The Bear, the otter, and the fox: The Art of Deflection in Writing
To those who have read James A. Michener’s Poland, the mention of a bear, otter and a fox might make complete sense. To those who have not read this wonderful book, it probably makes little sense. So, some explaining might be necessary.
You see, in politics today, politicians have become experts at a technique called deflection. Rather than focus on the issue at hand, they create an issue that seems much more important and then focus on it instead. Hopefully, this results in people forgetting about the original issue. Quite often, the secondary issue sounds important but has little ability to be resolved, like the infamous “War on Christmas”. Yeah, it sounds big and dangerous, but it’s really a paper tiger. Critics claimed that when President Clinton’s Monica Lewinsky scandal started pointing towards impeachment hearings, suddenly there was a need for NATO to bomb an Eastern European country, and that was all the White House could talk about. So, deflection has been with us for awhile.
But when it comes to writing, it’s different. Some writers attempt deflection in genres like the mystery novel, where you believe that something is happening but eventually you realize it’s something completely different. However, Michener did something in Poland that few other authors have ever achieved, and few actually attempt.
In Poland, a noble family domesticates a bear, an otter and a fox, and these three animals live in harmony together. Meanwhile, huge events are taking place around them that involve political intrigue, military threats and epic squabbles between different families. Yet, the three animals live in peaceful harmony together. From the story’s perspective, any number of connections can be made between these animals and other entities both in the story and outside of it, but what’s most significant is how Michener handled this unlikely, triangular connection. If you read the story, you find yourself hating the continuous, repetitive story of the three animals living in harmony together. I remember getting really disturbed every time he got back to those three characters together, thinking, come on, get on with the story. And then, during a scene where soldiers are attacking the noble family that owns the animals, the family is killed, the animals act like domesticated animals and come to their rescue, and are killed one by one as they try to protect each other from men with guns. It is over in moments, and I remember being left with a nagging in my chest, saying, “You can’t do this! Not to them!”
It was such a brilliant technique that I have looked for it ever since, and even tried to include it in some of my own writing over the years. The author makes you hate a particular character by continuously droning on about that character and then with a sweep of a pen, they’re dead and gone. And it’s almost as if you need grief counseling to get over the shock of losing those characters that you came to hate so much but now realize how much you really needed them.
Stumble It!
You see, in politics today, politicians have become experts at a technique called deflection. Rather than focus on the issue at hand, they create an issue that seems much more important and then focus on it instead. Hopefully, this results in people forgetting about the original issue. Quite often, the secondary issue sounds important but has little ability to be resolved, like the infamous “War on Christmas”. Yeah, it sounds big and dangerous, but it’s really a paper tiger. Critics claimed that when President Clinton’s Monica Lewinsky scandal started pointing towards impeachment hearings, suddenly there was a need for NATO to bomb an Eastern European country, and that was all the White House could talk about. So, deflection has been with us for awhile.
But when it comes to writing, it’s different. Some writers attempt deflection in genres like the mystery novel, where you believe that something is happening but eventually you realize it’s something completely different. However, Michener did something in Poland that few other authors have ever achieved, and few actually attempt.
In Poland, a noble family domesticates a bear, an otter and a fox, and these three animals live in harmony together. Meanwhile, huge events are taking place around them that involve political intrigue, military threats and epic squabbles between different families. Yet, the three animals live in peaceful harmony together. From the story’s perspective, any number of connections can be made between these animals and other entities both in the story and outside of it, but what’s most significant is how Michener handled this unlikely, triangular connection. If you read the story, you find yourself hating the continuous, repetitive story of the three animals living in harmony together. I remember getting really disturbed every time he got back to those three characters together, thinking, come on, get on with the story. And then, during a scene where soldiers are attacking the noble family that owns the animals, the family is killed, the animals act like domesticated animals and come to their rescue, and are killed one by one as they try to protect each other from men with guns. It is over in moments, and I remember being left with a nagging in my chest, saying, “You can’t do this! Not to them!”
It was such a brilliant technique that I have looked for it ever since, and even tried to include it in some of my own writing over the years. The author makes you hate a particular character by continuously droning on about that character and then with a sweep of a pen, they’re dead and gone. And it’s almost as if you need grief counseling to get over the shock of losing those characters that you came to hate so much but now realize how much you really needed them.
Stumble It!
posted by Duane @ 2:48 PM
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