The Subtext

"What makes a person write a literary work is not the text, but the subtext."

-Luíz Antonio de Assis Brasil.

I heard that phrase the for the first time this year, when i was taking a creative writing course. And this prhase just got stuck in my mind, because this is so, so true. 

For an example, when every writer creates a character, there WILL be things in common between them. Or maybe even a situation, sometimes disguised as fantasy, etc. And here, i'm talking only about fictional literature. Because i myself am a writer, so i know what i'm talking about. Sometimes a writer goes through a difficult time in their life, so, to express themselves through something they write their situation on the paper, sometimes disguised as a fictional situation/character, and sometimes not.

And what is the subtext i'm trying to talk about? There's always a text (example: a misunderstood character.) The subtext will be what the character feels, and maybe the writer even gives them a meaning behind their name, or personality. Like the Hunger Games, that i hope everyone or almost everyone knows. Suzanne Collins made a BIG subtext behind all that story, and anyone who watches the movie or reads the book will understand exactly the message she wants to share with the world. The book is about games where people starve to death for the Capital's entertainment, while the districs slowly starve just like the people in the game. 

And the meaning behind it? Social critisism against the unfair politics and men in power. It's easy, and completely incredible to understand the meaning behind the so called text, that gave that story the power it has. 

Writers are masters in making simple (or sometimes complicated) words turn into beautiful stories and striking phrases.

Tell me you, if you are a reader, (you don't even need to exactly read books, but anything at all, even posts on tiktok or instagram about life): What is better? You reading a disguised phrase and understanding its meaning without the writer having to explain it all word for word, or the other way around? 

And that's why the subtext behind a story, a book, or even a simple phrase/word is just SO IMPORTANT.

Have you ever heard: "Words have power"? That's exactly what i'm talking about. And, of course, not every word/phrase/book you will read in your life will necessarily "hide something", but absolutely everything will have a subtext behind it.