C. S. Lewis andThe Personal Opinion Fallacy

Excerpt: "Authors sometimes become targets of critics who mistake the views expressed by their characters, plot, or atmosphere for the views held by the authors themselves. Consequently, as authors begin justifiably to fear that the opinions expressed in their art will be equated with their own real-life opinions, many begin censoring themselves, thus reducing diversity of perspective and diluting vigor of expression. The present essay reflects on this particular form of literary misreading and its contribution to other literary maladies....For reasons that relate to both the nature of imaginative literature and to Lewis as a writer, readers and critics of Lewis are particularly susceptible to what in this essay is called The Personal Opinion Fallacy."