History Main / AuthorTract

** ''The Last Centurion'' blames the fall of American civilization due to bird flu on democrats and liberals, and the rest of the world on universal healthcare. Though this is partly mitigated by it being a [[UnreliableNarrator first-person narrative]].
** In ''Through the Looking Glass'', a grandmother ponders why her local Democrats can't be both liberal ''and'' patriotic, though this is also a first-person perspective. Lasts a page, but then there's a DavidLynch-esque sequence that shows that an apparently minor creature that accompanied a little girl is [[spoiler:God. Well, that, and it's part of a race that makes up part of the universe.]] It leads to questioning why science and religion can't co-exist. Then, after that, it turns out various Terrorists and Insurgent groups tried to use captured aliens as a bioweapon, which escaped of course and butchered most of the Islamic fundamentalist movement in the Middle East. It's a good thing to the characters.
** He wrote ''Ghost'' as this deliberately. It was a horrible wank-fest that he just had to get out of his head and shove it in a drawer. When fans heard about it they asked for it and loved it, and it got published, much to his chagrin. To give you an idea, the main character pursues kidnapper terrorists to the Middle East, where he kills them all, coaches a group of naked coeds through a siege (while renaming them, because he can't be bothered to learn their names), kills Bin Laden and mails his head to the President in a bucket, buys a yacht with the reward money, has kinky bondage sex with some of the coeds and converts them to Republicanism. ''[[UpToEleven In the first third of the book.]]''

** Having been inspired by its creator's battle with depression, ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' (particularly the [[GainaxEnding ending]] -- [[TheMovie both of them]]) contains numerous sequences containing in-depth discussions of the human condition and concludes with a lengthy expose on the thought process that leads the main character to overcome his own depression, go on living and reject the [[spoiler: AssimilationPlot he finds himself a part of]]. Whether this makes the series impassioned and sincere or pretentious and pedantic depends heavily on who you ask.

** Actually, Chaplin's film denigrates military resistance to the Nazis, probably because it was made after the Hitler/Stalin pact, but before the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

* MasashiKishimoto really, ''really'' wants you to know that [[{{Naruto}} revenge]] is bad, kids. [[MoralDissonance Unless a good guy does it. Then it's ok.]]

* ''[[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]'', by George Orwell, is nothing but an extremely {{Anvilicious}} AuthorTract based on his vision of Soviet Union.

* Creator/AynRand is a great example. Several other authors here are noted as having many of their tracts derived from hers. She wrote several novels expounding of the virtues of her personal philosophy, Objectivism, culminating in her Magnum Opus -- the {{Doorstopper}} ''AtlasShrugged''. With ''the'' AuthorFilibuster (actually only the longest of several in the book) lasting dozens of pages on end (exactly how many depends on which edition), {{anvilicious}} doesn't begin to describe it. Of course, like Creator/GeorgeOrwell, Rand never pretended her books were anything ''but'' author tracts.

* Orwell's ''AnimalFarm'' is also a thinly veiled satire of the Russian Revolution, and more generally of the nigh-universal FullCircleRevolution cycle as every new regime becomes corrupted and winds up like the old.

* ''The Land of Mist'' by Sir Creator/ArthurConanDoyle is a novel-length tract justifying the author's conversion to Spirtualism, including the massive change in character of ultra-rationalist Professor Challanger, who converts to Spiritualism. There is a suggestion in chapter two that the deaths of "ten million young men" in World War I was punishment by the Central Intelligence for humanity's laughing at the alleged evidence for life after death.

* This trope was Creator/CharlesDickens' stock in trade. All of his works are morality plays meant to drive home his socialist ideals. In ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', Ebeneezer Scrooge rails that the poor are lazy and inferior and deserve to die, on scientific principle, and then an innocent child almost does. In ''Literature/DavidCopperfield'', ''Literature/NicholasNickleby'', and ''Literature/OliverTwist'', more innocent children are mercilessly abused, either by predators that society chooses to do nothing about, or by the very institutions of that society. In ''Literature/LittleDorrit'', citizens are reduced to professional beggars by the debtors' prison system. And the list goes on.

* ''Literature/TheTurnerDiaries'', written under a pseudonym by William Pierce, who was leader of the neo-Nazi organization National Alliance until his death in 2002. Largely about ''eeeevil'' [[StrawmanPolitical liberals and Jews]] enslaving America, and the actions of the DesignatedHero terrorist cell 'The Order' trying to overthrow said ''eeeevil'' strawmen. For a scary note, a scene in which the Order blow up a federal building probably inspired the actions of one of its biggest fans -- Timothy [=McVeigh=], the Oklahoma City Bomber.

* Ernest Callenbach's ''{{Ecotopia}}'', a depiction of an environmentalist utopia.

