Defending Literature Against the Slanders of Plato. Paper Example

Academic institutions are full of books. From history books, novels, encyclopedias, biographies, and other course-related textbooks, educational institutions bombard learners with information such that they end up depriving learners of time to indulge in other activities. Somewhere between the chemistry experiment, the physics homework, the history paper, and the religion analysis essay, learners’ creativity succumbs to pressure and drowns beneath all these assignments. Learners turn to extra-curricular activities to try and rekindle the dying flames of creativity (Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2017). They then indulge in poetry, baking, painting, sketching, music and musical instruments, indoor and outdoor games, etcetera. What learners often fail to recognize is the potential of written literature in rekindling their creativity’s dying embers. This may be because consumption of literature “for fun” can be easily discarded given that the typical learner has a mountain of assigned readings that are, more often than not, draining and considered “boring.” Why should we then read, discuss, and produce literature?

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Why We Read, Produce, and Discuss Literature

Literature acts as a means of revealing mystery and reality. In his book Mystery and Manners, famed writer Flannery O’Connor notes that it is a notable feature of a mind that comprehends good fiction to have a deepened sense of mystery and reality after having encountered both reality and mystery in the literature (O’connor et al., 1969/1970). By consuming more and more literary works, the reader achieves a higher realization of awe and fear, all while acquiring an elevated level of curiosity. While a learner may learn all about electricity and related concepts in a typical physics class, the individual needs to visit the mysterious intricacy universe that these concepts live. Works of literature thus plunge our imagination in some ice-cold waters, thus waking us up, blood coursing, and eyes stinging. Consequently, writing inspires audiences to act and awakens an individual’s moral imagination in a way that is both fun, wondrous, and exciting (Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2017). The role that literature thus plays in our lives is, therefore too essential to be assumed.

From an early age, we are introduced to literature in the form of stories. Books like ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ and ‘The Tales of Peter the Rabbit’ thus becomes a way to learn good behaviours all while escaping the harsh realities of this world. The role of literature usually borders on educating and preserving history. Many learners come to an up-close encounter with literature in school, especially during their exam periods. Through the consumption and syntheses of literature work, students gain a new way of thinking as well as an essential skill for stripping down the messages and themes in the literary works they interact with. Literature also acts as a gateway to our past. Every period in our history had different people living in them who were faced with different situations. Without literature to offer timestamps for our present and past, present, and future generations would have no way of knowing their history (Austin, 2019; Walsh, 1962). Through literature, current generations can study various people who walked on the plant before them.

Literature and Society

Past people’s words and actions thus outlive them through literature to spark meaning and effect aimed at repairing and developing ailing parts of society (Austin, 2019). Plato saw the importance of history to current and future generations as he exemplified principles and laws that are seemingly intertwined with human history in The Republic (Walsh, 1962). By reading about these people of the past and their works, current generations expand their understanding and knowledge regarding the different cultures of the world. These works also inform readers regarding almost any subject imaginable such as the massive variety of flora and fauna. Through the interpretations of literature work, people can be able to explore different relationships, eliminate prejudices, avoid wars, and other infinite possibilities. In the end, readers start seeing their world through the eyes of literature authors. The reader thus gains the experience of living inside the literature author’s culture.

Various experts have argued that the link between society and literature is inseverable. Literature can thus be said to have been produced primarily to serve the community (Duhan, 2015). Literature then acts as a mirror, reflecting the prevailing situation in the society. When the community is not pleased with what it sees through the reflection the literature presents, it gains a chance to redeem itself, thus acquiring true liberty (Lane, 2018). The literature shows a vital tool through which individuals can understand people from different cultures, the various societies they hail from, and their lives. An excellent example of literature acting as an information source for readers to acquire useful information transcending and conventional literary criticism, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and history is the novel Pride and Prejudice by Authors Jane Austeen and Vivien Jones (2003). Through the enthralling and entertaining literature presented in an engaging plot, intense action and humour are enacted. Throughout the literary work, Austeen and Jones exemplify the character of life, the real purpose of literary criticism, markers of the social development process, individuals’ human psychology, and a new form of the science of the arts (Ramanathan, 2018).

