Ernest Hemingway Essays (Examples)

Ernest Hemingway

The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber

Ernest Hemingway -- the Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber

The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber (Hemingway 5-28) and Ernest Hemingway's biography (Hulse) illustrate several key aspects of Ernest Hemingway's his personality. Hemingway's upbringing and observations of the characters in this short story reveal his attitudes about men, women and their relationships.

If The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber is a true indication of Ernest Hemingway's worldview, he believed in a male-centered world in which notions of cowardice and manliness were tied to violence and bravery, in which women were desirable but contemptible, and in which male-female relationships should be controlled by men

A brief biography of Hemingway's life sheds some light on his worldview. Ernest Hemingway was raised by a mother who exposed him to the Arts and by a doctor-father who was a rugged man and taught…

Ernest Hemingway

The author Ernest Hemingway specialized in what is known as naturalistic writing. He tells the reader only the basic information about what is going on in a particular short story or novel. Much is told about the natural settings of the stories, but very little is given about the characters in his stories. Instead, the facts about the people, including their personalities and characteristics, have to be inferred by close readings of the texts in question. In addition to this, Hemingway's novel and short stories the interactions between characters show the underlying relationships between genders and classes which were present in the society during the time Hemingway was writing. This idea of naturalism both in terms of the landscape and in terms of the interactions of characters can be seen throughout Hemingway's various writings, including "Hills Like hite Elephants," "A Clean ell-Lighted Place," "The Killers," and "The End…

Ernest Hemingway "Hills Like White Elephants" Kate Chopin "The Story Hour" Hemingway rich symbolism build

"The Story of an Hour" is rife with irony. This literary device is demonstrated in Mrs. Mallard's reaction to the purported death of her husband, and in the fact that he is really alive. The literary device of irony is mainly about opposition -- words are used in the exact opposite way of their literal meaning, and people react the exact opposite of how one would think they would. Mrs. Mallard's reaction to both the alleged death of her husband and to the fact that he is still alive are both ironic because she acts the exact opposite in which one would think a spouse would act if her husband had died.

It is of critical importance that although Mrs. Mallard does have a brief moment in which she cries and mourns the death of…

Ernest Hemingway is considered by some as the greatest writer in American History, by those who do not consider him so, he is still considered one of the greatest American writers. While many have written articles and entire books on the subject of Hemingway, one need only read his books and short stories to understand the man. Hemingway's writings are a window into his soul and very often mirror happenings in his own life. And his own life was as exciting as the stories told in his books. He was a volunteer ambulance driver in the First World War, involved in the Spanish Civil War of the 1930's, traveled extensively throughout the world, and wrote about it all. Many of his characters shared the same experiences as the writer in real life and are considered by some as part of him.

One of his books which directly paralleled his own…

Hills tells the story of a young American man and his pregnant lover waiting for the train that will take them to an abortionist. In addition to the directness of speech characteristic of Hemingway's writing, Hills explores several themes characteristic of Hemingway, to include boredom, dissatisfaction, and self-destruction as a moving paralysis. "And we could have all this," she said. 'And we could have everything and every day we make it more impossible'" (Machete).

Themes of paralysis and dissatisfaction are apparent in several Hemingway novels and stories, to include a Soldier's Home (1926). Soldier's tells the story of Krebs, a war hero who returns from war only to find that no one recognizes him as a hero and no one is interested in listening to his stories about the war. hile Krebs' disappointment at the denial of recognition as a war hero mirrors Heminway's own disappointment at being unable to…

The conflict is real and it is too big for him to tackle on his own, so he shuts down and checks out emotionally.

