"Still Just Writing" And "Silences" Compare And Contrast Essay
ESSAY
Almost every man who walks this planet has goals, aims, and, aspirations that he dreams of achieving. However, distractions often come about, thwarting people and preventing them from attaining their aspirations. A distraction can pull a person’s whole mind and body into a different world manipulating him to neglect his lifelong goals, and never achieve his dreams. A student, entering college with dreams of achieving a 4.0 GPA and becoming valedictorian, can easily be swept up by social distractions, causing him to abandon his goals. Tillie Olsen and Anne Tyler both discus in their narratives, “Silences”, and, “Still Just Writing”, how parenting, childrearing, and mundane errands effected their lifelong dreams of becoming writers. They both believe that women cannot possibly create “enduring literature” unless they remain childless. However, Olsen and Tyler each viewed her own personal situation through different perspectives. Their different perspectives on life led them to each deal with her lifelong dreams and desires of becoming authors in different ways.
The constant responsibilities of motherhood will have an effect on a woman’s desires and dreams. Both Olsen’s and Tyler’s dreams of becoming writers were neglected because of the immense responsibilities of motherhood. Tillie Olsen states, “All distinguished achievements has come from childless women”. She believes that all her motherly tasks have left her writing skills to “fester”, “convulse”, and “die” within her. She feels that her responsibilities and trials of family have locked away her writing talents, “like a squirrel in a cage”. Similarly, Tyler’s busy life as a mother tremendously weakens her writing abilities. Between her children’s spring vacation, dental appointments, and gymnastics meetings, there seems to never be a free moment for her to sit down and concentrate on writing a novel, “Although she planned to work till three thirty everyday it was a month of early...
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