Personal Narrative: Life Lessons Learned Through Literature

Life Lessons Learned Through Literature

When I am reading books I always seem to put myself in the characters’ shoes. By doing that I allow myself to learn from the characters’ trials and tribulations they are facing. I learn from their experiences because I experience the challenge with them as I read. As crazy as I might sound, it is a habit of mine. I have learned and continue to learn from the books I read. Books have taught me about human character, keeping an open mind, and always following my dreams.

Human Character

Books have shown me examples of heroism; as well as, the villainous acts of human beings. I mean let’s be honest who doesn’t love a hero; we all do. In the book, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, it shows us that there can be a hero that comes to save the day. However, in human nature there isn’t always that knight in shining armor that comes to our rescue. On the other hand, most of us experience the trials of Peter Pan. Villains come through frequently in books like Peter Pan, but they show us relatable effects of human evil. The manipulative side of humanity, as that of Captain Hook, we see almost

everyday by people we cross paths with. I learned early on that there our more villains out there like Captain Hook, than the helpful heroism of Martin Sixsmith in The Lost Child of Philomena Lee. Even though we want to see the hero at the end of a story, we often see the villain come out instead.
Keeping an Open Mind
The types of books set in times of unsettling hardships evoke us to keep an open mind. In our society people show an outlandish amount of close-mindedness. In our nations past, we note events that led to massive hardships in our society. Such as, The Civil-Rights Movement. I have never really understood how people could be so harsh with each other based solely on the color of one’s skin tone. Even as a child I remember going to the grocery store and seeing a couple that looked very happy. As they walked by people would say “that just isn’t right”. The couple being a black man and a white woman. It bothered me as a 5-year-old and it still bothers me today. I love to read The Help because it reminds me to keep an open mind. We are all human, no matter the pigment of our skin. Thinking back on the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, I relate to Scout in so many ways. As does she, I find the issues of racial inequality mind boggling. Reading books like these gives me hope that humanity will hopefully find a way to keep an open mind, as I do, when thinking of our very diverse population.
Following My Dreams
People always find hope in books that make us want to follow our dreams.

As a very young girl, I loved books based on fairytales. Books that stretched the imagination to great lengths. Cinderella is always a good choice; Cinderella taught me that even though we may not have all the finer things in life, with a good heart our dreams can come true. As a kid, I did not understand that, but I as I grew I learned that very helpful lesson. Then in Alice in Wonderland, having a wild imagination and following your dreams is the best type of crazy. Alice said, “This is impossible.” Then the Mad Hatter replied, “Only if you believe it is.” I have always dreamed big. I shoot for the stars and I have faith that I can do it because of books like these. Dreams are something to be proud of and literature shows us that our dreams are not as crazy as they may

seem.

Books have been my secret tool. They gave me advice and helped me learn from the earliest of ages. Even though it took me awhile to realize it, books are the reason I have these personality traits of mine. The books I have read have taught me to be open-minded and dream big. But, they have also showed me the traits of humanity. Literature is my leading life lesson guide, giving me amazing advice about human character, keeping an open mind, and following my dreams.