Another story that deals with inner conflict is "Now I Lay Me." This story is completely internal and it becomes the narrator's way to keep from losing his mind as he fights insomnia. He is suffering from shell shock. The conflict is the narrator's inability to sleep as well as his fear that if he does sleep, his soul will leave him. He admits to having "different ways of occupying" (Hemingway 276) himself while he lies awake with the most amusing thing is remembering a trout stream he fished when he was a boy. On some nights, he makes up streams, some of which were "very exciting, and it was like being awake and dreaming" (277). His imagination is so vivid, he forgets which streams are…

Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises'" and orld ar I

Initially printed in 1926, The Sun Also Rises turned out to Ernest Hemingway's first huge success. Not more than ten years after the end of orld ar I, the novel found a way to define what his generation was like: young people that were disillusioned whose lives were deeply touched by the war. Not even Hemingway himself was any kind of a soldier, but he saw more than enough action by means of his adventures as an ambulance driver while in Italy, where he was injured and was in fact presented a medal from the Italian government for his courage. Hemingway stood the emotional and physical scars of the war for the rest of his life, just like the concerned characters he produced in The Sun Also Rises, and the novel has been able to express the doubt and pointlessness…

Of course, she must also face the psychological damage that an abortion would have on her. However, she knows that if she does not have the abortion, the life she has enjoyed with her boyfriend will be destroyed and he will probably leave her. hile he claims that he will do anything for her, it is clear that he will not because he cannot even respond to her situation with the slightest bit of empathy. His statement, "It's not really an operation at all" (Hemingway) demonstrates his inability to grasp the depth of the situation. His inability to comprehend the scope of the situation indicates his inability to handle anything even slightly more complicated, like a family. Jig is in love with him, however, and admits that she does not care about herself. hen she says, "But I don't care about me. And I'll do it and then everything will…

The same issue of the paper also mentioned the executive secretary of the North American Committee to Aid Spanish Democracy, Rev. Herman F. Reissing's words: "Sooner or later we must decide whether we favour democracy or fascism. The only way to permanently establish peace is to remove the major causes of the war, of which the greatest is fascism" (the New York Times, Feb 20, 1937).

Robert Jordan joins the guerrilla forces in Spain and fights along with Pilar, Maria, Pablo Anselmo and their fellows because of his idealism at first and then due to his conviction that he has taken the right side. The American public is starting to become aware that besides strictly reading in the news about the ar on Europe soil, they will also feel the victory of the evil forces of the fascism on their own territory, some day.

The reports in the news in…

As a result, it is a "farewell to arms" that turns out badly. The farewell and the consequences were based on an unfortunate decision.

Johnson (1940, p. 89) adds that Frederick is not only saying farewell to arms of the war, but to all of society. He is purely separating from the war, refusing to be part of it. By doing so, he is isolating himself from the outside world. By his flight from the war, he is evading responsibility and emotion, taking refuge in simple primary sensations. In A Farewell to Arms," says Johnson, "it is society as a whole that is rejected, social responsibility, social concern. Lieutenant Henry is in the War, but his attitude is purely that of a spectator, refusing to be involved. He is leading a private life as an isolated individual." Penn Warren (1985, p. 58) explains that the individual is thrown back upon…

riting became a form of therapy for him. After the war, Hemingway found it difficult to establish himself. hile his parents wanted him to get a job, he wrote. Hemingway discovered his style, which would eventually be known as his trademark. He used all of his personal experiences as inspiration for novels and stories.

Margaret O'Connor claims that the war becomes a:

Metaphor that tied his work to the international experience of his generation -- wounded, disillusioned youth seeking the healing powers of medicine, of religion, of love. Hemingway's veterans find no cures however, only temporary anodynes" (O'Connor 1388).

From this perspective, we can see portions of real life merging with fiction. Maxwell Geismann maintains that Hemingway is "essentially a poet, and a high romantic individualist, alienated from the world, and charting a dangerous course between glamour and despair" (Geismann 69). Love and life cannot help but intersect on the…

"One of the most frequently observed weaknesses in his work is its depiction of women. It has been observed, for example, that the central male characters of his novels tend to be about his own age at the time of writing, while their female counterparts are progressively younger, more beautiful, and more absurdly compliant toward their men" (Kennedy and Gioia, 2000).

Even though his work is regarded as one the most influencing factors in American literature and culture but his personality remained a question mark and source of debate for many who argued that his personality was seriously flawed. His psychological or mental problems and delusions also affected his writing in his last days as he got hospitalized many times before his suicide. Many consider him a disturbed person with unlikable personality traits such as vanity, cruelty towards those he despised, delusions etc.

