Brigit
Bauma
Eng
3029
12/19/12
Professor
Chandler
Crying
Through Connection, Immersion and Perspective
Introduction
Looking
at my collection of books on my heavily filled bookcase I skim the
titles of books that I own. Everything from "The Iliad"
to "The Hunger Games" line the shelves. As I read over each
title I feel different emotions sweep over my mind. I come
to a small thin book from my childhood. It is shorter than most of my
books and the thinnest of all my collection. Just the sight of the
distressed ends and the yellowing pages brings back memories of
sadness. I feel my heart quicken and my stomach drop as I read the
title. Memories of tears of both shock and knowing come back to me at
"The Bridge to Terabithia." Just the mere sight
almost brings tears to my eyes. But why?
What
makes us cry? A question that is subjective to each individual. Some
cry out of happiness, some cry out of sadness, some cry out
of frustration, and some cry for attention; there are so many
reasons that people cry. With these thoughts in mind, I wanted to
discover what it is about books that make people cry? What is it
about this book that made me so utterly and completely sad causing
tears to run down my face? There are a lot of questions that can be
asked and a lot of answers to be discovered by this.
First
I will talk about crying. I will start off talking about why people
cry. I feel it is important to understand why humans have this
ability to cry and its purpose. Then I will go into what are the
reasons that people cry. This relates to emotions, upbringing,
religious/cultural values and personal beliefs. Crying is something
that is unique to each and every individual. Some cry easily, some
don't. Some cry freely, some don't. It is important to understand
that what one person my cry at another person may not. However, I am
hoping to find a connection as to why people cry when reading books.
That brings me to my next part which will be about books and what
might be the reason behind that person crying with that book. I am
hoping that some sort of connection either to themselves or an event
that they personally experienced will be the reason why they cried at
that particular moment in the book.
I
feel that this research is important and one that has to be done.
This topic is a hard topic because crying is an emotion that is
personal and, more often then not, brought on by an emotion that
makes the individual feel uncomfortable. To be put in that place is
very hard and hard for people to talk about that experience. However,
to get a better understanding of others, humans in general, and most
importantly yourself, crying is a subject that must be studied. It
will help with understanding and sympathy towards others. It will
also be helpful for authors who wish to write a book that will evoke
crying. The best works of writing evoke emotions, many times with the
release of crying.
Literature
Review
Before I go into my
discussion of supporting literature I would like to give a little
background on crying and why we, as humans, cry.
According to most research, crying is a physical response due to a
strong emotion. ''Crying
is a natural emotional response to certain feelings, usually sadness
and hurt. But then people [also] cry under other circumstances and
occasions," says Stephen Sideroff, PhD (WebMd). ''People cry in
response to something of beauty. There, I use the word 'melting.'
They are letting go of their guard, their defenses, tapping into a
place deep inside themselves." It is a release of that strong
emotion. Laura Bylsma, PhD, goes further by saying that crying can be
seen as a release of chemicals, that relieves stress or toxin from
the body, or as a social mechanism, which can win the support of
others (WebMd).
I did not find any
studies on crying, specifically while reading literature. Many
literature studies were on emotions of the characters rather than the
emotional reaction of the reader. However, I was able to find two
articles through EBSCOHOST that talked about the reader's emotions. I
am able to apply these articles to my research because they speak of
the findings that I focused on when analyzing my data.
The first article
was “A Theory of Narrative Empathy” by Suzanne Keen. Keen's
article focuses on the link between novel reading and empathy.
Empathy is defined as “a vicarious, spontaneous sharing of affect,”
or feelings, which “can be provoked by witnessing another's
emotional state, by hearing about others condition or even by
reading” (Keen 208). Her specific use of “by reading” shows
that there is a connection between literacy and emotions.
This can be found
specifically with characters. Readers are able to identify with a
character and therefore feel the same emotions, or empathize with the
character.
Character
identification often invites empathy, even when the fictional
character and reader differ from one another in all sorts of
practical and obvious ways, but empathy for fictional characters
appears to require only minimal elements of identity, situation, and
feeling, not necessarily complex or realistic characterization.
