By Mariachiara Catanzariti
Collage by Sadie Marashian
When the world feels unpredictable and chaotic, many students look for information beyond the fast media cycle. To some, literature offers a way to engage and reflect more critically with stories that would otherwise be susceptible to becoming statistical values rather than lived human experiences. Therefore, it can serve as a tool for understanding political, ethical, and social tensions. By speaking to three students about a book that shaped their thinking, The Herring explores how literature can help make sense of a complex world.
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
When asked about a book that influenced her worldview, Indigo Morgenstern, first-year Science major, referred to Half of a Yellow Sun. Set during the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970), the novel follows the lives of several characters from different social backgrounds as they navigate political conflict, violence, and displacement. Through their experiences, the story portrays how war transforms both personal relationships and national identity.
Morgenstern identifies parallels between the dehumanisation of victims depicted in the novel and those unfolding in the world currently, even if they occur in very different contexts. Reflecting on the general value of literature as an informational tool, Morgenstern believes that books offer a broader perspective on complex issues compared to mass media. She explains that they give you a more nuanced view “because you spend more time with them and they tend to cover a longer time span”. In this way, for Morgenstern, literature becomes more than an abstract concept: “every quality fiction book I’ve read has contributed to the development of my cognitive empathy, which is my primary tool in making sense of current events”.
The 25th Hour by Constantin Virgil Gheorghiu
First-year Social Science major Sara Morariu selected The 25th Hour as a book that helped her understand the world. Set during the Second World War and its aftermath, the novel follows a Romanian civilian whose identity is repeatedly reclassified by the government. It exposes how individuals can become trapped within political regimes beyond their control and illustrates how shifting ideologies and rigid institutions reduce them to administrative categories rather than human beings.
For Morariu, this book is a portrayal of industrialisation that is depicted “not only through machines, but through systems that begin to treat humans as standardised units rather than individuals with emotions and limitations”. Morariu interprets the prose as drawing a clear comparison between the efficiency of artificial intelligence and human expression. She explains that when human value is placed in competition with perfectly optimised machines, it becomes a race in which humans are inherently disadvantaged.
Yet, rather than presenting a purely pessimistic outlook, she reflects on the role books have played in helping her critically engage with the future of technological progress. She comments that: “it is more of a personal dilemma in which everyone must decide how they want to engage with technology, but it is important to understand the mechanisms behind it and the potential drawbacks of relying too heavily on AI”.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
For first-year Science major Asia Kutela, Lord of the Flies is a book that resonated deeply. The novel follows a group of schoolboys stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash, where, without adult authority, they attempt to govern themselves. Over time, their attempt at order collapses into conflict and violence, illustrating how fragile social rules and hierarchies can be when removed from institutional structures. This narrative offers a reflection on human nature and the power dynamics reinforced by civilisation, also revealing the fragility of the social order and the rules it imposes.
To Kutela, the book’s portrayal of hierarchical structures almost aims to prove the artificiality of the social order by adapting to a simpler and distant context. She reflects that “it added to my sense of what I can know: another piece of information that broadens my perspective. It makes me question why those in power make the decisions they do, and what motivates them”. In doing so, to her, literature becomes a powerful tool for political and social awareness.
The Herring 