Robert Penn Warren's Essay Why Do We Read Fiction?

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In Robert Penn Warren’s essay “Why Do We Read Fiction?” he has many reasons why humans are drawn to fiction. But which one is the most important? When we read fictional stories, they always “satisfy our deepest need—the need of feeling our life to be, in itself, significant” (Warren 174-175). Lord of the Flies and A Separate Peace are two very good examples of books that, when we read them, make us feel significant. When people see how darkness takes over mankind, we feel like we would never stoop to that level when put into a situation. In Lord of the Flies, we see the inward struggle that all the boys have to go through on the island. Which side would be the better one to choose? On one side of the island, humanity has been turned off and everyone is running around “like a pack of kids” (Golding 45). While on the other side, there are rules and everyone has a job to keep the place in order. The choice would be simple for us if we were put into that situation. Why choose the side that has no rules …show more content…

Having a friend like Phineas would be difficult since he is always the center of attention and knows how to wiggle his way out of situations and it would be okay to “envy him a little…there was no harm in envying even your best friend a little” (Knowles 20). Being strong enough to not let that darkness of loathing take over us, makes us feel significant. We could deal with Phineas in a friendly manner and never try to become him. Knowing that we are able to push that darkness away from us and stay strong in that type of situation, makes us feel good about ourselves. When you are happy with yourself and you accept all your flaws, you won’t want to be like anyone else. Reading A Separate Peace really lets us know, that we can be the strong person who will not succumb to the darkness of wanting to be anyone other than

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