The idea of pen friends came into a being as a method to master writing in a foreign language. It began with the advent of postal service. During the colonial era, when acquiring fluency in a European language such as English was important, it was popular to have a pen friend.
This grew into a hobby with an increasing number of people finding it pleasant to interact with someone from a completely different culture.
Pen friends have also been used by many movements to promote peace and harmony in times of war.
Helen Fortney from southern Michigan wrote to Kurt Maybaum in Germany for 23 years. With her hu sband Matt, she met Kurt in the 1970s and created a lasting friendship between both their families. Had Kurt and Matt met earlier as soldiers belonging to different camps during the War, they might have killed each other.
In literature, friendship through letters has produced some interesting reads such as The Perks of being a Wall Flower by Stephen Chbosky. It sees a boy, Charlie, grow up through a series of letters that he writes to a stranger. Kunal Basu’s short story The Japanese Wife delves into another situation where pen friends fall in love with each other and get married but never meet.
Source:-The Hindu
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