--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is, in fact, not much point in…" description: "\"There is, in fact, not much point in writing a novel unless you can show the possibility of moral transformation, or an increase in wisdom, operating i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/anthony-burgess-1167_allegory_there-is-in-fact-not-much-point-in-writi_2565687.jpg" --- # There is, in fact, not much point in writing a novel… ![“There is, in fact, not much point in writing a novel unless you can show the possibility of moral transformation, or an increase in wisdom, operating in your chief character or characters. Even trashy bestsellers show people changing. When a fictional work fails to show change, when it merely…” quote by Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/anthony-burgess-1167_allegory_there-is-in-fact-not-much-point-in-writi_2565687.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/anthony-burgess-1167_allegory_there-is-in-fact-not-much-point-in-writi_2565687.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/anthony-burgess-1167_allegory_there-is-in-fact-not-much-point-in-writi_2565687.jpg) > “There is, in fact, not much point in writing a novel unless you can show the possibility of moral transformation, or an increase in wisdom, operating in your chief character or characters. Even trashy bestsellers show people changing. When a fictional work fails to show change, when it merely indicates that human character is set, stony, unregenerable, then you are out of field of the novel and into that of the fable or the allegory. - from the introduction of the 1986 Norton edition” [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Argues that novels should depict moral growth or increased wisdom; otherwise they become fables. **In simple terms:** Stories need character change to be true novels. Key Takeaway Seek narratives showing transformation. Themes literature morality character development Mood reflective analytical Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - creative writing - book clubs - literary criticism - teaching literature Key Concepts novelistic purpose ethical evolution storytelling Questions to Reflect On - Can a story without change still be meaningful? - What is the role of moral lessons in fiction? A Different Perspective Some readers enjoy static characters for escapism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Allegory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allegory/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Chiefs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chiefs/) [Fables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fables/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Introduction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/introduction/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People changing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-changing/) [Possibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibility/) [Transformation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transformation/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [There is, in fact, not much point in writing a novel unless you can show the possibility of moral transformation, or an increase in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/there-is-in-fact-not-much-point-in-writing-a-novel-unless-you-can/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [“If the characters of a fictional work can be readers or spectators, we, its readers or spectators, can be fictions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/if-the-characters-of-a-fictional-work-can-be-readers-or-spectators-we/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [The fictional work is a kind of actor that wears a satirical garb but can put on other costumes as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/the-fictional-work-is-a-kind-of-actor-that-wears-a-satirical-garb-but/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [No matter what we've done or where we've been, every single one of us can change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-simmons/no-matter-what-we-ve-done-or-where-we-ve-been-every-single-one-of-us/) [Russell Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-simmons/) > [He who rejects change is the architect of decay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-wilson/he-who-rejects-change-is-the-architect-of-decay/) [Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) > [There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/there-is-a-certain-relief-in-change-even-though-it-be-from-bad-to/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [People say to me 'You've changed.' and I say 'Haven't you?' People change, it's just life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-bugg/people-say-to-me-you-ve-changed-and-i-say-haven-t-you-people-change/) [Jake Bugg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-bugg/) > [Throughout history, the really fundamental changes in societies have come about not from the dictates of governments and the results of battles, but through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willis-harman/throughout-history-the-really-fundamental-changes-in-societies-have/) [Willis Harman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willis-harman/) > [I'm not really opposed to people changing their minds. I'm much more concerned with people who never change their minds no matter what new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/i-m-not-really-opposed-to-people-changing-their-minds-i-m-much-more/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [The gospel must be preached afresh and told in new ways to each generation, since every generation has its own unique questions. The gospel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helmut-thielicke/the-gospel-must-be-preached-afresh-and-told-in-new-ways-to-each/) [Helmut Thielicke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helmut-thielicke/) > [You don't have the same mentality as you did five years ago - even one year. People are always changing, and I believe that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bad-bunny/you-don-t-have-the-same-mentality-as-you-did-five-years-ago-even-one/) [Bad Bunny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bad-bunny/) > [There's a difference between people 'changing' and maturing, don't get it confused.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-a-difference-between-people-changing-and-maturing-don-t-get/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [People changing because they think they should is not a good idea, because I just don't think they should, really.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemmy-kilmister/people-changing-because-they-think-they-should-is-not-a-good-idea/) [Lemmy Kilmister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lemmy-kilmister/) > [I swear Relationships these days are a joke because people are always changing them like how we change our shoes,clothes,twitter,facebook.