Ambiguous and Potentially Depressing Morals

While the expose presented in some literature works saddening, giving ambiguous or depressing morals, it is the responsibility of the reader to synthesize the meaning embedded in these works and act accordingly. Take, for example, The Dark Tower by Stephen King. Throughout the Dark Tower series, King has shown that he is no taste for happy endings. Nevertheless, as this seventh book ends-with both Jake and Eddie dead, Oy the dog impaled on a tree, and Roland is with not even a drop of peace left in the him-the reader is driven to tears (King, 2006). However, there is still hope that someway, somehow, the author will devise a way to bring back the fighting spirit within the characters. This is no different from when readers are faced with works of literature that portray instances of depressing or ambiguous morals. Since literature mirrors the society, the reader is prompted to think critically about what the literary work presents and reflect on whether the same predicament exists within the community. When such instances are identified, it then falls upon the reader to point out the wrongs the society is indulging in. Doing so will give the community the chance to redeem itself from these wrongs, thus reforming their ways.

Arnold Friends

The Oates short story presents a significant conflict/disagreement between characters Connie and Arnold Friend. Initially, the relationship between the two had no conflict in it but was instead filled with desire and attention-seeking (Oates & Showalter, 1994). Things change when Arnold desire overcomes patience leading him to kidnap Connie. Connie acknowledges that she does not desire to go with Arnold but consents when she discovers she had to go with him or else her family would be in trouble. Arnold conflicts within himself because his age is preventing him from attracting young girls like Connie (Oates & Showalter, 1994). Despite her constant conflicts with her family members, Connie later exhibits care and compassion for them. However, she seems to maintain that they are too traditional to comprehend her desire for independence. The conflicts that Connie has at the stand in stark contrast from those that she held at the end. Such narratives exemplify how people may change when they encounter unexpected disturbing or horrifying situations in their lives. The insights that individuals come to regarding themselves and others and the world, in general, can often be both frightening and eye-opening.

References

Austen, J., & Jones, V. (2003). Pride and prejudice. Penguin Books.

Austin, S. (2019, September 26). The Importance of Literature in Modern Society. Find Courses; findcourses.co.uk. https://www.findcourses.co.uk/inspiration/hobby-fun-leisure-articles/the-importance-of-literature-in-modern-society-17411#:~:text=Literature%20allows%20a%20person%20to,manuscripts%20and%20through%20speech%20itself.

Duhan, R. (2015). The Relationship between Literature and Society. Semantics Scholar, 15(4), 192–202. Semantics Scholar. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a2af/d2c7f86204cf975222925e4a78b03bc900dd.pdf

Intercollegiate Studies Institute. (2017, November 8). Why You Need to Read Literature. Intercollegiate Studies Institute: Think. Live Free.; Intercollegiate Studies Institute. https://isi.org/intercollegiate-review/why-you-need-to-read-literature/

King, S. (2006). The dark tower. VII, The dark tower. Pocket Books.

Lane, M. (2018). Placing Plato in the history of liberty. History of European Ideas, 44(6), 702–718. Taylor & Francis Online. https://doi.org/10.1080/01916599.2018.1513248

Oates, J. C., & Showalter, E. (1994). “Where are you going, where have you been?” Rutgers Univ. Press.

O’connor, F., Fitzgerald, S., & Fitzgerald, R. (1970). Mystery and manners : occasional prose (First edition (1970)). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. (Original work published 1969)

Ramanathan, J. (2018). Literature as a Key to Understanding People, Society and Life | Cadmus Journal. Cadmus Journal, 3(4), 39–56. Cadmus Journal. https://www.cadmusjournal.org/article/volume-3/issue-4/literature-key-understanding-people-society-and-life

Walsh, W. H. (1962). Plato and the Philosophy of History: History and Theory in the Republic. History and Theory, 2(1), 3. JSTOR. https://doi.org/10.2307/2504332