This past summer, I re-read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. I’d read the book in high school and in college — I’ve always loved the immense emotions I felt when reading the book. I was fascinated how, at each stage in my life, I interpreted Rand’s philosophical diatribes. When I read this book in high school, I was a snob who thought the world revolved around me and everyone fell in love and romance encompassed one’s life forever. I loved the romantic interludes that interlaced the pages. In college, I became a pessimist and realized I was the center of no one’s world. Love was for idiots who were willing to accept that disappointment would be their fate. I embraced Rand’s theories of economic systems and pondered what my role was in the world. When I read the book at the age of 34, I realized how much I had missed in the book. I finally understood the importance of several themes within it, such as classism, the role of sex in society, and the world’s future if we could uphold our own moral values and eschew those whose morality did not fit that of society. After what seemed like a million pages of reading over many weeks, I finally had a good night’s sleep, finally satisfied with my newly found conclusions about this behemoth novel.

I’ve been thinking about how I gravitate towards certain writers, ones whose words evoke an indescribable sensation within me. The women listed below have influenced me greatly and have effectively given me my own voice as a woman and as a writer. I may not agree with their philosophies or their view of life, but I can’t resist their dynamic, poetic words.

Shirley Jackson — an American writer who penned such horrific stories as The Lottery and The Haunting of House Hill. Jackson’s stories weave around the mundane and the simple, but ultimately divulge the seamy side of humans. With her haunting tales and stories of the fantastic, Jackson has influenced generations of writers, such as horror king Stephen King and science fiction novelist Richard Matheson (I Am Legend). One of Jackson’s many short stories is The Lottery. In a small, rural town, townspeople quietly gather in the square to take part in the annual lottery. It is June 27th once again and nothing, at least in the townspeople’s eyes is out of place. As they take slips of paper out of box, a quiet anxiety wrestles through the crowd. Who will win the lottery this year? Welcome to Jackson’s world, where there is no monetary gain in this lottery. Jackson’s stories are disturbing, gothic, and analyze the inner demons that taunt the human psyche in ways that no author had done before her. Jackson’s life was short; she died at the age of 48, addicted to pain killers and cigarettes.

Louise Erdrich — a Native American novelist and poet who has received The O. Henry Award, Pushcart Prize, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. In novels like Love Medicine and The Master Butchers Singing Club, Erdrich gains inspiration from her Chippewa and German-American heritages. She examines the way family and tribe members are juxtaposed within a community, how their inherent personalities can break the human spirit, and how easily a culture can become confused by their identity. Married to fellow author Michael Dorris, Erdrich’s life was just as dramatic and painful as her own books. in 1991, their son Reynold Abel was killed in a car accident. Another son, Jeffrey Sava, accused both Erdrich and her husband of child abuse. In 1997, Dorris committed suicide.

Flannery O’Connor — an American novelist and short story writer famous for stories such as A Good Man is Hard to Find and Everything that Rises Must Converge. The disjointed conversations of family and the existence of serial killers evolve in A Good Man is Hard to Find. In Everything That Rises Must Converge, O’Connor illustrates the powerful energy that surrounded segregation in the South. Known for her blunt use of foreshadowing while retaining the ability to create surprising twists, O’Connor was a bold writer unafraid to tackle intimate social issues that women in the 1950’s just were not writing about. In 1951, O’Connor was diagnosed with lupus, a sometimes fatal autoimmune disease. She died in 1964 at the age of 39.

E. Annie Proulx — an American writer. Proulx possesses an impassioned storytelling style that compounds vicious character studies with sympathetic self-discoveries. The Shipping News chronicles the tragic life of Quoyle, whose family members meet disastrous fates. As he experiences a detrimental inner turmoil, he returns to the place where his ancestors toiled, Newfoundland. Another award-winning story from Proulx is Brokeback Mountain, a short story that initially ran in the New York Times. Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist are cowboys that reluctantly realize there is an attraction that exists between them. Although their initial time together is brief, over the next 20 years, Ennis and Jack meet and rekindle their attraction, despite the fact they both have families. Proulx’s stories are filled with rich protagonists that constantly battle with themselves and desperately seek resolution.

Toni Morrison — American author and professor who has won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and Nobel Prize in Literature. Known for books such as Tar Baby and Beloved, Morrison creates characters where the weight of their lives often takes a toll on identity and relationships. In Tar Baby, Morrison examines the issues of identity. Jadine and Son fall in love, although they come from different economic worlds. Their determination to find a place in the United States where they will not be judged consumes their lives. In Beloved, Morrison weaves an agonizing tale about sacrifice and slavery. Sethe and her daughter Denver fight to build a new life as they experience a life away from slavery. Their lives are in turmoil when a woman named Beloved comes into their lives. Morrison explores the complexities of black America with lucid evaluation. Her dialogue and tone are realistic and vibrant — she breathes life into stark worlds.

Ayn Rand — a Russian-American writer. Having developed the political philosophy of Objectivism, Rand depicted a world in her books where individualism is prominent and, although creative and successful, individualism is denounced and misunderstood by society. In The Fountainhead, Howard Roark battles against a society that is not willing to accept his vision of aesthetics. As an architect, Roark refuses to succumb to what is acceptable. He swallows his pride and works in a quarry instead of becoming an architect whose visions are influenced by those around him. Rand’s voice extracts a confidence in her characters that is inspirational, albeit controversial.

Sylvia Plath — an American writer. Best known for her work as a poet, Plath unselfishly reveals her inner restlessness and turmoil. In poems like Paralytic, Plath confesses her own dissatisfaction with herself. She analyzes the end of her life, a suicidal tome that she accepts as part of the life cycle. Her writing is painfully honest, with revelations of an unhappy existence; she confides her secrets in her readers and openly allows critiques and judgments of her thoughts. After experiencing a mental breakdown and electroshock therapy, Plath continued her writing and fell in love with another poet, Ted Hughes. Her husband’s infidelity, however, added to Plath’s downward spiral, and she eventually committed suicide in 1963.

Photo Sources: MarkGerber.com, Syracuse.com, NYTimes.com, GSU.edu, Britannica.com, Voices.cla.umn.edu, Famouspoetsandpoems.com