Reading is Believing

Monsters. Vampires. Unicorns. These are creatures that show up in many books like the Twilight Saga, the Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter. Of course they aren’t read. Time machines, anti-aging potions and super powers: unreal, and unlikely. This kind of information wrapped neatly into an interesting storyline can capture the minds of many avid readers. Books like these create a nice world for readers to imagine during their free time, but could simultaneously be brainwashing them.

On the way to work, it seems like a good time to pull out that Angel & Demon book. The peace-bringing angel releases her heavenly magic as she single-handedly protects the world from the nasty demon. With a chuckle, the book is stored back away into the bag.  That’s when the thoughts pop out. Can angels be real? Could everything be real? Do good guys always win?

Books that portray the protagonist, as a lucky, average kid will lead people into believing in sugar coated lies. A dorky teen does not gain respect in a couple of days. There isn’t a prince charming to save the day. A stab in the heart will kill. Books make falling in love easy and they make I perfect. Miracles do occur, but they happen too often. This leads people into thinking that life is simple. Simple as in – a perfect partner will fall through the door, drugs will be pushed aside, and murderers will stop killing.

The teenagers of this generation are constantly wrapped up in their own fantasy world for too long, that it becomes a hazard. When partying out with friends, caution may be discarded into the wind. A bottle too much of beer, one cigarette, and a taxi ride home, seem like good ideas. After all, nobody gets hurt in the stories they’ve read. The characters get drunk, and drive home at one o’clock in the morning, and arrive home safely. The real world has kidnappers and thieves. There are health issues and illnesses that are constantly ignored or left out in books. Some stories use unrealistic events in hopes of reinforcing an idea/moral. However, they can subconsciously infer that it’s okay to sneak out to danger zones in the middle of the night and break fundamental rules and stay out of trouble. The kids of this generation take ideas out of books to think procrastination is the answer. However, incomplete projects remain incomplete. Most fiction books give readers warped paradigms of the world.

More books should be focused on real world plots. They could be about suicidal problems, war, or cancer. Books like the Fault in our Stars, Little Women, and autobiographies can offer readers an insight of our real world.

It is no surprise that fantasy books are more interesting than the truth. They like to portray the world as it should be, but poverty, discrimination, pollution, and diseases, are part of nature. These important factors are conveniently left out which can cause the readers’ sight of the world to grow narrow. Of course, people will like for the world to be perfect, so the fantasy stories are pleasing the mind and soul.

Books play a huge role in influencing a person’s thought and beliefs, especially towards children. Having books to guide through problems of the current world may be boring and lifeless, but for the benefit of children, readers should see the truth.