A Gospel Allegory (Religious Literary Experience): While
reading The Lord of the Rings, I stumbled
across a song sung by the character Samwise Gamgee. The song is titled “In Western
Lands Beneath the Sun,” if you want to look it up. While reading the last
stanza, I made a connection between the story and the Gospel of Jesus Christ
that gave me a new way of looking at things.
The Worth of a Life (Reading Literature Privately): The ending
of The Way of Kings by Brandon
Sanderson gave me a new way of looking at fiction. In the book, a character offers
a priceless, powerful weapon to his enemy in exchange for the lives of a group
of “worthless” slaves. This powerful moment has taught me to rethink fantasy’s
tendency to glorify violence and to rethink “heroism.”
A Terrifying Glimpse (Sublime Literary Experience): While
reading Mr. Monster by Dan Wells, I
was almost forced to put down the book; though in the end I didn’t have the
strength to put it down. The reason? Seeing into the dark side of the
protagonist of the book gave me a terrifying glimpse into my own dark side. A
glimpse that I did not want to see.
It's amazing how sometimes empathy can be more about learning about us than it is about understanding someone else.
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