Nate Thiel - Outside Reading 3

In the book Lincoln at Gettysburg, the author Garry Wills covers many things. One such thing is where Lincoln got his ideas for everything. “All modern American novels are the offspring of Huckleberry Finn.” (Wills, 148) Garry Wills writes that this is what Ernest Hemingway claimed. In some ways I agree. However, if -- as Wills also writes – Abraham Lincoln’s speech at Gettysburg foresaw the change to vernacular rhythms that “Mark Twain would complete twenty years later,” then I believe that theoretically, all modern novels are based on the Gettysburg Address.
Chapter 5 in Lincoln at Gettysburg may be Wills’ best chapter yet. For example, this is the first time that I almost completely agree with what is written. Words are definitely not born. As humans, we must learn them by listening and repeating the sounds we hear as young children. Similar to speech, writing is almost the same way: we must read multiple pieces of literature in order to become better writers. It is interesting how John Hay was able to argue with the President about philology – the study of words – even though Hay was half Lincoln’s age. This just goes to show that no matter how young or old a person is, they can still be great writers through their studies of prose and language.