Emotion in Literature

Literature is often a reflection of the expression of human emotions. Many authors incorporate their emotions into their work, virtues and vices. Several novels and plays delve into the complications of the human mind. 

In Othello, many of the characters are motivated by vices. Iago embraces his evilness, only justifying it by claiming that Othello slept with his wife, and that Cassio was picked over him to be Othello's Lieutenant. From this suspicion, Iago claims a hatred for woman, manipulates other characters to his desire, and destroys relationships. Another character, Roderigo, is motivated by his blind love for Desdemona, denying all truth to get his way.

In the Lord of the Flies, Ralph and Jack fight over who gets to rule the island. Ralph originally takes over rule, forming a democracy amongst the other children, but as hope is lost, and insanity kicks in, Jack performs a coup de tat and establishes a dictatorship. Fear plays a huge role in this novel. 

The Road: The truth behind a post-apocalyptic world

From the beginning of "The Road", Cormac McCarthy, the author of the book, implements a depressing, black and white tone. There seems to be no hope in this post-apocalyptic world. There are no zombies, or war, or an abundance of people. There's only a man and a boy trying to survive in a hopeless world.

From the first sentence you can already draw a conclusion as toward the tone and style of the book. "When we woke in the woods in the dark and the cold of the night he'd reached out to touch the child beside him. Nights beyond darkness and the days more gray each one than what had gone before". This book isn't going to get any brighter. It's just a man and a boy trying to survive the true reality of a post-apocalyptic world.

My primary question is, Is the author going to give these characters any hope to live? From solely the introduction of the book, this answer becomes obvious: no. However, the readers want to see the man and his boy catch a good break. I'm very curious to see how this book plays out.

Otherness

While segregation has significantly decreased in the last century, as human rights groups became more active, we still live in a world where people subconsciously judge other people for being "Different". Active racism and discrimination has basically become nonexistant in today's world, but people still judge others who are different.

This impulse is natural. Naturally, our mind urges us to stay in our comfort zones, to avoid danger. People naturally feel safer and more comfortable with their own kind than another kind. For example, I read a blog the other day in which a man wanted to stop being racist, but his mind kept wandering toward racist thoughts. He said that wen he saw a group of black men, his mind passively resorted to the worst case scenario that they were up to no good. He knew nothing about these people, other than that they were a group of black people. He also stated that he thought nothing of the group of white people in the area.

Even thought active racism has been condemned, our minds can still tend to drift away, and subdue to racist or sexist thoughts. It's not a bad thing per se, it's more of a safety trigger in our minds. Our minds are disciplined to stay away from questionable sources, and because many whites don't feel comfortable around blacks, they still subconsciously judge them.

This is why people use otherness as an insult. They aren't familiar with their kind, so they subordinate them in order to relieve this threat. This is why the whites judged themselves as superior to the blacks; because it was easier for them to subordinate them than to accept them as their own kind.

However, this doesn't mean that we are still a racist society. As mentioned before, racism has significantly decreased since the early 20th century. Racism isn't a common issue now, it's an issue that only you can overcome yourself. You can train your brain to stop thinking these thoughts. Get to know a black person. Hang out with them sometime. Once your mind recognizes that they aren't a threat, you won't feel racism for their kind.