DP Tool Club 25/CD_ASCQ_25_1095.iso/dos/tools/ftj11/sample11.bio

Text File | 1995-07-21 | 13KB | 274 lines

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     The character, Leslie Gant, in "Look Homeward, Angel," is based
upon  Leslie E. Wolfe.<@Review_12*69>

     "First-born child of W.O. and Eliza Gant; died in
infancy."<@Biography*23>
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     W.O. Wolfe learned independence early as a teenage stonecutter's
apprentice in Baltimore, Maryland, later starting his career in
Raleigh, North Carolina. There, he was twice married, first to Hattie
Watson, whom he divorced. He then married Cynthia C. Hill, who was
tubercular. By this time, he had changed the spelling of "Wolf" to
"Wolfe," thinking the latter more elegant. In the early 1880's, he
and Cynthia moved to Asheville, NC, where Cynthia died of
tuberculosis. In 1885, he married Julia Elizabeth Westall. Eight
children were born of this rather unhappy union. Thomas Wolfe was the
last child and was favored by his father, who wanted Tom to become a
lawyer. W.O. refused to live in Julia's Spruce Street boarding house
and maintained the family home on Woodfin Street. His daughter, Mabel,
supervised the running of that residence. He was remembered as having
enjoyed rocking on the porch of the boarding house, however, quoting
from Shakespeare and the "Bible" and orating on timely topics.  His
alcoholism was a problem which contributed to a disfunctional
family.<@Pennsylvania*1-5><@Homeward*6-11,30-31>


W.O. Gant

     "A kind of dynamo aswirl with gusto, rhetoric,lust,love of hot
fires and heaped tables, and a frustrated desire to carve an angel,
W.O. is a blend of the demonic and angelic.  When drunk, he lets his
demon rip into Eliza and deride her for leaving his bed and board to
run Dixieland.  If the boarding house is not the cause of his outrage,
on of Eliza's real estate deals is. Sober, he is a respected
stonecutter, caring father, and concerned, if hypocritical,citizen.
(His hypocrisy seems limited to drinking.  He signs a temperance
pledge but backslides often.)  A wanderer, he came to Old Catawba from
Walser, married twice before coming to Altamont, where his
second wife died of tuberculosis, and took trips to New Orleans and
the Pacific coast before being struck by prostate cancer. He enjoyed
the theater as a lad, admired Shakespeare,surrounded himself with good
books, and longed to carve an angel like the ones shipped in from
Italy to his tombstone shop.  His battle against cancer was both
herioc and pathetic, the latter stemming from his urge to dramatize
his self-pity.  His destiny is to remain something of an outsider in
Altamont, the man from the north arousing the suspicion of Eliza's
family and mountain-bred neighbors, but inspiring Eugene's visions of
a golden land.  His big hands, large mustache, and alert eyes give his
lanky body a physical presence felt by everyone around him.  Wolfe
drew upon his father for this character.  Long before writing LHA,
Wolfe told his mother,"There has never been anybody like papa...He is
headed straight not for one of my plays, but for a series.  He
dramatized his emotions to  a greater extent than anyone I have ever
known-consider his expressions of 'merciful God'-his habit of talking
to himself at or against an imaginary opponent....I verily believe I
can re-create a character that will knock the hearts out of people by
its reality."<@Companion*132-133>
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     The character, Daisy Gant, in "Look Homeward, Angel," is based on
Effie Wolfe.<@Review_12*69>

     "Eugene Gant's older sister; dutiful, quiet, married to a South
Carolinian."<@Companion*130>

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     Twin of Benjamin Harrison Wolfe. Character, Grover Gant, in "Look
Homeward, Angel," was based upon Grover
Wolfe.<@Homeward*10><@Review_12*69>

Grover Cleveland Gant

     "The twin brother of Benjamin Harrison Gant.  Grover is a family
favorite, everyone admiring his gentle ways and good spirits.  His
death in St. Louis from typhoid fever hits the family hard, especially
his mother, who never seemed the same after his passing.  He is the
subject of one of Wolfe's best and widely known stories, "The Lost
Boy."  He is based on Wolfe's brother Grover Cleveland
Wolfe."<@Companion*131-132>

