Danielle Steel's The Ring - A Thin Line Between Fiction and Reality

Danielle Steel's The Ring - A Thin Line Between Fiction and Reality

Fiction can be considered something invented by the imagination. Although many people might feel that fiction is totally exclusive of reality, I believe that there is a very thin line between fiction and reality. This is proved in Danielle Steel's The Ring, where she has used common characters and placed them in realistic situations, facing everyday realistic issues. The Ring gives the reader a sense of realism in a fictitious novel. In fact, Danielle Steel does a really good job, portraying the characters in realistic situations such as Kassandra dealing with her affair, Walmar acting as an overprotective father to Ariana and Gerhard, and Ariana struggling to find her family. All these characters have been intertwined in a real historical setting that has, to some extent, led to their dilemmas.

Kassandra's affair with Dolff is a result of being married to an elderly man, Walmar, in an arranged marriage. While Kassandra's affair cannot be justified, it is dealt with realistically as many women might engage in a similar activity under the given circumstances. These circumstances are best described by Danielle Steel, as follows, "Her assistance wasn't needed, her help, or her love, or her time" (20). There is no doubt that some women in her place would have an affair to feel special, important, and needed. And that is exactly how Dolff has made her feel. Danielle Steel confirms, "And with Dolff, Kassandra had found what she had always so desperately needed, someone who understood the odd meanderings of her soul, the longings, the fragmented pieces, the rebelliousness against the lonely restrictions of her world" (12). While this affair may seem immoral and wrong, it presents a realistic state that many people, both men and women can relate to, as seen in the movie version. Even the brutal murder of Dolff by the Nazis and Kassandra’s suicide are realistic consequences foreshadowed in Walmar’s earlier warning to Kassandra to stop the affair.

Walmar also plays a pivotal part in The Ring, and just like Kassandra, he has been placed in some harsh and realistic circumstances as an overprotective father. Walmar has grown more attached to his children, Ariana and Gerhard, after his wife’s suicide. Just like any father, Walmar wants to protect his children from anything and everything, after losing their mother.