MenckenEssay

1993 LANGUAGE AP ESSAY: MENCKEN/ARTIST


Read the following selection by H.L. Mencken. Then write a carefully reasoned essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies Mencken's views on the artist's relation to society. Be sure to support your argument with references to particular writers, composers, or other artists.
It is almost as safe to assume that an artist of any dignity is against his country, i.e., against the environment in which God hath placed him, as it is to assume that his country is against the artist. The special quality which makes an artist of him might almost be defined, indeed, as an extraordinary capacity for irritation, a pathological sensitiveness to environmental pricks and stings. He differs from the rest of us mainly because he reacts sharply and in an uncommon manner to phenomena which leave the rest of us unmoved, or, at most, merely annoy us vaguely. He is, in brief, a more delicate fellow than we are, and hence less fitted to prosper and enjoy himself under the conditions of life which he and we must face alike. Therefore, he takes to artistic endeavor, which is at once a criticism of life and an attempt to escape from life.
So much for the theory of it. The more the facts are studied, the more they bear it out. In those fields of art, at all events, which concern themselves with ideas as well as with sensations it is almost impossible to find any trace of an artist who was not actively hostile to his environment, and thus an indifferent patriot.

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: Mencken - SCORE 4

H. L. Mencken believes that every good artist, is in some shape or form against the conditions of life in which he lives. Such a belief is a mere one-sided view. Not every artist feels a hatred towards his society and therefore produces great art. Some successful composers, writers, and artists create masterpieces based on the love he or she has for life.

Mencken believes that artists are not like you and me, but rather feel extra sensitivity to surroundings. This may be true, but what is not true, is that this sensitivity stems from hostility. Creative minds such as Leonardo DaVinci and Picasso, did not create works of rage, but only works showing their true love of life here on earth and life after death. Pianists know that Mozart's pieces were mainly full of joy and gave listeners a look at life through optimistic eyes. Samuel Clemens, author of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, rejoiced in childhood, adventure, and thrill of life. Like every human being, artists also have ups and downs in life, and these are reflected in their work. However, to say that every artist attains success through their criticism of life and environment, is to see their work through blind eyes.

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Mencken - SCORE 6

Mencken's theory and assumptions of the state of the artist in society is quite true. Artists are a unique breed of people that have characteristics about them which were true in the past, are true today, and will be true throughout time.

Mencken is accurate in the assumption that artists are against their environment and that their environment is against them. It is a fact that in any society around the world there is pressure to conform, and those who don't conform are looked down upon. Artists are non-conformists that take, as the words of Robert Frost state, "the road less traveled," and use their differences and creativity to produce art. History proves that society is against artists by looking at the composers of the 18th and 19th centuries. Composers such as Mozart and Beethoven were criticized and degraded during their lifetime, and their music wasn't fully appreciated until after they were dead. Artists are risk takers that use the "environmental pricks and stings" that Mencken discusses to make new and different ways of expressing emotions and experiences or just entertainment. Artists such as John Cage, who revolutionized music and the definition of music, took huge steps where no one has gone before, so they are criticized and labeled avant garde. By looking at these examples and at society, it is obvious why artists are hostile to their environment. From the words of sociologist Howard Becker, "society creates deviance." Society in turn creates artists. Society is most likely not going to change in the future, so the artist will always be the rubber ball in the sea of marbles.

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Mencken - SCORE 7

Typically, artists have been thought of as, at the least, a bit eccentric. However, to make such a bold statement that artists react to things more deeply than others and therefore feel themselves apart from the national spirit is quite untrue.

