Fiction: Inherently Rhetorical

All forms of expression are inherently rhetorical. In terms of writing, regardless of whether the work is poetry, fiction, or nonfiction whether it is a biography, a novel, or short story, the author is making a public argument. Fictional writing, unlike others, provides authors with almost limitless opportunities to promote a public argument because all aspects of the story are fair game to be altered. The author is able to tailor the characters, plot, symbols, and themes to their desired message. This message, however, doesn't necessarily have to be explicitly stated and it likely won't be. However, all works without question will have a public argument in it.

In my opinion, fiction is as good a place as any to make a public argument. With nonfiction, the truth must be followed. For example, if an author chooses to write a book advocating principles of the Democratic Party through the person Barack Obama, there are definitely aspects of his life that wouldn't follow. Reality limits where an argument can be taken. There are factors out of the hands of the author, which in fiction would never happen. The author has complete control over every aspect. Every single word written, plot step, and character can be made to aide the public argument of the author.

Any work of fiction can be pointed to as an example of an author making a public argument. Whether it be an old proverb such as The Boy who Cried Wolf or The Tortoise and the Hare or a newer work it doesn't matter. The author or story teller is making some sort of public argument. It can be a moral life lesson such as in the previous two examples or an informative message or a persuasive action-evoking argument. Many times, the most effective of arguments can be made in the sphere of fictional writing.

Rhetoric in Fiction

Fiction’s ability to develop any sort of message through the plot, characters, and settings of a novel provides an easy way to form a directed argument. The advantage of fiction works over those that are based on real life scenarios is that rather than having to draw conclusions from what is happening in one case scenario, the author is able to compile many different instances into one work to develop whatever argument he or she is trying to make. For example, if an author wants to write a biography of someone who went through similar experiences as the “invisible man” in Ralph Ellison’s novel, this author would have a hard time finding one particular individual who went through these experiences in the same way that would formulate the same argument as Ralph Ellison did in this novel. This is because not only does fiction allow the author to create whatever type of situations and characters they want but also allows the author to introduce symbolism to reinforce the arguments they are trying to make.

In our class we have learned the different ways that people can advance an argument. We have discussed ethos, pathos, and logos which each can be very important in building an argument in a piece of fiction. The author can decide how best to frame the message he or she wants to get across and once the exact messages are decided upon, the author can determine how to depict these messages. Ethos and pathos are used in fiction just as they are in any other rhetorical work; authors can frame a message to draw on ethical appeals as well as on sympathetic appeals. In fiction, while atechnic, quantitative data may not be used for logos appeals as it might be used in works such as newspaper articles where the “wow factor” of brief, information-filled sound bites are used, logos appeals can still be found in entechnic, constructive styles. Ellison shows use of all three of these techniques in order to get his arguments across in Invisible Man.

I think that fiction can be a very effective form of argument. Though I have never really thought about fiction being a form of argument before, as soon as we began to discuss some of the arguments made in Invisible Man I realized how often rhetoric is used in the form of fiction works to formulate an argument. Not only are works such as 1984, Native Son, and Crime and Punishment advancing strong views and critics of societal problems, but they do so in a way with which no other medium of work could compare. By advancing these opinions in fiction, the author has full reign to develop their arguments however they want. Also, fiction works can potentially be forms of entertainment as well as forms of rhetoric; this gives these works a wider range of audiences than the more academic works might have.

Limitations on fiction works for advancing rhetorical arguments involve the basic issues such as money, time commitments, and limited audience reaches (in some cases) as well as a few limitations specific to fiction works. Because a piece is considered fiction, oftentimes people have predetermined views that the novel is just a “story”. The term fiction is often deemed to mean false and not based on reality. Just because a work is not based on a real individual and their true life story doesn’t mean that the story can’t be based around events or facts of reality. This limitation does not mean that the author’s argument will make no impression on their audience, but it cause problems with those who may disagree with the arguments made in the work because those people may simply say that since the work is a piece of fiction that it cannot be held to as high a regard as other works. If an author can get past this barrier then their argument can be just as effective, and sometimes even more so, than other forms of rhetoric.