Whether a reader’s empathy or her identification with a
character comes first is an open question: spontaneous empathy
for a fictional character’s feelings sometimes opens the way for
character identification. (Keen 214)
Like previously
stated the character doesn't have to necessarily went through the
same situation that the character did. All they really need is a
prior or current experience that they can connect to the situation in
the story to feel empathy (Keen 215).
Character
identification can be brought upon in many ways.
Specific aspects
of characterization, such as naming, description, indirect
implication of traits, reliance on types, relative flatness or
roundness, depicted actions, roles in plot trajectories, quality
of attributed speech, and mode of representation of consciousness
may be assumed to contribute to the potential for character
identification and thus for
empathy. (Keen
216)
Either way the
reader must make some sort of emotional connection with the
character. This will evoke empathy, or emotions that the reader can
identify with. Empathizing, or connecting, with a character or
narrative helps the reader get drawn into the story (Keen 220) and
understand the feelings of the character. With better understanding
of others point of view, empathy “encourages prosocial action and
good world citizenship.”
This article
supports my theory that for a reader to cry they need to feel some
sort of connection with a character. Crying, like said before, is
often brought on by some type of emotion. Empathy is an emotion felt
by connecting to a character, situation or emotion. Empathy can
causing crying. Also, a reader is able to empathize because of a
connection with the character or situation. Without this connection
the reader is not able to empathize. Therefore, it supports my theory
that the reader needs to feel a connection and an emotion to cry.
The second article
is “Emotions and the Structuring of Narrative Responses” by David
S. Miall. He believes “emotion plays a key role in invoking the
reader's memory, or relating empathically to a character” in
literary texts (Miall 323).
Readers are
interested, often intensely, in the significance of a literary text,
this is because it engages them in reflecting on their own
experience, or their sense of culture, or history. When such
readers, moreover, empathize with the predicament of a
protagonist, the everyday emotions and where they may lead hold
the attention, enabling readers to immerse themselves in the text.
(Miall 324)
Through his research
Miall was able to find that emotions and connections to the past are
usually the most referred to when talking about a story. There is a
small percentage on plot, stylistic aspects and historical context.
However 45 percent was comments on the student's feelings while
reading and 12 percent was the feelings of the characters (Maill
325). This shows that readers make connections from their past that
allow them to feel the same feelings as the protagonist. This also
allows the reader to become immersed in the story. This supports my
theory in the need for connection and that connections also help the
reader stay engaged in the story. There is a very strong possibility
that for a reader to cry they not only need to feel connection, but
be absorbed in the story.
The article also
talks about the speed in which emotions are felt in the brain. It was
found that emotions are the quickest reaction to texts. This lasts
for at least 500 milliseconds, all of which are broken up into
different aspects of feeling emotion. After that the cognitive
reaction, or logical thinking, is next to follow (Maill 327-328).
This could explain why a reader cries when reading. They respond to
the emotion first, so they aren't able to think logically that their
reaction is to a fictional character. In that same study when the
subjects were brought back in later and asked about the text they
readers remembered the emotional text first. They didn't remember
much else (Maill 328). This shows that emotion is the most memorable
aspect of texts, which could explain why books that make people cry
are books that are remembered so often and had the most impact on
readers.
Maill, like Keen,
finds that readers who connect to the text are able to empathize more
easily with a character. He too believes that this helps with social
environments. “Emotions actively promote the creation of an
environment in which they can flourish or generate appropriate
self-enhancing conditions” (Maill 334). Sometimes this connecting
and empathizing are unconscious. We don't know it is happening or why
it is happening.
Just so the
literary texts we read evoke emotion in us, enabling us to match
fictional or poetic situations to episodes in our previous lives,
although this most likely occurs
unconsciously—we
often do not know why we weep during reading, or feel pleasure at a
particular moment. (Maill 339)
However Maill goes
on to explain that this unconsciousness is us remembering a prior
experience and getting a better understanding of the character. Again
connecting us to the character and, often times, enabling us to
understand different perspectives.
All
of this connects to my hypothesis while also creating new ones. My
hypothesis was that for the reader try cry they needed to feel a
connection to the character. This connection is usually emotional
because crying is brought upon by emotions. With more insight into
reading and emotions there are other factors that can be involved.
