What pieces of literature reveal something about human nature?

Question

I am trying to think of examples of great literature (classic or modern) that reveal something about human nature or "why people do what they do". The only thing I can think of is with Lord of the Rings. Sam and Frodo went on that terrible journey and Frodo sacrificed himself because they're so "good" and of course they truimphed over evil for the greater good, the rest of the world, but paid a terrible price. any ideas? This may be confusing but it's hard to put into words what I'm looking for.

Answer 1

There are so many, it would be difficult to choose just a few, but here is my shot.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck: This book delves into the actions of several characters and explains the "why" of each quite well.

Shakespeare's Othello does a great job with Iago, Othello and Desdemona. Jealousy and envy are explored beautifully.

Macbeth and the abuse of power and how unbridled ambition can destroy the ambitious is great. It reminds me of Nixon.

A Catcher in the Rye in a few pages really explores Holden Caulfield's motivation. Why does he swear so much in one environment, but tries to erase the graffiti from his sister's school. Why does he hire the prostitute and then run from her? Why does this obviously very smart young man flunk out of school after school after school? These are good questions that are answered well in so very few pages.

Answer 2

For me, two books I enjoyed because I thought they had great insight into human nature were Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and The Fall by Albert Camus. To me, LOTR is not so much revealing about human nature as it is about human concepts of good and evil as well as a martyrdom. There are very few true martyrs, so I would think this was not a common aspect of human nature.

Answer 3

Robert Bolt's "A Man For All Seasons" would be great for what you want!
The play shows how Sir Thomas More suffered for staying true to his beliefs while other characters benefited from using corruptive methods to advance themselves in the political world.

It also delves into the idea that "Every man has his price," where characters in the play one by one succumbed to supporting King Henry VIII's unlawful divorce of Queen Catherine while abandoning their personal values.

Answer 4

'The Old Man and the Sea' by Ernest Hemingway

It's a great story of determination and the triumph of the human spirit. The old man struggles against external pains from the sea and the fish he's trying to catch, but mostly against his own doubts. And there's a great quote from the book about human nature: "A man can be destroyed but not defeated."

Answer 5

Jonathan Swift's “A Modest Proposal.” + "Othello" by Shakespeare.

And wouldn't you know it, Swift was an Irishman, you can tell the way he extracts the urine from the English in his "Modest Proposal" ( Satire at its very best.)
(1667-1745)

Jonathan Swift's Works

http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/authors/swiftj.html

The Text.

http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~rbear/modest.html

http://eserver.org/18th/swift-modest.txt

The satirical intent of A Modest Proposal was misunderstood by many of Swift's peers, and he was harshly criticized for writing prose in such exceptionally "bad taste". He came close to losing his patronage because of this essay. The misunderstanding of the intent of the satirical attack came about largely because of the disparity between the satirical intent of the cannibalistic proposal and the sincere tone of the narrative voice.

A Modest Proposal - study guide

http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/prose/modestproposal.htm

http://www.freebooknotes.com/page.php?link=http://www.novelguide.com/amodestproposal/index.html&book=277


Othello by William Shakespeare

(STUDY GUIDES.)

These links will give you a summary of the book, character analysis, plot and much more, so that you will be able to answer literary questions.

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/xOthello.html#Othello

http://www.bookrags.com/notes/oth/

http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/othello/

http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/barrons/othello.asp

http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/othello/

Answer 6

A Clockwork Orange.
the ending, where the protagonist and "humble narrator" realises the arrogant folly of youth etc, and says he will tell his son about it, but that his son wont listen or understand, just as he didn't.
a brilliantly insightful ending that kubrick left out of the film.

Answer 7

The Diary of Anne Frank seems to say something like, "People do what they do because they have faith in other people."

Answer 8

People will do anything to realize their ambitions