I often tell students that the goal isn’t to think like me.

It’s to learn how to think well enough that they no longer need me.

That means questioning assumptions. Testing ideas. Following evidence. Being prepared to change your mind when the facts demand it.

It’s just one of the many reasons Literature is such a useful subject for learning how to navigate the world beyond the page.

Octavia Butler‘s advice isn’t really about leaders. It’s about what it means to be a citizen. We are free to choose our leaders. Free to hold opinions. Free to disagree.

A healthy society depends upon people who exercise that freedom responsibly: people willing to think for themselves, but also willing to justify their conclusions. To think carefully before they speak, choose, vote, follow, or persuade.

Orwell understood that language matters.

Butler understood that choices matter.

Literature helps us practise both.

Think freely. Then earn it. As, again, I am fond of saying.

Over to you: tell me about texts you’ve read which deal with themes of rights and responsibilities.