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Before Stories I defined evolution by Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. Over the course of this semester I have become more critical of evolution. After reading Dennett, Whitman, and Hustvedt, I am skeptical of the role of literary evolution. I understand the parallels between diversity of stories and living organisms, but the connection appears non-distinctive. Darwin had scientific evidence to support his theory, but what does the novel have as evidence of evolution? It seems that literary evolution is insignificant compared to biological evolution, since most novels depict the evolution of the fictional self. Also, is there a major distinction between literary evolution, and other forms of cultural evolution?