Into the Ground, Into Fame

A Movable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway can basically be summed up as a broke writer's laments on his fun in Paris during World War 2. In realizing this, I have come to a conclusion: Great writers who are broke in life will make their fame when they're dead. This may seem dreary, having to suffer your whole life broke then only being famous after you are six feet under the earth, but look at all of the great names we know that wrote renowned works that were only cared for after they are dead. Edgar Allen Poe, Emily Dickinson, Franz Kafka, and obviously Hemingway. All are paragons of exemplary writing and are studied by all students in public and private school classrooms across the U.S. Yet, they were broke and sold cheap little stories just to put bread on the table.

What is it about the writer's condition that you must barely survive long enough to create amazing works, then die and wait for those books to become bibles for English teachers. I can't imagine living like that. The sad thing is that writer's aren't the only group that does live that way. Ever heard of "starving artists"? These are people that strive to be like Van Gogh and will spend their time painting instead of eating so that they can die and be remembered the same way.

If Hemingway's book has taught me anything, it has taught me that some people can be so dedicated to their work, they don't even care they won't be around to see it in art galleries and book stores. They just do it to do it. Every other page in this book is about Hemingway writing little dime stories so he doesn't have to starve. Yet he quit his other writing job (higher paying) because it wasn't satisfying writing. That is like a college or NFL football coach deciding to quit and teach Pop Warner just because he wants to coach the younger ones where it is more rewarding. You don't see that dedication every day, and you especially don't see that dedication ever paying off. Hemingway made it happen though, Ill give him credit. To go out on that limb and just hope for the best take heart. I hope I have that much heart some day when it comes for me to make some kind of risk.