Talent Doesn’t Mean Happiness

I chose to do my paper on Ralph Cheever Dunning. Dunning was a poet from Detroit who lived in Paris. One interesting piece of information about his poetry is that he did not appear to have any desire to have his poetry published and fought against it until in 1910 when his first volume of poetry was published. His poetry was not seen much after this until the 1920’s when Ezra Pound convinced him to publish more of his works. Ezra was delighted when Dunning’s poetry was published, but Dunning himself showed little reaction. Dunning’s poetry often included themes about death.

Despite his poetry being fairly recognized as talented works, it was Dunning himself, and not his poetry that garnered the most attention. He did not talk to many people other than his friend Ezra Pound, and he usually remained cooped up in his small room. There were a few other people who managed to engage him in conversation: Samuel Putnam, an American translator and Sisley Huddleston, a British journalist and writer. Dunning was only known to wander out into public on a few occasions, and when he did, it was not to socialize. He would go to loud and crowded cafes and situate himself in front of a book and a glass of milk, silently keeping to himself. He had an addiction to Opium, which often brought on times when he would forget to eat. Ultimately, Dunning died in 1930, an event which he had seemed to be seeking for a long time. His death was caused, many believe, by a refusal to eat while he had tuberculosis. Hemingway portrayed Dunning very well, as he showed not only how unsocial he was, but also how he had a death wish: Hemingway depicts Dunning as standing on the roof of the building, contemplating suicide. Hemingway included references to Dunning’s love for milk and solitude.

I am not quite sure what my argument is going to be, but I have a few ideas. I may try to prove how Dunning and Hemingway treated life in opposite ways yet ultimately both ended up unhappy. Dunning was anti-social and had no drive to get his work published. Hemingway on the other hand enjoyed spending time with friends at cafes, on trips, while fishing, boxing, etc. Hemingway took pride in his work, and even when he knew it was not at its best, he strove always to learn more to improve it and get it published. Dunning died nearly friendless, and he died alone and unhappy (unless we undergo the assumption that death made him happy). Hemingway appeared to love life, yet in the end he was unhappy with many of his decisions in life, including cheating on Hadley with Pauline. Ultimately he committed suicide. I do not know where to go with my argument after this, but I think it is where I will start.

New Experiences of “Street Haunting”

“That bowl on the mantelpiece” the narrator was thinking at her house about the blue and white china bowl, which she got from the old woman at the hotel. The memory of the old women who pulled off her skirt , then she gave her the bowl by giving reason. The old woman wanted to forget everything that happened to her with her husband. The situation that the owner had fought with his wife came to Woolf’s mind. Moreover, the situation made her think that the old woman wanted to jettisoned of the problems that she had. Then the narrator saw the vines laced with the stars up on the sky, this feeling came to her mind, she felt very strong and stable. After that she saw brown stain on the carpet and made her think something happened in the past as the old woman. In my opinion, it is same as the mirror that reflect every action of human life and human mind. All of memories can remind the opinions and value of human’s life.

She went to the pencil shop. Moreover she saw the arguing spouses. They were arguing about finding the pencil at the store. She was thinking about everything happened to her. There were many contrast and weird situations. She described everything deeply, and showed many feelings. “Let us go on and buy this pencil.” Pencil is the excuse as the task of the hand and keep always something in her mind. Moreover she wants to find herself when she goes out. Finally, she purchased the pencil. Although she can not change everything to be better or good, she can change everything she has met by using a pencil.

“Woolf”-ing down the story.

In Virgina Woolf’s “Street Haunting: A London Adventure” the reader is taken on a journey by the narrator, who is in search of a simple pencil. At first, it seems almost idiotic that one would narrate such a small and seemingly meaningless task. It is later revealed, however, that the excursion means much more to the narrator. It quickly becomes quite obvious that the narrator does not get out much, and does not view herself as a significant person. It also becomes apparent that the narrator simply wants to be viewed as beautiful and affluent.

There are also many questions raised within this piece. Woolf causes the reader to question the differences between sadness and happiness, and also which events or material items in life cause those things. In the end, the reader almost has no choice but to question their own happiness, and if it is indeed a form of sadness.

Joys and Sorrows

In her essay “Street Haunting: A London Adventure,” though perhaps not as central themes, Virginia Woolf addresses—or, at the least, mentions—the contrasting ideas of happiness and sadness as evoked in the narrator or noticed in others when walking the winter evening streets of London. Woolf describes the idea of second-hand bookshops being a place to “balance [oneself] after the splendours and miseries of the streets,”(Woolf 12), suggesting that the streets are home to images which elicit a wide range of emotion, so as to incorporate both splendorous and miserable substance, not merely one end of the emotional spectrum or the other. She also mentions that, thinking back to six months before this particular city stroll, she had known “the happiness of death,” but that now she feels only “the insecurity of life”—she explains that six months ago, she metaphorically had had “no future,” but that “the future is even now invading [her] peace,”(Woolf 15). Perhaps these mentions of bliss and melancholia are intended to describe the diversity of the emotions of city streets, exemplifying how neither pure contentment nor pure distress are products of walking in the city.