The Accuracy of Historical Fiction

Historical fiction offers a new perspective to important historical events that may be too complex to simply sit down and read about. However, this process of simplification does allow room for a variety of historical inaccuracies to pervade the world of historical fiction. Although authors are entitled to a degree of creative liberty, it is crucial to understand the disparity between fact and fiction in their writing. The events portrayed in many historical novels have impacted multitudes of people, and incorrectly representing them is insulting. Many children’s historical novels are known to be inaccurate to the point of being harmful, which is why it is important to acknowledge these historical inaccuracies and develop a true understanding of the events of the past.

It is important to realize that, unlike other genres, historical fiction is not a structured genre; Fantasy deals with mythical creatures and supernatural phenomena, romance discusses the building of relationships, yet, historical fiction encapsulates the entire, broad genre of “the past”. Although this does allow writers a greater degree of literary freedom, it does make it easy to incorporate historical inaccuracies within their content for the sake of convenience. Another aspect of historical fiction that makes it difficult to master is the setting, as it quite literally defines the novel, and thus must be utilized correctly. There is a difference between utilizing a historical setting to spread awareness for an issue or implement a specific event and simply placing the characters in the past for aesthetic reasons. As a result, maintaining a degree of historical accuracy is, unfortunately, often sacrificed to sell more books. 

The famed novel Number the Stars, which has been read in schools practically everywhere, does not accurately depict the Holocaust. Although the bravery of Annemarie Johansen is incredibly admirable, the novel’s representation of these events could lead the reader to have a skewed perspective of what actually occurred. Number the Stars presents a tragic episode in history, including the killing of millions of Jewish people, but neglects to fully explore the true horror of the Holocaust. It must be noted that this novel predominantly serves as an educational tool for children rather than an academic study of the event. Nonetheless, Number the Stars’ representation of the Holocaust as the moving of Jewish people is an anachronistic and simplistic assessment of true events. Number the Stars touched upon the helpfulness of the Danish, which has some grounding in reality. However, there were many instances during the Holocaust where families were not willing to help Jewish people; Jews were often reported by these families to the Nazis and later transported to concentration camps. On balance, then, the true horror and suffering experienced by victims of the Holocaust are not clearly articulated in Number the Stars. This is dangerous, as if we choose to base our conception of these tragic events devoid of any suffering and anguish, we risk silencing the voices of those affected.

There is no harm in reading historical fiction, so long as readers acknowledge that it is not entirely factual. But, as we see with Number the Stars, our knowledge of historical events should not be entirely derived from a piece of literature. Literature is so incredibly powerful, and when it includes factual evidence, it truly can present something poignant, important, and true to the stories of those affected.

Sources

Adams, A. (2014, December 19). "Number the Stars" Does More Harm Than Good When it Comes to Holocaust Education. Kveller. https://www.kveller.com/number-the-stars-does-more-harm-than-good-when-it-comes-to-holocaust-education/.  

Noelle, J. G. (2016, November 7). The Problem with Historical Fiction (and the Power of Historical Fiction). https://jannagnoelle.com/2016/11/07/the-problem-with-historical-fiction-and-the-power-of-historical-fiction/. 

O'grady, M. (2019, May 7). Why Are We Living in a Golden Age of Historical Fiction? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/07/t-magazine/historical-fiction-books.html.