Love and its Influence

I am a bit of a literature buff and I love to discuss books, stories, and anything related to that. When, Mrs. James assigned us this, she asked for us to blog about something profound to us and it is. It's love. I believe that love is the most influential and profound literary theme that exists. Love is so universal that its definition is not set in stone, since it can be perceived in so many different forms and is constantly debated. I find is so fascinating, because it can be so easy to use love, but so hard to understand how it works. It is no doubt that love works in mysterious ways, especially in books.

I love reading books and have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to avoid putting love in a piece of writing. In A Series of Unfortunate Events, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny always face excruciating events and their lives are like one great Shakespearean tragedy. But the children loved each other so much that they were always driven to get out of situations alive. They were also motivated by their deceased parents' love, because the loving memory of them gave the Baudelaire orphans a reason to live.

In the Harry Potter series, the whole series is propaganda of love. We know that Harry was not murdered, because his mother sacrificed her life for him when she didn't have too. Also, Harry always has a need to save people, because he loves so much. While this is a good thing, but it often results in tragedy for Harry. But love is what guides Harry in his battle of good versus evil.

All of the literature that we read this year in English class, related to the one central theme of love. In the Odyssey, Odysseus remained faithful to his wife, even in the captivity of Calypso, because he loved her so. He loved his son and wife so much that he never gave up in finding his way back him. He did find his family and at first they had doubt, but when Odysseus showed his love by saving Penelope from the suitors or blossoming in a white robe, where his son knew that his father had come for him.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was a perfect piece of writing, where we learned how to love. In spite of all of the racism in the 1930s, Atticus strongly believed that no matter what color you are, equality should reign in society. If you have ever heard "Love thy neighbor", then you can clearly see what Atticus in accomplishing. Also, Scout showed learned to love her neighbor as well, literally. Throughout the course of the book, she viewed Boo Radley as a mysterious creature who lived down the street. But when she stood on the Radley Porch, she saw things from Boo's perspective and realized that he was no different. After that, she knew she could be at rest because she learned to love Boo.

And of course, the big one: William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. This was a story simply about love and nothing else. This showed how love can overcome conflict, but how it can be a downfall as well. Romeo and Juliet took away their lives because of the fact they could not live without each other. Thus, love lets us down again. However, because love buried their bones, the two families reconciled out of love for the children and out of the love they had seen from their children. This showed how love is such a powerful force.

Do you see a pattern? The protagonists all make choices, act, or change with the help of love. And with the help of love, they can fight evil or learn to loyal or have faith or find courage in fearsome times. When we read stories in English class, we are often asked to find significant themes of the novels or cause and effect.

Good versus evil is as old as time itself. Why do the good fight evil? Protect those who are innocent? Simply the love of being good? Why do the heroes always sacrifice themselves in face of a villain? I believe it is because they could not stand the sight of innocence being desolated and in order to save the peace, the hero feels that though he would rather die than see others suffer. Could he not stand the grief, sympathy, or empathy? These are all forms of love. Loving another person where you feel your pain. Or in more general terms, compassion. And then we cry at the death of the hero. The hero could have lived...he could have lived. But the hero would not find it just if he survived and others didn't. Once again, love can kill the most innocent of the world. Also, evil relies on fear, rage, and hate. Not love, which is why evil fails often. Defying evil, whether it is an oppressive leader or simply a demon you have within yourself, is act of true heroism.

I remember in middle school reading books about loyalty. In my opinion, loyalty is not following a person faithfully, but having faith in your comrade and giving them your word saying, " I'll be here." Love doesn't necessarily have to be a strong feeling of emotional intertwining. Often loyalty is a great issue in books. Loyalty is needed to find alliances and enemies in books. It bonds characters together which can alter the whole story. Though, loyalty is easily found in stories, it can easily be broken. Betrayal often occurs when a character often finds a need for different kind of love they do not receive from those that, at first, trusted them. I would have to say trust is the same as loyalty, because you have to be able to trust those who give allegiance to you. But often trust snaps like a twig.

And lastly, courage. Courage is getting in the face of your fears and deciding to not be afraid of them. Like the hero who sacrificed himself for the good of good. He was probably afraid of dying and he didn't want to, but he found the bravery to save what he loved even if he wouldn't be there to enjoy it. Courage is valued by so much, because it is usually the best of humankind that use courage to overcome. Protagonists in stories will often be fearful in a time that needs courage, and, alas, they have a dramatic reflection on what they love and why they are fighting this battle. And then they will show their courageous side and you, as a reader, are satisfied with your story and how your protagonist did the right thing. Courage is the oldest trick in the book, but does it really ever grow old?

Love is so universal. It is the most powerful force in the universe, but it is the weakest at the same time. Greed, war, and society make us lose sight of what is important and what is needed. But books show us how love affects all and overcomes all, whether a price is paid or not. Love ignites all aspects of literature. Name one story, book, play, or piece of literature that did not have an influence of love. I would love to see you try.