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Niels Sorensen
Ms. Allen-Kirkhouse
AP Language and Composition
February 24, 2014
Tom Wolfe: An Intellectual's Thoughts on Society
Tom Wolfe was born on March 2, 1931 in Richmond, Virginia. Wolfe lived in Richmond
throughout his childhood and attended St. Christopher's, a private Episcopalian school from
kindergarten through high school. After Wolfe graduated from St. Christopher's, he attended
Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia (Baechler). Wolfe began writing as a
sports reporter for his college's newspaper and helped co-found a magazine called Shenandoah
that published writings from students at Washington and Lee University including short stories,
poems, and essays ("FAQ."). Wolfe became an English major and started his work as a
professional journalist soon after his graduation. (Baechler)
Wolfe's first job was with the Springfield Union in Massachusetts. He started in 1956 and
reported current events in the nation and the local community. He left the Springfield Union for
the Washington Post but he stayed only briefly because he felt limited by the long list of
requirements he had to include in each report. Wolfe soon began working at the New York
Herald Tribune as a feature writer contributing essays reflecting on issues in society. The editors
of the New York Herald encouraged Wolfe to be creative and to not follow traditional styles of
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reporting. After a few months working at the Herald Tribune, the newspaper was temporarily
shut down due to a strike. Wolfe then took a job at Esquire magazine writing about custom cars.
Tom faced writer's block and had challenges writing a properly written essay on the subject.
Wolfe wrote his editor, Bryan Dobell, a letter the night before his essay was due discussing
everything he wanted to include in the article on custom cars. Bryan loved the letter and decided
to publish it as the article for the magazine even though Tom's letter broke many traditional
aspects of writing. That letter originally called "Dear Bryan" was renamed "There Goes
(Varoom! Varoom!) That Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (1965)" and
brought Wolfe into the spotlight. (Baechler)
Some of Wolfe's most well respected works include "That Kandy Kolored Tangerine
Flake Streamline Baby" (1965) and "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1968)". Even though his
style of writing created some conflicts with his editors including William Perkins, Wolfe
continued to write essays and fiction stories in his style that he called "New Journalism" which
mixed experimental writing with traditional writing (Gale). In this project, three essays from
Wolfe's collection of essays Hooking Up including "Hooking Up: What Life Was Like at the
Turn of the Second Millennium: An American's World"(2000), "The Invisible Artist"(2000), and
"The Great Relearning" (1997) will be analyzed. In these three essays, Wolfe writes critically
about changes in society's moral and artistic standards during the past fifty years and uses many
examples to support his ideas.
Wolfe's essay, "Hooking Up: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the Second Millennium:
An American's World" (2000), argues that American society has been negatively impacted by
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the creation of the internet. Wolfe gives examples of how Americans are more aware of and open
to casual sexual activities than previous generations. Wolfe exposes the erosion of traditional
social norms in order to show how superficial we have become. Wolfe is speaking to the general
public to warn us how meaningless our lives will be if we conform to today's idea of what is
"sexy".
Wolfe wrote "Hooking Up: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the Second Millennium:
An American's World" (2000) from the viewpoint of an experienced adult with traditional
values. He expresses his concern at what he considers the bad behavior of Baby Boomers and the
younger generations. He gives multiple examples in an unstructured discussion of the loss of
sexual modesty and privacy. Wolfe is critical of middle aged men that end their marriages
because they'd rather watch pornography or pursue younger women. He's shocked that many
teenage girls don't value their virginity and think nothing of "going all the way" with someone
they barely know. Wolfe cites the invention of the internet for changing sexual attitudes and
creating society's obsession with youthfulness and sex. The new "sexual revolution" is
distracting multiple generations from being productive members of society.
What's fascinating about Wolfe's essay "Hooking Up: What Life Was Like at the Turn of
the Second Millennium: An American's World" (2000) is that he identified a problem in 1999
that has become worse today due to the creation of social media. Unfortunately, Wolfe's negative
predictions have come true as many Americans are completely distracted by superficial pursuits
such as appearing younger and chasing after the next best thing. In 1999, only half of American
households had access to the internet and today the majority of people have individual access
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through their personal computers or smart phones. If Wolfe had written this essay today he
would likely have added the act of "sexting" to his list of examples of the loss of sexual modesty.
The issues that Wolfe indentified are unlikely to be resolved to his satisfaction as social media is
designed to make it easy for people to "hook up" in a variety of ways.
Tom Wolfe's essay, "The Invisible Artist" (2000), explains that Fredrick Hart was a
sculptor whose art was underappreciated in a time when popular art required minimal artistic
skill. Wolfe tells how Hart's two best works which demonstrated superior skill and natural talent
went completely unnoticed by art reviewers. Wolfe writes about Hart's artwork in order to show
that the younger generation is unable to understand true talent. Wolfe is writing to art enthusiasts
that listen only to what the New York art world tells them is art because he wants people to
continue to see classical art as a form of art.
