that lend verisimilitude to the
whole. And such matters cannot be invented; they must have been
observed; for a reader knows them whether or not the writer does too.

FOOTNOTES:

[R] For a plainer, because less philosophical discussion of the
fallacies of realism, the artistic philosophy, see p. 199.

[S] "The Ebb-Tide" is interesting in connection with the general
question of plot. Its plot is the struggle within Robert Herrick between
an artificially stimulated resolution and an essential weakness of moral
fibre. The mere mechanical complication that he and his fellows steal a
schooner laden with bottled water thinking her laden with champagne is
no part of the plot, only a circumstance of the action, yet, as plot is
commonly understood, the circumstance would be taken as the heart of the
plot in itself. Also, "The Ebb-Tide" is interesting in connection with
the matter of realism and the fallacies of the cult. The realists might
claim the book, but they would have a merry time to point any essential
difference between it and "The Master of Ballantrae," which they would
reject. And a distinction that can be justified only when applied to
extreme types-say "Pride and Prejudice" and "Frankenstein"--is not very
convincing.

CHAPTER XIV

CONCLUSION

Story and Tale--Realism the Method--Realism the Dogma--
Philosophy of Fiction--Interest--Power of the Real Problems
of Life--Test of Merit--Aim of Executive Artistry--
Verisimilitude--Ultimate Artistic Significance of Plot.

The purpose of this book has been to shed a little light on the
essential technical processes of the art of fiction; to state a general
philosophy of fiction has not been my aim. Accordingly, the text touches
only incidentally upon the fundamental types of fiction and a writer's
fundamental purposes in adopting any one of them as a medium for
expression of himself or his conceptions. Partly to justify some of the
text, and partly because it may prove of practical service, I shall
state briefly a general theory or philosophy of fiction-not my theory,
merely, nor that of anyone else, but simply the theory which is implied
in the content and aim of the art itself.

The content of fiction is man and what he may experience, in body, mind,
and soul; the aim of fiction is to interest. Certain results follow, but
before stating them it will be well to clear the way a little.

I have stated that a story is a fiction with a plot,