Why Literature?

The general argument made by Mario Vargas Llosa in his work Why Literature? is that literature is not a “luxury pastime”, also that reading literature is being viewed as a thing of the past and there is not enough time to do so, or they do not want to waist valuable time on something like reading. More specifically, Llosa suggests that society would fail us if we do not incorporate literature in what we do. He writes, “The autonomous individual would not have been created, science and technology would not have progressed, human rights would not have been recognized, freedom would not have existed.” (page 44). In this passage, Llosa is suggesting that there are many things in life that would have never existed without literature. In conclusion, it is Llosa’s belief that literature keeps us from becoming an “animalistic” world.


In my view, Llosa is wrong and right because literature is a way that our people relieve stress and learn a great deal. For example, reading gains your knowledge and imagination with good literature. Although Llosa might object that literature is very harmful to the world today, because of the things that are released in writing. I maintain that literature is also a way that our world has become more and more “animalistic”. Therefore, I conclude that good literature is the key to getting the most out of what you read. Reading can gain your knowledge but also can damage us and others around us. It is important to recognize when things you read and write are damaging to others and should be avoided.