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Freeflight: Conveying Christian Redemption in Realistic Literature

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Ouachita Baptist University Scholarly Commons @ Ouachita Honors Theses Carl Goodson Honors Program 2014 Freeflight: Conveying Christian Redemption in Realistic Literature Anna English Ouachita Baptist University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/honors_theses Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Fiction Commons Recommended Citation English, Anna, "Freeflight: Conveying Christian Redemption in Realistic Literature" (2014). Honors Theses. 241. https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/honors_theses/241 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Carl Goodson Honors Program at Scholarly Commons @ Ouachita. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons @ Ouachita. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SENIOR THESIS APPROVAL This Honors thesis entitled "Freejlight: Conveying Christian Redemption in Realistic Literature" written by . J! Anna English and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for completion of the Carl Goodson Honors Program meets the criteria for acceptance and has been approved by the undersigned readers. TJ,.,:;f];;.Scott Du~d eader Dar?ef Inouye, third reader Dr. Barbara Pembert6n, Honors Program director April 14, 2014 0 RILEY-HICKINGBOTHAM LI BRARY~ OUACHITA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY Freejlight: Conveying Christian Redemption in Realistic Literature English Table of Contents Preface 2 Introduction 3 The Gospel: Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation 7 Realism And The Christian Fiction Genre 10 Blaggard 's Moon: Effective Storytelling 13 The Guardian: Cliche Christianity 27 Eli and Joshua: The Modem-Day Jesus 33 Discussing Freejlight 38 Analysis of The Theme of Redemption in Fre~flight 42 Conclusion: The Christian Author's Audience 49 Bibliography 51 Freeflight, The Novel: A Draft 52 Freejlight: Conveying Christian Redemption in Realistic Literature English Preface When I began writing Freeflight in 2008, I did not think of it as part of the "Christian fiction" genre. I intended to write a realistic novel1 containing ideas that interested me, such as unconditional friendship, the effects of fame, and the world of modern rock music. I wrote for a secular audience, envisioning my novel in the mainstream fiction section of a bookstore instead of on the one shelf of Christian fiction squeezed in the back corner. But finding the best balance between Christian themes and a non-Christian audience is a complicated matter. In this thesis, I attempt to identify what aspects of a Christian novel are most effective for conveying the Gospel to non-Christian readers while still providing unequivocal Christian ideas through the story. How does a Christian author write a realistic novel with supernatural content? How can fiction evoke questions in its audience about God and faith without turning non-Christian readers away? To answer these questions in this thesis, I divide the Gospel into four stages or themes that Christian authors may address in their novels, discuss the relationship between Christian authors and realism, analyze the teclmique and redemption theme of four novels in the Christian fiction genre, and analyze the same aspects in my own novel. I include a rough draft of my novel as an example of what I have found to be the most effective in communicating the Gospel to a non- Chtistian audience. While my novel is far from perfect, it contains several qualities that I believe are important to have in a Chtistian novel. 1 The intended genre for Freeflight is a realistic, contemporary novel following the pattern of realism that began in the nineteenth century. According to A Handbook to Literature, realists believe that the truth is "associated with discernible consequences and verifiable by experience" and describe "the common, the average, the everyday" (398). Furthermore, a realistic novel "emphasizes truthful representation of the actual" (399). I hoped to accomplish these goals, as well as to include a touch of the supernatural without compromising them, in writing Freeflight. 2 Freeflight: Conveying Christian Redemption in Realistic Literature English Introduction When writing the first draft of Freeflight, I learned that harmonizing my Christian beliefs with a novel was more complicated than I initially thought. I wanted my story to have a clear Christian background but to also be relatable to readers without a Christian background. But I made a rookie mistake by basing one of the main characters off of myself, imbuing the novel with Christian themes from its conception. Amber Knight was, at the beginning, me, which meant she was a young, white, middle-class Christian with no dramatic story about coming to faith in Christ.2 In terms of her faith, she was a one-dimensional character, static and uninteresting, and her purpose was