Free Contemporary Historical Fiction Ya Essay Example

Fiction refers to a message that is primarily in a recitation form that derives its meaning from creativity and in addition to a fact or history. It is mostly used to refer to significant forms of literature which may include short story, novella, novel and narrative poetry. It may also be shown in different formats and media including recreational play and recorded performance. It involves the art of making an invention so that the loyalty to reality is not just accepted by the audience. That means fiction does not only assure of the present but may be descriptions of the truth or actual people. According to historians history, takes into the account of the past event in a chronological order. Thus, historical fiction refers to portraying of characters in the context of the real historical period. The story plot normally takes place in a scenario that is located in the past.
The periods are documented and systematically arranged to make the audience have the feeling of what might have happened if he or she was to experience the feel. It may also relate to historical fantasy, where characters and historic figures are related to historical periods involving dragons or magic as some of the elements they use to convey messages (Ruby 106). It can also be used to tell more about the historical novel. Its narrative formats include visual arts like television graphic novels, comics, cinema, opera and theater and also performing arts. When the historical fiction is considered in the contemporary world, then it tells us about what happened in the past but related to the present and, therefore, is for the audience to judge the validity of its information. In the past fictions could be created and presented to people for them to believe but in the recent new forms of writing have come into place to argue them out. There is a form called modernist that is interested in self-consciousness relating its arguments to Freudian and existential lines. The other form deals with realists who considers the interest of narrating a story, or class of stories fits in the consideration of economic, social and religious settings. Essential elements of historical fiction are setting which is located in the past and plot in which the narration takes place (Grayson 67).
Looking at the relationship between fiction and history being meddled into individual’s work of literature today traces its roots from a long tradition that most cultures both in western and the early Greek’s had. For the eastern parts of the world folk traditions and morals gave out plays novels and fictional works that describe to the audiences the contemporary issues. The paper will focus majorly on a historical book containing genre that is mostly viewed to be for the children and young adult that was written by Edward Irving Wortis mostly known by her pen name as Avi. She nails from the American States New York City where she was born together with her twin sister Emily in December 1937.
She currently lives in Denver. She took to her writing skills when her teacher identified her skills and nature it to a reality. The writings she did that time mostly articles and after some time she ventured into writing stories about children and young adults. All the stories she writes fall in the YA category of books and are read by juveniles from eight to twenty-five years. The preference of these books to the reader depends on the age bracket of that particular recipient. These books teach the children across to the young adults, matters concerning their lives and how they can solve their daily problems according to where they emerge from. In the year 1984, she wrote a historical fiction that focused more on a young boy who was interested in joining the military to fight the war just like his father. The story is about a revolutionary war that happened in America. It’s a novel that covers the short duration of just two days of third and fourth April of 1778(Ruby 98).
The war is known as the American war of independence of 1775 to 1778. Here colonies in the North America thirteen in number declared themselves independent in 1776. The act annoyed France, which signed alliance that later escalated their rivalry into the world war between Britain and France, Netherlands and Spain. The war took place between the countries involved but by 1783 it came to an end by the signing of the Treaty of Paris which recognized the serenity of United States. The plot summary of where the story takes place is at the revolutionary war. The boy called Jonathan who was only thirteen years old was obsessed with the passion for serving in the military. His father helped him to train in the matters of war. The trainings he received motivated him to an extent that he wanted to join the army and fight in the revolutionary war (Grayson 78).
When his father came back with wound leg, he became fearful that he could not leave his son to undergo through the same thing. His passion to one day carries a gun as a soldier was so intense that one day when he heard tavern bell calling the soldiers to be to their arms, he rushed to join them. He did that without telling his father his whereabouts. He borrowed a gun from tavern keeper and without changing his mind he fell in a militia group led by a dedicated and focused corporal. To the rest nearby the road, he marches with his fellow soldiers to the battle ground. After a short period, they hear approaching enemies. These were Hessians, German mercenaries with known tactics of fierce fighting. Their corporal orders the group into two lines. When the Americans’ opened fire, it happened that Jonathan was in the front line. Just as fast as he could imagine, he fled into the nearby woods after seeing a family friend killed and several others injured. The German Hessians followed him, and he was captured and taken as prisoner.
During his time at the captive in a small log house, he noticed a little boy who lost his parents in the battle. He requested the Germans to let him bury the parents, but he was turned down. Later when they fell asleep, he managed to escape along with the boy (Ruby 45). He had the opportunity to shoot them but just left without harming them. He finds his route to the corporal, and he narrated his story. While with the corporal he was told that the boy’s parents who were Tory spies were killed by patriots. When Jonathan is asked on how the Hessians could be gotten he became reluctant. He was so because he did not want to watch them being killed and yet they did not do anything wrong to him yet they were his enemies. When he was told to get inside the cabin, he opted to wake them up to surrender them. One of them grabs him and used him as a shield. He tried to his level best and broke through making them vulnerable and thus they were shot dead by the waiting minutemen. Unpleased with what happened he destroyed the borrowed gun and so proud of himself to carry into the battle he returned home to his parents safely.

