Words, Words, Words

Son No 1 is full of surprises.

The other night, after a satisfying pasta and pizza dinner at Hartamas Square, the children, seated behind in the car, were discussing death... again. Honestly, we are NOT a morbid family, but I have no control over their topics of conversation.

This time, Son No 2 started it by saying that he was going to eat a lot of good food so that even when he was 80+, he would not die. He never wanted to die... ever.

In reply, Son No 1 eloquently quoted Tolkien, saying "Death is just another path, one that we all must take."

I couldn't believe my ears - my son quoting from literature? I could not place the quote until Son No 1 revealed that it was spoken by Gandalf, the Grey, in Tolkien's trilogy, The Lord Of The Rings. I was terribly impressed, and I told him so. Son No 1 then went on to deliver another quote on death: "To the well-organised mind, death is but the next big adventure."

I was floored. Unwittingly, Son No 1 has learnt the value of literature.

Just a few days ago, we had this debate on why we needed to study literature in school. Son No 1 had written an essay for his English exam which required him to discuss whether some things that were taught in school was a waste of time. In his essay, he condemned English literature. His main thrust was that there was no necessity to study olden English, because nobody used that type of English any more. I think the reason why he formed this view, that literature = olden English, is because his school literature texts, for the past two years, have been the works of Shakespeare, The Merchant Of Venice and As You Like It. Whether Shakespeare is the best choice for an introductory course to Literature for 12-year-olds is a matter of contention but I think the school and the teacher might be blamed for the students' disparagement of the subject. The students were simply not educated on why they needed to study literature or what literature encompassed.

In my defence of the subject, I told Son No 1 that learning literature is about learning to appreciate the beauty of the language, as opposed to learning the form and function of the language which is taught during language periods. What beauty? The beauty of putting complex thoughts elegantly into few words and of using words to vividly paint a picture in a way that the mind has not seen or in forming an imagery.

Wordscraftmanship is not limited to Shakespeare, the classics, nor is it confined to novels. Very often, we see good use of words among the editors and journalists of The Time, New York Times and other respectable periodicals, to paint indelible images in the mind. If one needs further convincing, one just needs to think of the speechwriters for the presidential candidates in the recently concluded American election 2008. They have honed the art for very practical purposes (google: lipstick+pitbull).

I can't quote Shakespeare beyond "All that glitters is not gold" and "If you cut me, do I not bleed?" but all good writers leave something with their readers. To me, this is the other reason for studying literature. The study of human nature is the core of any novel or play. It is during literature lessons that cultural, psychological and human values are discussed and in the study of well-written literature, there is ample opportunity to understand human nature - the causes, the motivations and the effects. In the real world, as in the working world, this is called developing a high EQ. For those with feet planted firmly on the ground, one might then ask, what higher practical value might there be?

Anyway, coming back to my three sons, I have noticed that even Son No 2 has taken to quoting Tolkien. He goes, "my pre..cioussss...." when he wants to express his emotions!

BTW, the title of this entry is taken from Hamlet, Act 2:

POLONIUS: What do you read, my lord?
HAMLET: Words, words, words.

And some of you would have got it correct: the second quote on Death by Son No 1 is spoken by Professor Dumbledore in Harry Potter And The Sorceror's Stone.