The word "artist" encompasses a wide spectra. An artist can be a painter, a writer, a musician, or for that matter, anyone who wishes to claim himself so. Since the matter of patriotism is being discussed, it's important to note all of the songs that are sung on the Fourth of July. Did an artist not write these songs- "The Star Spangled Banner: and :America the Beautiful" just to name a few? Another example of musicians showing their patriotism is President Clinton's Inauguration. Many very famous musicians not only attended, but sang in honor of the president, who, is, in essence, the symbol of our country.
In his claim that a true artist must be actively hostile towards his country, H.L. Hencken makes yet another blunder. A true artist? First of all, what is a fake artist? If Mr. Menken believes that he is the authority on artistry, does that mean that I have the same right to decide who is morally correct and who isn't? My hairdresser, Angie, likes to think of herself as a hair and makeup artist. Just because she is not writing novels to change the world, does that mean she is any less of an artist than Ernest Hemingway? Without Angies out there, our world would be full of hong haired, ugly people. Can Ernest claim the same usefulness in our everyday society? My point? Angie is an artist in all senses of the word, she can't stop talking about Bill and Hilary Clinton(not to mention Socks), and she has a huge American flag in her backyard. Oh, and not to mention that Ernest Hemingway lied about his age so he could go to Italy and fight for our country in World War II, only later to write a about of his experiences in the acclaimed novel " A Farewell To Arms".
Last, Mencken claims that artists are a more "delicate" people than we and less likely to prosper. I'd like to challenge that statement with the example of John Grisham, after having four of his books made into movies, is probably more wealthy than any of us will ever be. As far as the delicacy issue goes, does my lack of ability to paint, sing, dance, or write mean that I am not as deep or sensitive as Leonardo DiVinci? In short, being an artist is not a state of mind, it is a talent, and by no means dictates our attitudes towards society.

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: Mencken - SCORE 9
Artists question and challenge convention. Whether as an expression of anger, as a frontal attack of sensation, as a defining, uncontested question mark on choice or exclamation mark on matter, art represents the violent reaction of a sensitive body. Picasso's painting "Guernica," Donald Justice's poem "Death in the Rose Garden," and E.B. White's essay "About Myself" demonstrate the artist's rebellion against environment or contemporary standards.
"Guernica" by Picasso combines the powerful with the blunt to produce an enormous mural that doulbes as an homage to heresy of the government. In the artwork, disattached and random body parts bear an impression of slaughter on the viewer. The first rendition of the artwork incapacitates the passive spectator. Yet a continued analysis reveals an artist struggling passionately against his environment; in Picasso's case, he had made a statement attacking the blood-thirsty war mongers in Spain early in the twentieth century. Other poets and artists such as Pablo Neruda conceived analogous pieces, but no one created so stunning an effect of distaste for the war as Picasso.
Justice's poem "Death in the Rose Garden" pits a gardener, his master, and a personalized figure of death in a dialogue. Justice challenges two standards: the accepted concept of death as well as the need to transcend the human experience when facing death. Death in literature usually consumes the form of a dark grey, resisted force. Justice paints death in his poem asa visitor to a rose garden, a visitor with the same characteristics as a real person: conversational, suitable, and felicitous. By doing this, Justice moves to the second criticism. Unlike the advocates of a heroic fencing match with death (Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" comes to mind), Justice urges the reader to resist a conventional situation with death and to accept death as a garden visitor, as someone not to be battled (but not to be embraced either). Emily Dickinson wrote a poem about death politely stopping for her. Justice has a different vewpoint, because he indicates so profoundly that a garden visitor is not a friend. Justice challenged Dickinson's image of death being the good host, Thomas's image of death being the trench-immersed upstart, and society's image of death being the mysterious force in order to introduce a new way to deal with death. His innovative approach of sharing a cup of coffee with death without giving him the bed for the night translated to a radical reassessment of modern convention.
A work of genius in its measured toast to disruption, E.B. White's essay "About Myself" consists of the author describing himself with numbers. Examples of sentences include "My social security number is...." or "I am... feet tall." In true American-Modernist fashion, White critiques society's norm of cataloguing people with statistics and numerical identification. The strength of the piece lies in its loyalty to consistency. Every sentence is simple, uninterrupted, and unequivocal, but at the same time, ridiculously superficial. He confronts the growing loss of self in society by reacting "sharply and in an uncommon manner to phenomena which leave the rest of us unmoved, or, at most, merely annoy us vaguely."
Picasso, Justice, and White separately attack their environment, verifying Mencken's observation. Their material varies from the subtle to the egregious, but always the tendency to react with power remains intact.

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