Top ten lessons learned in literature

It's Top Ten Tuesday, I almost forgot.

1: People can be disappointing so try not to be disappointed easily.(The Bell Jar)
I'm the sort of girl who gets high hopes for little things, has too much enthusiasm and finds out later that things always work out better internally. 'The Bell Jar' by Sylvia Plath taught me that the only way to enjoy life is to have low expectations or no expectations to begin with. "If you expect nothing from anybody, You're never disappointed".  As much as I agree this is true, I will however always have problems trying not to expect anything from anyone.

2: Being different doesn't mean that you are "wrong"(charlotte Bronte)
Charlotte Bronte said "Conventionality is not morality". As far as I know this was not part of a novel, but seeing as it was said by an author I am allowing it. People who are different and often are bullied for it should know that they are not bad for being different and it is not wrong to be different. I think this also applies to men who cook dinner rather than women. It can still be looked down on in society, but really there is nothing wrong with it.

3.There are double standards when it comes to men and women.(The Bell Jar)
I can't remember the quote exactly, but I believe it was something about how a man can have a double life where he has affairs in one life and is a virgin in another while a woman could only choose one life because of reputations and such. Notice this is still entirely relevant to modern day life. You have 21st Century Buddy Willard's running around who will one day want to marry someone pure and yet he "spoiled" other women for his own sake and doesn't have to worry about feeling bad because it's his basic human right.

4. Hate often Grows out of jealousy."(At home with the templetons by Monica Mcinerny)
I have seen this theme throughout other books such as: 'Thorn on the rose' by Joy dettman and 'The dressmaker' by Posie Graeme-Evans. The fact of the matter is, if people hate you it may have nothing to do with what you have done to them, but more about what qualities you have that they don't. Or in my case it was something small that you had done which became an excuse because they were envious.

5. Be careful who you trust. (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy)
This theme plays a big part throughout the series and is very relevant in modern times. Especially relevant with technology and the "illusions" that are created there in.

6. It's a small world. (The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman)
This lesson goes hand in hand with the "be careful what you say" lesson, because you don't know who people could be related to or friends with or what has happened in their lives etc. And should it come up in a conversation, you could end up on very bad terms with your acquaintance.

7. Imagination is the best remedy.(The Little Princess)
She gets through the tough times with her imagination and I think this technique works pretty well in real life provided that you draw a line between imagination and reality. Otherwise you might just send yourself mad.

8. Cases are not always solved (Numerous Jodi Picoult Books)
The thing is that you don't always find the culprit or the truth or the missing pen. Some things are lost forever or are found many years later when they are of little need to you.

9.Sometimes we confuse our emotions (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen)
'Pride and Prejudice' is a great example of this. How many times do you have two emotions very similar in feel, but completely different meaning and confuse them? Love and hate are both passionate emotions so people often confuse them. My mother allways said that people tend to end up marrying people that they used to hate. And to some small degree I guess that is kind of true.

10. Selfishness and vanity grow on themselves like bacteria (The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde)
I have noticed in a lot of old friends that once we hit high school they became very insecure and decided to go overboard in the make-up department. Insecurity turned into vanity which turned into selfishness. Those people I found were booring to talk to because they only wanted to talk about themselves or their newest boyfriend/body adornment. In the picture of dorian gray it's kind of like that. He likes to have everything his own way and when he can't he does bad things. He doesn't care because he is so selfish.

Hope you enjoyed my Top ten tuesday. Please don't hesitate to check out the rest of my blog.
Your Favourite Cynical Blogger,
Natalie