Bob Dylan’s Life in a Stolen Moment, Essay Example

Bob Dylan was born on May 24, 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota. His parents were Abram Zimmerman, and Beatrice Stone, belonged to the Jewish community. Later Dylan’s father, strict and unfriendly, stroke with polio and thus the family moved to Hibbing. Here, he spent the remaining part of his childhood and the high school years. Dylan received moral and religious training from his local Rabbi according to the Jewish.

Life in Hibbing was fascinating. It has a high school football games, a movie house, bars, and cars running on a Friday night. It had a clear a viewpoint where one could simply stand on the end of the Hibbing’s main drag and see the through the city limits to the other end (Dylan 12). Dylan could listen to music, majoring in blues and country music, and later to rock and roll music. By the time, Dylan was eight, he started writing poems, playing the piano, and by age ten, he wrote songs. He wrote his first song to his mother while in 5th grade and scored a B+ grade. Dylan goes ahead and describes Hibbing town as a tough town. With the three police officers, one had no option but to be good, otherwise one could easily die. He describes having run from it when he was 10, 12, 13, 15, 15 ½, 17 and18. He caught in all this occasions and brought back except for one incidence.

Dylan joined University of Minnesota in 1959, where he began performing at local clubs. He flunked out of a science class for refusing to watch a rabbit die, failed out of communication class for cutting classes to frequent the local coffeehouses. Again, Dylan expelled from the English class for describing the English teacher in four-letter words (Dylan 43). However, he says to have done well in Spanish, because he had some knowledge of it before.

On the fall of 1962, Bob Dylan lived with his girlfriend, Suze Rotolo. Suze, learned and sophisticated politically, opened Bob’s eyes to the many social injustices that took place and the fight for equality and civil rights. She introduced Dylan to the work of poets like Rimbaud, Lord Byron, and Brecht. These poets influenced Dylan’s lyrics, and at the same time, Suze encouraged him to write more songs that are topical. Dylan’s began to write the topical pieces. He could take the story from real life injustices, and incorporate it with philosophy, political, social issues, and commentary (Dylan 56). He could then add humor into his music, while defying existing popular music conventions. With time, Dylan emerged as a dominant figure of the “new folk movement” which centered in Greenwich Village (Dylan 68). Dylan had several achievements including becoming a spokesperson for the American youth. His songs became famous, and some even became the anthem of the antiwar and civil rights movements. He sang in rallies, and written up in the Times and recorded at Columbia. Dylan awarded many honors over the year and a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1991 Grammies.

In as much as Dylan is successful today, his success did not come on a silver placket. He underwent pain and suffering for some part of his life. Dylan’s songwriting driven by the struggle to express his true self, and despite the conflict with the industry, he never gave up. Dylan tells us that we should never back down our feelings, and we should never give up.

I am not different from Dylan as I passed through life challenges to be whom I am today. I marked my first milestone when I joined secondary school. The second milestone attained upon joining college. At college now, I not only concentrate in studies, but also furnish my writing skills. I wish to be a writer in future and hope to publish my first book by the time I clear from college. The highest milestone I have set is to study and become a professor. I take Dylan’s advice: to never ever give up, despite all odds.

Work Cited

Dylan, Bob My Life in a Stolen Moment, Columbia Records. 1963.