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by Laura Dennis, @LauraDennisCA
Christian Grey is “fifty
shades of f---ed up” according to EL James ... because he’s adopted. Popular fiction
(eh hem, Twilight) uses adoption as a
cop-out to explain vampires living among humans.
If we desire to inspire, surprise,
and even educate our audience, why not learn
more about adoption, and flesh out adopted characters’ inner life?
Why care about adoption in fiction?
Nearly six of every ten Americans have had "personal
experience" with adoption (Adoption
Institute). These potential readers have a close friend or a family member who adopted a child,
was adopted, or placed a child for adoption.
This 6-in-10 figure
doesn’t even include co-workers, friends, and the extended family of adoption.
Guess what? I'm
adopted. So congratulations! By meeting
me, reading this blog (drumroll please)—you, however
peripherally, are connected to adoption.
Understanding adoption = dynamic characterization
Elizabeth Craig recently
posted great advice on how not to
be boring, listing of “ingredients
that can help spice up a story.” Out of eleven items, at least seven relate to
characterization.
Brainstorming an adopted character? Whew, here we have a vibrant, conflicted personality with
a secret past, who changes as the story progresses. Throw in a biological
family reunion for an instant subplot.
Need a complex antagonist?
Try a loving adoptive mom, conflicted about her daughters’ biological reunion. Our
protagonist feels guilty, wondering how to reunite without seeming ungrateful
to the woman who raised her.
Or a birth father who
wants nothing to do with the adoptee. Facing rejection, how will our
protagonist cope?
With these subplots as
fodder, an imaginative fiction writer can up the stakes, adding drama to the
adopted protagonist’s adventures.
Brief history of adopted characters
Does all this adoptee family
conflict sound a lot like women’s fiction, or even memoir? You got me; those ideas
above are true stories.
“Upping
the stakes” in my memoir was fairly straight-forward.
After I reunited with my birth mom, I entered a paranoid delusion that I was a bionic spy
responsible for 9/11. No joke.
Memoir aside, exploring the political, emotional and social issues connected to
adoption can work in any genre. For
historical fiction, look to Roman and medieval aristocrats who used adoption to
solidify political ties and enable smooth transitions of power.
The 19th century Catholic
Church developed institutionalized foster homes and orphanages. Think Oliver Twist, Little Men, and the orphaned Jane Eyre living with her cruel aunt
and cousins.
In the last forty years, we've seen a shift from closed adoptions
like mine—clouded in secrecy and shame, to reality TV teen moms participating
in open adoptions.
Then there’s the ever-fashionable
Jolie-Pitt transracial adopted/non-adopted family. Add in zombie paparazzi, and you’ve got your next
best-selling YA fantasy!
Seriously, though, the
“mystery” and secrecy that surrounds adoption in media could also be re-told in
today’s fiction. Writer and adoption activist Amanda
Woolston points out that this
portrayal “has contributed to the cultural atmosphere that says mystery is ‘normal’
in adoption. It's not normal, nor should
it be.”
Food for thought? I hope
so. In Part II on Tuesday, November 6, I’ll discuss solutions for using adoption as a literary device in fiction.
* *
* * *
I’m so happy to be guest
posting, as November is National Adoption Awareness Month. If you have a question
about adoption, please comment below.
To learn more about my adoption
reunion and brief bout with insanity, read Adopted
Reality, A Memoir, available in paperback and ebook on Amazon. Or check
out my blog, The Anxious Expat Mommy.
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