Masha du Toit

I recently came across this quote in an interview with fantasy author Garth Nix – speaking about the importance of a moral message in children’s books:

“I subscribe to the belief that if you want to send a message, use Western Union.”

This reminded me of the famous Tolkien quote, from his introduction to The Lord of the Rings:

” I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence.”

And yet when stories deal with the issues we have to face in our lives, we feel the rightness of it. More