Non-Fiction in Fantasy

In our discussions of fantasy and fairy stories, we have established at least one thing. That is that fantasy and fairy stories are the result of imagination. Imagination is used by the author in the writing process and it is used by the audience in the reading process. Imagination is what produces fiction; it is what produces fantasy. However, as crucial as imagination may be, I think one of the greatest strengths of fantasy literature is found in its non-fiction. Aside from Tolkien and his odd views on Elves, few people will argue that any piece of fantasy literature is non-fiction, but no one can deny that good fantasy literature will contain non-fiction.

If fantasy literature were not grounded in reality in the slightest bit, we would simply not read it. It is the bits of reality that are woven into fantasy that attract us. This can be said for all fiction. Perhaps the most common bit of reality in fantasy is the concept of human nature. We would like to believe that there is an intrinsic commonality among all human beings that would cause us to react and interact in situations regardless of how absurd they become. Lewis would like us to believe that if a human were to find a world of witches, talking beavers, minotaurs, and saintly lions in the back of a wardrobe, he or she would still possess the same desires, qualities, and inclinations of a human in wartime London. That there is something about each and all of us that makes us human in Narnia, Middle-Earth, or even a galaxy far far away is an attractive notion. I cannot definitively ascribe the concept of human nature to anything concrete, but I am inclined to think that beliefs in our commonality are justifiably desirable.