Is Fiction a Lie? by Maple Cherrie (Humaira)

 Hello everyone! This is my essay that I want to share. Maple Cherrie is my pen name by the way.

What exactly is fiction? Well, according to the definitions from the Oxford languages, fiction is literature in the form of prose that describes imaginary events and people and it is something that is invented or untrue. Based on this statement, if it's untrue, does that mean fiction is a lie?

"Well, in a sense, yes. Novelists use lies to communicate true things. We’re creating situations that never happened to people who never existed in a place no one will ever see, and all of it in order to convey truths about love, loyalty, sacrifice, joy, despair… in other words, truths about humanity."

This statement was said by Jeannette de Beauvoir in her article regarding this matter. Fiction and lies share a curious kinship—both deviate from objective truth—but their intentions and impacts couldn't be more different. A lie is told to deceive, often to gain or protect something at the expense of another. Fiction, on the other hand, is a willing suspension of disbelief, a shared agreement between creator and reader to enter a world that isn't real in the literal sense, but can feel emotionally truer than fact.

Fiction helps people cope with the cruelties of reality by offering escape, perspective, and meaning. It gives shape to chaos and lets us explore pain from a safe distance. A fantasy world like J.K. Rowling’s Hogwarts provides a haven for young readers navigating isolation or bullying, by showing them a place where the underdog can triumph and friendships are forged in fire.

When real life feels overwhelming or bleak, fiction steps in as a form of emotional rehearsal. In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, readers experience the guilt, redemption, and enduring scars of war-torn Afghanistan—perhaps not to solve their own traumas, but to name them. Naming pain gives it boundaries. It becomes something we can hold, examine, and eventually, maybe, let go of.

Even romance novels, fiction let readers experience tenderness, hope, and the happy endings they might not see in their own lives. It can sometimes lead to having special attachment to specific characters and developing a fictional crush. However, readers sometimes get disappointed when they realised that character doesn't exist in real life.

Where lies isolate and confuse, fiction connects and clarifies. It may not be factual, but it helps us tell the truth about who we are, what we fear, and what we long for. And in that truth, there’s healing.