The Influences of Books

My first original speech.

Why do you read fiction? Some of the reasons could be for entertainment, relaxation, to de-stress, or just to take a break.

But can your favorite fictional character have any effect on your decidedly un-fictional self? Is a mere story able to reach beyond simple amusement and touch your day to day life? I think that it can. What's more, I think that it does.

The purpose of this speech is to show how an author's writing is influenced, how the author's writing can in turn influence you, and how you should respond to this.

One question to ask while reading a book is: "Why did the author write this?" it's a simple question; the answer might not be.

I. What influences an author to write what he or she does?

A. The author's experiences:

Charlotte Bronte, though a talented author, had a very dismal style of writing. When I read her book, Jane Eyre, I felt as if there was a constant storm cloud hanging over the story, getting heavier and darker with every description. The book is an interesting, well-written classic, but you can't read it and not ask the question...why? Why would anybody write about such depressing things?

The answer: Charlotte Bronte had a pretty depressing life. When Charlotte was only about five years old, her mother died. When she was nine, Charlotte's two older sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, also passed away. At about thirty-two, she lost her siblings, Patrick and Emily. They were followed just a few months later by Anne, the youngest of the Bronte children, leaving Charlotte alone to care for her ailing father as his last surviving child.

Charlotte's writing was heavily influenced by what she experienced, and she experienced much death.

Another thing that can have an effect on the way that an author writes is another person, or persons plural.

B. A key character in an author's life that either been a positive influence, a negative influence, or a blend of the two.

The well-known comic strip, Family Circus, is a hilarious portrayal of household life. Bil Keane, the original author of the cartoon, based the characters Bil and Thelma, along with their children Billy, Dolly, Jeffrey, and P.J. on himself and his family.

The comic's main source of humor comes from the things the children do and say such as Jeffery innocently requesting his father to re-inflate his popped balloon, or Billy asking with a running hose in hand whether the car windows should be up or down when they are washing it.

The kid's funny comments and alarming questions are not only amusingly realistic but also show just how close the author is to his children.

An author can't stay completely unaffected by his or her experiences. If that's true, then it would also be fair to state that we ourselves cannot remain wholly unaffected by the things that we read. 

II How can the author's writing influence you?

A. What you read offers new opinions and ideas and can affect the way that you think about something.

You don't necessarily need to believe that what you're reading is true or right for it to have an effect on your thinking. Just because you know that a thing is wrong does not mean that you are less likely to think about it, in fact, it'll probably increase the chance of it popping up in you head later on.

The more that you are exposed to something, the more likely you'll shrug it off as the norm. Just because something's "normal" doesn't mean that it's right. Good things usually aren't as "normal" as bad things are.

If you were to read a book that involves a lot of violence, inappropriate language, or even a child with a negative attitude, it could have an effect on the way you think and desensitize the way that you feel about an issue that would normally bother you.

Eventually, this can get to the point where it completely changes the way that you believe about something.

So, what you read can influence the way that you think, affect your beliefs, and, finally, it can change your behavior.

C. What you read can change the way that you speak, act, or respond to a situation.

One of my friends likes reading comics, and one of her favorite comic books was about a six-year-old boy with spiky, blond hair, whose best friend in the whole wide world is his stuffed tiger. It's called: Calvin and Hobbs.

While Calvin's a pretty funny little guy, he's got one big problem: he's incredibly naughty. He goes back in forth between being a little boy who wants to ride his tricycle on the roof and would love to have a flame thrower to an evil mastermind up to no good.

Well, after those comics had been out for a while my friend's mom noticed a change in my friend's attitude. My friend started to think just a little bit like Calvin. Then she started making humorous but extremely sarcastic remarks. It was decided that what can be funny in a book, is not so funny in real life. Calvin and Hobbs went back on the shelf, and his vulgar humor went with him.

So, how do we filter what we read? First, know the author's worldview.

III Your response:

A. Know what the author's worldview is.

An author's thoughts, ideas, and beliefs about life direct his or her pen and are captured in black and white on sheets of paper. If you know what the author's worldview is, you will have an idea of what to expect in the book that you're reading. You are able to ask and then answer the question 'why did the author write this?'

When you are familiar with the author's beliefs you will be able to identify more easily where they come into play in the story, and then you can ask yourself whether or not it's right instead of just absorbing the entire thing with your mind open and your guard down. 

B. Next, figure out the message of the book.

What is the author trying to say in the story? What are the points the author is trying to make? Again, it can be easier to figure out what the author's trying to say if you know the underlying beliefs informing the message.

C. Finally, decide whether or not you should continue reading the book.

Determine if what the author's saying is right or wrong. Does the author appear to have a biblical worldview? That could be an important question to ask. Is the overall message of the book good of bad?

Is the content of the book righteous or unrighteous? Does anything in it disturb you? If the language or conduct in the story strikes you as inappropriate, you should seriously consider putting the book down for good.

During the past few minutes, we've seen (1) how an author's writing can be influenced, (2) how the author's writing can have an effect on you and (3) your response.

So the next time you pick up a fictional book, whether you're just starting it for the first time or the twentieth, I want you to read it with the understanding that it isn't just an 'entertaining story', but that it contains the threads of someone else's worldview which can become interwoven, consciously or unconsciously, into the pattern of your own life.