The moral of the story, an Open Book blog hop post

Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.

Does every book have to have a moral? 

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The short answer: no. 
Really, "every" and "have to" aren't words I like to see paired with works of art. Art is about self-expression, and sometimes the creator might have a point to make or an axe to grind, but sometimes they might just have a cool idea they want to explore. 
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If we want to expand the idea of "moral" from life lesson to something more like having a point or a purpose, I can see that more easily, but I can still think of works I've read that I can't identify any grand purpose for. 
"To entertain" probably isn't a moral. But it's the purpose of many books. 
Sometimes having an obvious moral actually makes the book heavy-handed and pedantic and then I don't want to read it. 
I do like seeing writers take on meatier topics and exploring moral questions…but I'm a big girl now, and don't need anyone to try and tell me what to think. 
How about you? Do you like a moral message in the stories you create or enjoy? 

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