The Life and Downfalls of Famous Writers - Research Paper Example

22 November Assignment Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ernst Hemingway are three of the most influential of their time, as well as the modern world today. They were considered to be part of the Romantic Movement and their books and stories have made a great impact on people all around the world. However, these writers also witnessed several downfalls during the course of their lives because of the obstacles that they had to undergo in order to sustain themselves as well as their families and loved ones because they were not able to gain fame and fortune during their lifetimes. Thus, this paper helps to provide an insight into how the stories and books and of these authors depicted the downfalls that they were undergoing during the course of their lifetime, and how the same helped in understanding their morals and principles. Edgar Allan Poe’s writings have been known to be extremely dark and macabre in nature with elements of irony and satire thrown in here and there. He often has been known to focus on the darker aspects of life and is also considered to be one of the earliest practitioners in American literature, of short stories as well as the inventor of the detective fiction genre. Throughout the course of his life, he struggled a great deal financially because he tried to make a career out of writing alone. Poe’s most renowned poem, titled ‘The Raven’, talks about the distraught behaviour of a man’s descent into madness. “From my books surcease of sorrow – sorrow for the lost Lenore – For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore – Nameless here for evermore.” (Poe, Edgar A.) The poem is stylized by a very unnerving and supernatural atmosphere as a man constantly makes the use of a phrase, ‘evermore’, in order to describe his position and condition as he is lamenting, probably, the loss of his love. In another work by Poe titled, ‘The Cask of Amontillado’, the author tries to tell the story through the perspective of a murderer. It revolves around the life of a man who has been buried alive and how that act was completely justified in the name of vengeance and revenge. Thus, through his works, Poe has talked about the kind of life that he was undergoing as well. In ‘The Raven’, Poe tries to deafen his own disgruntled tale of love as he laments the loss of his own Virgina, the girl he had married, who died young, and through ‘The Cask of Amontillado’, Poe has tried his best to talk about how he has murdered his own emotions in order to seek revenge on those that have wronged him. Poe wrote the story in memory of his bricklaying days as he admits to have heard it from someone at that point during his life. Yet another writer that has undergone a great many downfalls during his life is Nathaniel Hawthorne. The author indulged in writing about dark romantic literature as well and was extremely popular during his time. Some of his works, like ‘The Scarlet Letter’, have gone on to become some of the best written novels in the world today. Through his works, he has always tried to depict the moral sins that man has been living with within society, and the kind of harm that he imposes on other human beings around him. He had had a number of romantic upheavals with different women and underwent a slow and painful death because of the illnesses that he had incorporated within his body with time. Hawthorne died in his sleep during his trip to the White Mountains, due to stomach problems which were probably caused due to excessive drinking. He often wrote to other contemporary writers of his age, like Longfellow and Emerson, telling them that he was suffering through writer’s block and that the emotions were not reaching his pen, so that he could put them down on paper and share his thoughts with the world. ("Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) Home Page from Eldritch Press.") Thus, towards the latter half of his life, it had become fairly difficult for him to write about his travails and feelings. Poe said for Hawthorne, “The style of Hawthorne is purity itself. His tone is singularly effective – wild, plaintive, thoughtful and in full accordance with his themes... we look upon him as one of the few men of indisputable genius to whom our country has as yet given birth.” In 1835, Hawthorne wrote ‘Young Goodman Brown’, a short story published in ‘Mosses from an Old Manse’. The story talks about how humanity exists around a state of complete deprivation as only a select few people are born with plentiful of resources and assets, barring whom, people are exploited and have to work hard despite which they are not able to gain an access to a better and more substantial livelihood. The story has been set during the Salem Witch trials where he questions the integrity of each and every man and states that all men are born evil and their only agenda is to cause each person to realise their personal sins. The characters names in the story itself place emphasis on the ironic situations that life has been thrusting upon the various individuals within the purview of Hawthorne’s writings. By the names of ‘Goodman’ and ‘Faith’ he has tried to provide society with a bigger picture of how good men and faith fails to prevail among people who do not believe in such aspects of life at all. The characters live their lives in a very weary manner, keeping a vigil out for everyone that they meet. They do not place their trust upon anyone, and that makes it harder to survive in a society filled with hypocrites and cynical people. Hawthorne’s life story falls under the same category as he went through almost the same situation during the course of his life time. Ernest Hemingway was an American author and journalist who has won the Nobel Prize for Literature and has influenced the 20th century scene with respect to writing and reading literature in America as well as the rest of the world. Throughout the course of his life, he dedicated his services to the World War; he started off with driving an ambulance for the War, a job which left him seriously injured. All his wartime experiences provided him with a great amount of material for his writing and his novels like ‘A Farewell to Arms’ and ‘The Sun Also Rises’ were written in the backdrop of the war and the hardships that he had to encounter personally. (Ernest Hemingway His Life and Works) ‘Hills Like White Elephants’ written by Hemingway talks about psychological and rhetorical manipulation as the author has made use of the words ‘hills’ and ‘white elephants’ to depict fertility and abortion in the life of a couple. Through this story, the author has probably tried to tell people how it is often that people face serious dilemmas which might not lead them to agree on a crucial aspect of their lives. However, despite that, they must not give up. Hemingway himself was married to three different women. His first marriage failed because he was not able to keep up the relationship. He wanted to travel more and was young when it came to understanding a union. Thus, many say that this story talks about the psyche of a man at a young age. Hemingway committed suicide by the time he was 60 as many people suspect that he was suffering from hemochromatosis. In conclusion, Hemingway, Hawthorne and Poe are three American writers who have moulded American literature completely. However this paper has emphasised on how their writing and works related to their personal lives. All three authors went through some very torturous times during their lives and overcame those obstacles by writing about them, and letting their emotions flow freely on paper. Their stories depict certain events and incidents from their lives Works Cited Poe, Edgar Allan. Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1966. Print. Ernest Hemingway His Life and Works. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. . Poe, Edgar Allan, and Gary Kelley. The Cask of Amontillado. Mankato, MN: Creative Education, 2008. Print. "Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) Home Page from Eldritch Press." Eldritch Press. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. . Read More