By the end, you should be inside your character, actually operating from within somebody else, and knowing him pretty well, as that person knows himself or herself. You're sort of a predator, an invader of people.
William TrevorRead
My fiction may, now and again, illuminate aspects of the human condition, but I do not consciously set out to do so: I am a storyteller.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the role of a storyteller in conveying the human experience without a specific agenda.
William Trevor highlights the essence of storytelling, suggesting that while his fiction may shed light on aspects of humanity, his primary goal is simply to tell a compelling story. This reflects the idea that great storytelling can naturally uncover truths about the human condition without the need for overt moralizing or intention.
Themes
StorytellingHuman ConditionFictionArtNarrative
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the importance of storytelling in literature classes.
More from William Trevor
All quotes →The capacity you're thinking of is imagination; without it there can be no understanding, indeed no fiction.
William TrevorRead
I read hungrily and delightedly, and have realized since that you can’t write unless you read.
William TrevorRead
People run away to be alone,' he said. Some people had to be alone.
William TrevorRead
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