Jules Vern and G.A. Henty were two very different writers who lived in the same time period. However, through their writings we can see both their styles and beliefs in depth. Therefore, by looking at what a person produces you can tell what kind of a person they are.
Jules Gabriel Vern was born on February 8, 1828, and was raised Catholic. His father wanted him to study law, but he broke away and wrote novels and plays, and today he is thought of as the father of science fiction, even though he would not have thought of it as Science Fiction, but potential Science Fact, by this I mean that he believed that all that he thought up was possible. It is questionable whether he maintained his faith through his life, but certain quotes from his books would suggest that he did maintain a Christian mindset if not a firm belief. Jules Vern is one of the most celebrated authors in history and his works remain bestsellers to this day, stories such as Around the World in Eighty Days, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Journey to the Center of the Earth.
George Alfred Henty, most commonly referred to as G.A. Henty was a widely popular adventure writer, he specialized in taking actual historical facts and creating a realistic Adventure story with it, some of his most famous titles are The Cat of Bubastes, The Dragon and the Raven, and The Lion of the North. He wrote his stories mostly for a younger audience, although they can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Henty was born December 8, 1832, he wrote many of his stories while in the war, and he died at 69 years old. We can see through his writings that he was a devout Christian, and a good father, and to this day he is still a very popular novelist.
Both G.A. Henty and Jules Vern lived in the same era, and both wrote fictional adventure stories that were based on scientific facts, and their stories have a similar character structure, they both typically have a main character, and one or more supporting characters. Finally, both authors took a similar worldview in their writing, however, it is difficult to see it in their stories, one thing that we often see in both author’s works is a hopeful outlook in their characters, this reflects the faith that the authors themselves had. Based on these similarities we see that Vern and Henty used similar literary devices to enhance the effect of their novels, which might be why they are so famous.
On the other hand, these two authors had many differences, such as the timing of their stories, Jules Vern took a very modern standpoint for his novels, looking ahead, just around the corner and envisioning what might be possible in the coming years. G.A. Henty conversely looked back to history for his inspiration, as his stories largely take place in older times. Another difference to be observed is the Voice in which they dictated their novels, Vern used a first person Narrator for his works, which was often voiced by the main character, but Henty used a third person Narration, and this makes sense because not only did he want to distance himself from the story, but he also originally meant for his stories to be read by other people and put emphasis on the historical side as opposed to the novelistic style of writing. This brings us to the final point of difference, the target audience of the authors, G.A. Henty was going for the young readers and Jules Vern aimed for the young to adult group to appreciate his novels. Therefore the differences of these authors show the uniqueness of, not only their writing but the marketing strategies that they used to bring readers into their circles.
Now that we have seen how Vern and Henty contrast between the similarities and the differences, we can look at what exactly this tells us about the authors and how they thought. From what we can tell, Jules Vern was a fairly educated and intellectual person, when we think of his work we often think about the science in his writing, as he did such a good job of this that his fictional works almost sound possible. Another thing we detect through his writings is that he held a degree of faith, based on his characters sense of hope, although we can also detect that he was skeptical of certain things in the world, as seen in other characters. From what we can tell, G.A. Henty was very well rounded in his history, his books span an astonishing range of history and like Vern, his characters show a whole hearted belief in God and reflect this in their actions. Both Jules Vern and G.A. Henty were wise and intellectual authors who hold a special place in the literary world, and through their writings we can see their personal beliefs and ideas.
By looking critically at a piece of writing, you can quickly discover much about the authors personal values. This reflects what the Bible says: “You shall know them by their fruit.” Their fruit being whatever they produce, and in the case of an author, this would be their writing, therefore, by looking at what a person produces you can tell what kind of a person they were.
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