OK--so can you think of any novels without violence? Without injury or death? I'm sure you can--but I can think of many more that have some sort of violence. Even some of the short stories we have read have violence. For example, in The Chaser we know eventually there will be violence.
If any of you have read The Lord of the Flies, you would probably agree that the author thinks most humans are violent when given the chance and in the absence of rules.
What do you think about this? What books have you read that include violence? What kind of violence was it? What does it say about human nature? How did it impact the novel? Is violence in literature necessary? Why?
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Some books that I have read that have violence are "The Last Days Of Summer" in the end the basebal player is in world war 2 and gets killed saving his buddies", "A Prayer For Owen Meany" Owen dies from loss of blood from a hand grenade explosion and the kid who threw the grenade gets killed with a machete. There is War Violence, Child Violence, Domestic Violence, it is never ending. I think it says that it's only in human nature to be or have violence at some point, i mean think about it, have YOU ever not been violent in some way? The violence plays a key role in novels. For instance if there was no violence, we wouldn't have good vs. evil, no Batman, Superman, Walt Qualski from Grand Torino. Without violence, stories would be boring, they would have no excitement.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that almost every book you read has some type of violence. Whether it's very noticeable or not. In "A Prayer for Owen Meany" he chops off his best friend's index finger to save him from getting drafted. This act of violence demonstrates the trust Johnny had in Owen and how much Owen cared for Johnny to try to save him from being killed in war. Also in this book, Owen is killed saving many children in the end. This is a war type of violence. The boy who threw the grenade had so much hatred built up in him and he needed to take it out on something. All those children never did anything to him, he was just violent. This definitely tells about human nature, because today many innocent people are killed daily because of other violent people that need to take their anger out on something. I think violence in literature is needed most of the time, because it can add to characterization and tell about human nature, and a lot of times the plot revolves around violent scenes (in any action movie or book it's like this).
ReplyDeleteI have sat and tried to think of books without violence in them, and I cannot think of a single one. Violence is in almost every book because it basically sets up the plot, or the conflict. I mean I dont really know a lot of people who would want to read a book or even watch a movie that did not include some kind of violence. You may not knowingly call it violence but it is. There is violence in the simplest of childrens movies( Ratatouille for example, which is lame but true. Humans try and kill the mouse the whole movie.) Nevertheless, I have read Owen Meany which includes voilence. I think that violence says a lot about our culture. It is accepted and perfectly fine on the screen and in novels, but in the world people see it as insane. But really, we all know violence is a part of everyday life. And how do we expect to not make a movie or book without violence in it, and then there not be violence in everyday occurences? As much of a controversial topic as this is, violence is necessary in literature or there would not be a conflict or plot. Violence can occur in many different ways. There is physical violence like bombing, killing, stabbing,etc. But there is also mental and emotional violence ( yelling, degrading, breaking someone down basically).
ReplyDeleteA book that I have recently read that included violence was Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. In the book, there is a school shooting. The violence in this book made it more interesting and was basically the plot of the story. Violence in novels usually makes the book more interesting. I can't think of many books that don't include some type of violence. Although we don't like violence in our everyday lives, we look for it in novels. I think that most humans are violent by nature. When someone (especially guys) gets mad, they take their anger out in a violent way.
ReplyDeleteViolence is a part of human nature, so I believe that a work without ANY violence doesn't quite capture the truth of human nature. There are not many books that don't have violence, because it is so much a part of life.
ReplyDeleteIn Brightly Burning by Mercedes Lackey (again, yes I know) Lavan is a young boy who is bullied by other students of the Collegium. It goes on for so long that a violent and devastating rage builds within him that he doesn't want to have. In this world there i magic given to certain individuals, Lavan was one of them. He had the ability of Firestarting, and the magic awoke explosively and burned and killed the bullies who were there at the time of it's awakening.
Lavan is a sweet person who doesn't like violence, but this gift is needed, no matter how unstable or dangerous it was. War was imminent, he was needed on the front line to hold back the enemy. An enemy assassin killed his true love, the rage over powered him, calling down a literal storm of fire that wiped out the enemy's advancing army, as well as himself.
In that book, violence had a literal physical form by the end of it, and its true still no matter where you look, violence is everywhere, including the best book ever in the world no matter what that book may be.
