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To me, there is nothing higher than fiction. Nothing. It is fundamentally who I am. I am a teller of stories. For me, that's the only way I can make sense of the world, with all the dance that it involves.
Arundhati Roy
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Fiction is the highest form of expression for the author, representing their identity and perspective on the world.

In this quote, Arundhati Roy emphasizes the profound significance of fiction in her life, viewing it as an essential part of her identity. She expresses that storytelling through fiction allows her to navigate and interpret the complexities of the world, suggesting that creative expression is a vital avenue for understanding and connecting with reality.

Themes

FictionStorytellingIdentityArtUnderstanding

In practice

Example use cases

A writer might open a literary festival with this quote to highlight the importance of storytelling.

More from Arundhati Roy

When she listened to songs that she loved on the radio, something stirred inside her. A liquid ache spread under her skin, and she walked out of the world like a witch.
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Caste is about dividing people up in ways that preclude every form of solidarity, because even in the lowest castes, there are divisions and sub-castes, and everyone's co-opted into the business of this hierarchical, silo-ised society.
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When I decided to write 'The God of Small Things', I had been working in cinema. It was almost a decision to downshift from there. I thought that 300 people would read it. But it created a platform of trust.
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In California, there are huge problems because of dams. I'm against big dams, per se, because I think that they are economically unfeasible. They're ecologically unsustainable. And they're hugely undemocratic.
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To call someone 'anti-American', indeed, to be anti-American, is not just racist, it's a failure of the imagination.
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The trouble is that once you see it, you can't unsee it. And once you've seen it, keeping quiet, saying nothing, becomes as political an act as speaking out. There's no innocence. Either way, you're accountable.
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