How Literature Reflects Communities

Running head : How Literature Reflects Communities

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How Literature Reflects Communities

Authors have historically used various literary works to reflect the societies in which their live . To this end , the actions of characters in literary works reflect existing social concepts whereas the surrounding society 's behavior mirrors on specific characters behaviors . In essence , societies and communities are normally depicted as mutually affecting each other . Notable cases of literary works in which such reciprocal interaction is demonstrated are the three short stories namely

: William Faulkner 's A Rose for Emily Flannery O 'Connor 's Good Country People and Toni Cade Bambara 's The Lesson . To illustrate through his A Rose for Emily story , Faulkner describes Emily Grierson as being negatively affected by her surrounding society . In turn , Emily 's actions negatively impact of her compatriots . Likewise , through the Good Country People story , O 'Connor describes the character named Joy Hopewell as negatively impacting on the people around her Consecutively , the society in which Hopewell lives demonstrates an attitude that negatively affects her . In a similar version , Toni Cade Bambara 's The Lesson story illustrates the character called Miss Moore being negatively affected by her surrounding society . In response , Miss Moore demonstrates behaviors and attitudes that negatively impact on her compatriots . All in all , O 'Connor - through Good Country People - Faulkner - through A Rose for Emily - as well as Bambara - through The Lesson short stories - describe their protagonists as reciprocally affecting and being affected by their societies in...