Why I write Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Why I write - Essay Example 5th , 1976) that she has stolen the title of â€Å"Why I write† from the great author George Orwell because she liked the sound of the â€Å"three short ambiguous words.† Didion states that the act of writing is nothing but the imposing of the author’s views and ideas on a particular audience. She calls writing â€Å"an aggressive and even a hostile act† because though the author tries his best to veil or camouflage the writing, yet one cannot get away from the salient fact that the author is a â€Å"secret bully† by imposing his â€Å"sensibility on the reader’s most private space.† Didion, goes on to enumerate her experiences at Berkeley where she did her majors in English and speaks of her inability to deal with different ideas. She always dwelt on the periphery and the physical act of things around her, such as those that had to do with the sense of seeing, smelling, hearing, tasting and touching. In other words, she traveled in the world of writing on a ‘shaky passport† because she was no â€Å"legitimate resident in the world of ideas.† It had taken her a great length of time to realize that she was passionate about her writing and wanted to be a writer. In sharp contrast to Didion, George Orwell knew from the onset that he wanted to be a writer. He had a very lonely childhood and because of this he had â€Å"developed disagreeable mannerisms which made him unpopular in school. Loneliness also led him to make up stories and hold imaginary conversations. The feeling of being undervalued and isolated led to the cementing of his literary career. This cocoon to which he transported himself when he wrote, helped to serve as a sort of catharsis where he could get his own back after facing the many failures in his life. When the war broke out during 1914 – 18, he had written a patriotic poem which got published in a local newspaper, but when he attempted nature poems or short stories during that period he failed