Literature overtakes history, for literature gives you more than one life. It expands experience and opens new opportunities to readers.
Guilt
When we hurt someone, we usually feel guilty. If the hurt was committed deliberately, this is understandable. However, many of us can feel guilt even when the hurt is inadvertent. Human beings are also capable of feeling guilt merely for existing when others have died, or for being born wealthy when others live in poverty. Guilt, at its heart, reflects a transgression, a crossing of boundaries. Societies have rules, … Read the rest
Futility
The theme of futility or overriding hopelessness in literature has been driven by philosophical concepts regarding life and how we live it. The later decades of the 19th century saw rapid industrialization, which helped support Karl Marxโs theories of alienation and the consideration of all history as a battle between opposing economic forcesโan eternal class struggle between the new industrialists and their workers. If Marx was right, then human … Read the rest