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     Character, Steve Gant, in "Look Homeward, Angel," is based upon
Frank Wolfe.<@Review_12*69>


Steve Gant

     "The swaggering,restless, unstable, and whiney eldest son of W.O.
and Eliza Gant, Steve is inclined to both excessive drinking and
self-pity.  He has all the character flaws of W.O. and none of the
redeeming virtues.  He marries a midwestern woman of German descent.
Wolfe's model for this character was his brother
Frank."<@Companion*132>

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     The character, Helen Gant, in "Look Homeward, Angel," was based
upon Mabel Wolfe.<@Review_12*69>

Helen Gant

     "The younger daughter of W.O. and Eliza Gant.  She is rawboned,
energetic, ambitious, magnanimous, and sociable.  Her dream is to be
a celebrated singer, but she sings professionally only a short while
with Pearl Hines before becoming the wife of Hugh Barton, salesman.
Better than anyone else in the family, she could control W.O. Gant
during his drunken escapades.  She became a substitute mother once
Eliza began to operate a boarding house.  'There was in Helen a
restless hatred of dullness, respectability.  Yet she was at heart
a severely conventional person, in spite of her occasional
vulgarity, which was merely a manifestation of her restless energy.
'Like her father, she had a thirst for whiskey.  She is based on
Wolfe's sister Mabel."<@Companion*132>

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     The character, Luke Gant, in "Look Homeward, Angel," was based
upon Fred Wolfe.<@Review_12*69>

Luke Gant

     "A stuttering, stammering,humorous, energetic,aggressive and
sometimes clownish son of Eliza and W.O. Gant, Luke makes his
mark as a salesman and organizer of a sales force of Altamont
boys. A gregarious person, his greatest fear is loneliness.
He and Helen have a special affinity.  Sometimes  he appeared
to be possessed by a demon, especially when he laughed.  Wolfe
modeled Luke on his brother Fred."<@Companion*132>

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     "After their marriage in 1837, they resided at Deardorfs's Mill
where their first five children were born. In 1844, they moved to the
Latimore Community, had a small farm, attended the United Brethren
Church. By 1850, Jacob, a "laborer," with a real estate value of only
$300, had six children... ."<@Pennsylvania*16>

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     "After their marriage in 1837, they resided at Deardorfs's Mill
where their first five children were born. In 1844, they moved to the
Latimore Community, had a small farm attended the United Brethren
Church. By 1850, Jacob, a "laborer," with a real estate value of only
$300, had six children ..."<@Pennsylvania*16>

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     Julia Elizabeth Westall, Thomas Wolfe's famous mother, figured
very prominently in his life and in the development of many of his
unique personality and intellectual characteristics. It is she who is
painted as the businessperson mother and wife of "Look Homeward,
Angel," while Wolfe's father, "W.O." manifests the personality of a
dreamer and sometimes that of a drunkard and n'er do well. Closer
examine of the historical record may ultimately reveal this to be
inaccurate. The character, Eliza Gant, in "Look Homeward, Angel," is
based upon Julia Westall
Wolfe.<@Pennsylvania*18><@Homeward*6><@Biography*21>

