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I’d call myself a self-proclaimed bookworm. I love to read books, and
I’ve watched my fair share of TV shows and movies. In other words,
I’ve ‘met’ a lot of different characters. Now, when I asked multiple
people what they thought reality was, they frowned at the
philosophical question. They thought for a while. They often began
saying something, only to stop and reconsider. However, when I
asked them whether characters in a movie or book were real, the
answer was often an immediate, resounding ‘no’.
There’s a fine line between imagination and reality. Or are they
one and the same? Most agree that the world appears differently to
every individual. You see it through eyes that have experienced, that
have been taught the ways of their upbringing, from different
perspectives. So if the way you see the world is based on what your
mind shows you, then one could claim that reality is simply a figment
of your imagination. On the other hand however, imagination could
be considered a part of reality as well. Thought is real, isn’t it?
Generally, the definition of reality is accepted as all the things that
are tangible, detectable by the five human senses. However, can you
see, touch, taste, hear or smell the number 5? Not exactly, yet last I
checked in maths class, that was a pretty real number. Imagination is
a fickle thing, even when it comes to imagining scenarios or concepts.
So it must be even more capricious when one’s imagination creates a
complete character, must it not?
Many people had an imaginary friend growing up. Whether it be
an imaginary twin to accompany a young mischievous boy when he’s
pulling pranks, or a young girl pretending she has a pet unicorn. It
could even be a matter of giving character to a Barbie doll and
playing tea parties with her. I know I used to pretend I had my own
fairy godmother who would make my wishes come true. The logical
thing to do now I’m older is roll my eyes and say “I know she wasn’t
real”, but she seemed very real to me at the time. I may have been
skipping along, none the wiser, but that’s not to say she didn’t exist
at all. Because she certainly did, in my mind. And what I thought
was real translated to my very real actions – in the ‘real world’.
Speaking of characters that were not living breathing human
beings but still affected the world in a very real way, I come to a
contentious subject – gods. Now, I won’t breach the topic of God
Himself, as the church sees him, but rather the gods that entire
What Do You
Mean, Hermione
Granger’s Not
Real?
Jacqueline Du
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