Basing a story on real characters and events requires the author to thoroughly research his subject, and in turn provides him with historical material that can give his story intensity and realism and educate readers as they make their way through the narrative. Louis's escape by just slowly slipping back into a sympathetic audience in a courtroom would seem contrived and unlikely if it were not based on something that actually happened.

A highly dramatic incident like this forcefully presents an historical event.

A potential drawback to basing a story on real people is that it imposes ethical limitations on the author; the characters the author develops should be true to the people on whom they are based. This is often a tough challenge since real people tend to be a mixture of good and bad traits, and heroes and villains can be very hard to...