The first question to ask about fiction is： Why bother to read it? With life as short as it is, with so many pressing demands on our time, with books of information, instruction,
and discussion waiting to be read, why should we spend precious time on works of imagination? The eternal answers to this question are two: enjoyment and understanding.
Since the invention of language, men have taken pleasure in following and participating in the imaginary adventures and imaginary experiences of imaginary people. Whatever--without causing harm--serves to make life less tedious, to make the hours pass more quickly and pleasurably, surely needs nothing else to recommend it. Enjoyment--and ever more enjoyment--is the first aim and justification of reading fiction.
But unless fiction gives us more than pleasure, it hardly justifies itself as a subject of college study. To have a compelling claim on our attention, it must furnish not only enjoyment but deep understanding of life.
The experience of men through the ages is that literature may furnish such understanding and do so effectively. But the bulk of fiction does not do this. Only some does. Initially, therefore, fiction may be classified into two broad categories: literature of escape and literature of interpretation. Escape literature helps us pass time agreeably. Interpretive literature is written to broaden and deepen and sharpen our awareness of life. Escape literature takes us away from the real world: it enables us to forget our troubles temporarily. Interpretive literature takes us, through imagination, deeper into the real world: it enables us to face the hardships of life. The escape writer is like an inventor who devises a contrivance for our diversion. When we push the button, lights flash, bells ring and cardboard figures move jerkily across a painted horizon. The interpretive writer is a discoverer: he takes us out into the midst of life and says, ”Look, here is the world!” The escape writer is full of tricks and surprises: he pulls a rabbit out of a hat, saws a beautiful woman in two, and snatches colored balls out of the air. The interpretive writer takes us behind the scenes, where he shows us the props and mirrors and seeks to make illusions clear.