O, Sweet and Savorous Truth

The Philosophical Truth about Literature, Fiction and Poetry

Conversation One

Jobe has decided to take a break from the party inside his friends house. Leaning on the cold brick of the house, he closes his eyes for a second: he had a major headache from the music. Finally opening his eyes, preparing himself to go back in, he notices a beautiful girl standing underneath a street lamp in front of the house. He walks toward her, in the dark of the streets. He walks up to her and before he can say anything, this girl motions him to look at something; He follows her hand and spots a library. Jobe is awestruck at the beauty of the building, it's french style architecture captures the eyes sweetly. The girls tell him her name is Sophia, and before we can even utter a syllable about her, the library or the situation, Sophia turns to Jobe; "Let's have a conversation, a serious one." Jobe, in intrigue, and little shock, replies "Okay, Sure!"

Sophia: Read much, do you Jobe?

Jobe: Nah, I hate reading

Sophia: How so? Hate about reading, what do you?

Jobe: Well, I just never liked it. I, like, was forced to read in High School, but I didn't like any of the books, and I really didn't see any point in learning English; I already know how to speak English! And, why bother reading and talking about these books anyhow? Might as well just join a book club, I mean really! And, don't even get me started on poetry; it's pointless!

Sophia: Hm, you're argument then, if I have followed correctly, is that learning English, with all of its facets, is of no avail to you because you already know how to speak the language, and that reading and talking about literature is, essentially, only an act of pleasure and not source of knowledge. You also, argue, that reading, learning and writing about poetry is, also, an act of pleasure but worse because it has no meaning or point, as you put it. Correct am I, thus far?

Jobe: Yep

Sophia: Hm, let's examine your first premise, shall we?

Jobe: Okay, but you're not going to change my mind

Sophia: Consider now, these questions which I shall pose to you:

Jobe: Wait, you're answering my statement with questions? Why can't you just tell me?

Sophie: Would you agree if I said to you that some people make arguments out of emotion instead of logic, and that with the questioning of their statements of emotion, they themselves, through looking deeper into their own statements via questioning of them directly, will facilitate a greater understanding of the emotion, or, rather, the origin and crux of the issue?

Jobe: Yea, I guess, I could see that.

Sophia: And so it is with you.

Jobe: ...

Sophia: Consider these questions then: How was language perfected? Or, rather, how is it that we have the system of language(grammar, tense etc.) we have now? Would you agree that the forerunners of the language had to have written English down, mapped its phonetics, experimented with its vocabulary and used it has a vehicle of, and for, beauty in order to solidify, enhance and preserve it? What dost thou say?

Jobe: Yeah, I agree, I agree,

Sophia: Would you also agree if I told you that it is because of the above-mentioned process, that the many different time periods, in which the language was being perfected and varied, are displayed in the writing? The stories and experiences of peoples past are, then, recorded through the language, their cultural vocabulary, and idioms of speech. What sayest thou?

Jobe: Hm, yeah I get that, makes sense.

Sophia: Therefore, if this is true, would it not follow that the language carries with it the history of the English-speaking peoples; and therefore, the language itself is worthy of study to gain further insight into our past, the past experience of certain peoples and the evolution of certain experiences in English-speaking culture? What dost thou say to all of this?

Jobe: Yea, I can see that. It would be important to study the origins of the language then, sure, to gain further insight into where we came from.

Sophie: Then English is worth studying, firstly, for it's historical and cultural richness; We art agre'd then?

Jobe: Mm, yeah. It seems so. But, books that have no history in them, that don't contribute to this culture and history then are not worth reading, how can you answer that Sophia?

Sophia: You have already answered your own questions by agreeing to the above truth.

Jobe: Uh? How?

Sophia: Didn't thou agreeth, that the study of the language also is the study of culture and the experiences of people's past?

Jobe: Yea, I did.

Sophia: Then would you agree if I told you that the experiences of humanity, or at least English-speaking cultures, is not always written in fact form: that the truths of history and the ways of a certain culture can be written in symbol and allegorical form, or simply made into a story relatable to those in the time period and or culture it which it was written?

Jobe: Yea, I understand that.

Sophia: If thou understand this, then thou hast the answer already.

Jobe: How?

Sophia: Fiction is the experience of humanity; and therefore, it is also the historical documentation of the culture, thou understand this?

