The Ouroboros has continuously had to eat itself in order to survive and, as such, tragically represents the never ending cycle of life and death. Consisting of a snake that gorges on its own tail, the Ouroboros tends to be one of the more obscure topics in today’s fiction, despite its accurate depiction of the world around it. While human history does tend to repeat itself, as writers, we tend to ponder on three little questions; how, where, and why. In other words, how we write, where we write, and why we write are the main foundations that history will ask us, regardless of our fame or intentions. 

As writers, we have a tendency to record our thoughts for other readers to find. We bring out our own thoughts and perceptions of the world, whether it be through the diction, the settings, the themes, or our own characters. Despite the fact that some of us may say that we’re only writing a story, that we only entertain, we know, deep in our hearts, that there’s more to our answers than that. After all, some of humanity's most precious works weren't cultivated with a desire to be famous, nor were they written just to win some bragging contest.

Writers carry their thoughts and emotions in the words they put down. We carefully craft the plot, create characters based on our own understanding, and derive conflicts supported by what we feel is necessary to challenge both the reader and ourselves. However, we also carry a certain role in allowing readers to see the glimpses of our lives, how we may live, how we may even die. For example, Stephenie Meyer identifies as a Mormon, and in her book, Twilight, the main character carries the classic values of Mormonism. Shakespeare had fallen in love time and time again with both men and women, so his sonnets reflect the beauty of this love. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was written during the time of the Industrial Revolution. As such, she paints a character who was given the ability to play with life, all for the sake of science. Edgar Allen Poe's loved ones had suffered from tuberculosis and, as such, some of his most morbid works contain traces of the disease.

These instances are hardly original. Writers tend to pen everything they've seen, intentionally or unintentionally. This is still happening through today’s fiction. The threats between North Korea and America, the fear of being unable to understand the other’s side, have been a part of humanity for millennia. It’s partly the reason why we can’t seem to learn anything. It's as if we are like the Ouroboros, the cycle of wars, with civilizations rising and falling, a multitude of religions blossoming and fading, continues on, devouring one another without a second thought. 

But despite that, writers have a role to continue to write, and to tell the stories they’ve long sought to tell. Even now, as the world braces for yet another uncertain era, writers must heed to describe the world around them. And if that means being consumed by yet another period of time, then so be it.