Transformation

By Juliet C. Bond

            I've written two short stories and one poem that were published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.  I know, I know.  This particular series has become the source of mockery for many “serious” writers but in its defense, the books sell like hotcakes.  Stores can’t keep them on their shelves and for every ailment or interest, there is a Chicken Soup for the Soul response.  A few years ago, I walked into my chiropractor’s office and noticed her copy of Chicken Soup for the Chiropractor’s Soul.  My husband was given a Chicken Soup for the Teacher’s Soul, by a devoted student and my son cherishes his copy of Chicken Soup: Teens Talk Middle School. 

            The success in these publications lies in two main techniques.  First, the publisher targets unique topics and groups to create content for and market to.  People like to buy books that are tailored to their life experiences.  Second, and this is the most important, the stories make us feel our hearts swell a little bigger with their good news.

            In a world where the popular newsroom direct is, “If it bleeds it leads,” we all hear bad news in an almost constant loop.  As a result, most of us suffer from a profound lack of good news – of stories that lift the ache from our shoulders and remind us that kindness and human triumph exists. 

            And there is something else.  In a recent interview with the amazing Joy Cowley, she noted that,

           I found that as often as I opened a book I could enter new lives!  Whoever said you could only 
           live once wasn’t a reader!

She made me think about how often I immerse myself in the new life of a character in a book.  My favorite characters are brave where I would be shy, they act when I would be paralyzed, they say just the right thing at the right time to the right villain, their adventures are ones I would be too careful to ever engage in, but they generously offer me the opportunity to travel the world, fall in love and fight injustice without ever leaving the comfort of my couch.

Oh!  To be Katniss from The Hunger Games, with her perfect shot, her fearless commitment to justice and the way she almost rabidly protects her mother and sister!! Not to mention Katniss's juicy challenge of deciding which of her two love interests to choose from – the sensitive, caring one or the sensitive, caring one.

 Pure joy for a generation of gals hooked on “Twilight’s” Bella who cowers in corners while her dangerous boyfriends resist their urge to eat her. 

Which reminds me of a quote by the writer and activist, Muriel Rukeyser.

            The world is made up of stories, not atoms.

            I’d always wondered about my stratified interest in social work and fiction writing.  I think it was the nature of stories in both professions that drew forth my passion.  Ideally, a good story transforms the main character.  That’s true in fiction and in real life crises where people need intervention to aid them towards a new beginning. 

Yep, the power of a great tale is firmly centered on the magical, arduous transformation within a flawed person with limited potential.  And isn’t that what we all are? 

That’s why the Chicken Soup for the Soul stories work so well.  In only a few words, the imperfect reader is introduced to a believable, relatable main character.  Then, we are led through tragedy, despair, lost hope, unexpected solution and finally, a glorious, satisfying, triumph.

It’s so pleasurable it’s like... chicken soup for the soul.