Comparative paper on Virginia Woolf's "The Years" and Rainer Rilke's "The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge"

Two authors may write about a familiar topic but end up with two very different angles to their issues. Virginia Woolf in her novel The Years, and Rainer Maria Rilke in an excerpt from his work of fiction, The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, both convey traumatic childhood encounters with the adult world in two very different ways. It is very interesting to see just how much one subject matter can be illustrated from such …

…are, for a young child, retained as essential aspects that lead to the strong emotion; in this case, fear. The distinctly remembered memories are often emotionally strong as well. Incidents which results in traumatic memories such as those of Woolf and Rilke's, are more often hard to forget, and implanted in one's mind, replaying over and over again. From reading these two excerpts, one may wonder and reminisce about his or her own childhood memories.