Jobe: Ah, I see, I see. So, language is the history of us and fiction is the cultural experience of humanity: Am I following?

Sophia: Indeed, you are. However, fiction and language is not limited to just conveying history and culture: it may also be for strictly, as William Wordsworth would say "the spontaneous overflow of emotions recollected in tranquility"

Jobe: So, like, just writing about how you feel?

Sophia: Indeed, my lost friend! You are almost out of the woods of your ignorance, knowest thou?

Jobe: I guess, yeah. I'm starting to get it, I guess, I'm a bit more aware, haha. But why would people want to read what others feel about things, or life?

Sophia: Oh my dear friend, how poor are you not to understand this as of yet! Yet thou shall learn the sweet secrets literature as to offer. Listen, Jobe, for now we enter into the treasury of meaning.

Jobe: I'm all ears

Sophia: Is it not true that this life is full of excitement, profound loss, adventure, trials and, most of all, the love?

Jobe: Of course

Sophia: Then would you agree that we, as human beings, go through similar forms of these things? We all experience love and loss, in various ways.

Jobe: Yes!

Sophia: Would you agree if I told you that we, as human beings, feel the need to share our experience (whether good or bad) and that sometimes those experiences can help others?

Jobe: Yes, but how?

Sophia: Hope, Wisdom and Intelligence, both kinds.

Jobe: Hope, Wisdom and Intelligence, emotional and logical.

Sophia: Yes, hope: when we read literature and poetry that we can relate to, most particularly emotions that we felt, not only does it make the reading more powerful, but if the writing offers solutions to problems we face, or, perhaps the most important, offers us different ways of thinking and perceiving situations and people, we become more hopeful about our situations; Wisdom, in that whilst reading we can learn to comprehend different bodies of knowledge, in a perhaps, more practical and relatable way; intelligence, in that while reading literature we become more tuned to the subtleties of human emotion, because we experience a whole different range of them from novel to novel and poem to poem. We also perceive the world and the acquisition of knowledge differently, in a more honest and emotionally astute way. Doth thou undr'stand these marvelous truths?

Jobe: Indeed, thou speaketh truth so sweet to my ears. What then, my doctor, is the most sacred axiom, which overarches these things?

Sophia: Oh my friend! Here is the sweet and rich truth that thou long to hear: Through reading literature, fiction and poetry we become better people. We do not just read for pleasure but for truth.

Jobe: Oh most marvelous truth, how sweet art thou. Indeed, my friend, I see now, the purpose of our glorious language, how rich and pure it is, that humanities' experience can be so eloquently expressed in written form!

Conversation Two

Now talking for a while, the sun as begun to rise. The golden and warm rays shining on Jobe's face. Sophia smiles at him, with a smile brighter than the rays of sun on his face. He takes Sophia's hand as they begin to walk back towards the house. Jobe walks back into the house. with Sophia. There's no more music and everyone left besides his friends who are cleaning up. One of his friends, Drake looks up at him as he walks in.

"Jobe!, Where were you? You missed half the party bro, and you need to help us clean" His friend Drake says

"Yea, bro, grab a garbage bag," says another friend

"I was just talking to my friend Sophia" he looked over to his side where Sophia was supposed to be. She wasn't there.

"Who's Sophia, bro?," Drake asked

Jobe was in complete shock. She was standing there just a moment ago. She came in with him. He just had a conversation wit her for hours.

"Stop screwing around, and let's go, bro," Drake said impatiently looking at Jobe.

Jobe looked around again, and quickly went outside to check the front, but he was more stunned when he saw there was no street lamp in the front of the house, or even on the block. He went back inside.

"Bro, what's wrong with you," Drake said

Jobe, stood there thinking, in complete silence.

"What's this? Someone left their wallet here." a friend said

"Keep it, the money" Drake said. "I want the money. or we'll split it"

Right then another friend said, "Hey what the hell is this doing here?", as he dusted off a book from underneath the couch.

"I don't know, just throw it out." Drake said glancing at it.

Jobe, at the sound of "throw it out", made his way, almost charging, to his friend and snatched the book from him.

"Literature, my friend, worth more than all the money in the world." He said as he looked at his friend, who was standing there in total shock. Something caught Jobe's eye; He looked at the corner of the room and saw Sophia, smiling with a radiant smile.

"How is a freakin' book worth more than money, Jobe", his friend said with a sneer.

"Let me tell you," Jobe said.