Whats True in Literature is False in Life

What's True in Literature is False in LifeFlannery O'Connor famously said, 'What's true in literature is false in life.' While this may be the more fitting description of the experiences and challenges of writing a short story or essay in the professional literary world, Flannery O'Connor was also looking at something else when she said this.She was taking a lesson from the classic 'Yellow Wallpaper' which, in addition to all of the unpleasant incidents surrounding the story, is based on a real event. In that case, the protagonist in the story, called Charac, was going through a divorce. Charac found a job as a nurse in a mental institution with the intention of being able to escape the circumstances in his life. But, when Charac returned, he found the facility full of strange people.Charac's performance was not only in the way he attended to patients but also his insistence that they follow his every instruction. One of the patients that he worked with acted strangely and refused to be moved from the room and to tell Charac what he was doing. The guard in charge decided to send Charac away but that would only worsen the situation and the patient began to react violently.In the end, Charac was unable to handle the situation and was violently injured, ending his work in the mental institution. Charac's reputation was damaged, but Charac was able to find happiness and peace with his work after the incident.Now we have a modern society where all that is true in literature is false in one's life. And those who are successful in their careers are those who have a strong sense of self-awareness. Those who are not able to deal with their lives so clearly may not make it through the process of professional writing.A very talented writer and essayist in her own right, Flannery O'Connor was able to see the importance of character and story in both short stories and essays. As a matter of fact, the story of Charac is echoed in 'Her Story,' a collection of short stories wr itten by Virginia Woolf. The story is very similar but has been altered slightly to be told from the point of view of the characters.In her essay, author of 'Her Story,' Elizabeth Alexander, writes, 'All true stories begin in some fashion as preludes to our literature. When we see the kind of person we want to be, we need to see what kind of people are involved in the story that we are about to write. That's why, when you read a novel, you should examine the characters of the novel in such a way that you can become aware of the people behind the characters.'In short, even short stories and essays are autobiographical in nature. One way to begin that journey is to take the time to reflect on how one could have handled various situations differently.