IV. Reflection of Literature

''Literature is the reflection of human experience.” This quote is true. The human experience or a memory is different through everyone else’s eyes. Every person in the world takes something different from what the author wrote. It could be what the reader liked, it could be the personal opinion of the reader that the reader takes from what the author wrote. Many people believe that literature comes from the writers’ imagination and that literature is just words that form sentences on a piece of paper. People think that words do not mean anything to anybody; but, literature is a reflection of the human experience because it allows people to look back on their memories like the author Harper Lee, allows writers to share their experiences like Martin Luther King Jr., and it also allows the reader to learn a life lesson through other’s experiences like the author Sandra Cisneros.

First, literature allows writers or readers to look back on their memories because they can relive the memory or experience through words. Like in To Kill A Mockingbird, the author, Harper Lee, is going back to when she was a child and writing down the memories that stuck with her, the most important memories to her. Maya Angelou, author of I Know Why A Caged Bird Sings, can read the books she has written and look back. Angelou can relive the memory of Mrs. Flowers, her mother, and her sisters. She could relive the first time she spoke again. The books an author writes can be based on memories and moments that were important to the author. Literature opens the mind to old memories and allows people to relive their experiences, good or bad. Bad memories that some human experiences are based on, people learn their mistakes from the bad memories.

Secondly, literature allows people to share human experiences through imagery in their words. Martin Luther King Jr. uses imagery in his “I Have A Dream” speech. He says, “Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” King uses words like “manacles and chains” to relate to the experience of the slaves. He wrote this in the time of segregation, it was after slavery, but he is pointing out that the black community is still not free of the past they are trying to get over. He is connecting with his audience to share one human experience. He is using words and explaining a human experience through words and imagery. Harper Lee also uses imagery in To Kill A Mockingbird when she has Mayella on the stand during the trial. Also Harper Lee has the character, Scout, explain the community and the way people act when the blacks came around. In this, the reader could feel the tension in between the white and black community. In literature, people can share one experience.

Thirdly, literature allows people to learn through other peoples experiences and learn life lessons because they can see through other peoples thoughts and memories. Sandra Cisneros, author of House On Mango Street, writes about how she felt when the family moved to Mango Street. Many readers can relate to her experiences. The audience can understand what she did and how she did it. Readers can look at her experiences and compare to theirs and say, “Wow, I never thought of looking at this situation that way.” People interrupt experiences differently, everyone reacts differently, its human nature. People can take away different things from every piece of literature.

In conclusion, literature allows readers to do many things. Like the author, Harper Lee, allows people to relive their childhood memories. Or like Martin Luther King Jr., it allows people to share the same experience or dream. But, it also allows people like the author Sandra Cisneros, to learn through other peoples mistakes and wins in life. Literature is truly the reflection of life on Earth or of the human experience.