Critical Lens
Anne Lamott said, “Good literature substitutes for an experience which we have not ourselves lived through.” Good literature allows individuals to live through events which they have not encountered in their lives. I agree with this quote because I believe it is true. This quote is shown to be true through the books, Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens and Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. In both pieces of literature, characters had an experience which we haven’t had or been through. Books help us understand the situations that we haven’t faced yet. In Oliver Twist, Oliver’s experience was bad. He was stuck in a situation. The social environment in which he was raised in encouraged thievery. He was born in poverty. Thievery and poverty are both bad experiences which we haven’t faced or lived through. Oliver ran away twice from people that provided him shelter in exchange for him committing to thievery. Some either in his group bullied him for being weak or he attacked them for commenting on his parents. His half brother wants to ruin life for him by destroying all the wealth that his parents left behind like the necklace. He doesn’t want Oliver to get any of his parents inheritance. Later his half brother is forced to give it all back to Oliver and now he has it all. Most of us have not ran away from home, been bullied, or bullied someone. We have not lived through what Oliver has. This piece of literature tells us about the situations he faced in details, and these we have not faced. It’s helping us to better understand what’s out there. One literary element would be individualism because he is left on his own. He is a orphan. We have not experienced this either because most of aren’t orphans or have been in and out of different foster homes like Oliver has. We can see and feel his emotions. In Hatchet, Brian Robenson also had a bad experience. He went through a plane crash and got stranded on a island with little resources. He has less food a hatchet. He has no one to