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Teachers & SchoolsTruth
When the author of the book is actually in the book, does that make it true? Or does the obvious fabrication of magical-type events make a book untrue? And is Everything is Illuminated a creative work of semi-fiction like The Things they Carried or two covers full of lies like A Million Little Pieces?
We're pretty sure it's the former. (At least we'd like to think so. Oprah didn't yell at Jonathan Safran Foer—we know that much.) The Holocaust definitely happened, with horrific events just like the ones Grandfather and Not-Augustine describe. Foer may have embellished his story to be an entertaining and thought-provoking piece of fiction, but does fiction, by definition, mean that something isn't true?
Jonathan, as a writer, has no problem bending the truth to create a story that pleases him. That's why he tries to get Alex to take out characters (like Sammy Davis Junior, Junior) but refuses to take Alex's suggestions to change his story from what feels "true."
Alex believes in telling the truth, which is why he writes out his Grandfather's story word-for-word, despite how horrific it is. However, he bends the truth to protect his little brother after Grandfather's suicide. Perhaps the truth is best left to fiction.