Miall brings up that being immersed in the story could also be a
factor in readers getting emotional to stories. There is also the
social factor of emotions brought up in both articles. This could be
an important factor in, not why we cry, but the importance of crying.
All of this will be expanded on in the Data and Analysis section.
Method
I chose to do an interview because it made the experience more personal and I was able to get more information and elaborations on certain questions. I also chose two subjects of opposite gender because I wanted to see both a male and female's perspective of crying and why they cry when reading. My first subject, the male (G), I did an interview with at a mall because he was very busy and had plans with a friend for that day. His friend was going to wait in a long line so while he did that we decided to go to a remote hallway to discuss his thoughts. I thought this could change the interview in regards to his comfort level, since people walked past to get to their cars and towards the end of the interview Christmas music came on, but he was not affected by this. He was very open and engaged in conversation. He was very detailed and his interview ended up being 1 hour and 26 minutes long. The female subject's (S) interview was in a quiet and closed classroom. We were interrupted, but only at the very last minute so it was fine. Her interview was very detailed as well, but not as much. Her interview was 55 minutes long. I recorded each interview and took small notes on emotions I saw the subject go through as I asked each question.
Method
I chose to do an interview because it made the experience more personal and I was able to get more information and elaborations on certain questions. I also chose two subjects of opposite gender because I wanted to see both a male and female's perspective of crying and why they cry when reading. My first subject, the male (G), I did an interview with at a mall because he was very busy and had plans with a friend for that day. His friend was going to wait in a long line so while he did that we decided to go to a remote hallway to discuss his thoughts. I thought this could change the interview in regards to his comfort level, since people walked past to get to their cars and towards the end of the interview Christmas music came on, but he was not affected by this. He was very open and engaged in conversation. He was very detailed and his interview ended up being 1 hour and 26 minutes long. The female subject's (S) interview was in a quiet and closed classroom. We were interrupted, but only at the very last minute so it was fine. Her interview was very detailed as well, but not as much. Her interview was 55 minutes long. I recorded each interview and took small notes on emotions I saw the subject go through as I asked each question.
Data and Analysis
I have decided to
focus on three reoccurring themes that kept popping up in the
interviews that I believe have a connection with the subject's reason
for crying when reading these books. The three themes are connection,
immersion and perspective.
Firstly I want to
say that for the reader to cry there had to be an emotional event in
the book. Just because the reader feels connected and immersed in the
story as well as received a different perspective doesn't mean that
the reader will cry. A character, usually the one that the reader has
a connection with, has to go through some sort of strong emotional
happening. As stated previously we cry when we experience an
emotional event, in this case imagined, or need a release of emotion.
Otherwise we will not cry.
Connection
There are different
ways in which the subjects felt a connection with the characters.
Some connections were conscious and some were not. The person's past
as well as their current state of mind made connections as well. Many
times there were connections based on believability. However the
connection, most were based on emotion.
G experienced
conscious connections when he stated that he felt he related to those
characters. G said he experienced a connection to Harry Potter being
an orphan because he too felt the isolation that Harry felt. He feels
this emotion was most likely felt because he was picked on when he
was young for being different from the other kids and not being
understood. He also knew that he felt an attachment to strong female
characters, which he believes is because of his mistreatment by his
father and being brought up by strong women in his life.
He also had some
unconscious connections. An example would be he has trouble with
loss. He says he doesn't deal with death and break ups well. These
are both forms of loss. His unconscious feelings with loss show in
his inability to finish his favorite book series as well as in this
part of his interview where he cried:
B:
Can you describe some books that you have read that make you cry?
G:
I can. Uh 1984, made me cry a lot. Um black beauty made me cry a lot,
still does. The Giver made me cry. Um the velveteen rabbit still
breaks my heart every time I read it. That story is, (laughing in
disbelief) why would you tell that to kids? It’s so
B:
I don’t know if if I’ve read that
G:
It’s the saddest thing in the world. The kid gets a communicable
disease and, totally mispronounced communicable, (laughs together) I
forget the name of the disease and he is like bedridden and he gets
this rabbit and he loves this rabbit so much and he gets better and
they have to burn the rabbit
B:
Oh cause it has the disease
G:
Because it has the disease and it’s such. It’s so fucking
depressing
B:
awe
G:
every time I’m like what? But he loves it and it’s gone. I’m
gonna fucking tear up *CRIES A LITTLE BIT* 33:48
B:
awww. You’re crying
G:
Shut up
B:
It’s okay
G:
(long pause as he cries, I feel sad) It’s like why don’t they rub
him with hand sanitizer or something that kills 99.9% of germs.