Historical Evaluation

Considering the novel that was written by Avi, the work can be categorized as a work of history. That can be seen in the way the novel reflects on some of the events that took place in the past when the USA went to war that could make them independent. The novel succeeded in conveying the history beyond fictional point since it is not clear about the boy’s knowledge in triggering the gun. It is only marked that he was being given trainings, but it was not specific to the kind of trainings he received. The story has a lot of historical details since the days of the war can be accounted for. Secondly, the said dates of third and fourth of April 1778 were within the duration of the war (Grayson 88). The details sound fairly accurate because even the German Hessians that were being referred to as being lethal also took part in that war during that time. To some extent, the story seems right because the war that is being referred to is the war that led the Americans to their independence.
In giving sense to what life of an individual might have been during that time, it leaves us hanging. Since the boy was at the forefront when they were told to make two lines, we expect him to have been shot dead by the Hessians when they started firing. It is ironical how he managed to move to the nearby woods and the Hessians just come and take him as prisoner without a wound. Also during the time when the Germans slept, and he managed to move out of the logged house with the small boy without being noticed. Also at the logged house we are not told the age of that little boy that Jonathan escaped with. His condition of health is not clear. According to the contemporary world, we expect that the boy being too young could be bothering for maternal care but it is not mentioned on how he survived. It can serve as human interest especially in areas where he was taken as a shield when the shooting was on. During this time, we are also told he was trying to free himself from that man. Again these people are only killed after the boy has been released.
The story is not objective since many people in the contemporary world expect that when there are shootouts between the two opponents, then killing can take place at any time. For this story, the enemies only kill each other after the boy’s release (Grayson 56). There are cases of biases here for example in the case of Jonathan the young boy leading his troop after they were ordered to a line. It is expected that the young boy could be at the back so leave room for the experienced to lead. It does not qualify for the objectivity because as a little boy only thirteen years, we expect him to be going to school but here we find his father giving training on how to fight. Objectivity comes in when we are told that he destroyed the gun and returned home. We expect him to take back the gun to the one who lent it to him. Also when he reaches home safe, we are left I suspense since his father did not ask him for where he had been for those two days considering that was a time of war.
In conclusion, the story seems to be explaining the contemporary issues affecting our young siblings when war breaks out in our societies and the effects they can cause. The effects can be morally or physically, and sometimes affects the general behavior of children in the society. Mostly affecting them during growth, they may become violent or fearfull.

Work cited

Grayson, Robert. Revolutionary War. N.p., 2014. Print.
Ruby, Mary. Contemporary Authors New Revision Series: A Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Current Writers in Fiction, General Nonfiction, Poetry, Journalism, Drama, Motion Pictures, Television, and Other Fields. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Print.