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An Examination: Literature As Perfect In Every Way. "The more things change, the more they stay the same." When Alphonse Karr said this, he could easily have been talking about the themes in Western literature. There is a theme which runs through literature from Homer to our century, like a seam of gold in a rock. No matter what the actual matter is, almost all literature depicts it in this way: it shows human beings, not as they are, but as they should be. All literature is to some extent an idealization, a depiction of a sort of perfect being, beyond the reach of any human. This is not to say that all characters in literature are angels, or perfectly good: that is obviously false. But even flawed or downright evil characters are, in a way, perfect and idealized in their evilness. To prove this thesis, this paper will begin with Homer, the first writer in the Western literary tradition, and continue right up to century: the idealized depictions are consistent throughout. 4 pgs. 0 f/c. 9b.
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