How Does Literature Affect The Mind Of The Reader?

Experiencing a piece of literature is like becoming a mind-reader. Books and other formats of literature offer readers a unique passage into the brain of the author, allowing them to see into the writer’s inner thoughts, feelings, fears, and hopes. Unfortunately, books are limited in length and unlike seeing the author’s complete raw thoughts, a lot is left up to the interpretation of the reader. The thoughts of the author displayed on paper are purposefully calculated and edited, leaving out major pieces of information, encouraging the reader to fill in the blanks by his or herself, and making the experience feel less like mind-reading, and more like a distinctive personal experience. The piece of literature becomes less about the author and more about the reader. Although the author of a work of literature creates a story and purposefully chooses words and literary …show more content…
By considering the time period Carroll lived in and his background as a mathematician, many believe that the novel was actually written as an “elaborate satire of modern mathematics.” (cracked.com) while an article on bbc.news analyzes Carroll’s personal life and asserts the author had no intention of meaning. The article includes a quote by Anthony Browne, the illustrator of the 1988 edition of the novel who proves the audience’s role in determining meaning and influence by claiming that, “People interpret books in a logical way as they do dreams. They want it to have meaning. Alice in Wonderland is not to be read as a logical book. There could be some hidden meanings in there, especially considering Carroll was a mathematician during his lifetime, whether he was aware of such meanings subconsciously or not.” Carroll wrote the book with no intention of meaning, but solely to entertain; the entire importance of the novel was created by the