Writing Help 129 | - ☆ Freelance Writer
Apr 05, 2013 | #1
Terms You Need for Writing about the Novel
Although this term seems to be going through a lull in the popular consciousness, the idea of poetic justice is still a powerful and appealing one that makes for some highly entertaining and satisfying conclusions to both films and novels. The term itself can lead to some confusion, since it has little to do with poetry as we know it today, but in its enactment there is certainly still an element of elegance that could be considered poetic. The idea of poetic justice has become closely associated with strong irony, and the best examples from contemporary literature and film posses this highly ironic quality.
In its original inception, poetic justice was merely a term used to describe the process whereby the good were rewarded in a given fictional work and the evil were punished. The idea was that works of fiction were really only valuable in as far as they conveyed a positive social lesson, and showed morality as the way to success, whereas vice was portrayed as the surest path to ruin, not only spiritually, but on earth as well. In reality, good is not clearly rewarded more than evil, nor is evil necessarily punished more than good; however, in a fictive tale, such inconvenient truths could be circumvented to create a strong, consistent moral system of reward and punishment which aligned with contemporary morality.
However, this only explains part of our idea of poetic justice today, as punishment for the evil and reward for the good is no longer sufficient to define the term. In fact, with the rise of modernist literature in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, tales which reinforced morality and ignored reality became less and less popular, as authors began to favor tales that captured something of the hard-edged injustice which is an indelible aspect of human existence. It was in this period that a strong element of irony was imprinted on poetic justice, to the point where it is now a necessary part of its definition. Today, poetic justice does not necessarily have to punish evil and reward good, though one or the other of these is still common, especially the former. The primary requirement is that a character has an event befall him which is a direct result of or comment on his own actions, personality, or speech.
As we discussed in a previous series, irony occurs when the opposite of what is expected to happen happens, or the opposite of what is said is intended. It is this first kind of irony, known as situational irony, that animates poetic justice. For example, suppose we have a character that produces low-quality bullets for a living. At various times in the novel, he comments that he is making a fortune from these substandard projectiles, and that he has been able to successfully bribe all those who would otherwise report his dangerous and ineffective products to the authorities. In the final scene, an inspector who has refused his bribes finds himself held at gunpoint by the greedy unscrupulous bullet manufacturer. The producer laughs, tells the inspector that his body will never be found, and fires the weapon; it backfires, killing the owner and leaving the inspector unharmed! The man is killed by his own faulty bullets, a fitting way for his empire to crumble, and a just desert for his dangerous irresponsible behavior. Here, poetic justice is fully manifested; the evil are punished, and there is a strong ironic reversal which involves the evildoer dying as the result of his own evil actions, and being brought low by the very thing that vaulted him to prosperity.
Poetic Justice
Although this term seems to be going through a lull in the popular consciousness, the idea of poetic justice is still a powerful and appealing one that makes for some highly entertaining and satisfying conclusions to both films and novels. The term itself can lead to some confusion, since it has little to do with poetry as we know it today, but in its enactment there is certainly still an element of elegance that could be considered poetic. The idea of poetic justice has become closely associated with strong irony, and the best examples from contemporary literature and film posses this highly ironic quality.
In its original inception, poetic justice was merely a term used to describe the process whereby the good were rewarded in a given fictional work and the evil were punished. The idea was that works of fiction were really only valuable in as far as they conveyed a positive social lesson, and showed morality as the way to success, whereas vice was portrayed as the surest path to ruin, not only spiritually, but on earth as well. In reality, good is not clearly rewarded more than evil, nor is evil necessarily punished more than good; however, in a fictive tale, such inconvenient truths could be circumvented to create a strong, consistent moral system of reward and punishment which aligned with contemporary morality.However, this only explains part of our idea of poetic justice today, as punishment for the evil and reward for the good is no longer sufficient to define the term. In fact, with the rise of modernist literature in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, tales which reinforced morality and ignored reality became less and less popular, as authors began to favor tales that captured something of the hard-edged injustice which is an indelible aspect of human existence. It was in this period that a strong element of irony was imprinted on poetic justice, to the point where it is now a necessary part of its definition. Today, poetic justice does not necessarily have to punish evil and reward good, though one or the other of these is still common, especially the former. The primary requirement is that a character has an event befall him which is a direct result of or comment on his own actions, personality, or speech.
As we discussed in a previous series, irony occurs when the opposite of what is expected to happen happens, or the opposite of what is said is intended. It is this first kind of irony, known as situational irony, that animates poetic justice. For example, suppose we have a character that produces low-quality bullets for a living. At various times in the novel, he comments that he is making a fortune from these substandard projectiles, and that he has been able to successfully bribe all those who would otherwise report his dangerous and ineffective products to the authorities. In the final scene, an inspector who has refused his bribes finds himself held at gunpoint by the greedy unscrupulous bullet manufacturer. The producer laughs, tells the inspector that his body will never be found, and fires the weapon; it backfires, killing the owner and leaving the inspector unharmed! The man is killed by his own faulty bullets, a fitting way for his empire to crumble, and a just desert for his dangerous irresponsible behavior. Here, poetic justice is fully manifested; the evil are punished, and there is a strong ironic reversal which involves the evildoer dying as the result of his own evil actions, and being brought low by the very thing that vaulted him to prosperity.