Literary Nonfiction- "On Leaving Florida"

 

    The difference between reading fiction and creative non-fiction is subtle, but important. Often we are conscious of the unreality of a fiction narrative, and understand that its reflections on our life and society are an intentional connection. The metaphors are crafted, the symbols are placed, and there is no sense of random happening in a work of creative fiction, if it is done well. Literary nonfiction, though, is intimate and personal. When writing in non-fiction, the events, symbols, and creative aspects may be toned down for the truth of the events. We cannot expect the neat craftsmanship of the creative fiction, because real life does not play out as a fiction would.

    In the literary nonfiction story "On Leaving Florida" the narrator recounts her own experience moving to Florida and experiencing it for the first time before her inevitable departure from it. One thing I notice within this story that may be different from fictionalized stories is that the narrator cannot place her consciousness outside herself. Much like an impressionist painting, the story is contained to fleeting memories with little dialogue besides singular memorable lines from the past. The story also does not exactly follow a plot like a traditional fiction, no rising or falling action- just a slice of life with the reflection alongside it. In this specific story there is barely even a conflict to be spoken of, and the bulk of the narrative follows the writer's internal reflection on nature, memory, and colonialism. Beginning and ending with the writer fishing in the marshes of Florida, the main action primarily serves to set the scene for her perspective rather than any story similar to that of a fictional narrative. 

The lack of major dialogue makes the story read like a sort of journal entry, and I feel like it makes literary nonfiction a more honest genre. We do not remember events in specific words or dialogues, but rather in a chronological series of images, feelings, and relations. This is precisely how the author describes her experience. She puts detail into the sights of the Florida wildlife and natural wonders and the connections she makes to colonialism and memory while she experiences them.