Stranger than Fiction Essay Questions

Why does Hilbert suggest that Harold determine if he is in a comedy or tragedy?

After meeting with Prof. Hilbert, Harold undertakes the task of determining whether his life is a comedy or a tragedy. The point is to determine whether Harold will die or meet a happy fate. According to Hilbert, one's life can either be a tragedy, which ends in death, or a comedy, which ends in marriage. Hearing this twofold definition of genre, Harold becomes determined to make sure he is in a comedy as a way of fending off the "imminent death" that he heard Karen Eiffel mention while he was at the bus stop.

Why does Harold want Karen to write the ending of her story in which he dies?

The whole point of Harold finding Karen Eiffel is to convince her not to kill him in her book, as everything she writes becomes true in his real life. Harold lets Prof. Hilbert read the outline for the ending to Karen's book, and Hilbert says it's incredible and that Harold has to come to terms with the fact that he must die as this story is too important not to publish. Harold decides to read the novel himself, and after doing so tells Karen to write the ending the way it is. As he puts it, the end is beautiful and simple, and Karen owes it to her readers. Harold consents to becoming a tragic hero, choosing death and sacrifice over a happy ending.

How are Ana and Harold different?

When we first encounter these two characters, they could not be more different. While Ana is free-spirited, radical, irreverent, and idealistic, Harold is pragmatic to an overwhelming extent, a government pawn whose greatest pleasure is seeing taxes paid and tax fraud punished. Ana is whimsical and generous, while Harold can barely make smalltalk, preferring the antisocial white-collar stability of his job. As Harold learns to take life less seriously and live the kind of life he actually wants to be living, he and Ana start to get along better, and they begin to understand each other.

Why does Karen save Harold?

Karen tells Jules that she saved Harold because she couldn't kill such a heroic man as Harold Crick. As she explains it to the literature professor, "I just realized I couldn’t do it…because it’s a book about a man who doesn’t know he’s about to die and then dies, but if the man does know he’s going to die and dies anyway, dies willingly, knowing he could stop it, then…isn’t that the type of man you want to keep alive?” Because Harold told her that he was willing to die on behalf of her novel, Karen realizes how brave and heroic he truly is, and decides that it isn't worth killing a man with such a noble heart.

What does Karen Eiffel learn from Harold Crick?

While it seems like Harold is the only person who learns anything from the process of being a character in Karen Eiffel's novel, Karen ends up learning a great deal from Harold as well. At the start of the film, Karen is a depressive and reclusive writer who is hell-bent on giving her characters tragic endings. By the end of the film, Karen has been confronted with the human consequences of focusing on the morbid side of things, has had to look one of her characters in the eye and contend with the fact that her fictional creations have feelings too. Her run-in with Harold motivates Karen to start focusing on the positive and the life-affirming in her writing, to begin caring about other people and not living such an antisocial life.