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Literature has been an integral part of human life for centuries. And the
reason why literature exists is the human desire of pleasure. Writers get
pleasure by two major ways - mastering their craft of expressing and witnessing
others getting pleasure from their work of literature. Likewise, readers gain
pleasure from literature's power of imitating life. A writer is judged by the
readers in terms of the writer's power to interpret people to themselves. If
the writer seems to have more knowledge on people, he or she is likely to be
rated higher. Thus, even when the readers read a fiction, they expect it to
look and feel real.
Talking about what elements make up
a work of literature, plot and character are two very important
components. Characters in drama and fiction perform actions and manifest
emotions which, as a result, arouse interest in readers. So, active characters
and actions leading to a complete plot are necessary. However, poetry seems to
be an exceptional case. Characters in a poem can be far more passive and a poem
may not even have a fully developed plot.
A work of literature must have unity
and coherence. So, a writer should be able to convince the readers that the
events and actions in his/her work of literature have been inevitable.
A writer must be very careful about
choosing the language. Change in one word can change the whole image we
get from a character or a scene.
All above-mentioned elements of a
work of literature are what readers do not want to be aware of. So, the writer
is not supposed to explain why s/he came up with the particular character, how
the actions are inevitable or why s/he has chosen the particular style of
expression. Instead, writers should be able to make readers receive the
pleasure of having all those components without even realizing. However,
readers do care about who the characters are, what their connection to each
other is and how the actions begin and end. Those are what we can refer to questions of fact. On
the other hand, questions of interpretation are those dealing with the
reason why the writer has chosen particular theme, pattern, message and
meaning.
When it comes to message and
meaning, many works of literature carry profound messages and meanings. And the
didactic school of literature demands that literature must convey a message,
appealing to our sense of moral values. However, some writers believe that a work
of literature needs no moral statement and that it is rather important for its
own sake.
The questions of
theme and pattern are crucial in literature. A work of literature follows
certain type of pattern and theme unique to it. A single work may contain several
patterns of action, language etc. and multiple themes interwoven in it. Yet,
they are always unified as a single ordered vision. Sometimes the author
announces the theme; sometimes the readers have to decide what the theme is with
their individual perceptions.
We should realize that we are interpreting the theme of a work instead
of perceiving that we are understanding what the author exactly wants to
convey. Although with some amount of limits to the range of interpretation, we
must acknowledge various ways of interpreting. Furthermore, we must be willing
to change our perception every time we read the same poem or fiction. With
second reading or with further discussion, our perceptions could become more
enriched. We must be able to discover what the author wants to say but we
should not undervalue our own judgment too.
Reference book: A Companion to Literature
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