Strengths And Weaknesses Of Historical Fiction

Historical fiction can be quite complicated, consisting of both strengths and weaknesses. In this lab, I will examine the concept of Historical Fiction, using Marlene Brill’s Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad as my primary example. I will then detail what I feel are the strengths and weakness of Historical Fiction, and how Marlene Brills book conveys them. In general, I would say that people read historical fiction because it sensationalizes materials in a way that appeal more to a mass audience, instead of just a history buff. One strength, I feel, about Historical Fiction, is that it can reach greater audiences then a typical nonfiction source, which makes it a good tool to use for informing people of different subjects, in a way that will appeal to them. A book like Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, that, while involving mostly fictional characters, may get people who read it interested in learning more about the topic of the Civil War or the Antebellum South. When my sister was in school, she read John Boyne’s The Boy in the Stripped Pajama’s, and while it again involved fictional characters, it served to introduce my sister to the notion of the Holocaust in a way she could understand and relate to, and it really left a lasting impression on her. I feel this is one of the primary reasons why authors choose …show more content…
There is also no way of knowing what exactly happened on Allen and Henry’s journey, so it is really up to Brill to fill in the gaps. This is the great weakness of historical fiction, when do the actual facts blend in with the fiction, and how do we tell them apart. While children are learning real facts about the Underground Railroad, there also given some unsubstantiated, sensationalized, and overall inaccurate claims. I had never