Morrison believes that writers’ works are an essential necessity for the world, because they help to raise public awareness about certain topics and realities. While in many countries authorities try to make people blind to those issues, writers have the power to create “meaning in the face of chaos”, bringing the truth to light (“Peril by Toni Morrison”). I agree with Morrison’s opinion because I know about numerous cases of journalists and writers being prosecuted and punished for writing something that was considered inappropriate or posed risks for authoritarian regimes and political figures.
Writing is invaluable in all situations and context, but it is especially important in such regimes. Morrison refers to this social oppression as “coma on the population”, and I think that it is a very accurate description of the public attitudes in such countries (“Peril by Toni Morrison”). She reminds the readers that life without art would be bleak and insufferable, and that is why writers who manage to express their protests in art are extremely important. They show people that there is a chance to fight the oppression, that people still have the right to do it.
The idea of writers’ works being a necessity for the world is also important in relation to environmental writing. First, environmental writers educate the public about pressing ecological problems and the ways to solve them. Second, they often face challenges and obstacles to their art as well. For example, journalists who expose unethical and illegal practices related to natural resources in their pieces may be subjected to censorship by certain governmental agencies. However, many of them continue to write investigative articles, because they understand the importance of raising public awareness about these crucial issues.
Reference
Peril by Toni Morrison (and the necessity of writing). (n.d.). Julie Tallard Johnson. Web.