The Power Of Literature Essay

Literature has been widely known to bring issues that concern society into life; these include day to day events and things that humans relate with. For example, literature has been used by literary giants to speak of their experiences in their interactions, to tell of people’s cultures and even to correct behavior. Literature is a great influence in the lives of people and brings into perspective the society as a whole.
Devoted Son is a story by Ms Anita Desai and is a piece of writing that demonstrates the power of literature. This story speaks about a father and son and how their relationship changes. Rakesh, the son, is a child that makes his parents happy by getting the best education in the U.S.A. becoming a doctor and going back o his home place. Returning, he makes his parent even happier and more proud by showing that his morals were not affected negatively in America by agreeing to marry the girl that his parents have chosen for him. This demonstrates his utmost devotion to his mother and father. Though he ends up becoming the richest doctor in his neighborhood, he still manages to be the humble son that his parents expect.
The mother dies, leaving him to care for his father. Since he is a doctor, he wants his father’s health; he restricts what his father is eating. This does not auger well with the old man and soon devises ways to eat what he is not supposed to. When Rakesh gets to know, he demurs with him. Their dispute takes a long time since his father does not want to live anymore due to the death of his wife. He does avoids medicines. This angers his son and he even stops seeing at some point. Here, literature is not only used to give the discrepancies age, but also document a normal relationship between a father and a son. Rakesh is shown to be very devoted and obeys his parents to the latter but later falls out with his father after the death of his mother. The power of literature therefore is seen here as a binder and voice of familial values and relationships.
The power of literature can also be seen Hamlet. The play is a tragic show of events that happen around the protagonist-Hamlet. Hamlet, a Prince in the kingdom of Denmark, thinks about humanity and death constantly. This comes up more so when the protagonist holds a skull. The power of literature is used here to give religious beliefs and behavior of different people in the society. For instance, Hamlet can be seen to be a very superstitious character when he refuses to kill one of his enemies Claudius because he (Claudius) is in prayer. Since Hamlet wants him to go to hell, he reasons that if he kills him in prayer he will go to heaven. The power of literature is brought forward in giving the characters of different people in the society. There are those who want the best for others whilst there are others who want the worst. For instance, Gertrude is poisoned. Though the poison is meant for Hamlet by his own enemies, Gertrude is the one who dies. This brings back together Hamlet and Laertes who were not in good terms.
Literature in the above play has been used to reveal the kinds of relationships people have in the society. The struggle for power and influence as demonstrated by Claudius is a good picture of this. History has also been documented. This play takes place in the ancient Europe. The preservation of language is also seen since the kind of language used then cannot be compared to the one used presently. Therefore, literature has been used to preserve language, as well as culture. Lessons can also be learnt in the interactions of characters in the play.