The Importance Of Self Discovery In Literature

In the poignant novel The Light Between Oceans, author M.L. Stedman successfully communicates central ideas through the use of literary techniques. Through the careful use of letters, particularly written by Tom, the growing guilt of his character due to his actions was successfully portrayed by Steadman. The grief endured by Hannah and Isabel is effectively depicted through the use of imagery. Tom and Isabel’s families. Toms moral dilemmas are portrayed through the symbolism of the lighthouse and the title of the novel The Light Between Oceans. The readers are offered a profound insight into the various themes through the deliberate use of literary techniques.

‘The Light Between Oceans’, a breathtaking novel written by M.L. Stedman, is an intriguing story about love and loss. Stedman did a phenomenal job with her descriptive words and phrases and I loved how the author brought the characters and scenery to life. I felt like Stedman’s writing made the plot very realistic.

When I took off the top to that white box on that calm Sunday night, I was instantly transported into this astounding library, that seemed to come out of a movie scene, rows upon rows were piled up with Verne’s, Dumas’, Stevenson’s, and Melville’s. Each week I would open this box and choose a new book. It wasn’t long until weeks turned to days, and I began to greedily treasure my Stevenson’s, truly value friendship with Dumas, prepare for an adrenaline rush with Verne, but most importantly, it was my single Melville that brought me the pinnacle of happiness.

Beautiful imagery laced amidst a wondrous storyline, accompanied by memorable and lovable characters are all elements pertaining to enjoyable works of fiction. Tales that keep one up late into the night forever reading just “one more page” forever propelling the intrinsic imagination for a novel enthusiast. Yet, at times there are deeper meanings hidden between the lines. Symbols, analogies, and latent parallels all connecting to real life events and situations being portrayed by the author. Using literary theory can bring a more profound understanding of the reading material at hand, as well as unique insight as to what the author was feeling or intending to portray at the time of writing.

Literature is the window to realizing the negatives of society and how destructive certain norms can be. Readers are brought into a completely different story than their own, but by using similar issues in today’s world, the readers can actually learn from the story and its overall message. All writers write for a purpose, whether it’s for a new meaning to life, to live a different life than our own, or to impact others on an emotional level by teaching them to see the importance of the little things. As a reader, you search for pieces of literature that interest you whether you find the story like your own, or wish you lived the life in the story. By using issues in today’s within their works, authors are able to grab the reader's attention long enough for them to get across what they wanted to get across. Often in many works of literature, writers use societal issues as their basis for the work’s themes and symbols. By doing so, this allows the reader to question the morality behind social norms and how impactful certain ideals can be in people’s lives.

To truly understand a great novel and its author, the reader must dig deep inside the life

Literature is an essential part of the center of a person’s life. It provides a certain assurance and “feeds the soul” of one. Whether it be a book, TV, or even an advertisement, literature exists everywhere. A person is able to develop many skills by studying literature, and expand the horizon of their learning. An immeasurable amount of insight and knowledge can be gained from the study of literature which contributes in providing readers with an understanding of the past, and a philosophical assimilation of the moral behind a writing piece.

Reading novels is my answer to every obstacle and every complication that I ever experience. I recall my elder’s claiming I will not understand anything at all The Great Gatsby says when I first bought it. I was ten the first time I read The Great Gatsby, and till now I have read it thirteen times. At the end of each book I read I analyze them, and if they come to be one of my favorites, I even write a paper for myself. Reading novels taught me to understand people, it inspired me to learn more. Every book I finish leaves me longing for

Thomas Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor begins with an introduction that provides a framework for the next five chapters. The author explains that any story can fit into a general, archetypical theme, and he spends the first five chapters of his book speaking on these critically prevalent themes.

A common theme throughout American literature was the loneliness and alienation of people in society. Discrimination and hatred of others ways played a major role in the way people treated one another. The realism time period displayed an obvious separation of men and women. During the realism period, war and the cruelties of it played a major role in society, while the modernism time period displayed a major separation of whites and blacks. These feelings of alienation and loneliness are expressed into American literature today.

What about literature entices individuals to read, and to pursue a further understanding of the writing material? Surprisingly, it lies in the fact that literature creates a solid connection between readers and relatable personal experiences. With literature, readers transcend their own physical lives, and for the duration of the story, experience someone else’s emotions, and realities, as if it were their own. One person known for discussing the importance of “human connection” (Llosa, 2001), is Mario Vargas Llosa, a famous Peruvian writer. He deems that in order for literature to gain substantiality and longevity, it must first create strong connections with its readers. In the three works Until Gwen, A&P, and Winter’s Bone, the primary goal of human connection as emphasized by Llosa is largely attained through experience.

World literature provides us with representations of the human experience which can help us fix contemporary problems. Generally the main problems that exist in America are that citizens of this country are self concerned, overworked, and under-appreciated. To better understand the problems our country faces Americans should read John Robinson Jeffers “ Star Swirls”, which reveals the effects of Americans unawareness of global warming; Franz Kafka“The Metamorphosis”, which illustrates the negative effects of being overworked; and Gustave Flaubert’s “A Simple Heart”, which represents the under-appreciated poor class. Americans should read literature; Jeffers, Kafka and Flaubert truly represent how literature

As the era of literature slowly declines, the expert critiques and praise for literature are lost. Previously, novels were bursting at the seams with metaphors, symbolism, and themes. In current times, “novels” are simply short stories that have been elaborated on with basic plot elements that attempt to make the story more interesting. Instead of having expert critical analysis written about them, they will, most likely, never see that, as recent novels have nothing to analyze. Even books are beginning to collect dust, hidden away and forgotten, attributing to the rise of companies such as Spark Notes. An author deserves to have his work praised, no matter how meager and the masses should have the right to embrace it or to reject it. As

Indeed, the best works of literature are those which are of relevance to our lives today. Through their relevance, these novels continue to persist and endure on. Through their relevance, we can better comprehend the messages, the themes, and the ideas that are imbued in them. Rather than literature being contradictory and in conflict with the truth and unpleasant reality of daily life, it becomes a weapon through which we can be educated about the existential crises facing our world today. In fact, the statement above could not be more far and distant from the reality of literature today. It is fatally flawed. Literature, whilst at the surface, seems whimsical and amusing is, at its very core, a medium through which we are enlightened

Literature is an imitation of societal values and is thus a reflection of the human experience of a time period. Written works emphasize the elements of culture, by means of characters, particular events, setting and theme, specific to the time period in which it was composed. Furthermore, literature mirrors the troubles or hardships of society and projects the core values that define said society. Thus, as culture has changed over time, literature has remained a critical facet in representing time periods of the past. Essentially, the culture of a time period is manifested through writing in the projection of society’s values, symbolism of the center of community and literature itself.