Isak Denisen Essay, Research Paper

“Dinesen faced despair, disillusionment and debilitating physical illness in her life and her writing shows the importance of facing one’s destiny with courage …”

Out of Africa

Isak Dinesen was a superb author. Her topics were so popular because she wrote about life and her real experiences. Isak had a tough life, but as the quotation says, she faced them with courage. She worked hard and was extremely forgiving of the people she loved. In her autobiography, Out of Africa, Dinesen portrayed herself, the Baroness Karen Blixen.

Despair came easily to Dinesen. Her life was depressing, but she made the best of it. At a young age she was to marry her first true love. He stood her up and she ended up marring her lover’s brother. They only married because he wanted her money and she wanted the respect of “Baroness” title. They were friends, but they were not in love. He cheated on her and gave her syphilis. They divorced and in the mean time she was having an affair with her new love Dennis. She was not happy with him either because he would not commit fully to her. He liked going on trips and being alone. Dennis would leave Karen alone for long periods of time. She hated the fact that she could not control the men around her.

Even in work Dinesen had struggles. She initially intended to start a dairy farm, but her husband planned to plant coffee. She was extremely upset that he would go behind her back, especially when it involved her money. However, she went along with the idea. Her husband did not stay around for long. He went off to war and left the plantation to her. After many years of planting and harvesting, Dinesen finally got a good crop. That year though, her plantation unfortunately burned. She was left with nothing. She had to sell her house, land, and possessions to have money to go back home.

Last, but not least was the death of Dennis. Karen had been searching all her life for her one true love, one that would be hers and not cheat on or use her. Dennis was faithful to her and he was trying to commit to her. In an unfortunate and unexpected plane crash, Dennis was killed. When finally she had found what she had been looking for in love, it was taken away from her.

Throughout all this Dinesen managed to keep going. She never let her misfortunes get the best of her. It took courage and strong will to get her through all her difficulties, but she did it. She stood for what she believed in and did not back down just because she was a woman. She hoped every day would be better then the last and even if it was not she still stood tall. Isak Dinesen was an amazing woman and an even more amazing writer.