Lara blogs her brilliant essay which has been short-listed for the New College of the Humanities Essay Competition

The simplest answer to the question, ‘Does literature change anything’, would be no. Literature is not what does the action of changing anything, it is simply a vehicle that can be used by readers to change the way they think – this is where its power lies. Literature has the capacity to alter the way we think, and therefore to alter the way we behave, which ultimately is what causes real change. The effect of literature would be worthless without the response of the readers being affected by it. As Professor Katy Shaw argued in an article discussing why literature should be studied at degree level for emagazine, “learning from the past, in the present, for the future, the study of English Literature opens you up to new ways of thinking, reading, and writing”. Literature is a reflection of both society and an individual experiencing literature. The effect of it, however, is not only beneficial for the individual experiencing a literary work; the collective response to literature, in a society, highlights what needs to be changed in the future by recounting fictional experiences of the human condition. This acts as a form of guidance.

Literature is the only way that we are able to see a true reflection of ourselves – and once we have seen this reflection it’s difficult to stop looking. Each literary work can in some way mirror the reader’s experience, because literature is the study of the human condition. An example of this is the experience of feeling outcast. On how many occasions in total, I wonder, has a literary work had a figure of pity who is rejected by other characters? To think of a few is not a difficult task – Shylock (pictured) in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Jane in Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Lennie in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, even the Wife of Bath in Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale. The list goes on, and this is only focused on the aspect of the human condition surrounding ‘otherness’, let alone the numerous other aspects (such as power, deception and desire). Literature recycles the same aspects of humanity over and over again, negative or positive, for one purpose: for readers to have the essential ability to see that as a species, we share in our suffering of the same plights, just in different circumstances. There are only so many aspects of the human condition that literature can focus on. There are only so many ways that either the affliction or advantages of existence can be explored by literature, because there is a limit to them. But by representing different characters with these same dispositions, the reflection of our own disposition is emphasised. This ability to see the truth in ourselves through literature is what is so addictive yet occasionally repellent about it. Take Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen for example: as much as one may want to see oneself as a quick-witted and perceptive Elizabeth Bennet, the reality may be that one is the conceited and naïve Lydia Bennet. This may be an unpleasant reality for an individual but this unveiling of reality may evoke change in their behaviour. This type of revelation makes literature both very attractive and insulting, as it is brutally honest in its reflection of a reader, causing them to change. This revealing of the truth can affect a society more wholly as well. In The Duchess of Malfi by Webster, criticism of the court of James the 1st of England is subtle, but a constant throughout the play. This was a reflection on the public opinion on the court at the time, and by criticising this and creating a narrative where the members of the court come to a bloody end due to their corruption, Webster emphasised the need for change in the English court. In this way literary work can change both individual and societal behaviour.

The need for expression of the human condition through literature also reveals literature’s importance and the change it can encourage. Since people have had the ability to write they have done – take Beowulf for example. We have an inherent need to express ourselves through story-telling, a compulsion to create. The need for literature is not only the need for the entertainment value found in it, it’s a necessity for the expression of both author and reader. This necessity comes from the need to better ourselves – literature helps us to change things either within a society or individually, in order to improve on the past and be hopeful for the future. Literature acts as a warning and a reminder of moral failures and successes, informing us on how to conduct ourselves: it is a guide book on how to conduct oneself, requiring the reader to practise navigating their own morality through their assessment of the morality of fictional characters. This assessment of character is essential to the change literature can evoke. As Margaret Atwood wrote in an article on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, “is Prospero wise and kind, or a tetchy old crank? Is Miranda sweet and pure, or a more savvy, tougher girl who knows about wombs and abuses and vilifies Caliban?”. This kind of character assessment is essential to the purpose of literature, to change the way people think (and by extension the way they behave), as consideration of not just one perception of a character, but many perceptions of a character is what makes people more astute in their consideration of themselves and others in the real world. The ancient tradition of storytelling is far more than entertainment. Literature gives us guidance on new ways of thinking and can alter the way we think, while also being a form of escapism, as literature only gives guidance that the reader perceives it to give. The novel series The Famous Five by Enid Blyton, conveys this in the simplest way: although the first novel in the series was published in 1942 and many novels followed, the stories at no point mention the war, as they serve as a form of escapism for the children reading them, but also promote the fight for good triumphing over evil, as in each novel the children defeat a ‘villain’. This defeat of evil would have been very relevant at the time of the Second World War. Literature therefore has the ability to change the way we think through subtext, making it instrumentally powerful in terms of societal change, where underlying meaning can subtly alter the thoughts of individuals and therefore their actions.

When considering whether literature changes anything what must be considered is whether it should change anything. Some might argue that although literature is a vehicle used in order to change the way we think, this could be used negatively. This is categorically incorrect. Literature, as with anything of significant power, has the potential to be dangerous; but this danger is a small sacrifice for the change literature can cause.

Lara.  Year 12