IMPACT OF READING LITERATURE IN OUR LIFE

Xavier Menezes

All of us love to read literature. What is literature? It’s the collective term for all thestories and accounts, fictional or non-fictional that we read. Granted, it mayoccasionally be boring to the point that we fling the book that we are reading(Shakespeare!) at the adjacent wall but everyone’s tastes are different. Some might lovehorror, while others may gag at the mere thought of it, and some might love romancewhile others may prefer to keep anything containing the dreaded word at a mile’sdistance. Literature as a whole is captivating, interesting and most importantly diverse.It can cater to the needs of some while having a bad influence on others. The elixir ofcreativity, the masterpiece of the mind, the fusion of a whirlwind of emotions andexperiences into one dose of perfection, literature is both a blessing and a curse.

In a way, reading literature is like stepping into a time machine. A book or story is likea photograph; it is a snapshot that perfectly captures a moment in time. Over the yearseverything fades. Rich people try to protect their wealth, but after their death, it is justso much paper. The beautiful attempt to preserve their looks, but in time they will beconsigned to flames or decompose to be an undistinguished part of the earth that theycame from. The body is immaterial – it is the soul that matters. What sets the homosapien apart from all the other animals is his ability to acutely feel and express hisfeelings. And through literature, these feelings are preserved, free from the ravages oftime, lasting forever. Literature boosts our knowledge, helps us to think, betters ourvocabulary. So we ourselves can express what we feel and recount our experiences.Immortality isn’t achieved through drugs or machines. It is attained through literature.A million years later, no one will remember what the gods look like, or even believe inthem. But in literature they will forever be preserved, truly immortalized. Literatureisn’t like Maths or Science. Two plus two will always be four; every action will alwayshave an equal and opposite reaction. But literature will change through time, and willevolve and be never be outdated.

But the power of writing is not always advantageous. It has its flaws. People areimpressionable - they always form conclusions. No man has ever existed who livedwithout bias. Humans are like sheep – they flock together. One person forms an evil orincorrect view through literature and this view will spread like a virus. Hitler himselfused this fact. He infused hate for Jews into the literature of Germany and this lead to amass movement against them. Even today, children can be corrupted by books.Extreme violence in books can affect the psyches of young people who read them. Acult following of a corrupt book is easily possible. Hate, corruption, fear, violence andpropaganda in books can lead to catastrophic consequences for the next generation. Ifcontrolled, literature can be a great help in developing our personality and increasingour knowledge. If not, even something like a book can be a weapon of mass destruction,acting like a cancer that eats up society form the inside.

But today’s youth are smarter too. And today’s world is also better monitored. Biasedworks of literature and the spread of such evil matter is controlled and regulated.Virtue can be propagated as easily as vice. And so I conclude by saying that theadvantages of literature far outweigh the disadvantages. And so we should keepreading and applying the lessons of literature (hopefully the good ones) in our day today life.