The Riddle of Fiction

I believe that Gottschall like Dahl believes that the mind of fiction is much like a “dark wood” that Dahl refers to a as a mind of a child. Dahl is famous for writing children’s stories like Charlie and the Chocolate factory. After reading the chapter “The Riddle of Fiction” it is clear that we start at a very young age (12 months) living in a world of fiction. It is interesting that boys will separate themselves from girls, and girls likewise in their different worlds of fiction. Vivian Paley is quoted saying “Whatever is going on in this network of melodramas, the themes are vast and wondrous. Images of good and evil, birth and death, parent and child, move in and out of the real and the pretend. There is no small talk.” I would argue that story telling is not an adaptive trait rather a trait that we are born with. At such an early age we start in the world of make believe boys with their trucks and guns, and girls with their dolls pretending that they are mothers. It is interesting that Gottschall views this as a nature rather than nurture part of life. I agree with Gottschall’s assessment because we start at such a young age pretending and making up our own fictional stories. I would have to agree with Kessel when he says “fiction, like cocaine, is a drug.” More times than not fiction is much more entertaining than real life. When we hear the gossip, sex scandals, and scary fairytales, this is not part of our normal every day routine and therefore it boarders on fiction for most people that could not imagine themselves wrapped up in such a scandal. That is why we as a species are so interested in the tabloids, t.v. dramas, and stories of others lives, because to us we could not imagine that happening in our lives. As we play out those situations in our heads they become our fiction or story telling.