"The writer in western civilization has become not a voice of his tribe, but of his individuality. This is a very narrow-minded situation"

Aharon Appelfeld's quote speaks to the concept that writers in western civilization have actually become concentrated on their own private voice, rather than the cumulative voice of their tribe. This is a narrow-minded circumstance due to the fact that it disregards the collective experience of a group of people, and instead focuses on the individual experience. This can cause an absence of understanding of the collective experience, and can cause a lack of empathy and understanding of the cumulative experience. It can also result in a lack of gratitude for the collective experience, and can lead to a lack of appreciation for the cumulative knowledge and knowledge that can be gotten from the collective experience. By concentrating on the private experience, writers in western civilization can lose out on the cumulative experience, and can miss out on the cumulative wisdom and understanding that can be gotten from the collective experience.