B:
I don't think they had it back then.
G:
Shut up I know (Still upset) It's still sad.
B:
OK! I'm sorry! Aw
G:
It's just ah
B:
Is it just like, what do you think that it made you cry?
G:
Well I'm crying during your interview so
B:
haha yea
G:
you got gold
B:
(laughs)
G:
uh what made me cry. It's just I don't know, I've always felt the
need to protect the people and things I care about and it probably
has something to do with never having- like we can get into they
psychology of it easily. It's not a hard diagnosis. But it's the way
I've always felt. Like I always needed to be strong enough to protect
those I love and like the things I care about. And to see someone
just fragrantly just disregard just without I I I could never do that
like if I really loved something I could never just set it ablaze I
just (pause) it's heart breaking to me I don't know
This
crying is possibly the recall of those feelings of loss and inability
to do anything about it that he experienced in real life. He is able
to release that emotion through reading and remembering this book. G
also feels connections to characters that are like him and share the
same traits and experiences. G said, “I'll still identify traits
that I share with characters and I'll be able to connect with that.
Or how I'd react in that situation.” However, he also will connect
to characters who he normally wouldn't, but because of his state of
mind at the time of reading he will connect with them.
G:
um like I said there are aspects of my personality and it, depends on
my mind set when I'm reading it like sometimes I really connect with
Perrin who is a larger kid who is picked on for being slow but is
actually incredibly tactical and intelligent but just always thinks
things through way more than like maybe should.
B:
mmhmm
G:
um and it's just the feeling of- that misunderstanding and inaction.
I know that's poorly said.
B:
No I understand, I see what you're saying
G;
Sometimes I I I'm I'm quiet and contemplative and if I'm reading the
book from that perspective then I really identify with the fact that
I uh I've had my silences interpreted wrong before and uh especially
when I was younger um and so if I'm in that mindset that is who I
relate to uh. Matt is more who I am. He is an outspoken uh wild
drinker gambler
S
also has these connections. In regards to people crying S said she
feels she can relate when, “When something hits home for you or you
can feel like the sadness that another person would feel in that type
of situation. Or you know, you can relate.”
She,
too, had conscious connections where she was able to identify why she
felt a certain way. Because of this conscious connection S also felt
that made the characters more believable. When she was that age she
felt the same way.
B:
OK. Um did you feel like you connected with the narrator?
S:
Yea. Even though he was like a boy and in high school. It's kind of
like the same situations that you go through in high school. And it's
from his perspective but it was kind of like really realistic and
really dead on I think on how young people think and you know. It
takes place I think back in the 80s or 90s so it's kind of like an
older time, but you can still, like parties and liking a girl that
doesn't like you. It's like things that you see in like real life.
Reality. Haha
B:
Um So what character do you connect to the most?
S:
Hmm I would say actually him. Because he was kinda a little bit, he
was in insider, but an outsider at the same time. I don’t know if
that makes sense. He was like in with the seniors, like an important
crowd, there weren't like losers or like looked down upon, but he
kind of just made his way in there but he still just kind of was not
like them.
B:
mmhmm
S:
But was like them. He was kinda, I don’t know
B:
I understand.
S:
He had his own personal views but he was fitting fine into that group
of friends which is how I was in high school. I had my group of
friends which had all different, you know way of thinking than me,
but I was in that group. But I also had my own personal views. I
guess that's why I can relate to him.
S
had many unconscious connections as well. She said for her the
saddest things in books are deaths, especially when they are
unexpected. She didn't really make the connection that the reason why
she might think this way is because of her grandmother. Her
grandmother passed away unexpectedly and it really made her upset. So
when someone dies that is unexpected, or even just something
unexpected, S feels sad, most likely remembering the emotion of that
experience.
