What Literature Taught Me

“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.” – C.S. Lewis

Literature, as Google Images
defines it

Few people admire literature- after all; literature is nothing more than idealistic philosophy, a bunch of complicated words, and a waste of our oh-so-interesting lives. Yet, I dare say I loved Literature. I loved every aspect of Literature, be it tragic poetry, comic prose, or a notorious Shakespearean play.

Literature enabled me to lay down my emotions, be it a surge of happiness or boiling anger, in mere words on a paper. Literature taught me that each and every word that someone writes has some emotion attached to it, and that emotion can be felt by the readers if they explore it. Literature allowed me to feel Thomas Hardy’s pain after he lost his wife (The Voice), feel the torment of Macbeth’s guilt after he killed Duncan, feel Amir’s joy when Sohrab smiled with him for the first time (The Kite Runner). Literature allowed me to delve into a whole new dimension, and experience things, good and bad, that I may never experience, in real life. You may have not been born in the Victorian era, but you can taste the agony of historical patriarchy through Jane’s harrowing journey in The Yellow Wallpaper. You may not have lived in Afghanistan when the extremists took over but you know how torturous life was, if you’ve read A Thousand Splendid Suns. You may not have been selected to fulfill a divine destiny, but you’ve journeyed the desert and felt the ecstasy in The Alchemist.

You don't have to be alive in the 1980s
to experience the Soviet Invasion

Literature taught me that nothing was black and white- there isn’t a good and evil, a right and wrong, a villain and a hero. It is all a matter of perspective. Shylock was the supposed to be the villain in The Merchant of Venice yet I did not feel so- I felt that the religious prejudices against him had driven him to this felony. Antonio was more of an antagonist to me. Literature liberated my mind, allowing me to look at things from the other person’s perspective, understand his/her position, and not make assumptions about people based on a few, often impulsive, actions. Brutus may seem a shameless murderer to many. But when I looked at the world from Brutus’ eyes, his action seemed rational and patriotic, it seemed like an attempt to restore the power of the people where a single man was assuming domineering power (Julius Caesar).

The forsythia plant takes a long time
to grow, and hence, symbolizes
anticipation

Look beyond the obvious

Literature invokes the ability to look beyond the obvious. In fact, it is connected to our everyday lives in so many ways. The theme of love, for example, used so commonly in Shakespearean plays is so pertinent to our world- we lose loved ones just like Hamlet lost his father, we experience unrequited love just like Pip never obtained Estella (Great Expectations), and we start loving the most unexpected people just like Benedick starts loving Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing). Literature illuminates the mind to the extent that even ordinary objects and events around us seem so extraordinary. Literature taught me that even common things like forsythia plants, magpie birds, or the chilling breeze have some symbolism attached to them. Literature added colour to a world, which seemed grey and bland. The Third and Final Continent taught me how splendid it was for people when man first landed on the moon, a thing so trivial nowadays. Allen Curnow taught me how Time exists all around me, be it in a keyboard, a paper, a pen, or a traffic signal. The Lemon Orchard taught me how nature watches man’s every action, and the fact that we are so closely connected.

Literature is difficult to grasp, but once you get hold of it, it expands your imagination, enlightens your brain and enhances your insight, all with a bunch of verbose, yet meaningful words on a paper.