Cultural and Sociological Purposes, Fiction

¶ … cultural and sociological purposes, fiction can serve as an excellent vehicle for relaying historical truths. Due to the power of emotional resonance that it is capable of inspiring, fiction as a means of providing historical accounts can inspire as well as inform, persuade as well as explain. In this paper, three different fictional accounts of historical events -- Swift's "A Modest Proposal," Erasmus's "The Shipwreck," and a selection from Zola's Germinal dealing with the events of a labor strike -- will be reviewed in order to determine how each account serves as a historical document intended to express a particular historical perspective.

Swift wrote his essay as a satirical statement intended to bring attention to the problem of poverty and oppression in Ireland at the hands of the English in the early 1700s. In it, he offers a solution to what he sees as the combined problems of Irish poverty, political corruption and cultural ambivalence, and English oppression: he argues that the children of Ireland should be sold at market for food. In a description of the conditions across Ireland, he mentions abortion, drunkenness, illegitimacy, papistry, political corruption, slum-lording, and a lack of industry. These are harsh assessments of a nation that he intends to aid. However, in addressing his essay to the English, he is perhaps even harsher, by pointing out that most of these conditions are the result of their oppression of Ireland through taxation, neglect, and the like. As a work of fiction the argument works through humor and outrage, and as a work of history, the article serves to point out a set of conditions to its contemporary audience that continue to resonate with the modern reader.

Erasmus wrote his colloquy in order to describe the state of the Catholic Church during the early 1500s. He sets up a supposed adventure in a shipwreck during a tremendous storm, in which all of the passengers on the ship have some connection to the Church. He then goes about describing the prayers of each passenger as they attempt to escape death during the storm and, through a final disposition of the characters' various fates, he tells what he thinks about the sects and agents that each character represents. Notably, as a reform-minded Catholic himself, he argues that the Virgin Mary is the first to reach the shore safely, with her baby in tow, and that the Pope is the first to die, following his riches into the sea. His goal of speaking to reform-minded Catholics is achieved through a witty dialog format. This colloquy establishes a metaphorical description of the reform in the Church. While it is difficult to follow for the lay person or the student of history without in-depth knowledge of the Church and the Reformation, it serves its function by bringing history to light in a dramatic and surprising new way.