Connections
make it so that readers can cry. That emotional connection to how
that character feels or what that character experiences is individual
to each person. But if that person is able to make a connection then
they can cry. G best sums up how connections are built and felt.
“We've experienced the same struggle from a different perspective
but we share that struggle. And that idea of a shared experience
creates bonds.”
Immersion
This
is the feeling of “being stuck in the realm of the book.” You are
in the world of that book, which has created. I defined immersion as
such. Part of being immersed in the story is one has to feel that
they can relate or connect.
B:
Yea it's true. So you were really brought into it you say you felt a
part of it, can you describe that kind of?
S:
I felt like I was kind of watching a movie in my head. I don't know,
I do that a lot kind of when I'm reading. The more I feel like I can
relate to something the more I feel like I'm a part of it. Sometimes
I feel like it's a lot harder when its something you're not- when
it's not around your age range or your not familiar with that time
period but like I mean if they describe it well enough you can be
there but for me um if I can relate to it a lot more and I can
picture what the school looked like and kind of like that, you can
just kind of you know act it out in your head a lot better.
Another way to be immersed in the book, I found, is believability. It
is one of the main factors in what makes one immersed in the book. Of
course there has to be connections, but overall the story has to be
believable. G
said at one point that that despite the magic and inhuman presence in
a book, “if you can ground a character in real interactions in the
way that people really, you know, react to certain stimuli. Then your
story can be about anything and it'll still be relatable and still be
believable.” Again, coming back to finding a connection with the
situation or character, but also finding that interaction or
situation believable helps immerse the reader in the story. It makes
the characters and situations feel real. G: “None of the characters
are the way that they started out. They all grow into believable
adults. But their growth makes sense from what they experienced
individually and that makes the characters real. They're old friends
of mine. They're there.”
Perspective
Another
factor that I found the subjects felt were important was getting a
different perspective from the reading. Everyone knows how they might
feel about a situation or event, but many times people don't know how
another person may have felt. Someone who grew up in a different time
period or a different social space may not feel the same way that you
do. Both readers found this to be an important factor to them. S said
that perspective is the reason that she first started liking reading,
through the book “The Secret Life of Bees.” “It opened my eyes
to all different kinds of writing and reading and understanding and
meaning behind certain themes... that is when I really started liking
writing.”
For
both subjects one of the biggest impacts they got from the books they
cried from were getting different perspectives. G said, “You always
have to consider everyone else's motivations when you're saying
things and that's the most lasting impression that it's left on me...
you can never be truly sure that what you're experiencing is what
someone else is experiencing.” S feels the same way.
B:
Um so what type of books do you feel a connection to?
S:
Um
B:
like maybe genre or situations
S:
Um well I like young adult and I like fiction and I also like non
fiction too, like memoirs and stuff. I like seeing things from other
people's perspectives because I think that you live in your own mind.
You know your entire life so seeing how people go through certain
situations in their way of dealing with things and their ideas on
life, I don't know, things like that just stick to me
B:
Yea. No I think so too. I like hearing other people's perspectives on
things. Because sometimes, your perspective, no necessarily that it's
wrong, but sometimes a person that is like from another-
S:
idea
B:
has a different way of looking at it
S:
Yea and I wouldn't have known that. I think it makes me more well
rounded and you know understanding. And more of like a person I guess
(both laugh) I don't know. I just feel like I can relate to a lot of
different people now that I read other people's works and like how
they feel about things
B:
Yea and you can like understand where they are coming from more.
S:
mmhmm. Yea.
B:Um
cause some people can’t.
S:
no not at all
B:
Um are there any books that you feel like changed your life?
S: Um even though it was a really long time ago and I can’t really remember what it’s about I really like Are you there God it’s me Margret? I read it when I was younger, I think really impacted me. But I remember learning so much because I was a little girl going through so much you know puberity aand all that kind of stuff and I feel like that is such a stressful time for a girl and I felt like that book just made me more like realieved and embracing like feeling like a girl you know and like oh wow other people go through this. And got more in tune with becoming this person
S: Um even though it was a really long time ago and I can’t really remember what it’s about I really like Are you there God it’s me Margret? I read it when I was younger, I think really impacted me. But I remember learning so much because I was a little girl going through so much you know puberity aand all that kind of stuff and I feel like that is such a stressful time for a girl and I felt like that book just made me more like realieved and embracing like feeling like a girl you know and like oh wow other people go through this. And got more in tune with becoming this person
I feel that it is
important to note that these three components all mix together.
