The Effect Of Community On Literature

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The Effect of Community on Literature When authors write, many factors play a role in what is written or why it is written. Of the many factors, community plays a very important role in shaping what authors put down on paper. Many times, authors will write in order to express their opinion on a subject matter, and other times, the author will leave the story open for interpretation from the reader. These opinions are based upon the many ways that the author’s life and the story written correlate to each other. The time in which the story is set can be a reflection of what was acceptable or not-acceptable in society, whether or not the events are still acceptable today. For instance, in A Rose for Emily, the story jumped around from one era to another, however the entire span of the story was mid-1800’s to early-1900’s. Even though the story was non-linear, each part of the story indicated an important and specific time in the main character’s (Emily), life. The time in which the story is set, coupled with when the author lived, gives the reader good insight in how people talked during the time in which the story is set. The way that the characters speak in the story is representative of what certain societies consider acceptable. Because characters usually represent something, what they say is indicative of the feelings shared among the group the character(s) represent. During Emily’s life, it was acceptable to refer to blacks as “negro”, or even worse, “nigger”. In today’s times, such language is unacceptable and considered racist. Shiloh, unlike A Rose for Emily, is set in a more modern setting, and is a good example of role-reversal in that Norma Jean Moffitt took the role of the dominant male in the relationship, while her husband, Leroy, took the role of the submissive female. Role-reversal is not as uncommon today as it would have been during the time of
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