The Influence of Literature

Literature is an eternal source of knowledge that makes people muse about the sense of life, place of a person in the world, and others philosophical questions. It leads to the increasing of mindfulness in people and gives an incredible opportunity to enjoy every unforgettable moment of life. Literature opens the sacred sides of the hidden ideas in order to reveal the meaning of the world and the role of humankind on the Earth. The most important fact is that literature answers numerous unanswered questions and changes people’s minds showing that it is necessary to live full life and appreciate it.

Life is a God’s gift, and literature demonstrates that the existence of life is in human hands. A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O’Connor is an incredible literary masterpiece which shows that a person can commit a crime having no regrets. It is difficult to imagine that cruelty and violence exist in the world, and a killer could live without any punishment. In this case, thanks to literature, people begin to ask themselves how God could possibly tolerate the fact that the children, being innocent, helpless creatures, have to face ferocity and injustice they have not even deserved. Moreover, the literary elements emphasize human meanness, vices, and sins. If life does not have any clear meaning, it is so-called irony that represents a miserable existence of a person who encounters different difficulties. People understand that all their attempts were vain, as there was no reason to find an appropriate solution. Thus, literature depicts point at issue: whether there is any reason to fight with life’s problems or it is necessary to live a miserable life without setting any goals.

In some cases, literature makes readers ponder over the value and fleetness of life. With the help of art people could imagine themselves going through boundary moments of existence and feel the importance of living right here, right now. Such literary device as irony could emphasize important issues in a novel or defuse tension instead. For instance, in A Good Man Is Hard To Find, the author shows dramatic irony, “I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that a loose in it” (O’Connor). Dramatic irony reflects people’s behavior, views, and actions. As for situational irony, it demonstrates the exact sins of the mankind in particular situations. Both types of irony illustrate such essential themes as grace, religion, crime, relations between parents and their children. Undoubtedly, both in literature and in real life, the above-mentioned points correlate and interact with each other, as they represent society with human drawbacks and faults. Irony discloses people lacking moral or spirituals values, satirize them. Additionally, O’Connor warns his readers that it can be too late to pray not having appreciated the whole life before.

In literature the exact sense of life reveals itself. Despite the fact that plot of the stories can be different, it usually contains the truth about the reality. The point is that the universe is eternal, and nothing is changeable. However, literature gives everyone a chance to plunge into the world of the reality and imagination. It is known that just a thin line separates these two worlds demonstrating that every person walks on the edge. People often do not notice such beautiful things as nature and its landscapes wasting their time despite they have the most precious things. In order to percept life in another way, literature suggests many examples showing that every person must be merciful, generous, compassionate, and patient with each other. Patience is the last key that helps to open even the unexpected doors. This expression teaches the readers that it necessary to respect the people around them. Nowadays, a lot of adults and children either live in poverty or suffer from horrible diseases, but rich people do not notice this situation, spending money on unnecessary things. It is a precise revelation of the human indifference to homeless and sick people. In the story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the author represents a psychological meaning of life portraying a woman who suffers from depression and mental sickness being psychologically instable. Her husband is very patient to his wife and always takes care of her. He decides to move to the countryside house to cure his adorable wife thinking that nature will have a positive impact on her. However, his intentions do not give any result. On the other hand, the author enables the reader to touch the world of imagination indicating, “the sprawling outlines run off in great slanting waves of optic horror, like a lot of wallowing seaweeds in full chase” (Gilman 4). It also gives an opportunity to feel the disgusting smell of wallpapers resembling a living creature.

Literature represents human being in different ways, but only God knows exactly about the future. People are cruel creatures as they live for themselves not paying attention to the existence of global problems. They can do everything in order to make their own bodies content. However, some people understand that their parents and families are the most valuable things, and appreciate every day spending most of their time together. In the poem Those Winter Days by Robert Hayden, the author shows that his main character remembers his father, whom he loved very much. Nevertheless, during that time neither he nor any other member of the family appreciated their father’s deeds. The protagonist describes how hard his father worked in order to take care of his family despite having different difficulties. Hayden illustrates total indifference writing, “Then with cracked hands that ached/ from labor in the weekday weather made/ banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.” (Hayden 3-5). In this case, the protagonist can only regret as the life passed. This poem shows that many people do not understand that it always could be too late, and parents will never come back again. Perhaps, such literary example can influence people’s views and minds in general.

Summing up, literature is an integral part of people’s lives, because it changes human consciousness directing to the right way. It includes fundamental truth that helps everyone muse about the importance of human life and its meaning explaining how to live in order to become a real personality. Literature observes such essential issues as the existence of life, its sense and fleetness.

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