ‘Men written by women’ describes the type of male suitors that female writers create in their novels. Usually handsome, kind, witty, and unfailingly romantic, these are the type of men that many women search for in their real lives. Fiction, whether we acknowledge it or not, has a deep power over our lives, our aspirations, and our memories.

Escaping Into Fictional Worlds

Literary escapism is coveted now more than ever. We are overwhelmed by the state of the world and our close attachment to it. Overloaded with information, we turn to the oasis of the fictional world. Whether it is Ursula K LeGuin’s fantastical land of Earthsea or Lovecraft’s The Dreamlands, fictional worlds have allowed for a blissful escapism from the real world.

Imagined worlds, with their fictional languages, histories, and cultures, have become an irrefutable part of who people are and have stood the test of time with their influence.

Fiction in Popular Culture

American sitcom The Big Bang Theory follows a group of socially awkward physicists as they navigate the real world. Whatever you think of the show, there is no denying that in times when the sci-fi, fiction-loving young men lack courage, they remember the heroic acts of the imagined characters they so love and respect. Even if you are not a self-proclaimed ‘geek’, you have probably been influenced by a work of fiction.

In times when we need inspiration, we recall the memories of the fictional characters we esteem. Fictional characters are created from people an author may have admired or observed. The qualities of such characters were those that an author thought to be good or at least interesting, qualities that make people of fiction impact readers in a very real way.

Blurring the Line Between Fiction and Reality

While these worlds themselves can often represent the political and social toils of our own, they are foreign enough that we do not feel overwhelmed by them. We can explore such topics with a degree of separation and distance, because they do not directly represent the world we are living in.

The memories of the characters within a work of fiction, or the memory of reading the work itself, feel just as real as things we live through in our own lives. Whether we acknowledge it or not, the things we read become linked inexplicably to the person we become, until it is hard to tell the difference between fiction and reality.