Effects Of Reading Fiction In The Wife's Story

The average reader cracks open a good book, falls in love with the main character, cries when they read touching moments and laughs at the humorous ones. Good writers are accredited for their ability to captivate their reader's emotions and draw them deep into their stories world. Good readers read the story twice to feel those emotions all over again. According to Matthijs Bal who conducted numerous experiments on the effects of reading fiction on empathy, “fiction presents a simulation of real-world problems, and therefore has real consequences for the reader.” So what are the effects that reading fiction can have? Reading fiction helps a reader develop empathy, allows a reader to explore different viewpoints and helps the reader to learn social skills. One of the most powerful effects of a fiction story is its ability to make people empathize with its characters. When reading a fiction story, the reader has been following the conflict and has witnessed the effect of the conflict on the character and are therefore more empathic

It is often very easy for people to lack understanding of certain situations if they have never considered how that person’s outlook may seem. An example of this would be “The Wife’s Story” by Le Guin. “The Wife’s Story” is essentially a werewolf story, but it is told through the eyes of the wolf who is the wife, instead of the human who is the werewolf. Seeing the situation through the Wife’s point of view helps the reader to empathize with the Wife when she must eventually take part in the killing of her husband. “The Wife’s Story” deeply personalized the Wife who was telling the story but avoided profoundly personalizing the male werewolf who would eventually be killed. This led to higher feelings of empathy for the Wife with little to no empathy for the husband whose viewpoint the reader never got to see