Karen Blixen loved to entertain others with her stories that were often woven from nothing more than a listener's proposed phrase. Subsequently, Blixen would write stories with characters loosely based on his life experiences under the pseudonym Isak Dinesen. In two of his most famous stories, Out of Africa and Babette's Feast, Dinesen wrote about characters who were able to find the silver lining in even the darkest situations. This was reminiscent of Dinesen's life experiences, maturity, and wisdom gained through his own adversity. In Out of Africa, Dinesen weaved the story of a young woman who traveled to Africa to marry a friend. This marriage of convenience would give her a title and her husband would no longer be forced to rely on others for a living. Upon arriving in Africa Karen is only concerned about her possessions and what her home would be like. This portrayal of Karen as heartless and spoiled would be replaced with a much wiser person who survived life's obstacles. As the story progresses, Karen realizes that the future she painted for herself would not be the rosy one she had envisioned. Her husband made decisions about her money without her approval. She contracted syphilis which prevented her from having children, but she managed to find fulfillment in motherhood through the tribal children who lived on her estate. Karen's barn burned down and left her destitute, forced to sell everything she once loved to pay for her trip home. In Africa Karen found true love and happiness with Denys, then suffered a heartbreaking loss in his untimely death. One of these incidents could force a person to crumble under the pressure of loss, but in this loss Karen found the inner strength and will to survive. Kare... center of paper... people like she was an artist in her own right. His art was in the creation of meals that he prepared for others to enjoy. Babette knew that as long as she had her art she would never be poor because she would always have the gift of transforming people through her food. She realized that a true artist only wants to be able to give her best, as Babette was able to do with the meals she was allowed to prepare using her talent. In his stories Isak Dinesen created characters with whom his audience could find common ground. He gave each of his characters adversity in their lives, but instead of allowing them to collapse under the weight of their misfortunes, he allows them to shed their worries and see the beauty and joy in life. The characters are portrayed not as burdened by obstacles blocking their path, but rather as always able to find their own silver lining..