Looking back through the data, there is evidence of this mixing. For
the subject to connect with the character they had to be immersed in
the story. The character also may not feel the way the reader feels
or react in the same way that the reader may react, having a
different perspective. But because they are immersed in the story and
may believe the characters feelings then they too can feel and
connect to that character and get a better understanding. G says “I
feel like if I was not immersed in the story I would not have been
able to connect... I wouldn't have been able to have an impaction,
meaningful experience with the book if I wasn't immersed in it.”
One last component
that I feel it is important to note that sometimes you don't exactly
remember what happened in the book. You aren't going to remember the
exactly language or situation that made you cry. However, you do
remember the feeling you got from that book. You can remember the
feelings you felt and the reactions you had. S states this and
reminds both herself and I of this remembering of feeling over
situation.
B:
No I remember reading that, like you said I don’t remember it that
much. But I remember it helped me be like you know? This is okay.
S:
Yea exactly and I think it like makes you feel better. And the fact
that I can remember it and like the name of it and the feeling of
what it was is a sign that it kind of impacted me.
B:
Yea I think that, I never thought of it that way. Sometimes you, like
you don’t remember exactly what the book was but you remember the
feeling of it
Conclusion
My data,
as well as my literary sources, supports my belief that for a person
to cry when reading they are going to have be immersed in the story
and make a connection with a(the) character(s) who experiences some
sort of strong emotion. All of my data shows that connection, both
conscious and unconscious, helps the reader relate to the character.
This connection is usually brought upon by an event from the person's
past. The event had an impact on the person that allows the person to
have a particular emotion that will cause them to cry. The emotion
does not necessarily have to be sad, though it normally is, but it
does have to be a strong emotion.
The
reader must also feel immersed in the story. Immersion in the story
is usually brought on by a connection with the character. However,
that is not the only factor. To be immersed the reader must also
believe the story. That doesn't mean that the book has to take place
in a believable or current setting, but as long as the events that
take place are recognizable and the reader is able to feel a
connection to that then the reader is able to become immersed.
Another
important result, that is brought about by crying, for readers is
this they are able to get a different perspective out of it. Though
this may not have anything to do with why a reader cries, both of the
subjects made not just a few, but many comments on gaining different
perspectives through books that made them cry. I felt it is something
that must be noted. My literary research supports this in saying that
emotions are an important part of society and help people to
understand one another. This could be the reason why both of the
subjects brought up perspective so much. This also supports my idea
that understanding why we cry is important. It helps us to not only
understand ourselves, but others.
Limitations
Of
course, as in every data set and findings, there are limitations.
With my research I only interviewed two subjects. To get a more
accurate answer I would need interview more people. I also had
subjects who were encouraged to express their emotions by their
family. Reasons for crying while reading could change with a person
who was not encouraged to speak about how they felt.
Also,
those who I interviewed grew up in American society. A different
culture might cry during a different time in a novel for a different
reason. Crying and emotions are brought upon for very different
reasons in different societies. They also can create different
reactions. If I wanted to be more accurate I would say that my
research is based upon American society and culture. I did not do
this for this study however, because I only have two subjects so to
say this would be greatly incorrect. If I had more subjects all
living in American society, then I could make this inference.
Works Cited
Feature,
Kathleen DohenyWebMD. "Why We Cry: The Truth About Tearing
Up."WebMD.
WebMD, n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.
Keen,
Suzanne. "A Theory Of Narrative Empathy." Narrative
14.3
(2006): 207-236. Literary
Reference Center.
Web. 19 Dec. 2012.
Miall,
David S. "Emotions And The Structuring Of Narrative Responses."
Poetics Today 32.2
(2011): 323-348. Literary
Reference Center.
Web. 19 Dec. 2012.
