"...fear of the darkness..."
I'm reading Gary A Braunbeck's book, To Each Their Darkness, and in it he writes this: "For as long as there is fear of the darkness, there will be hope."
As a reader and writer of dark fantasy and horror, this statement strikes a chord with me. I've mulled it over for the past couple days, and I'd like to know your thoughts on it--as a reader of fiction, perhaps as a writer also, and, perhaps most importantly, as a person.
As a reader and writer of dark fantasy and horror, this statement strikes a chord with me. I've mulled it over for the past couple days, and I'd like to know your thoughts on it--as a reader of fiction, perhaps as a writer also, and, perhaps most importantly, as a person.
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Michael
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Jun 10, 2014 11:43AM
Hope defeats fear. To quote Suzanne Collins from The Hunger Games, “It is the only thing stronger than fear,” “A little hope is effective. A lot of hope is dangerous. “Fear does not work when there is hope.”
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So, Michael, are you saying that where there is hope there is no fear?
I'm looking at it as light and dark... Darkness can't coexist with light, but can surround the periphery. Fear can overwhelm if allowed, but if hope enters fear is driven back. Maybe not completely though.
Ah. I see. I take the quote this way. If a character in my story is still afraid of the dark, then that means he still wants to survive. If he comes to the point where he is no longer afraid of the dark, then he has lost all hope and has given in to the darkness. I've been thinking how this translates into real life, because, in some way, I think it does. I do agree with you in that fear can surround the periphery, but not overcome hope. It almost seems like fear and hope are two sides of the same coin. I know that's how I'm going to look at them when I'm writing my stories from now on.
