The Genius Behind Hemingway and Michelangelo - Essay Example

? The genius behind Hemingway and Michelangelo The paper addresses the lives, experiences, and careers of two artisticwriters, Hemingway and Michelangelo. The study means to unearth the genius nature of these two personalities, regarding their artistic lives, how they compare and contrast. This is also within the objective of this paper to seek the challenges faced by these people, and hoe they reacted to them. The source of inspiration for their written work will also be sought in this paper. The paper will highlight some examples of works done by the two writers, assessing the theme of these works and the nature of language and style use. The paper seeks to know how the writers are different, and how these differences have made their works different. The reasons that have afforded the two personalities to rank among the famous of the ancient writers are also addressed here. The paper also goes an extra mile and assesses how these people followed or parted with their career paths after school. Introduction Although his style of writing was not well applauded, the works of Hemingway has had a far-reaching effect in generation after the other (Michael, 2002). Most notable is fiction and creative nature of nature of his writings that later became a mode of writing that was highly appreciated and sort after by many writers of the present generation. His works included a number of novels, a collection of short stories, and some non-fiction work. Since most of these were writings of a humorous nature, they have been considered a love of many in America. Most of his works were significantly shaped by the experiences he got in Italy as driver, World War 1. For his love of writing and correspondence, he went to act as a journalist in spain, which inspired more his writing his second novel. He was fond of marrying and divorcing, having married four wives and divorced them. Born of a well to do family of parents who had different careers, the career of her mother, as a musician influenced his writing. Though he did not like her mother that much he derived his positive virtues of strength and enthusiasm from her. On the other hand, Michelangelo’s life was a bit different. Born of a banker as his father, his mother died at an early stage when he was just 6 years old. Most of his life was spent not under his parents care (Gerald, 1998). Probably this imparted the isolated nature in his life that he lived thereafter. His life did not entail lots of adventure, but instead carving skills that enhanced his love for artwork, painting and sculptor. Though he has done many poems, numbering well to about 300, he never considered himself a good writer, referring to his written work as foolishness. He did not take pleasure in high-class lifestyle, having his way of life described as weird. Although he did not get much following in terms of personal lifestyle, his great works has been an icon to the subsequent generations. Both writers compare, in that they had various activities that did not give them a specified line of career. While Michelangelo acted as writer, sculptor, a painter, and a poet (Gerald, 1998), Hemingway acted as a driver, a journalist, and a correspondent. They both appear similar in carving an empire of fame in their career lives. While Hemingway became a famous award-winning writer, Michelangelo carved his fame empire in the world of painting, sculptor, and writing. They both share the pioneering roles in the line of their activities. Hemingway pioneered the art of fictional writing, while Michelangelo pioneered the approach referred to as mannerist. They rank among the first people to have their biographies written, with Michelangelo’s biography being written before he died. The two personalities happened to be born of career parents, with Hemingway’s father being a physician while Michelangelo’s father was a banker, though he shifted his careers. Another area compared is inspiring students during their school days. While the artwork of Michelangelo was an inspiration to the rest of the students in his class, Hemingway is writing skills inspired many of his classmates. He could write articles for the school magazine, which were exceptional, and they ended up being published. Yet another similarity is the fact that both were affected by wars which were common during their teenage years, giving them reasons to move and visit different places. However the two writers defers in several fronts. At childhood, Hemingway (Charles, 1997) participated in a lot of outdoor activities and adventures, which included hunting. His interaction with the nature has shape his writing. Michelangelo on the other hand did not have more of adventures, spending most of his time in a quarry, where he learnt the art of stone cutting. Another contrasting element of the two personalities is; while Hemingway was a multi- disciplinary student (Michael, 2002), participating in sports and extra-curricular activities, Michelangelo only specialized in artwork. The other contrast associated with the two writers is the fact that Hemingway did not follow his career path after schooling. He engaged in different careers, as opposed to Michelangelo who followed his art career even after school, without indulging himself some other different activities. Worth noting is the fact that they had different contexts and environments that shaped their works. While Hemingway’s artwork was shaped by the experiences he obtained from participating in wars, both as an ambulance driver and a journalist, Michelangelo’s case was different. His works was inspired by the religious environment and context in which he spent most of life under. The other contrast is that Michelangelo liked an isolated life, which was considered weird, which was opposed to the outgoing nature of Hemingway. While there are some allegations that Michelangelo had a romantic and physical love for men, it is different from that for Hemingway whose love for women was immense. Both of the artists were faced by some similar challenges. They lacked a good mastery of writing styles and language, which eventually saw them labeled as amateur writers. Although, Hemingway wrote different sort of writing, inclusive of novels, poems and short stories, he had a poor mastery of writing styles (Charles, 1997). However, this worked to his advantage by helping him carve an empire of his own in narrative writing, through fiction. Michelangelo (Farley, 1990) on the other hand actively participated in artwork of painting and sculptor making, undertaking a few writings in poetry. The same challenge of lack of mastery of language and style faced him too. The best of their character is the energy they upheld, that did not let them give up their writing activities, even though they did not possess the coveted style and language for writing. Coincidentally an aspect of their lives is that they faced the challenges of resistance. While Hemingway was resisted by his lovers and wives, Michelangelo was resisted by the wider society for his artwork, which was said to be oriented in nakedness. However, this did not deter the two personalities from undertaking their activities. The resistance experienced by Hemingway inspired his writings, while Michelangelo resistance motivated more of his paintings and sculptors (Farley, 1990). They possessed similar response to challenges through doing more of what was being resisted. This served to give them a hall of fame that has inspired later generations. In the examples of poems written by Michelangelo, the (‘Doom of Beauty’ and ‘Celestial Love’) he wails of love that is not satisfactory. The idea behind these poems is that love can hold people to some form of imprisonment. Though the poem lacks the style and language most identifiable in poetry, he has delivered his message home in an understandable manner. In the examples of poems written by Hemingway, (‘poem’ and ‘good guys dead’), he demonstrates his poetic nature, though not in the very explicit poetry style. The two poems are both mourning of people killed an indication of how war had shaped his writing perspective. The above examples are meant to show how the environment shaped the writing themes of the two writers. In conclusion, the above discussed personalities were unique in a way. They happened to carve an empire of fame, even though they did not possess the right language and style of writing. They seem to have been influenced a lot by the environment they interacted with, which shaped most of the themes in their writings. Though the two personalities involved in different career activities, their commonality is the strength to continue with their work, even when resistance faced them. It is this virtue that enabled them to get recognition as the outstanding personalities of their time. Nevertheless, they differed in personal trait with Hemingway being adventurous and outgoing, while Michelangelo was an isolated person this contrast, however, did not hinder them from making an impact in the society and living a legacy to the generation that followed. Works cited Charles, O. (1997). The legendary Hemingway: A significant attribute in his literally work. New York: Checkmark Publishing. Farley, P. (1990). Paintings and Sculptors: The element of fine arts introduction and applications. New York: Routledge Publishers. Gerald, H. (1998) Michelangelo: The study of the art of mushroomed cultures. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Michael, R. (2002). Ernest Hemingway: A Brief history: Historical Biography of Ernest Hemingway. Oxford: Oxford University press. Read More