Dark Night Of The Soul By Richard Miller

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Recommended: Literature`s impact on society

Fredrick Douglass once said, “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” Coming from the advanced, civilized society we live in, there is never a second guess on how much reading and writing can affect our lives. In Dark Night of the Soul, by Richard Miller, Miller offers us the question, whether or not writing can generate a greater sense of connection to the world. In many places throughout the earth, writing is used to broaden people’s perspectives, as well as form a connection with the world. In the United Arab Emirates for example, a focus on literacy has allowed them to become civilized in the eyes of many advanced countries. But with a positive always comes a negative, with examples of this being the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing, Story of Chris McCandles, and Columbine Shooting, all in which writing narrowed a persons ideas, causing them to act out due to the disconnection they felt with the world. This idea of narrowing and broadening perspective shows its true influence, that dependent on the material, writing can affect us all, allowing us in our own personal ways, to be “free.” His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founder of the United Arab Emirates, or UAE, stated, “The greatest use that can be made of wealth is to invest it in creating generations of educated and trained people.” From its conception, the United Arab Emirates was founded on the importance of education. Since it’s founding in 1971, the small country’s population has risen to over nine million people. This dramatic rise in population was a cause for the dramatic investment the countries government has put into its education system. In 1975, the rate of adult literacy was 54% among men and 31% among women, while today, literacy rates f... ... middle of paper ... ...ing, in which Timothy McVeigh was influenced a book, The Turner Diaries by Andrew McDonald. In the book, McDonald talks in detail about how the main character bombed an F.B.I. headquarters with a homemade truck bomb. McVeigh was clearly influenced by the work, and recreated the bombing, killing 168 people in April 1995. This example shows how one form of writing can influence a person’s point of view. Like the Columbine shooters, McVeigh was a self proclaimed neo-Nazi who’s hatred for others only increased after reading this book. After an investigation by police, excerpts from McDonalds book were found in McVeigh’s car (Thomas). This shows how literature can influence and individual, and how far a person is willing to go once they are fully devoted to writing. Writing has a profound influence on people, and will forever broaden and narrow people’s point of views.

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