Dela Cruz, Reina Rio C. LIT730M Dr. John Iremil E. Teodoro Short Reaction Paper “Why literature is important in our lives?” is the question on the floor. When we hear the word literature it reminds us stories, epics, sacred scriptures and classical works of the ancient and modern times. Basically, literature is a collection of written works of language through different periods and different cultures by authors and scholars. In Mario Vargas Llosa’s paper, “Why Literature”, he fundamentally highlighted the crucial roles literature played in shaping the world and the importance of reading. As Mario Vargas continued, I found myself agreeing with what he had to say about why literature matters so much and has a such large impact on our society. We all need literature because it gives us the chance to explore our troubles by writing them out and it gives us the chance to learn about the struggles of others. Another claim he made that I found myself in harmony with was when he said that literature integrates human beings and binds them together whilst technology made the humans become too compartmentalized or too occupied that they no longer interact with one another. When people read a good piece of literature, they are in a way unified as they are brought to the alternate world that a book or poem creates. However, Llosa noted that literature does not begin when the author simply writes a poem or a novel. It exists only when it is shared and adopted by other and becomes a part of life, which is done primarily through reading. Most importantly, he claimed that literature drives the critical mind of people because it is radical and allows radical thoughts. More often than not, it promotes non-conformity to the harsh realities that are often perceived to be normal. According to Llosa, literature transports people to a timeless world wherein everything seems to be perfect. So when these people are brought back to reality, they suddenly possess the desire to recreate the alternate dimension things they’ve read from the book - in the real world. Thus, literature made humans be more critical and “rebellious”. In general, I agree with the author’s points in the paper. It may be an unfortunate scenario wherein technology continues to develop rapidly and people are less inclined to read good literature due to limits and boundaries science has set. However, the purpose of literature is for us to be more humane. That a world without literature would halt humanity’s progress and development because they would remain primitive and barbaric. As I end, I would like to quote John Keating from the movie Dead Poets Society, "We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."
