Fiction and Conchis

I think that fiction can belong in one of two categories: useless and useful. The useless category is filled with brain numbing works that don't do you much good except to let you escape from thinking. The second category is of fiction used almost like a weapon, its engrossing and vivid, but sneakily forces you to think about reality. I don't think fiction can be discredited. It can be specifically tailored to connect a far larger audience emotionally to a subject than a nonfiction personal experience generally could. Most of what we "know" of even science is pure theory and hypothesis (based on a few key known facts) just as all fiction is based on some aspect of reality.
Conchis doesn't hate fiction either ("I do not object to the principles of fiction. Simply that in print, in books, they remain mere principles.") he objects to fiction that hasn't been brought alive. He objects to the useless fiction. It's just as Lily says about a repeated bit of Greek "Just the sound. She said "when I first arrived, I couldn't believe it. Thousands and thousands of little black squiggles suddenly alive. Not past, but present"." The specific words of fiction don't matter, the importance of fiction lies in the emotions and thoughts it provokes. Lily had no assigned meaning to the words she spoke, but she nonetheless gained overall in terms of thought.

Also, I found this link to the effect of fiction coming alive on the author (John Cheever). It stoked me into thinking about the effects on Conchis of all the charades that he put on...