With regard to the need for a light touch it may be relevant to quote George Eliot's dictum 'Never wrap a sermon in a novel' ( or something close to that) although the social aspects in all her novels stand pretty clear. Perhaps what she meant was that the 'issues' had to be intrinsically valid for the lives of her characters, as was the stigma of illegitimacy for the empty headed Hetty Sorrel, driven to the murder of her baby in Adam Bede. So I suppose the 'guide' towards getting the balance right, is the character and her/his situation must take the rein and the hand that guides the story have a very light touch? Or be absent altogether to let the issue emerge naturally.
Or, a possible 3) be caught by prevailing mores into actions that seem to offer no choice at all, but which define the journey of self determination, maybe catastrophic, maybe liberating? That might focus attention on issues of injustice, or narrowness without ever addressing them explicitly?
With regard to the need for a light touch it may be relevant to quote George Eliot's dictum 'Never wrap a sermon in a novel' ( or something close to that) although the social aspects in all her novels stand pretty clear. Perhaps what she meant was that the 'issues' had to be intrinsically valid for the lives of her characters, as was the stigma of illegitimacy for the empty headed Hetty Sorrel, driven to the murder of her baby in Adam Bede. So I suppose the 'guide' towards getting the balance right, is the character and her/his situation must take the rein and the hand that guides the story have a very light touch? Or be absent altogether to let the issue emerge naturally.
Or, a possible 3) be caught by prevailing mores into actions that seem to offer no choice at all, but which define the journey of self determination, maybe catastrophic, maybe liberating? That might focus attention on issues of injustice, or narrowness without ever addressing them explicitly?