Essay on "Autobiography"

Unit-III

Prose

 AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Autobiography: Definition

The author of an autobiography presents a continuous narrative of the major events of his past. The autobiography differs from the diary or journal, which lacks continuity and is kept for the author's private purposes.

(e.g. The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens)

Features of an autobiography

●       An autobiography is a reflection of the author's inner life as well as his public achievements, set in the context of the time.

●       An autobiography is made interesting to read by presenting details in an artistic manner while remaining truthful. (e.g. Mahatma Gandhi's My Experiments with Truth.)

ESSAY

1. Definition

According to Shipley is the autobiography, "literature of personal revelation". The main interest of an autobiography resides in a conscious or unconscious self- portrayal by the author. It may be called a connected narrative of the author's life. In an autobiography stress is laid on introspection, or on the significance of the author's life against a wider background. According to the American poet H.W. Longfellow, Auto-biography is a product of first hand experience; biography of second hand knowledge'.

2. The aim of autobiography and its characteristics

The aim of autobiography has been to reveal truth about oneself. It may be truth about one's moral, spiritual and religious beliefs, or the truth of worldly or marital achievements, or the truth of one's profession. It may also reveal one's outlook. An autobiography contains comments on crucial incidents and personages one comes across the autography should be objective in dealing with contemporary events and personalities.

3. Origin and Growth

St. Augustine's 'Confessions' is the earliest example of an autobiography. This was written in 14th century. It was only after the sixteenth century that the autobiography as a form became popular. Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666) by John Bunyan is an early modern example of autobiographical writing. Later, the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions was an influential model for others in writing their own biographies. A number of personalities that include: David Hume, Edward Gibbon, Benjamin Franklin have written their autobiographies.

4. Autobiographical element in English Literature

The nineteenth century witnessed many novels with thinly disguised autobiographical element in them. Charles Dicken's David Copperfield and George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss and Wordsworth's poem The Prelude' contain the autobiographical element.

5. Autobiography in the 20th century

Some well-known autobiographies written during the twentieth century include: Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington, The Story of My Life by Helen Keller and

Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. To-day we have autobiographies written by people from all walks of life-actors, sportsmen, politicians, social workers, doctors and spiritual gurus.

6. Problems faced by an autobiographer

●       An Autobiographer might set out to give the reader a truthful account of his /her life. However, it is not always easy to recapture accurately all the details of an event in one's past. He has to depend on the impressions and memories of others also in recreating his early life.

●       Another difficulty that an autobiographer faces is in the recounting of episodes that involve other people. Any adverse comment could cause embarrassment and ill will.

●       The autobiographer should omit details of daily life and focus only on the exceptional and the extraordinary. This reflects to the artistic nature of an autobiography which is difficult to achieve.

7. Biography and Autobiography-a comparison

A biography is objective where there is factual accuracy, whereas in an autobiography we look for subjectivity, the personal details of the writer's life, a comparison could be made with D.D. Tendulkar's biography of M.K. Gandhi, titled Mahatma (1951) with that of Gandhi's autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth. We get an objective view of the background, history and influences that an impact upon the life of the subject as in Tendulkar's biography. The advantage of an autobiography, on the other hand, is that we can learn about the motives, emotions, hopes, fears, doubts and joys that only the writer can know, as we do in Gandhi's autobiography.