Wolfe's essay, "The Invisible Artist"(2000) is a biography of Fredrick Hart's short career
as a sculptor before his death at the age of 55. Hart sculpted by hand two large public works, the
"Ex Nihilo" at the National Cathedral and "The Three Soldiers" at the Vietnam Memorial both
in Washington D.C. While his works are familiar to the public, they were completely ignored by
the American art "world". According to Wolfe, this "world" is made up of New York art
dealers, artists, and critics that have a tremendous influence on the opinions of art enthusiasts. At
the time that Hart's sculptors were revealed to the public, classical art had been replaced by
modern art that did not require artistic skill. Wolfe is unimpressed with the granite wall that is
part of the Vietnam Memorial. He compares Hart's "The Three Soldiers" statue to the
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memorial's wall to show how opposite these two works are; the life-like soldiers show human
emotion while the wall looks like a large, cold tombstone.
"The Invisible Artist"(2000) and "Hooking Up: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the
Second Millennium: An American's World" (2000) are written from the same point of view.
Both essays show Wolfe's disapproval of popular culture's negative impact on our society. Wolfe
is frustrated that his message is not being heard. The theme of both essays is that people must
think for themselves and not conform to mainstream trends. Both works are examples of how
uneducated, superficial, and uncultured Americans are becoming.
Tom Wolfe's essay "The Great Relearning" (1997) explains that society constantly
repeats a pattern of relearning that starts with one group's desire to be more progressive. Wolfe
gives examples of this global phenomenon which includes the rise and fall of communism, the
hippie movement, and the Bauhaus movement. Wolfe discusses failed attempts by different
groups to restart civilization from "point zero" in order to demonstrate that it is possible to learn
from past mistakes and improve the future. Wolfe writes to an audience that is aware of world
events and who are open to learning.
Wolfe's essay "The Great Relearning" (1997) gives clear modern day examples of a
pattern that has existed for a century. The hippie movement in San Francisco was based on the
idea that people could live freely without the need for authority. Many of the communes were
very relaxed about hygiene leading to the appearance of diseases that had no medical name. The
outbreak of these diseases known as "the mange" or "the rot" started the process of relearning the
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importance of good hygiene. Wolfe's examples show that a good idea that is a taken too far can
have negative consequences. This is where the opportunity to relearn begins.
Wolfe's essay "The Great Relearning" (1997) is similar to "Hooking Up: What Life Was
Like at the Turn of the Second Millennium: An American's World" (2000) and "The Invisible
Artist" (2000) in that he points the mistakes that the Baby Boomers and younger generations
have made. "The Great Relearning" (1997) was written first and has a more hopeful tone. The
other two essays express disappointment in the current state of society. In all three essays, Wolfe
gives clear examples of how we are headed down a destructive path with no easy way to return
to the morals of the past.
Tom Wolfe is an intellectual. He assumes his readers are knowledgeable in world history,
literature, politics, art, and current events. Wolfe uses complex language which is not easy to
understand and requires the reader either to have a strong vocabulary or a dictionary nearby.
Wolfe uses many lengthy sentences filled with literary and historical references. There is no
dialogue in his essays; Wolfe is speaking directly to his audience. Wolfe uses quotation marks
around words used to label actions or behaviors. He does this sometimes to point out that people
do not use these words correctly. He occasionally uses dashes to insert his opinion into an
example. Wolfe is very direct and critical but he speaks the truth.
Wolfe's paragraphs are short in the number of sentences but his sentences are very
lengthy. His long sentences thoroughly describe the examples he uses in his essays to urge his
readers to believe his thoughts on the subject he is writing about. In "Hooking Up: What Life
Was Like at the Turn of the Second Millennium: An American's World" (2000), Wolfe writes a
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long and descriptive paragraph on how middle aged men enjoy internet porn while their wives
are out of the house and many decide to divorce their wives and pursue younger women. Wolfe
packs as much detail as he can into each sentence to fully inform the reader why he believes his
view point is correct. Wolfe writes in the style of a wise parent lecturing his children to ensure
the message he is delivering is being heard and that they should not readily accept social changes
as they are not always positive.
Bibliography
Baechler, Lea. American Writers: Supplement Iii, Part 2. New York: Scribner, 1991.
"FAQ." Shenandoah. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014.
Tom Wolfe Encyclopedia of World Biography: [volume] 18, A-Z. Detroit: Gale, 1999.
Wolfe, Tom. Hooking Up. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2000.
Wolfe, Tom Hooking Up: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the Second Millennium: An
American's World (2000),
Wolfe, Tom The Invisible Artist (2000)
Wolfe, Tom The Great Relearning (1997)