In most traditional fantasy, the lines are clearly drawn as to what is good and what is evil. There aren’t many shades of grey to muddy the moral waters. It’s clear what decisions and actions the good guy must make. The only barrier such characters usually need to overcome is courage and inner strength. The pitfall that comes with this? The characters can often get caught in Disney fairytale stereotypes. The evil Queen or King’s advisor is bad simply because they do bad things. Proper motivation isn’t always given, because then we start to smear that moral line of grey across the canvas.
In stark contrast, modern warfare seems to have mostly shades of grey. Soldiers die for reasons that have nothing to do with their own choices. And it’s not always clear who the bad guy is. There are good people who make bad choices and bad people who make good choices. The pitfall here is that modern warfare can often hit too close to home. There are few people who have been unaffected on a personal level by real war in our time. Whether it be a brother, a son, a wife, a niece, or just an old school friend, someone we know has been sent to war. Some of them come back with scars that can be seen, some with scars that can not be seen but just as painful, and others come home to their funeral. Most people get lost in a fantasy world to escape the world they live in, not be reminded of it. They want to see someone who is clearly the good guy and they want to see him kick some ass.
There’s a growing audience that wants the best of both worlds. And they can have it. J.R.R. Tolkein was a commander of the Order of the British Empire long before he wrote his epic and well-known battle scenes in Lord of the Rings. He gave his readers a world unlike their own, but added the reality of war and even the reality of the aftermath of war. Many say when Frotto came home to the Shire feeling out of place, it was symbolic for soldiers feeling out of place when returning home themselves. This is where symbolism in scenes dealing with war issues is a priceless tool. The feelings Frotto felt resonated with a generation who has dealt with this on multiple levels. But by using symbolism it wasn’t shoved in their face yanking them out of the fantasy world they have chosen to be a part of. It gave us all the best of both worlds.
Christopher Paolini has said in interviews that he studied flight dynamics while writing about dragons being air borne. George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thorns is symbolically linked to historical research of The War of Roses. I, myself, tried to use the same tactic in my novel; Life Weaver. All of my war scenes were seen through the eyes of an ‘unnamed soldier’. This unnamed soldier was in the lowest rankings and in the dirt and blood of every war scene giving all of his heart. It wasn’t until the ultimate sacrifice was given that his name became important. The battles themselves still held all of the magic and tradition of a fantasy novel. But through symbolism, modern war issues were able to be intertwined.
There’s constantly a delicate line that needs to be drawn. We don’t want the happily ever after because not many of us believe in it. But no one wants to see the main character they have grown to love killed off. Too many heroes die everyday, we don’t want more of that. But we do want depth in our characters whether they be good or bad. We do want to feel real emotion. Symbolism is the gateway in which a character can be in muddy moral waters but still be the kick ass hero.
