“Young Faustus” by Thomas Wolfe  

Web resources:   The University of North Carolina at Wilmington maintains a Thomas Wolfe Page with links to photos, essays, and publications by and about Wolfe.   Your understanding of this essay will be greatly aided by appreciating the significance of Wolfe’s reference to “Faustus” [or “Faust”] in the title of this section.  The most famous rendition of this intriguing myth was written by Goethe.  The BiblioBytes page presents a nice introduction to Goethe’s work.

Discussion questions:

What is the “fury” (42) that lasted ten (or was it fifteen?) years that dominates the beginning of the young man’s life in this selection?  Why is solitude involved?  What was the “hunger” that drove the young man?

How many books (43) did he read?  For what purpose?  Did the young man believe he would find what he wanted only in books?  How “practical” (44) was the young man?

What relationship does this selection have to college students beginning on their intellectual journey?  Do you discern any way of relating this selection to themes from Bonaventure?