Essays

The Importance of Literature

A lot ofpeople in the world think very little of literature, if anything atall. They just don't see the importance of reading and writinganymore. The thing that these people don't seem to fully comprehendis that literature is one of the most imperative parts of society! Itis impossible to completely grasp what all literature consists of,but hopefully some of it can be covered here to help othersunderstand just how vital literature is, and how much people rely onit without even realizing.

Most ofthe time, when people think of literature, they think of big heavynovels, or difficult reads. Authors like Shakespeare and Homer, orbooks like Gone With The Wind, Dracula, or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.The classics are what tend to come to mind when the word "Literature"comes up, but that's not all that it is. Literature covers more orless everything that a person reads. Oxford Dictionary describesliterature as "Written works, especially those considered ofsuperior or lasting artistic merit." It says "especially"rather than "exclusively," showing that all written works areliterature. Just a glance into that world shows that there's gothicliterature, classic literature, romantic literature, and every genreout there. This paper is a form of literature, albeit, it's noShakespeare, but literature nonetheless.

One ofthe most important things about literature is that it brings peopletogether. No matter what kind of literature it is. The Harry Potterfandom has millions of fans, which means millions of people who havelikely never met, and yet if they pass by each other and see thatthey both have a book the other likes, a conversation could go on forhours between them. That's what all books, all literature attempts toachieve. It brings people together with a common interest.

But itdoesn't just bring people together, a lot of different literatureprovides unexplainable inspiration to others. Inspiration that theycan do things, that they can make it through hard times, or that theycan create their own works. What's better than inspiration? Nothing!Inspiration gets people up and moving towards their goals, makingeach and every one more likely to accomplish.

Inspiringothers is always amazing, but keeping them knowledgable is just asvital, if not more so. Many works of literature that are well known,or sometimes not so well known, give a look into a history thatplenty of people today would not be able to fathom without theexistence of these stories that talk about how things came to be,difficult trials that had to be endured in the past, and how theauthor, or who they're talking about, got through the times.

Theperson who first comes to mind here is Elie Wiesel, who wrote a bookcalled "Night" that describes his young life during the time ofWorld War Two. The story gives a detailed description of what it waslike to be a Jew placed in a concentration camp. Without stories likehis, the world fifty years from now would never know exactly whatwent on during those times. Spoken word gets forgotten all tooquickly and easily. Books like these get taught in schools and showpeople the type of trials that others had to endure, and how noteveryone made it out. It shows the mistakes of the world's history –and as they say: Those who don't learn from history are doomed torepeat it.

So whatwould society be without literature? Well, never would the world havegotten as far as it did without the written word. We would not be asconnected to our history and other parts of the world. Learning newlanguages would prove more difficult than ever. The human race as awhole would not be nearly as advanced as we've come to be.

 All ofthis just scratches the surface on the importance of literature. Itprovides hope, insight on the past, a chance to bond, knowledge, andso much more! There are countless examples that could be gone throughabout how important it is, and how we would not be the same todaywithout it, but a good bit has been covered too. A good thing toremember is that literature is one of the main things that makeshumanity who we are. Literature is at the core of every person in theworld, whether they realize it or not.

- August 23 2017