Literary Canon In The Literary Canon

In every high school student’s career, he or she will most likely ask him or herself a few questions, but they will never get a straight answer. What are these questions you may ask? Well they are the questions of, “Why do I have to read, insert book title here?”, and “What makes this book so special from every other book ever written?” The stock teacher answer is usually, “Because I said so.” This is not a legitimate answer, and it usually just frustrates the student. So what is the real answer? Why are some books, specifically The Mayor of Casterbridge, taught and included in the literary canon? To address the question of The Mayor of Casterbridge inclusion in the common literary canon, we must first discuss what literary canon is and …show more content…
There are many complex factors that determine whether or not a book is included in the literary canon. Often, the deciding factor is the technical excellence of the writer themselves,but some books are included for their departing from normal writing convention. In the latter case more value is seen in their subject rather than in their execution of the subject. Take the book Animal Farm, by George Orwell, for example. Orwell’s book used common animals that all people would know about to show the evil of communism. To the people of his time, Communism was a very important topic, so he wanted people to see the destructive nature of communism. To people of our time, it still has relevance because it shows us that communism is not all that is seems. From Animal Farm, we see a book included more for its subject rather than its technical execution. Another book included for its subject over its technical execution is The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In writing this book, Hawthorne addressed the very taboo topic of adultery. This made readers rethink what was appropriate in literature, and this is one of the reasons it is included in the literary canon …show more content…
In the nineteenth century, a good name was worth its weight in gold if not more. Of course, this is also true in this day and age. We do so much to build up a good name for ourselves, so when people hear our name, they automatically know us because of our reputation. People will go to much trouble to make sure their past stay in the past because past actions can creep up and tarnish our good name. Sadly, this is the case for our friend Michael Hanchard. In a drunken stupor, Michael sells his wife. In the short term this is not bad for his reputation because he leaves to a place where no one knows who he is. He cannot escape his past forever, and his secret is eventually found out when the furmity cook rats him out. From that point on, Michael’s name is ruined. Anyone who hears the name Michael Henchard will automatically remember how he sold his wife. This book shows how quickly your reputation can change. It also shows that we must be careful when we are young to not soil our name for years to come (The Mayor of