I recently applied for a writing position and, as part of the application process, I had to submit a short piece about a writer whose work I admire. I found it to be an interesting exercise and thought I would share it here.
As a junior in high school, I was assigned a research paper on the life and work of Rudyard Kipling. It was a life changing project. It introduced me to a lifetime love of Kipling’s brand of colonial literature. I love his unbridled optimism and his steadfast belief in a person’s ability to persevere and to overcome in even the most difficult circumstances. For me, the best example of Kipling’s prowess as a writer is his poem “If” written in 1895 and included in his book Rewards and Fairies.
Perhaps one of his best loved pieces, “If” is an exaltation of traditional British stoicism. From its opening lines, “If you can keep your head when all about you/Are losing theirs and blaming it on you” (ln. 1-2), the poem extolls the virtues of self-control and discipline. Kipling speaks poignantly of meeting all challenges with grace, saying “If you can meet with triumph and disaster/and treat those two impostors just the same” (ln. 11-12). It is a sentiment so elegant that it is carved over the entrance to the courts at Wimbledon. Kipling speaks of remaining humble, no matter your station, saying “If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,/Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch” (lin. 25-26). For me though, the most touching lines are the two with which Kipling closes the poem which hold a promise for those who exemplify the virtues he espouses, “Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,/And--which is more--you’ll be a Man my son!” (ln. 31-32).
While achieving success in his own time, Kipling is a controversial literary figure today. His views on imperialism as expressed in his works, while popular in his own time, draw criticism in our post-colonial modern era. Fortunately, Kipling’s works rise above the concerns of politics and, when viewed outside such a lens, show a master storyteller with an eye for creating beautiful detail. It is fitting that Kipling’s poem “If” is sometimes compared with the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu epic that is considered a guide for living. For me, Kipling’s “If” serves a similar purpose. He clearly defines what it means to be a “Man”--in this case, a person of honesty, integrity, and perseverance. I think it is these very qualities which we as people should all aspire to achieve.
Who are some of the writers you admire? Why do their works speak to you? Discuss!
