Humans are pretty selfish beings if you really think about it. We want to be right, always, and we believe that what we personally believe and our way of life is always the right way to go about things. Even those who say they are open-minded can still be limited by their own lack of opinion or stance on things. All that said, I think it is really important to recognize that reading literature is an extremely humbling experience. It requires you to put your ego aside and read through someone else's eyes: be that the author or a person from the time period of the work. However, this is only necessary if you yearn to experience literature fully. I guess it really isn't necessary, but if you think about it, reading a work of literature through the wrong lense could result in the reader understanding a completely different message than originally intended by the author. You may be reading the novel or story and using your imagination and own personal experience to enhance your experience with the work, but you could be missing key points because you are not really reading with the right intent. I believe that there is a very fine line between reading a novel to enjoy it personally and reading it selfishly. We as readers have to be careful to not pervert the original beauty and purpose of a piece of literature by taking pieces for ourself or reading through biased eyes.
As this chapter pointed out, there are plenty of pieces of literature that may be too much for an audience to agree with or understand fully from the author's point of view. I think that these specific novels and stories are particularly important for us selfish readers because they harshly remind us that some people do have very strong beliefs and ideas that intensely contrast with our own. While I guess some believe it is not necessary to read such novels, I think it can teach a reader to understand another's opinion without agreeing or practicing the same actions. This not only strengthens our ability to read through new lenses but it will ultimately help us to be more open minded in life. That's a little ironic that I say that because actually, while we are acknowledging other's opinions through literature we are sticking to our own beliefs in the end....which basically strengthens our own selfish ego. Oh well, you get what I mean.
I think this will always be a struggle for readers, but not something that truly hinders our way of life or ability to read literature fairly. We will always have trouble reading novels...like a devout Christian would possibly have trouble reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. However, all we need to focus on as readers is making a conscious effort to read literature through the appropriate lenses. This way, we will constantly be expanding our mind which will only support a more glorious and enjoyable experience when dealing with literature. We will discover things normally unseen to our routine day-to-day eyes. On the other hand, as Foster points out, if you really don't want to read it, don't read it. It is important to remind myself that if I choose that option, I am ultimately harming my own reading experience and ability to acknowledge and understand other's opinions and ways of life...so why would I want to do that?
Here's even more! https://prezi.com/i0yealpmm_9y/chapter-25-dont-read-with-your-eyes/
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