* Orwell's ''AnimalFarm'' is also a thinly veiled satire of the Russian Revolution, and more generally of the nigh-universal FullCircleRevolution cycle as every new regime becomes corrupted and winds up like the old.

** ''CrimeAndPunishment''is an Author Tract in the same vein, with the main character being a cruel nihilist who kills an elderly loan shark to rob her of the money he needs for university, justifying it on the grounds that "great men" such as Cesare Borgia showed no qualms about doing such things in pursuit of their goals. He winds up repenting and becoming Orthodox Christian. Not surprisingly, this was Dostoevsky's religion.

*** Another point is, if you pay attention, it could be said Henlein is well aware of what a poorly written author tract can do to a story. There are even a few points where he hangs subtle lampshades on a few of the more infamous characteristics of them, such as Ben actively saying in stranger "[[AuthorAvatar Jubal]], you have problems?[[MartyStu I thought you were the one man to beat the game]]", which might be why he writes them so well, being aware of the pitfalls and logical problems that come with his philosophy and author tracts in general, and in a few cases, addressing them directly even in a world that is perfect by his standards, another such case would be Lazarus, despite sharing his creators incestuous habits, being well aware of the social, physical, and psychological price that may be payed for indulging in it.

* Orwell's ''AnimalFarm'' is also a thinly veiled satire of the Russian Revolution, and more generally of the nigh-universal cycle of revolution and corruption.
* Creator/LRonHubbard and his final novels, ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' and the 10-volume ''Mission Earth''. In ''Battlefield Earth'' psychiatry is what caused the evil space overlords to turn from their generally happy live-and-let-live prior existence, into amoral PlanetLooters who regularly commit planetary genocide just so nobody will get in the way of their mining operations. Psychiatry is also the big-bad in ''Mission Earth'', to the extent that ''every single antagonist'' is either a supporting the profession or a practitioner or exporting it off-world or using it to take over the world. It doesn't help that almost every character is a StrawmanPolitical.

** Other common targets for Hubbard's ire include journalists, federal investigators, bankers, elected officials, policemen, doctors, college professors, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and modern art]].

** ''NotesFromUnderground'' is arguably an Author Tract; it highlights the societal chaos brought about by the then fashionable, and highly depressing, trend towards rational reductivism (often referred to as nihilism).

* Creator/FyodorDostoevsky hoped to convey a new way to understand religion through exemplifying the themes of guilt and free will in writing ''TheBrothersKaramazov''. This can be seen in what many critics call the pivotal chapters of the book, which include the parable called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Inquisitor ''The Grand Inquisitor''.]] The way in which events play out conform with the Elder Zosima's idea expressed throughout of "everyone is guilty for all and before all."

* Subverted by Music/AliceCooper. Despite being a Republican and Christian, he is vehemently against mixing his beliefs with his songs, both because he feels that rock is the antithesis of politics and because he doesn't think people should be looking to musicians for guidance on who to vote for.

* ''CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory''. Four kids are punished for their flaws by [[KarmicDeath karmic near-deaths]], and the one perfect kid inherits a huge chocolate factory. Whilst no one would deny that Veruca Salt's [[SpoiledBrat brattishness]] probably got her what she deserved, obesity, gum-chewing and TV addiction (particularly the latter) are more [[AuthorTract personal bugbears]] of Dahl's. You could argue that these habits are symptoms of the kids' general JerkAss behaviour which, as Dahl also points out, is indulged by their parents.

** Averted with {{Superman}}, of all superheroes, as while Ennis has written '''LOTS''' of {{Expies}} of the Man Of Steel in a lot of his comics that make fun of superheroes (The Boys and ComicBook/ThePro come to mind), when actually writing Superman himself (As seen in a issue ComicBook/{{Hitman}} along with the ComicBook/{{Hitman}}[=/=]{{JLA}} crossover), he treats him with the upmost respect, unlike {{Wolverine}} who is the superhero Ennis '''HATES''' the most.

** Averted with {{Superman}}, of all superheroes, as while Ennis has written '''LOTS''' of {{Expy}}'s of the Man Of Steel in a lot of his comics that make fun of superheroes (The Boys and ComicBook/ThePro come to mind), when actually writing Superman himself (As seen in a issue ComicBook/{{Hitman}} along with the ComicBook/{{Hitman}}[=/=]{{JLA}} crossover), he treats him with the upmost respect, unlike {{Wolverine}} who is the superhero Ennis '''HATES''' the most.

** Averted with {{Superman}}, of all superheroes, as while Ennis has written '''LOTS''' of {{Expys}} of the Man Of Steel in a lot of his comics that make fun of superheroes (The Boys and ComicBook/ThePro come to mind), when actually writing Superman himself (As seen in a issue ComicBook/{{Hitman}} along with the ComicBook/{{Hitman}}[=/=]{{JLA}} crossover), he treats him with the upmost respect, unlike {{Wolverine}} who is the superhero Ennis '''HATES''' the most.