I can't think of a single book that I've read that didn't contain violence. I like to read mysteries,like books by Patricia Cornwell and John Grisham. Many mysteries contain murders or homicides, which are definitely violent acts. Many people have violent personalities, some will commit murder,and some will get in fist fights. The difference between the two are very different in the eyes of the court. In the book, the murderer got life in prison, while the person who was in the fist fight, didn't even go to court. Violence might not be necessary in literature, but it is used often enough, that you would almost expect it.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that pretty much every novel has violence in it somewhere, well most of them anyway. Violence can represent so many different things. It can represent a conflict, love, sibling rivalry. I think one of the oldest violence stories would be in the Bible. The first act of sibling rivalry, Cain and Abel. Abel gave everything he had to God, but Cain only gave what he didn't mind giving away to God. So God blessed Abel and Cain was jealous. So Cain eventually killed Abel. I can think of quite a few books without violence, but violence sticks out in your mind more. I think that this says a lot about human nature. The fact that when we get angry one of our first reactions is to get violent.
ReplyDeleteA book i have read that include violence would be Deception Point by Dan Brown. The type of violence it was, was a murder of a fellow scientist who discovered something before the other scientist did. It showed to me that the human nature is that if something get in your way, that the best thing to do is to eliminate your opposition. It totally swung the novel in a different direction, by showing that this was much more then just a scientific finding, and it showed to me that the mystery object that was found was much more than just a regular scientific finding. I honestly think that violence is necessary due to the fact that it makes the novels interesting and easy to read by having such intense action.
ReplyDeleteThere are many books I have read that include violence, such as Slaughter House 5, A Prayer for Owen Meany, and Black Hawk Down. In Slaughter House 5, Dresden was fire bombed and millions of innocent people were killed. In A Prayer For Owen Meany, Owen dies because he has a grenade blow off his arm. In Black Hawk Down, countless american soldiers die in a routine mission, when a Black Hawk goes down and they are stuck in the middle of a mob of rebel forces. I believe that violence is necessary in these stories because it makes the stories more real and it shows the sacrifices people make for different causes. This also expresses that people, as a whole, are very violent people. People find violence entertaining and exciting, so it adds to the story.
ReplyDeleteI've read the Lord of the Flies and i agree with the author that humans have a natural violent tendency. It goes back to Darwin's theory of evolution that only the strongest survive. Violence is a part of our history and being and its always been there whether it be towards animals or another human because we had to kill to survive. Violence just makes story juicier because it gives it some body. Take the Romans and the Coliseum violence for them was a lifestyle and with that being said an author uses violence because it's human nature and it's interesting to read.
ReplyDeleteI believe that violence can not only be physical but emotional. In several books I have read they've mostly been girly books so there isn't a whole lot of physical violence but more of an emotional violence. Girls are definitely the most vicious violent things on the planet!!! And I would know because I am one. We stab each other in the back, we love each other and hate each other everyday.
ReplyDeleteI have also read Lord of the Flies and I agree with Michael that the author thinks that humans have a natural tendency to be violent. Violence has shaped humanity for all time. Wars and violence show power and humans strive to be powerful. I think violence helps make a story alot better and more interesting.
ReplyDeleteI can’t think of a book without violence. Violence always plays a big part in a story. It can be physical violence or mental violence. The book I’ll go with at the top of my head, is Impulse, by Ellen Hopkins. In this story, both mental and physical violence plays a big part. It’s basically what brings the three main characters together. I think violence isn’t necessary for a novel, but it definitely makes a good read. Normally, a sort of violence is what brings a reader into the story.
ReplyDeletei agree with everyone else, i cant really think of a book that doesnt have violence in it. Violence doesnt necessarily have to be guns and people getting killed. I like to read the true story books, and even if no one is getting killed there is always some kind of conflict. I mean if you think about it would you really want to read a book with no conflict, to me that would be a pretty borning book. Conflict is the plot and sets up the rest of the story!
ReplyDeleteI don't think i ever have read a novel without violence. Mainly because humans by nature are very agressive. Violence is a big category and can include just a little playground fight to a world war. I think that violence also attracts readers to books as in movies it just seems moer entertaining. Violence in literature doesn't have to be necessary but conflict definitely is a necessity.
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