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-myers-jr/i-swear-relationships-these-days-are-a-joke-because-people-are-always/) [Michael Myers Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-myers-jr/) > [The people who are changing our world are starting from an idea and bringing it all the way through to finished product with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-imahara/the-people-who-are-changing-our-world-are-starting-from-an-idea-and/) [Grant Imahara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-imahara/) ## More by Anthony Burgess > [If you expect the worst from a person you can never be disappointed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/if-you-expect-the-worst-from-a-person-you-can-never-be-disappointed/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [Life is a wretched gray Saturday, but it has to be lived through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/life-is-a-wretched-gray-saturday-but-it-has-to-be-lived-through/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [A novelist should not be too intelligent either, although... he may be permitted to be an intellectual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/a-novelist-should-not-be-too-intelligent-either-although-he-may-be/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [“A man who serves language, however imperfectly, should always serve truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/a-man-who-serves-language-however-imperfectly-should-always-serve/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [All human life is here, but the Holy Ghost seems to be somewhere else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/all-human-life-is-here-but-the-holy-ghost-seems-to-be-somewhere-else/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [Rome's just a city like anywhere else. A vastly overrated city, I'd say. It trades on belief just as Stratford trades on Shakespeare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/rome-s-just-a-city-like-anywhere-else-a-vastly-overrated-city-i-d-say/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [The important thing is moral choice. Evil has to exist along with good, in order that moral choice may operate. Life is sustained by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/the-important-thing-is-moral-choice-evil-has-to-exist-along-with-good/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [Civilised my syphilised yarbles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/civilised-my-syphilised-yarbles/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [The downtrodden are the great creators of slang.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/the-downtrodden-are-the-great-creators-of-slang/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [Without class differences, England would cease to be the living theatre it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/without-class-differences-england-would-cease-to-be-the-living/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [The ideal reader of my novels is a lapsed Catholic and failed musician, short-sighted, colour-blind, auditorily biased, who has read the books that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/the-ideal-reader-of-my-novels-is-a-lapsed-catholic-and-failed/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [... A CLOCKWORK ORANGE- and I said: 'That's a fair gloopy title. Who ever heard of a clockwork orange?' Then I read a malenky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/a-clockwork-orange-and-i-said-that-s-a-fair-gloopy-title-who-ever/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [A work of fiction should be, for its author, a journey into the unknown, and the prose should convey the difficulties of the journey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/a-work-of-fiction-should-be-for-its-author-a-journey-into-the-unknown/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [“They don't go into what is the cause of goodness, so why of the other shop? If lewdies are good that's because they like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/they-don-t-go-into-what-is-the-cause-of-goodness-so-why-of-the-other/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [“By definition, a human being is endowed with free will. He can use this to choose between good and evil. If he can only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/by-definition-a-human-being-is-endowed-with-free-will-he-can-use-this/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) [Explore all 261 Anthony Burgess quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) ## More Allegory quotes > [Science fiction is a weird category, because it's the only area of fiction I can think of where the story is not of primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/science-fiction-is-a-weird-category-because-it-s-the-only-area-of/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [I think cinema is closer to allegories than to reality. It's closer to our dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/i-think-cinema-is-closer-to-allegories-than-to-reality-it-s-closer-to/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [Allegories are, in the realm of thought, what ruins are in the realm of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/allegories-are-in-the-realm-of-thought-what-ruins-are-in-the-realm-of/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [A fairytale is not an allegory. There may be allegory in it, but it is not an allegory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/a-fairytale-is-not-an-allegory-there-may-be-allegory-in-it-but-it-is/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [“However, as a guarantee of its renewed youth, the symbolical phoenix never reappeared before the eyes of the world without having consumed solemnly the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliphas-levi/however-as-a-guarantee-of-its-renewed-youth-the-symbolical-phoenix/) [Éliphas Lévi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliphas-levi/) > [The fumes of the most disordered imaginations were recorded in their religious code, as special communications of the Deity; and as it could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-fumes-of-the-most-disordered-imaginations-were-recorded-in-their/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [By a symbol I do not mean an allegory or a sign, but an image that describes in the best possible way the dimly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/by-a-symbol-i-do-not-mean-an-allegory-or-a-sign-but-an-image-that/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [I don't feel I have to struggle against allegory. I let the readers do the interpreting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-don-t-feel-i-have-to-struggle-against-allegory-i-let-the-readers-do/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“Hence all original religions are allegorical, or susceptible of allegory, and, like Janus, have a double face of false and true”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/hence-all-original-religions-are-allegorical-or-susceptible-of/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [It is remarkable how a man cannot summarize his thoughts in even the most general sort of way without betraying himself completely, without putting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/it-is-remarkable-how-a-man-cannot-summarize-his-thoughts-in-even-the/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“The Durhannians' countenance lifted as is the way of Hope. There was a village elder whose eyes flickered with the light of Understanding. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-green-westlake/the-durhannians-countenance-lifted-as-is-the-way-of-hope-there-was-a/) Laurie Green Westlake > [“This philistinism of interpretation is more rife in literature than in any other art. For decades now, literary critics have understood it to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/this-philistinism-of-interpretation-is-more-rife-in-literature-than/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“On this material plane, each living being is like a street lantern lamp with a dirty lampshade. The inside flame burns evenly and is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/on-this-material-plane-each-living-being-is-like-a-street-lantern/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Not taking the Bible (or other texts based on 'revealed truths') literally leaves it up to the reader to cherry-pick elements for belief. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tayler/not-taking-the-bible-or-other-texts-based-on-revealed-truths/) [Jeffrey Tayler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tayler/) > [We each create a story - a narritive, a picture, an allegory, a model - for what's going on in the universe. And then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/we-each-create-a-story-a-narritive-a-picture-an-allegory-a-model-for/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) [Browse all 150 Allegory quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allegory/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is, in fact, not much point in writing a novel unless you can show the possibility of moral transformation, or an increase in wisdom, operating in your chief character or characters. Even trashy bestsellers show people changing. 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