Literature is an interpretation and criticism of life through writing. It is an imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value. It is an imitation of human action. It is a tool which provides a dual action – first as a mirror to the oppressor, and second, as a guide and inspiration to the oppressed. It presents a picture of what people think, say, and do in the society. It reflects the society, its good values, and its ills in order to correct and teach moral values. In its proper function, “it mirrors the ills of the society with a view to making the society realize its mistakes and make amends.”1 It also projects the virtues or good values in the society for people to emulate. Rebecca West, a pure critic of literature says that “True literature is an analysis of experience and a synthesis of the findings into a unity.”2
In the contemporary world, literature has gained much more significance due to its artistic advance, lasting quality, and value to society. Most of the writers transforming the real life events, “the problems and malaises of modern life, replete with the phenomenon of migration, displacement, dispossession, alienation, fragmentation, stress, depression, and neurosis”3 into a literary piece of writing to expose them to the society. They believe that through literature, oppressed minorities could gain recognition and an action taken by the elite. Marina Nemat, the author of Prisoner of Teheran and the winner of the first