Many people have asked me*, "Jimmy, why do you plan on leaving such a brilliant career in unrecognized comedy writing to teach English to high school students?" I firmly believe that the value of literature is that it helps us to understand ourselves and the world around us. In addition, studying literature involves developing skills like empathy that help us better ourselves.
After following the events taking place in Iran the past few weeks, I began to think about how the situation there was so much different than in Iraq, and how it represents two different ways of going about achieving a democratic government. In Iraq, we basically told the Iraqi people, "you want a democracy because democracy is the best and you want it." The Iranian people are standing up for themselves, without outside assistance or provocation, and demanding that their voices be heard. It's a huge difference.
As I was flipping through my Norton's Anthology of American Literature, Volume II last night, I came across an epigraph W.E.B. Du Bois used for his essay "Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others." He quoted a line from a Byron peom: "Hereditary Bondsmen! Know ye not / Who would be free themselves must strike the blow?" (Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto 2, 76.720-1)
I know this is not exactly earth-shattering analysis of literature's value, but I thought it was a good example of why I'm planning on spending my life studying and teaching it. I think that our world would be a little better if everyone turned off the television and read for an extra hour a day. Try it, it can't make things worse!
*These conversations take place entirely in my head.
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