My favorite thing about working creating clamshell boxes is the opportunity to work with pieces of history, especially when I get to work with classic literature. I have always loved classic literature. They are works that have endured time, works that have shaped nations and people. If you listen closely, you hear allusions to these works in conversations or in modern literature and music. Reading beautifully written classic literature makes the surrounding world richer and more vibrant.
In an era of social media, attention spans are waning. Its all about witty captions intermixed with bursts of dopamine. Go open a blog and you’ll find numbered lists, ultra-short paragraphs often only one sentence long. It’s clear and to the point. We are being taught to only skim the surface for ideas. Take a moment and read, really read, this paragraph by Victor Hugo.
So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom, decrees of damnation pronounced by society, artificially creating hells amid the civilization of earth, and adding the element of human fate to divine destiny; so long as the three great problems of the century—the degradation of man through pauperism, the corruption of woman through hunger, the crippling of children through lack of light—are unsolved; so long as social asphyxia is possible in any part of the world;—in other words, and with a still wider significance, so long as ignorance and poverty exist on earth, books of the nature of Les Misérables cannot fail to be of use.
Reading that paragraph forces you to slow down. There’s a reason why classical literature remains a pilar of a rigorous education. You have to reflect and think deeply. You have to block out the world around you. It takes mental strength, mental strength that is necessary to successfully navigate life. Through wrestling with the ideas presented, you also gain valuable insights and leaves you better able to problem solve the challenges placed in front of you.
The best way to learn about a people, to learn about a time, is to read the literature written during that time. By doing so, you learn what they thought as a society, what their concerns were. It’s part of the reason why I love reading the classics. My dad is someone who loves studying history, which has rubbed off on me. I have learned literature of the time goes hand in hand with understanding past events. It makes learning of events of the past fuller and gives a different insight into society of the time. For example, mid-18th century in America, the most popular books include Pilgrim’s Progress, a beautiful Christian allegory written while Bunyan was in prison for violation of the Conventicle Act. (The Conventicle Act forbade the holding religious gatherings outside of the Church of England.) Also, Treatise of Government by John Locke first published in America in 1773, and Narratives of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson a story of her captivity during what is still considered the bloodiest wars to date (per capita) in American History. It’s not hard a hard leap to see how these texts may have influenced the Founding Fathers and colonists rising up against the strongest empire of the time.
Classical literature remains so beloved today because it teaches about enduring traits of human nature. They teach about trials humankind faces, and the fortitude to overcome those challenges. Whether it’s Jane Austen’s enduring romances, Captain Ahab’s story of how rage leads to obsession and that obsession leads to destruction, or Dantes’ limits of human justice. We’re able to experience these long lasting motifs from the comfort of our favorite chair.
Classic literature has been called one of our greatest inheritances, and that is a sentiment that I couldn’t agree with more. We would be fools not to pull from the wisdom of the greatest minds of the past centuries, to pull from their experiences. Their words force you to ponder difficult questions while introducing you to beautiful symbolism and metaphors. It introduces you to cultures of the past, while growing your mind and imagination like nothing else. It’s a treasure to be rediscovered.
