Literature is like a hyperlink because both connect ideas, stories, and meanings across time and space. Just as a hyperlink takes us from one webpage to another, literature links different texts, themes, and historical moments. Writers often refer to past works, respond to social issues, or inspire future stories, creating a web of connections. Readers, like internet users, navigate these links, making their own interpretations and finding deeper meanings in the text.

Literature, like hyperlinks, also invites active participation from the reader. When we read a novel or poem, we do not just absorb information passively; we make connections, interpret symbols, and relate the text to our own experiences. A hyperlink allows users to choose their own path, leading them to different perspectives, just as literature allows multiple interpretations. No two readers will engage with a book in exactly the same way, just as no two users will navigate a webpage in the same order. In this way, both literature and hyperlinks create a personalized journey, where meaning is shaped by the choices and understanding of the individual.

Hyperlinks also break the traditional linear path, just like many modern literary works. Some books tell stories in a nonlinear way, jumping between past, present, and future similar to how a hyperlink allows users to explore information in different orders. For example, William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury and Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude weave multiple timelines together, requiring readers to piece together the narrative like following links in a digital space. Similarly, Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse Five disrupt traditional storytelling by shifting between perspectives and time periods. In all these works, meaning is not fixed; each reader brings their own perspective, making every experience unique. Just as hyperlinks create endless paths online, literature opens infinite possibilities for thought and imagination.