A Research Paper On Thom Wolfe – One Of The Most Influential Writers

Thomas Clayton Wolfe was an extremely talented author and individual. He wrote about his experiences as an American with such power, energy, and passion. He was uncontrollably talented and wrote often. He was blessed with the ability to express himself so beautifully through his writing. Thomas Clayton Wolfe was born on October 3, 1900 in Asheville, North Carolina. His parents were William Oliver and Julia Elizabeth Westall Wolfe. His father was originally from Pennsylvania while his mother was from North Carolina. His father was a stonecutter. In 1904, his brother Grover Cleveland Wolfe died. Grover was not the first of the Wolfe children to die. When he was five years old, he began attending public school in Asheville. He continued to go to public school for seven years. In 1912 he transferred to a private school. There a woman named “Margaret Roberts was a major influence on his life and work”. She encouraged him to study poetry and classical literature. The private school was operated by Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Roberts. After that he continued his studies by enrolling in The University of North Carolina. There he began his studies as a freshman in the year 1916. Two years later Wolfe became a civilian worker in Norfolk during the summer of 1918. That fall, he took a playwright class at The University of North Carolina. His instructor was a man named Professor Frederick H. Koch. Wolfe performed a one-act play called ‘The Return of Buck Gavin’. He performed this play on March 14-15, 1919. Thomas Wolfe, like any other person, had struggles in his life. It is safe to say that Wolfe may have struggled as a child growing up, especially with the occurrence of the death of his siblings and family members. That had to be somewhat traumatic for him, everyone dying so early in his life. His family members could’ve possibly died from Tuberculosis, which would explain his fear of the disease. His mother also created a home to help aid those dying from the dreadful disease, that may have also encouraged this fear of death so early into his life. Thomas Wolfe had many great achievements throughout his life, but there are three that stand out against all his other accomplishments and milestones. His experiences helped to create passionate and beautiful literature that inspired many young authors. Thomas Wolfe began on what would be the first of his trips to Europe. He travelled to many places throughout Europe such as England, France, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland.

It was on these trips that he met a young woman named Aline Bernstein. She would later become his mistress in the year 1925. Aline Bernstein was very important to Wolfe and played a very influential role in his life. “In 1930 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship and made his fifth European tour”. He returned from this trip in 1931 and began living in Brooklyn. Thomas Wolfe took the last of his European trips in the years 1935 and 1936. He spent most of his time on European trips in Germany, where he was most popular. “In 1936, leaving Berlin on a train, an incident with a Jew trying to escape Germany forced him to recognize the cruel nature of the Nazi state.” When Wolfe returned home, he wrote I Have a Thing to Tell You, which portrayed the disgusting behavior of the Nazis. “Like many of his short novels, it was later incorporated in expanded form in one of his novels, in this case You Can’t Go Home Again.” In 1936, Wolfe got into a fight with his publisher Charles Scribner’s Sons. The quarrel began because Wolfe felt that Perkins, Thomas Wolfe’s editor, was preventing him from writing what he truly wanted to write and that Charles was not defending him or his works as he should. This struggle was continued until 1937, when Wolfe signed with Edward C. Aswell, of Harper and Brothers. It was during this time that his last works were published. It was a very emotional time, but t’was the most fruitful. Wolfe had never been more successful with his writing. He wrote mainly short stories during this time. Thomas Wolfe’s greatest literacy work is Look Homeward, Angel. This book was “published on October 8, 1929”. The novel was dedicated to one of his teachers who helped to shape him into a great author, Margaret Roberts. “It sold only moderately well, but it was a great critical success, and Wolfe was hailed as the most promising young American novelist”. Thomas Wolfe was a very influential man. He and his works inspired other authors such as “Hunter Thompson, Ray Bradbury, Jack Kerouac, and others” (Brian Hoey.) “Whatever the reasons, however, Wolfe’s impact on the twentieth century, though increasingly invisible, proved extremely robust. His distinct blend of epic, autobiography, and modernist style seemed to exist at a uniquely American intersection, comprising the ornate stream of consciousness of William Faulkner with the sustained, close observations of Herman Melvilleand Nathaniel Hawthorne. As such, his influence can be seen in the works of such writers as Betty Smith, Philip Roth, and Pat Conroy.”

Thomas Wolfe belonged to the twentieth century American novelists’ era. He wrote four long novels as well as many short stories. Thomas Wolfe did not have much of influence during the 20th century. He did not become popular until near the time of his death and after. Thomas Wolfe died on September 15, 1938. Wolfe died from tuberculosis of the brain. It is believed that Wolfe had a fear of Tuberculosis, he wrote about the disease often as well as many others. In one of his many letters to his mom he describes what seems to be symptoms of Tuberculosis that he was experiencing. This letter was sent and read many years before his diagnosis of Tuberculosis. “In 1900, the year of Wolfe's birth, TB was the most dreaded disease throughout the world and was the leading cause of death in the United States. The “climatic theory” of treating lung disease, which originated in Germany and Switzerland, proposed that altitude, atmosphere, and the climate of cool mountain air would help cure the disease of TB, also called the White Plague. Wolfe's hometown of Asheville, North Carolina — which offered the best combination of altitude, atmosphere, and climate — had become a world center for the treatment of TB. Because of this, thousands of TB victims came to Asheville, including George Vanderbilt and E. W. Grove, who contributed to the building of the Biltmore House and the Grove Park Inn, respectively. At the end of the 19th century, it was reported that there were 25 TB specialists in Asheville; many came first as patients to be treated for TB. Between 1900 and 1930, over 25 TB sanitariums were established, but most patients stayed in boarding houses with lower rates of $5 to $15 per week. The houses, which had open air sleeping porches as a necessity, were operated solely for the care of TB patients. The number of boarding houses rose from 55 in 1900 to 137 in 1910. Thomas Wolfe's mother, Julia, had a keen business sense and in 1906 purchased a 29-room boarding house in downtown Asheville called the Old Kentucky Home located near the family home. Young Tom eventually moved into the boarding house permanently for about 10 years. Thus, Tom was probably exposed to TB in his mother's boarding house while growing up” (Robert E. Lathan). In conclusion, Thomas Clayton Wolfe was an amazing author as well as a very influential man. Though his death was saddening for the community, what he brought to the world was beautiful. He was very smart and extremely talented. Thomas Wolfe is known and loved; he inspired many young authors to create.