The topic “What does literature mean to me?” Is such a broad and exciting topic that allowed me to create an essay that explores the many works of literature that I love and the many reasons why these works are so influential not only to me but also to the millions of people who have been touched by them too. It is difficult to move so many people through the use of words on a page and being able to do so is a talent that very few possess. Literature isn’t just letters on a page, it's a film that can be played over and over again in the mind of the reader and serves as an escape to faraway lands or different worlds, literature can be seen as a vacation in which you don’t have to pack a bag or buy a plane ticket. You can immerse yourself into a fantasy that would be beyond your wildest dreams in the reality you live in. Literature has offered me an escape countless times, whenever I am struggling in my everyday life I can count on a book or any piece of literature to help me visualize a time when I am weightless and I can transport myself to another time and place and forget about things going on in my everyday life. Even though this paper will only scratch the surface of literature and what it means to me, I will be discussing 3 separate works of literature that have defined my childhood, teenage years, and my pre-adult years. By talking about 3 separate works in 3 different aspects of my life, I can touch on children’s literature, young adult literature, and adult literature.
Firstly, when you’re a child you often rely on a bedtime story to fall asleep. For me, this book was Oh The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss, the bright and vibrant illustrations always grabbed my attention and kept me entranced by the elaborate yet simple rhymes in the book. I can recall clear memories of my parents reading my sister and me this book; laying in our bunk beds eager to hear the powerful message that it brought. Something that seemed so silly actually taught me great lessons like individualism and independence; the book conveys the idea that taking risks in life can be scary, however, there is no growth without trial and error. This lesson was imperative to my youth as I wasn’t always confident in my abilities and would shy away from anything outside of my comfort zone. The narrator of the book implies that our own brains and thoughts allow us the power to create our own paths and further our own life goals. Many children’s books and poems teach you to have dreams and to achieve those dreams. However, Dr. Seuss discussed in Oh The Places You’ll Go that you can create goals for yourself, not dreams, that only you have the power to make those goals happen and that success is truly made through believing in yourself and being proactive and not shying away from scary or difficult situations because those situations make us who we are. Another aspect of the book that struck a chord with me was the use of exploration to describe the wonders of life. As a child, you never know how big the world is and how by venturing out into the unknown you become boundless and you can never be limited by outside forces. The thought of exploring when I was young was something so foreign to me, and now I’ve moved away from home and I live by myself in Wyoming, I understand the purpose of exploring and putting yourself into uncomfortable situations in order to grow, and I don’t know when I would’ve learned this life skill if it hadn’t have been for the book that my parents read to me when I was younger. Oh, The Places You’ll Go has touched the lives of millions of children just like me and continues to do so even today, the gratitude I have towards this book for teaching me so many important lessons at such a young age is why it means so much to me. Having the book instill so much guidance and still being a light and fun children’s book is something that is hard to achieve but when it is done, it inspires.
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Secondly, when I was in High School I was tasked with reading A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle. When I first was assigned the novel, I hated it and didn’t even know what it was about. By judging the cover, my mind was already made up that I wasn’t going to like it very much. However, it became a very influential piece of literature in my life very quickly. The recurring theme of the protagonist, Meg, having to choose between individuality vs. conformity was something that I was dealing with, the choice between being your authentic self and falling into the crowd is a very prominent dilemma in high school. I was a part of my high school volleyball team with about 35 other girls. Having that sense of belonging was essential for me to enjoy my high school experience. Although I felt comfort in the acceptance and sort of kinship that came with it, I knew I was missing a sense of identity within myself. At the beginning of the novel, Meg wants to be more like everyone else, and through the process of seeing the role from a different perspective; She learns that her individuality is what makes her unique and her energy is what makes people gravitate to her. Conformity is the safest choice in life, however, everyone is born to stand out. This book resonated with me because I felt like I could relate to being such a fun, energetic, charismatic person myself, just like Meg. I began to use these strengths of mine to create true friendships, find my independence, and find my worth within the parameters of my definition, not everyone else’s. When this book gave me this epiphany I was able to allow myself to be who I wanted to be and not what everyone else thought I should be. The novel also talks of the nature of beauty and how you cannot judge books by their cover, which is exactly what I had been guilty of with this novel. Meg is reminded that inner essence and energy are what makes people special, not how they look in the mirror. The most important motif of the novel to me, however, was the nature of love and more specifically family love; the author explains that although love can be hard to understand and we may do our say things we don’t mean, the bond that a family has for one another can never be broken and no matter where you find yourself in the world you always have the strength of your family behind you. Not only can love give you strength but it can also give you the motivation you need to make hard choices. Although my relationship with my parents has been rocky at times, I could’ve never pursued my dreams of playing volleyball and going to college without the love and support of my family behind me.
Lastly, I have found it harder and harder to find time to read in the past year or so, with school and volleyball I just haven’t had much time. I was recommended the novel A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara through a Tik Tok that came across my feed. The reviews were amazing and it was described as a book that dealt with pain and the burden that success can have on someone. When I began reading I wasn’t prepared for the impact that the book would make on my life. The main motif of the novel is pain and how physical and psychological pain can cross paths with each other, the protagonist is plagued with mental and physical pain that he cannot make a stop and instead of seeking help, he chooses to harm himself. He doesn’t see a problem with this because he believes he is in control of the pain he can cause and finds an oddly soothing sensation in his inflictions, reading the words of the author and how the pain the protagonist was going through was described in great detail really put my life and the hardships I have been through into perspective. The protagonist does these things in secret, leading me to acknowledge the fact that you can never truly know what someone is going through and how they chose to deal with that pain. The compassion that I carry through each and every day is thanks to this novel. Another important life lesson learned from this novel is that money and success do not equate to happiness, we see characters who are very successful struggle to find happiness even though they have perfect lives. Fame and money cannot guarantee you happiness and security, it is through doing the things you love and surrounding yourself with the people that you love that you become your happiest self. Through practicing this concept, success, and security will simply find you. A Little Life hit my soul like bricks and made me take a step back to evaluate how I walk through my life. The book reminds us that life is short and that you cannot waste time trying to create the perfect life for everyone else to see while remaining broken on the inside. It also taught me to treat everyone with kindness because you can never be sure of the mental or physical pain and suffering that somebody may be going through and how their day or week or month is going.
In conclusion, literature teaches us lessons at every point in our lives. I am learning something new every day, however, the literature in my life has offered me some of the biggest life lessons that I still apply every day. Who could’ve known that words on a page could make such an impact on how we carry ourselves in life? Literature serves as a guiding light for millions who either need an escape from reality or a new practice to employ in life, literature transcends language barriers and brings people together, which is a feat that can be hard for anyone to accomplish. Books can be our teachers, our counselors, or our friends, it all depends on what you decide to pick up and read and what you are ready to accept into your life. As Garrison Keillor once said “A book is a gift you can open again and again” Thankfully for millions the gift of literature has made a lasting impact on their hearts, their minds, and their souls, just as it was intended and just as it has for me.
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