When we read the best nineteenth- and twentieth-century novelists, we soon realize that they are trying in a variety of ways to establish a definition of human nature, to justify the continuation of life as well as the writing of novels.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Bellow suggests that major novelists strive to define human nature and justify life and writing through their work.
- In plain terms
- Great novelists try to define what it means to be human and justify living.
- What can you take from it?
- View literature as a tool for exploring and justifying human existence.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What definitions of human nature do you find in novels?
- How does literature justify life to you?
Another view
Not all great novels aim explicitly to define human nature or justify life.
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