Eliza Gant

     "Daughter of Major Thomas Pentland and wife of W.O. Gant.  Her
children are named Steve, Daisy, Helen, Grover Cleveland,Benjamin
Harrison, Luke, and Eugene; another child,a daughter named Leslie,
died in infancy.  Eliza come from a mountain family,sharing its
shrewdness, independence, mystical leanings, ambition to overcome the
deprivation caused by the Civil War and Reconstruction, and
clannishness.  More than anything else, she shares her family's
superstitiousness and love of storytelling.  Except when pursing her
lips or winking her eye, both potent means of body language for her,
she never falters in recounting some tale about her own life or some
story about an ancestor, cousin, or neighbor.  Her manner of talking
resembles the flow of associative thought in Molly Bloom's stream of
consciousness, not merely by happenstance, since Wolfe knew Joyce well
and considered his depiction of Eliza in "The Web of Earth" Molly's
equal if not better (LTW, 339). Her talkativeness can both fascinate
and exasperate,and the depth and exactness of her memory amaze
everyone around here. She has to endure the shame of her husband's
drunken sprees and the sting of his words when he rants against her
kin, her greed for more land, and her decision to leave his bed and
board to run Dixieland.  Strong enough to stand any abuse heaped upon
her by W.O. and any of their offspring, she becomes a successful
businesswoman, buying and selling lots in Altamont and elsewhere.  Her
industry wins approval, but her frugality turns into stinginess.  She
saves everything, even short pieces of string.  She is proud of her
family but has problems showing her love outwardly.  She keeps her
youngest child, Eugene, at her breast long past the normal weaning
time and sleeps with him until the ninth year. She figures prominently
in two death scenes, Ben's and W.O.'s.  Wolfe's mother, Julia Westall
Wolfe, served as the model for this character."<@Companion*130>

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     "On August 8, 1862, he joined Company "I," 127th Regiment
Walser Volunteers. He died of pneumonia, February 16, 1863, at
Camp Allemon, near Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania."<@Pennsylvania>

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     Thomas Wolfe is the central figure in this journal. It is his
family which is the centerpiece of his first novel, "Look Homeward,
Angel." It is also they who are so becluttered with the
characteristics of their fictional counterparts, that their historical
personages may be in danger of being
lost.<@Review_12*69><@Homeward*462>


Eugene Gant

     "The central character of LHA and OT and son of W.O. and Eliza
Gant, Eugene is in large measure Thomas Wolfe outwardly; inwardly, the
correspondence is sometimes close, but enough differences exist to
prevent the knowing reader from proclaiming Wolfe and Eugene one and
the same. Wolfe, to take only two instances, was far more outgoing and
fun-loving than Eugene. Eugene suffers keenly from isolation, neglect,
family squabbles, the selfishness and greed of certain family members,
and the taunts and charges of favoritism hurled by other siblings,
charges usually resulting from the fact that Eugene is sent to a
private preparatory school and later to Harvard. Creatively inclined,
he spends much time reading and fantasizing and comes under the
influence of a sensitive teacher, Margaret Leonard, who heightens his
love of poetry, something he had begun to admire from the lips of his
father, who likes to quote poems or passages from Shakespeare's plays.
Eugene likes the warmth and hospitality of this father but loathes his
mother's closefistedness. A sometimes happy but often tormented
student, Eugene becomes a hopeful and then failed playwright, a
harried teacher, a wanderer, and an aspiring novelist, realizing while
in France that his major theme is to be America. As a hopeful writer,
he tends to be somewhat like Stephen Dedalus or Lord Byron, though
impulses like those of Jonson, Swift, H.L. Mencken, and Sinclair Lewis
bring a sting to what he says. Eugene is on a troubled mission of
self-discovery and is prone to cast himself in the role of the
misunderstood artist. Wolfe was ready to turn to a new surrogate after
LHA, but came back to Eugene as a way of tying together materials
written after the publication of his first novel At last, tired of the
subjectivity, the Eugene Gant-i-ness of his first surrogate, Wolfe
turned to George Webber."<@Companion*131>
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     Twin brother of Grover Cleveland Wolfe. The character, Ben Gant,
in "Look Homeward, Angel," is based upon Benjamin Harrison
Wolfe.<@Review_12*69><@Homeward*47>

Benjamin Harrison Gant

     "The twin brother of Grover Cleveland Gant; the 'quiet one' of
the Gants who is much admired by his younger brother Eugene,who learns
from him that he must look within himself and go his own way if he is
to become what he wants to be.  Ben is honest, laconic, and energetic
of spirit, though weak of body.  His death is one of Wolfe's
acknowledged masterpieces.  He seems to appeal to an angel when he
wants a witness to some human deed or word, and his ghost becomes the
angel to whom Eugene turns for succor.  He works as a newspaperman in
Altamont and elsewhere.  The model for this character was Wolfe's
brother Benjamin Harrison Wolfe, to whom he dedicated FDTM (FROM DEATH
TIL MORNING).<@Companion*129-130>

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