The Significance of Legacies in The Things They Carried,

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In life, stories are an essential component of human survival and success. Stories enable people’s legacies to continue even when they pass away. Also, stories allow the storyteller freedom to share what he chooses to. The significance of stories is demonstated throughout literary works. Some works that show the significance of stories include, The Things They Carried, The Big Fish, “The Evolutionary Case for Great Fiction” and “For Better Social Skills, Scientists Recommend a Little Chekhov.” Stories are an essential aspect to human life because of their ability to keep memories alive as they aid man in coping with death and post-traumatic stress. Also, stories play an important role in many different areas ranging from the survival of a species to preparation for a job interview.

One of the most beneficial aspects of stories is that they help keep memories alive. The ability of stories to keep memories alive allows regular humans to seem immortal because even after they pass away, they are always remembered through their stories. In the movie The Big Fish, Will Bloom touches on this point by stating, “A man tells his stories so many times that he becomes the stories. They live on after him, and in that way he becomes immortal.” This quotation indicates that after a man tells his story enough times, people remember him by that story and therefore when he dies, they continue to remember that story and tell it as if he were alive. The fact that stories have the power to keep someone’s legacy alive is astonishing. It is so important to mankind because of the suggestion that a story can help someone overcome a major loss. They help console people when someone close to them dies, as that loved one continuous to live on t...

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...ing empathy, social perception and emotional intelligence.” Here is something that many people wouldn’t consider, but could prove to be crucial in an important job interview. It could be the difference in landing a dream job or not. It’s fascinating that simply reading stories can prove so rewarding! Stories have countless positive effects on humans.

Stories are necessary aspects in our everyday life. From helping us remember a loved one to preparing for an interview, stories are extremely beneficial. I hear stories everyday and they help me as I overcome the loss of my favorite uncle. He was a great man and is still present everyday because of the impact stories of his great legacy have. Without stories, I would be sad every day that he is no longer physically with me, but I always hear of the great things he did and it consoles and comforts me greatly.

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