The Limits of Speculative Fiction as Metaphor

As I said in a previous post, speculative fiction offers a uniquely flexible arena for exploring social issues or ethical dilemmas outside of their sensitive real-life context. However, there is a difference between developing 'applicability' (as Tolkien called it) and trying for a one-to-one fantasy parallel to a real-world situation.

 The flip side of being able to detach speculative fiction scenarios from the immediate concerns of the real world is that a fantastical situation has its own unique nuances. It's important to let your hypothetical develop in its own right, rather than forcing it to conform to a set of expectations and concepts that don't belong in that fictional world.

One of the misaimed analogies I see a lot is prejudice against vampires (or some other supernatural creature) standing in for prejudice against racial groups (or sexual orientation, or religion, or the like). Unfortunately, there's an obvious problem. The supernatural creatures, for the most part, are legitimately dangerous, and some even purposely prey on humans. The fear is completely reasonable. So when you compare this to unreasonable fears, such as prejudice against a particular religious group, it doesn't stack up.

Also, characters in speculative fiction may have tools available to them which we don't have in the real world.  Perhaps your characters can fit a blind person with bionic eyes or go back in time or read minds, so they have the ability to solve problems which would not normally be solveable.

I think the main idea here is to create a world and situations that prompt critical thought and discussion, rather than try to dissect specifics. If you allow the world of the story to be true to its own rules and morality, you will have a much more compelling story.