Thomas Wolfe: Madison McElheney

Thomas Wolfe: Explorer and Novelist

Thomas Wolfe was born October 3 1900 in Asheville, North Carolina. Thomas Wolfe's mother was a teacher, and he grew up spending much of his time in her boarding house growing to be extremely intellegent. He started off at a public school at age 6 and by request of his teachers was asked to move to a privet school at age 11. At age 15 he entered the university of Chapel Hill where he had an awkward experience. Thomas Wolfe was the school newspaper editor and had seen many plays by Carolina play writers by the time he graduated. After Chapel Hill he planned to be a dramatic and play writer and went along to Harvard. After he excelled at Harvard he went to New York where no one would produce his plays because they were so long. While he waited for his chance for one of his play to be discovered he was a college professer at a school in New York. Wolfe took a trip to Europe in 1926 where he gave up play writing and wrote, revise and published the novel Look homeward, Angel: A story of the buried life. Wolfes book inspired him to keep writing and began his travels to Europe to explore topics for his next novel.

Wolfes books were about his experiences in New York, or Asheville and also, Europe. He reminisced on the things he did and the times he had there and turned them into stories. Six years after look homeward, Angel: A story of the buried life, he published a new novel called of time and of the River. This book explained the adventures of the character in New York, Asheville and Europe. In October of 1924 He sailed to Europe as what was one of the 7 trips he took there. On his voyage home from France, Switzerland and Italy he met a woman named Mrs. Aline Bernstein who became his mistress. She was one of the most positive influences in his life and he once again traveled back to Europe to explore and see her. Thomas Wolfe was also inspired by works of French writers such as Betty Smith.

Thomas Wolfe died on September 15, 1939 of tuberculosis of the brain eighteen days before his 38th birthday. Although he had a short life, he filled it with travelling and exploring different ways to make his novels more interesting. He was inspired by many things, places and one special girl in particular. His travels through Europe and France inspired his novels with landscape and scenery he could never include if he had not explored the beautiful places himself.

Questions:

1.)What brought your person to France? Was there a particular reason he or she left America to pursue their work in France.

Thomas Wolfe was inspired by the places he traveled to and experiences he had there. He was also brought back to Europe and France and Italy 7 times not only by travel but by a woman he labeled as his mistress. He left America to continue his work because he was no just a paper and pen novelist but one who had to visually see to write something magnificent. Europe offered the views and experience he needed to put into a book that would capture the attention of its readers.

2.)Why France? What did your person find appealing or inspiring about France? How did this show up in their work.

Thomas Wolfe was inspired by France and Europe as a whole. While he was in the fabulous places he wrote many stories about his own experiences there that became wonderful well known novels. He wrote 4 lengthy novels based on his travels and experiences in amazing places such as France and Europe. He also found inspiration in the people he came in contact with and his mistress who brought him much happiness and positive influence towards his writing. Thomas Wolfe found inspiration in France becauce of his time spent there.

This Sample from Tom Wolfes writing is from A Man in Full.

He wrote this about an experience in France most likey while he was in France. Not only is there influence from a French outlook on this person but also the views of other places he has traveled and observed. Raleigh, Chapel Hill, New York and other places show through in this excerpt.

"The girl swung her hips in an exaggerated arc each time the fiends hit the
BOO of BOOTY. She was gorgeous. Her jeans were down so low on
her hips, and her tube top was up so high on her chest, he could see lots of her
lovely light-caramel-colored flesh, punctuated by her belly button, which looked
like an eager little eye. Her skin was the same light color as his, and he knew
her type at a glance. Despite her funky clothes, she was a blueblood. She had
Black Deb written all over her. Her parents were no doubt the classic Black
Professional Couple of the 1990s, in Charlotte or Raleigh or Washington or
Baltimore. Look at the gold bangles on her wrists; must have cost hundreds of
dollars. Look at the soft waves in her relaxed hair, a 'do known as a Bout
en Train; French, baby, for "life of the party"; cost a fortune; his own
wife had the same thing done to her hair. Little cutie, shaking her booty,
probably went to Howard or maybe Chapel Hill or the University of Virginia;
belonged to Theta Psi. Oh, these black boys and girls came to Atlanta from
colleges all over the place for Freaknic every April, at spring break, thousands
of them, and here they were on Piedmont Avenue, in the heart of the northern
third of Atlanta, the white third, flooding the streets, the parks, the malls,
taking over Midtown and Downtown and the commercial strips of Buckhead, tying up
traffic, even on Highways 75 and 85, baying at the moon, which turns chocolate
during Freaknic, freaking out White Atlanta, scaring them indoors, where they
cower for three days, giving them a snootful of the future."

3.) What do you think of your person's work? Does it appeal to you? Why or why not?

I think that Thomas Wolfes work is mostly geared towards adults and an older crowd. Some of his work has cursing and explicit topics but they are all about real life and interesting events. His novels are real they do appeal to me in some ways. Some things I have read by him have made me want to read the rest of the book and some I found a bit too old for me.

"He went in the mean little kitchen and turned on the light. A cockroach was
sitting on the rim of a dirty frying pan on the stove. Well, the hell with it.
He made Maria her vodka-and-orange juice and then poured himself an Old
Fashioned glass full of scotch and put in some ice and a little water. He sat in
one of the bentwood chairs across the table from her. He found that he wanted
the drink very badly. He longed for each ice-cold burning jolt in his stomach.
The car fishtailed. Thok. The tall delicate one wasn't standing there
any longer."

Clips such as these are indeed for an older audience but also fill me with suspense and make me want to read more about whats going on in the story. His writings are also very descriptive and detailed making the story feel real and help you imagine yourself in the situation the characters are in.

4.)Based on what you know about the person and the samples you've found, would you be intersted in more of their work? Why or why not?

Based on what I know about Thomas Wolfes writing and travels I would be very interested in reading more about his experiences in North Carolina and especailly France and New York, two places I would love to go. Even from the samples I have read I know I would be intersted in more of his work.