Literature and Truth II

There are stories in which the characters, plot, setting, and other literary elements are important only in so far as they help covey some message or moral. We call these stories parables, particularly when they are brief. I have noticed a tendency, often among my fellow Catholics, to treat all stories as if they functioned in the manner of parables. Stories are approached, understood, and judged primarily, if not exclusively, in reference to the message or moral they communicate. If the story expresses Truth, then the story is good. If it propagates falsehood, then it is bad. I remember a conversation in which a friend remarked that she didn’t care for The Fellowship of the Ring film by Peter Jackson because it didn’t have the “Catholic messages” of the book. Harry Potter was widely criticized for containing a “pro-witchcraft message.” I’ve started reading a few terribly written novels recommended to me because the authors proudly upheld the teachings of the Catholic Church. Now the question of truth and falsehood is not irrelevant to the discussion of literature, but neither is it the only pertinent question. Other qualities of literature matter. Beauty, for example, which has a purpose of its own.