Monday, August 19, 2013

Austen/Montaigne Essay

      When you compare David Foster Wallace to Montaigne you notice some similarities like their great philosophical thinking that they have trouble putting into words.  Wallace describes that feeling in his story "Good Old Neon" when he says "What goes on inside is just too fast and huge and all interconnected for words to do more than barely sketch the outlines of at most one tiny little part of it at any given instant".  However when you compare that writing style to that of Austen it is harder to find a similarity.
      Montaigne's essays are really just rough, unorganized thoughts and ideas that go through his mind that he tries to capture, but much like Wallace, he has trouble putting all those ideas into words.  The main focus of Montaigne is to try and convey what is happening inside his mind, rather than put together a story with characters and plot development which is exactly what Austen does in Pride and Prejudice.  Austen focuses her story on the life of a young adult living in the early eighteen hundreds.  What the two authors have in common though is that through their writing they are both showing their views and opinions on the society they are living in.
      Although these authors might be complete opposites, their goal is still the same; to evoke a feeling from their readers and to get their point across.  

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