Can Stories be Apolitical? A Reflection on Pillowman

Were they just stories? While Katurian claimed he was innocent of whatever slanderous crimes he was accused of, the reaction of his government proves that an apolitical story would need to be an unread story. I believe this exemplifies that stories and the widely accepted “meaning” behind them have a lot in common with qualities of mass hysteria.

While reading books like Moby Dick, Huckleberry Finn, and To Kill a Mockingbird, every word and every image symbolizes some defined deeper meaning. It is true that these stories have layers and have hidden tokens of wisdom throughout, but I find it curious that almost every class that discusses or learns about these books, learns the same information. Students know that in a given phrase in Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare is speaking directly to the audience because that is what is widely believed and what they are told in their English class. Certain books have reputations, a high schooler cannot open Lord of the Flies without hearing a faceless voice saying “oh, that book is racist.” Similarly to the cliché “don’t judge a book by its cover,” temptation, most educational books have spoiled reputations long before students even get to read it. This reminds me of mass hysteria in that it only takes a couple of people to push a crowd to the brink of insanity, it only takes enough people saying the same thing about a story for it to be cemented into the story’s history. While experienced writers and poets can create a piece that drips with symbolism and tricks, that is not to say that each of their stories reflect that.

Katurian’s stories stem from a tragic and disturbing childhood, the result being tragic and disturbing tales of children’s deaths. His interrogators are convinced that the skittish writer means to conspire against the government, but as Katurian himself narrates some of the tales, his passion for the storytelling reveals that these truly may be no more than an expression of art to him. Some writers, however, may make political messages their sole purpose in the publishing business. It varies based on the author, and it is very possible that an author does not foresee the clamour and mayhem that might leave in their wake. Any reader can find a message in a story, and any listener can find politics in a message. It is up to the audience to determine how they, individually, think the story should affect society. Ultimately, once published, the story and its purpose are out of the writer’s hands.