The New York Times included an article about Mr. Chinua Achebe today because he passed away at the age of 82. I remember being captivated by Things Fall Apart when I was required to read it in 8th grade and then sophomore year of high school. I included the article in my blog post, though, because of the following excerpt:

He continued to believe that writers and storytellers ultimately held more power than army strongmen.

“Only the story can continue beyond the war and the warrior,” an old soothsayer observes in Mr. Achebe’s 1988 novel, “Anthills of the Savannah.” “It is the story that saves our progeny from blundering like blind beggars into the spikes of the cactus fence. The story is our escort; without it, we are blind.”

This course has pushed me to think about the importance of literature. The Tedx video, Brooks talk, and this article all highlight the power and influence of storytelling. This influence is not bound to authors and literature. Rather, we communicate through stories all of the time.