to be the voice of sense and virtue to contrast with the character in need of redemption: the rock star, Matthew Wolfe. Because Amber's only defining characteristic was that she was a Christian, the novel's natural course was bound to have hints of theology and the Christian faith, but I was unsure how to proceed with those ideas. In the original version of Freeflight, I only hint at God through a mysterious "voice" that converses with Amber, such as in the following discourse: "I-I don't know," I said, the previous fear and helplessness returning full force in the wake of the previous emotions. What was I doing here? How did I get here? Where did I belong? Here. There it was, that voice again. It was warm, soothing, like a caring father. And again, it didn't say words; it was more of an intuition, a feeling so specific that my mind interpreted it as a word. Here. 2 Because of this, I also wrote the first draft of Freejlight in the first person point of view, which focused on a relatively unchanging character, Amber, instead of the most dynamic character, Matthew. 3 Freejlight: Conveying Christian Redemption in Realistic Literature English "Then why can't I remember?" I found myself asking in a voice barely beneath a whisper, just in case the voice could hear me, "What am I supposed to do?" Remember. (Freejlight, first draft 5) I describe the voice as "wann, soothing, like a caring father," yet it has no identity. The reader might assume or guess that the voice is God because it understands Amber's thoughts and speaks to her through "intuition, a feeling," but since I never connect it to God in the story, the voice's identity remains an unhelpful mystery. In fact, I never overtly mention Christianity other than a single discussion about God's nature in which Matthew spouts his misconceptions and Amber silently disagrees. The original draft's theme was that unconditional love changes people's lives - not a far cry from the theme of redemption in many Christian novels, except that the love was not attributed directly to God, nor was it even God's love, but Amber's. If I had taken the first draft of Freeflight seriously, I would have realized that my unstated goal was for Matthew to find redemption in Christ. As it were, the resulting statement of the novel was a vague encouragement to love others and meet their needs, an indistinctness to which I would now object in any novel that claims to have a Christian-based message. By the time I began revising Freeflight, I was starting to think about the genre of Christian fiction and its purpose. Indirectly referring to God and the redemption found tlrrough Him was pointless; the reader could interpret it however he or she chose, nullifying or diluting the intended Christian message. I had encountered novels that made the same mistake and thought them to be worse than purely secular novels in some ways. 3 Therefore, my second draft 3 O.ffivor/d by Robin Parrish is one such novel. The main character repeatedly appeals to a vague higher power to help him overcome tense, action-filled situations, but for much of the book there is no mention of God, or even of a definitive statement that someone or something like God exists, just the fanciful possibility. The characters, when protesting against the antagonist's actions, are suddenly all professed supporters of a power looking after them. A character also spouts off some ideas that, in essence, are Christian, but that sound mystical, such as how a veil separates the spiritual realm from reality. Eventually, the characters leam to gain peace from God, which is good, 4 Free.flight: Conveying Christian Redemption in Realistic Literature English of Freejlight had long conversations involving an awkward blend of ambiguity and outright discussion about God: "So you think love is the answer to everything." "Isn't it supposed to be?" [Matthew] said in a slightly weaker voice. When he glanced at me, I was hit with a sense oflonging for something that was perpetually beyond his reach. Unconditional love, the Voice whispered. "Maybe you're looking for the wrong kind oflove," I offered, following the Voice's lead. "I'm not just talking about romance though," I said. I wasn't sure where I was going with this, but I pushed on. "What about something even deeper?" Matthew raked a hand through his hair. "Are you talking about God again?" he asked wearily. I thought about the Voice. "Yeah." I looked at the cross. Somehow its story was known to me. Its story of sacrifice, of a second chance ... and it gave me the courage to speak. (Freejlight, second draft 88) Amber and Matthew are talking about God, yet even after I imply that the Voice is indeed God, I continue to call it "the Voice." I also mention the cross and "its story of sacrifice, of a second chance" but not how it applies to people today. A conversation that is supposed to prompt the reader to seriously consider the role of God in his or her life leaves the reader confused.
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