Ralph Waldo Emerson

9 Pages 2197 Words

to get a part time job at the school library. He later came across books that interested him. The books he came across were the works of American and European authors. He began to be influenced by the literature and the poetry of these writers. Perhaps the single most important work that Ellison read at Tuskegee was T. S. Eliot's long poem, "The Waste Land." This was the poem that revealed to him the connection between literature and jazz, which was two things that Ellison enjoyed. Ellison later began to read the work of one of America's best-known novelists of the period, Ernest Hemingway. He soon began to write poetry and it was during this time that he first had the idea of becoming a writer. During the time of World War II, Ellison did not want to join the army, so he decided to join the merchant marine, and served as a cook and a baker. He was aboard that ship for almost two years. While he was on board this ship, Ellison wrote many of his short stories and book reviews. Later on, after the war, in 1944, he was introduced to Fanny McConnell with the help of one of their mutual friends. Both McConnell and Ellison were interested in writing, so this was one thing they had on common. After the first time they met, Ellison began to call on McConnell regularly for advice, and they were eventually married in 1946. Just two years after they had first met. Ellison had been married before, but that marriage resulted in a divorce.
Ellison does eventually decide to become a writer. A...