Katelyn Aguinaga 

AP Literature 
Nov. 15th, 2019 
 
Humanity in Literature 
 
A human is an advanced descendent of a primate mammal- true. Humans are made up 
of oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and other elements and organic material- also true. But humans 
are so much more than that. Literature loves to remind us that humans aren’t just living beings- 
people mean something to life. Every piece of literature I have read had something to say about 
the meaning of life, even if it was a subtle or brief opinion. I’ve also read books that are ​all 
about how people can have ​no​ humanity- it’s crazy, literally. But that level of insanity is just 
another level of being human so it counts.  
Some authors can go on and on about what it means to be human and other authors 
like to keep it short and sweet. And there are ​those​ authors who hide their opinions about 
humanity under a hundred layers of symbolism that feed every English teacher’s hunger to 
theorize and interpret. But, personally, I like to analyze those authors who keep it simple. And, 
you guessed it, that is ​exactly​ what I’m about to do.  
Let’s start off with a “modern classic”, shall we? Ah yes, the most powerful 
coming-of-age story I have ever read, ​The Perks of Being a Wallflower​ by Stephen Chbosky. I 
couldn’t truly absorb or understand what this book was saying the first time I read it- it kind of 
went over my head. However, this books meant a lot more to me and spoke to me more clearly 
when I read it in high school versus reading it in elementary school. What easier way to relate 
to a story about a freshman in high school than being a freshman in high school yourself?  
Stephen wrote this story to be about a common human experience: growing up. In this 
story, Charlie writes his experience as it happens in the form of letters. This character already 
has an almost magical view of the world and being friends with older kids spurs these 
moments on. In a car ride after his first homecoming dance in a car with two seniors, he 
listened to a song, but he chooses not to list the name of the song because “...it’s not the 
same unless you’re driving to your first real party...when it starts to rain” (Chbosky 33). Charlie 
has associated that song with a beautifully “infinite” moment and believes he can only 
appreciate that song again with a similar experience. It’s a moment that can’t be easily 
recreated and it's the one he’ll remember for the rest of his life. This is something every child 
growing up has. It’s an important point Chbosky makes early on in this novel and repeats 
throughout. 
To continue, let’s look at another sort of coming-of-age story but with a tragic love 
aspect. A book that has probably made at least most of its reader tug at their hearts, ​The Fault 
in Our Stars​ by John Green. ​This​ book, this ​book​. You know, there is just something about 
killing off a beloved character that really gives an author the incentive to talk about life.  
Green wrote two characters, Hazel and Augustus, who didn’t have many choices in life. 
But that changed when they met each other. Both living with cancer, they learn how to 
overcome that struggle and live their lives to their fullest potential together no matter what. In a 
proof of his love, he writes a letter to Hazel’s favorite author, writing “...but you do have some 
say in who hurts you. I like my choices. I hope she likes hers” (Green 313). Augustus was 
happy with the way he lived his life and the choice he made to spend the rest of his youth with 
Hazel. He knew that some things are out of his control, but he utilized every decision he could 
make possible. He knew he could only experience a short love, but he chose to make it a great 
love with Hazel. This love Green writes is a short but beautiful one and it’s one that cannot be 
regretted. He very hopefully establishes that even a short life is worth more if you live it doing 
the way you choose to, the way you ​want​ to. So, thanks for breaking our hearts, John, to teach 
us a valuable lesson about life.  
However, these are just the more modern books, but delving into the older classics can 
probably tell us something similar about people and life. But these few pieces of literature 
above tell us that to be human means experiencing life to your own will. If you can’t pick your 
own path, pick which moments you want to remember forever, choose who you want to love, 
or follow your own heart, are you really living? Are you really ​human​? If I didn’t have that 
freedom, freedom to live how I want and make my own decisions, I wouldn’t feel like a person. 
And, to me, it makes sense why writers would feel this way. These authors chose to write these 
carefully crafted stories and characters to create something that they enjoy and that can be 
enjoyed by the rest of the world. If they couldn’t write those stories, who would they be? Would 
they be happy if they couldn’t do what they loved? No, I sincerely doubt it. 
But, then again, this feeling is almost universal. The idea of freedom being a need to be 
happy isn’t a new idea. People have treasured freedom and free will since the opposite (prison, 
slavery, etc.) was created. And writers have taken the opportunity many times to write out this 
feeling of true freedom in life because writers want to ​share​ that feeling. Humans have been 
given that gift- being able to feel. We sure have come a long way from being simple primates, 
huh? Gotta hand it to evolution. The essence of time knew that people were meant more for life 
and authors are just a few of the people who are trying to acknowledge the rest of the world of 
what that is.  
 Works Cited

Chbosky, Stephen. ​The Perks of Being a Wallflower.​ Pocket Books, 1999. Print.

Green, John. ​The Fault in Our Stars.​ Dutton Books, 2012. Print.