Austen/ Montaigne Essay

In my own opinion, both Montaigne and David Foster Wallace's works have more differences than similarities. Each exemplifies an outlook on topics but relate as somehow being portrayed in life. Though as Montaigne speaks his mind on topics like education, he also goes deep into "The Stream of Consciousness". As Montaigne says "now gently, now violently, according as the water is angry or calm... every day a new fancy, and our humors shift with the shifts in the whether". He looks at life as a new journey everyday. He describes it as being a river bank at a familiar location, you can leave and come back years later, but it will never be the same for the reason being that there are new waters flowing everyday. He also describes the habits of the mind relating to this topic. The outlook he has on society is as a people who aim for success and perfection have to balance that but also keep composure through it all and control certain emotions.

When it comes to David Fosters publishing's, he elaborates more on taking steps to becoming stable as a human. He describes individuals coming out and show others who you are. He refers to "key holes" as the gateway to every individuals mind of knowledge. Saying not that its impossible to expose yourself to the world but that its possible. There is a key and the "door can open, but not in the way you think". He causes you to think of possibilities on how to let your own stream of consciousness in a sense be exposed. You cant read another persons mind but you can know then by knowing they're memories and emotions and attitude toward the universal world. He believes we are all limited on time to express ourselves and causes you to question "who you think you are". Though both Montaigne and Foster's ideas contradict each other they are relevant on a stable level of opening the door to express knowledge and the stream of consciousness as being a real thing.

Comparing both writers to Jane Austen's novel, "Pride and Prejudice". There is a similarity in the tone of each passage. Jane Austen's writings are full of miss leading characters, betrayal, and scandal. Jane exhibits what the real human mind thinks in times of disappointment and curiosity. She shows readers how we cant read minds nor know what one another or thinking but shows how an individual deals with his or her stream of consciousness in silence.