Parents scoff at the amount of fiction that their kids read. What they fail to realize, however, is that not only is the intake of fiction a healthy way to relieve stress, but the situation could be much worse. My parents in particular criticize my every move and every decision because ‘that’s not what we would do’ or ‘we didn’t have that when we were kids’. The thing is, though, is that, like it or not, times change. There are new inventions, new ideas, new morals for everything. It doesn’t matter that this isn’t what you would do or that this isn’t what you did as a kid. It’s our generation now. It’s our turn. Let us show you what we can do.
Fiction, aside from being a great and fantastical outlet for stress and other negative feelings, provides a source of creativity and imagination which can spark social interaction. This has been proven to be one of the requirements for humans to survive properly. Reading works of fiction can teach morals that the things we normally experience in our lives just can’t. Harry Potter has taught its generation that love is the greatest magic. Inkheart that kindness and imagination can bring anything to life. Percy Jackson and The Heroes of Olympus that friendship and teamwork prevails even over the impossible. D. Gray-Man that you can’t do everything on your own, no matter how “strong” you think you are and that it’s okay to ask for help. And it’s not just books that have this influence. Doctor Who perfectly displays the importance of friendship and the fact that, big or small, everyone has significance. Supernatural shows that family doesn’t end with blood and Sherlock proves that anyone can be kind and have friends.
There’s something innately calming about sharing experiences with a fictional character. Because that’s what you do, isn’t it? The reader lived through the adventure in Middle Earth just as Bilbo and the dwarf company did. They felt the betrayal in the curse that did Dumbledore in. Books, I feel, are a great way to just...escape. Writing provides a great tool for the articulately inclined, but for those who aren’t another person’s life is the perfect place to hide from responsibilities. These stories, while deemed unimportant or childish by others, are sometimes just the thing needed to get through the day. When everything gets to be too much, sometimes it’s better to just lose yourself in the pages of a good story that tells of a life more interesting and less stressful than your own. It may seem odd, but as a race, humans like to know the struggles of others. We like to know what other people are having a hard time with. Just the same, we also like to know about the things that make our race great. Things that humans excel at. That’s where books come in, at least for me.
I’m a curious person. I like to know how things begin and end. I like things to make sense. There is nothing better than finding out the ending of your favorite story the way it was meant to be told. As Jaxon Hall from the Mime Order said, “Words are everything. Words give wings to those that have been stamped upon, broken beyond all hope of repair,” and I find this to be such an important quote because it rings true. It shows that anyone can make a stand by using the power of language. In today’s age, the most influential messages are passed around through books and stories. Whether they are quotes, like so many inspirational messages, or morals like the more obscure idea that perhaps the government isn’t all we think it is.
I know this is a mess, but I guess the point I’m trying to get across is that the things we read have more of an impact that adults think they do. Adults don’t understand that in this day and age, socializing has become so much more than just talking to people. That we have become so much more than kids. There is so much more to this world than anyone could ever imagine, but books come pretty damn close to the truth, however fictitious.