** ''Pater Filucius'' was Busch's contribution to the ''Kulturkampf'', the period of intense conflict between Bismarck's government (supported by the Liberals) on one hand and the Catholic Church and its political arm, the Centre Party after the first Vatican Council declared the Pope to be infallible. Most characters in it are allegorical and have significant names. The German people had long been personified as ''der deutsche Michel'' ("German Mike"), rather like the British one was represented by John Bull, because St. Michael was Germany's patron saint. Father Filucius (from the French ''filou'', "crook") is a Jesuit, Gottlieb Michael's two maiden aunts Petrine and Pauline stand for the established Catholic and Protestant churches (the Pope tracing his authority to St. Peter, while Protestants place greater emphasis on the teachings of St. Paul. In the end, Gottlieb marries Angelica, signifying Wilhelm Busch recommending an "Anglican" solution to the centuries-old Catholic-Protestant divide in Germany.

*** Another point is, if you pay attention, it could be said Henlien is well aware of what a poorly written author tract can do to a story. There are even a few points where he hangs subtle lampshades on a few of the more infamous characteristics of them, such as Ben actively saying in stranger "[[AuthorAvatar Jubal]], you have problems?[[MartyStu I thought you were the one man to beat the game]]", which might be why he writes them so well, being aware of the pitfalls and logical problems that come with his philosophy and author tracts in general, and in a few cases, addressing them directly even in a world that is perfect by his standards, another such case would be Lazarus, despite sharing his creators incestuous habits, being well aware of the social, physical, and psychological price that may be payed for indulging in it.

** This makes even less sense in ''Overload'', a novel about a ''power company'', when the President establishes a gold-backed dollar. The protagonist, an power company spokesman, promptly comes up with a perfect comment about the dangers of America's dependence on foreign oil, as requested by the reporter who presented the story to him so she could get a soundbyte. [[KavorkaMan Then she sleeps with him]].

** The Appeal may even top that, featuring a long discourse on the need for an independent judiciary, how ads manipulate the truth, and how often big businesses will hide behind certain causes as an excuse to manipulate tort law to be more favorable. Including having a train of accidents hit the winning election candidate to get him to try and convert, but he stays bought.

-->'''Henry:''' But that only makes sense if the author is writing fiction and can just make up the story. These stories are histories. They're true. And, I mean… you are… a… a…

* {{Rush}}'s RockOpera ''2112'' is essentially a hard-rock adaptation of Creator/AynRand's ''{{Anthem}}'', and a number of the group's other songs reference Objectivist ideals, such as "Tom Sawyer", "Red Barchetta", "The Trees", and (appropriately enough) "Anthem".

* Happens in-universe in ''Sharing the Night'', when [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twiight Sparkle]] tries to research [[WingedUnicorn alicorns]].

* MasashiKishimoto really, ''really'' wants you to know that [[{{Naruto}} revenge]] is bad, kids.

-->''~[[WesternAnimation/{{TheSimpsons}} The Simpsons]]'', "Thank God It's Doomsday"

* ''Bioshock'' and its sequel seem to be one big AuthorTract against {{Objectivism}} and [[AcceptableTargets AynRand,]] in addition to having more mainstream anti-slavery and anti-discrimination themes.

'''Dalai Lama''': I thought all religions were a path to God; I was wrong!\\

* ''StationeryVoyagers'' is a mix of this with AuthorAppeal, mixing spoofs of works the author either really likes or really dislikes with an elaborate commentary and hypothesis on evangelical Lutheran theology, conservative politics, and how the two both reinforce and seek to balance each other. Season 3 devolves into numerous levels of TakeThat on groups the author finds fault with: the Kinsey Institute, Planned Parenthood, GLAAD, ecoterrorists, activist judges, and other political left-wing AcceptableTargets.
** While it doesn't shy away from criticizing Islam or Islamic terrorists, the series is surprisingly soft towards non-militant Muslim individuals in general, even allowing a group of proto-Muslims to do something heroic in one flashback episode. [[spoiler: Although the Drismabons are still depicted as destroying the Kaaba in one episode, [[CrossesTheLineTwice then laughing about it]].]]
** The series even goes so far as to show the economics of personal and sexual lifestyles, and societal economic consequences of subjective thinking. So really, there's no hot-button issue the series won't touch.

* "The Truth for Youth" by TimTodd are comics done in Japanese style artwork. They're like Chick Tracts, but a bit more sane. It's pretty odd to read [[{{Animesque}} Japanese-style]] characters talking about the evils of porn. They still aren't that sane, however. for example this statement about evolution: