How Literature Reflects Communities

How Literature Reflects Communities
Jeannette Villatoro
GSH0829B
Paula Johnson-Nash
July 21, 2008









How Literature Reflects Communities

Literature has been a vital and impacting part of culture since language was adapted and artfully used for communication. Literature can reach inside a reader and touch them in a powerful way. Literature can also demand critical thinking for subject matters that are foreign to some readers. One of the most important aspects of literary creation is to help human beings connect to and understand other people with different backgrounds, cultures, and lifestyles.

Literature is vivid with its descriptions and adaptations of different communities. A reader can be enlightened by reading a story that involves the relationships between societies of people. As a reader, we learn about other ways of life and how it contrasts with our own. We learn compassion and gain intellectual perceptions of others. Whether a story we read is fiction or truth, the components of literature have a way of reaching out and impacting our thinking process no matter how fantastical the story may be.

In Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the reader is immediately spun into an amazing dream-like world in which a normal, everyday, and perhaps even dull man is turned into a humongous insect (DiYanni, 2007, pg. 612). What is soon becomes the most intriguing facet of this story is the depth of his life rather than him becoming a bug. This man cared for his family with a strong intensity. He paid off his father’s debts by working hard every day and providing a life for his parents and sister that they could not otherwise afford (Diyanni, 2007, pg. 613). Never once did he complain about this apparent injustice. Instead, he took it with stride and continued to gleefully embrace the dreary role he was destined for. The irony became evident when after his horrible transformation his family completely neglected him, abused him, and focused more on how they would continue to pay the bills. This story brought us into the sorrowful life of a man who had little importance other than a workhorse for others. And when he came to his death as a hideous insect unable to care for his family any longer, it seemed as if this existence was less horrifying than the one he lead before (DiYanni, 2007, pg. 641). What the reader may reflect upon after reading this story is how they treat their family and how important it is to care for others no matter what hardships or adverse situations propel into our life.

In yet another story featured in Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, we are introduced into the life of a young girl living in a less affluent neighborhood. The struggles of this girl are evident right away as we read that the children’s mothers “were in a la-de-da apartment up the block having a good ole time” while others were caring for them (DiYanni, 2007, pg. 428. This realization gives some forgiveness to the abrupt and cavalier characteristics of the children in these stories. There were challenging inadequacies that highlighted the nature of the lives these children had and made it possible for the reader to reflect on what that must be like. The young girl’s attitude toward others and life in general was careless and inept. These children were taken into an upper-class neighborhood to experience the difference in lifestyle that others have. They are taken to a toy store with price tags that rage from hundreds to thousands of dollars (DiYanni, 2007, 428). The wanting of these young children resonates in the reader’s mind as they join in the jolt of reality that is experienced in this story.

It is difficult for a person to truly grasp the hardships or endearments of another person whose circumstances are uniquely different then their own. However, this is made possible with literature. We as a reader are invited into another world that is expressed through the author’s own personal experiences of life. We are urged to explore the depths of another human being and possibly another community of people altogether. We can discover new parts of the world and even different time periods. We are able to use this newfound knowledge to better understand our world and to have positive and worthwhile relationships with people whom we may have found unapproachable due to lack of understanding.




References

DiYanni, R (2007) Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (6th ed.) New York:
McGraw-Hill.