Prompt: Stories do not just reflect reality. Stories create reality.Form: Anthology of Year 12 writing
Audience: Year 12 students
Purpose: To share with the audience a heightened awareness of the power storytellers, particularly the media, have to distort reality to suit a particular perspective; and encourage them to seek a more holistic viewpoint of the situation whenever possible
Year 12 English: Whose Reality?
In 2016, the Year 12 English students had a chance to explore philosophical concepts such as the nature of reality. While initial discussions left us all feeling rather discombobulated and questioning if “anything is even real”, we grew to make peace with the topic’s ambiguity; and developed our outlook on the subjectivity of perception as echoed in stories, the ability of authors to construct alternate narratives through the process of writing, and the impact of storytelling’s innate power to shape reality. The following is my own interpretation of our findings.
To begin with, it is necessary to establish reality’s inherent subjectivity. Factors such as your upbringing, race and gender can colour your perception. We each see the world from a unique frame of reference. The instruments through which we perceive the world are unable to truthfully represent even our own initial perception. The saying “I saw it with my own eyes” puts great faith into a first-hand viewing. We assume that our vision, as well as our other senses, faithfully report reality. Do they? Think about optical illusions – Escher’s famous impossible geometric illustrations, or even 2015’s viral dress colour debate. This biased viewing bleeds into storytelling – despite our best efforts to dutifully retell our experiences, the subjectivity of perception necessarily corrupts any attempt to capture the truth. Further, an unerring part of human nature is to exaggerate. I’m sure we’re all very familiar with superlatives in speech: “worst day of my life”. Telling a story to a friend seems impossible to do without some embellishment. As such, the subjective lens of an individual’s view distorts reality; and through conveying their experiences, the distortion is magnified. Thus a new, transmuted story is created, which similarly to a mirror’s reflection, is only an image of the original.
Having established the inevitability of embellishing stories in our everyday lives, let’s explore the purposeful storytelling of authors. In your local bookstore, there is a clear division between ‘fiction’ and ‘non-fiction’. We generally make the assumption that novels are fictional – however, this wasn’t always so obvious. The novel credited as the first of its kind, ‘Robinson Crusoe’ by Daniel Defoe, was thought to be a true account of island misadventures by its contemporary eighteenth-century society. The novel us English students have been studying, ‘Foe’ by J.M. Coetzee (1986), is a reimagining of Defoe’s classic. It questions the reliability of Defoe as an author, by depicting his elimination of the character Susan from her own account of the island. Defoe is shown trying to reflect reality by chronicling Susan’s account of the island; however, by writing her out of the story he creates an alternate reality. Thus for the readers of ‘Robinson Crusoe’, the story they accepted as truth was one in which Susan did not exist, further entrenching the prevalent reality of women’s subordinate position in society – an inferior protagonist to the white male hero figure. Susan herself also exerts control over others’ reality, in particular, the mute black servant named Friday. His lack of a tongue symbolises the silencing of colonised peoples’ voices, and thus their ability to express their own stories. Susan herself realises that what Friday “is to the world is what [she] makes of him”, thus demonstrating the power of storytelling to determine reality.
Similar to Defoe’s peers’ belief that ‘Robinson Crusoe’ was a true account, fiction today can be found in unexpected places. A supposed paragon of truth is the news. But what you see is only what the media choose to show you. The power of narrative can be applied to the reinforcement of social myths regarding the superiority of particular social groups over others. This year’s broadcasting of the Rio Olympic Games has highlighted the prevailing of these myths, as evident in the social stereotypes and double standards displayed for women and people of colour. For example, conservative American news station NBC delayed footage of Simone Manuel’s historic medal ceremony as the first African-American woman to win a gold medal in an individual Olympic swimming event. Katie Ledecky’s record-breaking achievements were also overlooked, in favour of titles such as “Phelps ties for silver in 100 fly” (Bryan-College Station Eagle newspaper, 14/08/16). The suppression of stories of minority success takes away the potential positive impact on disadvantaged members of society who may view their position in society as inexorable. Disproportionate representation in the media continues a legacy of white male superiority and shapes the reality of marginalised peoples by perpetuating only a selective perspective of the world.
In essence, while reality is by nature subject to individual interpretation, both classic literature and contemporary media exemplify that stories can not only elucidate one particular perspective but also purposefully construct and wrest control of a collective social narrative – the consequences of which can be damaging to vulnerable social groups. Thus my study of ‘whose reality’ has lead to me to value my own right to authorship, and to respect the perspectives of my peers.
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