Thomas Wolfe: Aline Bernstein's Dark Brooding Flower

Thomas Wolfe: Aline Bernstein's Dark Brooding Flower

Aline Bernstein referred to Thomas Wolfe as a dark, brooding flower. She saw the darkest side of him and loved him in spite of the darkness. She supported him financially and emotionally while he wrote Of Time and the River, The Web and the Rock, and Look Homeward, Angel. She was Esther Jack, his most believable character. She provided raw material for his novels and contributed to his theme of illusions versus reality. <br /><br />Was she his axis, the father, to which he could anchor himself? The father he sought was neither God nor a biological father, but a more elusive element he was never able to grasp. He searched for the unfound door believing the father was behind that door. At times Bernstein appeared to be the father, but his axis slipped away each time he tried to lash himself to it.<br /><br />Wolfe wanted to give the “forgotten language” to mankind. His relationship with Bernstein allowed him to do that. Without her, the language might never have been articulated, but each of them paid a steep price for their love.<br /><br />As he lay dying, Wolfe begged to see Bernstein, who desperately wanted to come to his side, but Maxwell Perkins refused. Wolfe died and her life with her husband went on, but she slept every night for the rest of her life with a photo of Wolfe beside her bed.