Austen/Montaigne Essay

    Much like shooting stars, the thoughts of the human imagination can be extraordinary and fleeting.  Gone in the blink of an eye or even just built upon too quickly to be able to break down what the original trigger was.  In his 2001 story "Good Old Neon" David Foster Wallace wrote, "What goes on inside is just too fast and huge and all interconnected for words to do more than barely sketch the outline of at most one tiny little part of it at any given instant." When it comes to the essays of Montaigne, this statement is absolutely true. Montaigne wasn't focused purely on structure or even necessarily content. He was more focused on letting his writing be an outlet for each thought passing through his mind like a shooting star which he would then develop into one of his essays.
   
    In an introduction to Montaigne's essays by J.M. Cohen it is stated that Montaigne "does not proceed along the line of time; he does not tell us what event succeeded what other." This supports Wallace's statement to a tee. Thoughts are fast and constantly evolving. Montaigne used his writing to literally create "trials" of his thoughts. If and idea came to him he could write it down without the pressures of time or what happened when. As his thoughts occurred to him he would try to develop it  throughout his essay and as Wallace stated this could sometimes be barely an outline of certain ideas or develop all too quickly into a greater issue.

     In contrast Austen's Pride and Prejudice is completely oriented about the passing of time and chronological order of events. She did not say at the beginning that Elizabeth would marry Mr. Darcy and then in the middle showcase their stubborn resistance towards each other.  This is chiefly because Austen's style is about the use of plot development through showing how each piece adds to the puzzle that will eventually be whole at the end. Montaigne's style was more in correlation the process of thought where one second he could be contemplating "That our actions should be judged by our intentions" and in the next "Cannibals". One thought does not necessarily need to precede the other as it does in Austen's work.
  
    Montaigne's essays do in fact correlate with Wallace's statement. Though his statement does not remain true to every work such as Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Montaigne's almost erratic writing style definitely represents the position that some thoughts can just be too fast and complex to develop more than a basic outline of the inner workings of the mind.