Steinbeck’s quote refers to the
writer’s responsibility to carry a message to readers that readers could learn
from it. In others words instead for people to learn from there’s mistake they
learn from mistakes that characters make in literature creations.
I do agree with this statement.
Meaningfully literature is that which leaves the reader a bit more enlightened.
It will not change society easily or completely, but literature should make
reader realize his mistakes and a way out of them.
Daniel Keyes wrote Flowers for Algernon which
supports Steinbeck idea. Daniel took view on mentally ill people. In his book
scientists come up with idea to enlarge brain capacity. They first try on
animals, birds, and mouse. Each time they do that creature becomes 2-5 times
smarter that it was before. A mouse, an ordinary white mouse had an operation,
after operation its intellectual capabilities become 4 times stronger. In a
book they make some experiments, like how long it will take to mouse to get
thought a maze, or will it be cote into mouse trap.
A man, named Charley, had IQ of 68; a
mouse after operation could beat him in maze. A man who didn’t know what is
anger or love, who didn’t know how to spell words or too make complete
sentences, been centered for cruel jokes, had minimum wage, and suddenly been
given an opportunity to bee a genius for approximately one hole year. He took
his chances and had an operation. After operation he didn’t had all his new
abilities back but he started to learn right away. After 4 months he come to
maximum that he could his IQ come up to 238 and could speak many languages, he
learned a lot like new emotions and understood his past. Then his intellectual
capabilities started to reduce, like an apple falling down, gaining speed and
getting closer to the ground, all passengers are worried, will the apple be
destroyed taking all his passengers away. Charlie started to lose abilities
slow gaining speed each moment that pass and getting close to lose all and
become dumb with new fillings to stay. At the end he become dummier that he
was but when he hit the ground he still
had his filling, new thoughts about the world. It’s not old Charlie co-workers
knew, when he laughed at himself and enjoyed life as child in adult body. It’s
knew Charlie that understood life and started to hate it, when he couldn’t
laugh at himself and rejected all he once knew. When scientists implanted organ
which creates brain protein they interfering with life, they changed nature,
they rushed evolution, and innocent life forms got hurt. That was mistake that
scientist should think what there’s experiment on living creteres can be
devastating because God created all creatiers equal.
Tennessee Williams wrote a book The
Glass Menagerie, in this book Williams writes how people can make problems to
each other. In book there are 3 main characters: 1- Amanda Wingfield - Laura
and Tom’s
mother. A proud, vivacious woman, Amanda
clings fervently to memories of a vanished, genteel past. 2- Tom Wingfield - Amanda’s son
and Laura’s older brother. An aspiring poet, Tom works at a shoe warehouse to
support the family. He is frustrated by the numbing routine of his job and
escapes from it through movies, literature, and alcohol. He tries to escape
from his family. 3- Laura Wingfield,
Amanda’s daughter and Tom’s younger sister. Laura has a bad leg, on which she
has to wear a brace, and walks with a limp. Twenty-three years old and
painfully shy, she has largely withdrawn from the outside world and devotes
herself to old records and her collection of glass figurines. Each character
holds another one, and creates
In each book all characters make
mistake that probably so obvious that we all thing that this mistakes we wont
do but before we read or heard of this books and what this books about I’m sure
we all did them and we didn’t see us in this actions as right people or this
actions didn’t hurt anybody but unless you’ll see them from the side or read
them in a book you wont learn. That’s why “It is the responsibility of the
writers to expose our many grievous faults and failures and to hold up the
light our dark and dangerous dreams, for the purpose of improvement” as ones
told by John Steinbeck.