Conclusion

In the end Ernest Hemingway despite…

Hemingway and Women

Is Ernest Hemingway a misogynist, a woman hater? Whenever one discusses Hemingway, his personal life, his literary works, this question inevitable pops up in the conversation. While it's a fascinating question, one that's fun to discuss from time to time, it's ultimately a reductive pursuit. It's reductive for two reasons (a) one can never truly know what's in another person's heart, (b) the purpose of great literature is not to provide one with answers about the author's convictions, but to raise questions that challenge the reader's convictions.

To cut to the chase, Hemingway's short story "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" doesn't reveal how Hemingway feels about women, it ultimately asks the reader how he/she feels about women. In short, it can be considered a Rorschach test for the reader on the subject of misogyny. It is the purpose of this paper to examine the way…

Either way, what they shared is gone. The interesting thing about this story is the boyfriend's inability to see things from Jig's point-of-view. He does not have to deal with the emotional aspect of abortion, so he can say things like, "It's not really an operation at all" (Hills Like hite Elephants 1391). The nameless man is selfish and a liar because he tries to convince Jig "It's really not anything. It's just to let the air in" (1391) and "it's all perfectly natural" (1391). Hemingway purposefully leaves him nameless in an attempt to reveal how very little there is to his character. hat is worse, he probably is not concerned with what Jig is experiencing. He fails her and he fails to see her struggle, alienating her with just a few words. In addition, while he is alienating her, he is separating himself from her by demonstrating how selfish…

Thus, they felt alienated, or lost, from society.

A similar theme of alienation from society is found in the Andre Dubus short story entitled the Fat Girl. This story's alienation from society comes from being fat. In a world where skinny is everywhere, people who do not meet this prototype are ostracized, or feel lost from their community. Interestingly enough, the story opens with "Her name was Louise." (Dubus, p. 1). This tells the reader several things, one being that Louise was and is no longer and, second, that despite her title "The Fat Girl," she does in fact have a real name. Despite this, society, which the reader seems to become a part of, simply sees her as being "the fat girl." Thus, the alienation of Louise starts from the mere title of the story.

ibliography

Dubus, Andre. The Fat Girl. Adultery and Other Choices. New York: Godine, 1999.…

Both men's appearance are said to repel the young, yet they attempt to safeguard their 'just' reputations -- Blindy even says directly that he earned his nickname in his infamous fight: "you seen me earn it" (495). Blindy says that Willie Sawyer's castrating him, although not blinding him was 'too much' during his final fight, as if bargaining with fate.

Eventually, some compassionate individual steps in to defend the reputation of the old men. In "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" the older waiter takes the old man's side when the younger waiter casts aspersions on the old man's lack of sexual prowess -- because, it is implied that he also lives alone in similar depression and isolation. Frank the bartender tells the story of Blindy's final fight. This is essential given that even if they men believe their fates are 'just' in some fashion, they are haunted by incomplete business in…

Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway

From Modernism to Isolationism: The Transition of Nick Adams in the short stories Indian Camp and Big Two-Hearted River, Parts 1 &

Ernest Hemingway, acclaimed American novelist and short story writer, have established his niche in the world of literature by creating literary works that center on the interaction between Nature and human society. Apart from his famous novels For hom the Bell Tolls and The Old man and the Sea, Hemingway is also known for his series of short story works featuring the fictional character, Nick Adams.

Nick Adams is characterized as Hemingway's "alter ego," who serves as the mirror of the writer, reflecting through his writing his sentiments and thoughts about life, especially when contemplating about the social changes happening to human society with the emergence and development of the 20th century. Nick, as a fictional character, is a 'free soul' who…

Ernest Hemingway

There are a number of websites, books and articles on the life, experiences, and writings of Ernest Hemingway that depict the man as a womanizer, sometimes heavy drinker, and ultimately the tragic victim of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Though many of these sources attempt to shine different lights on Hemingway's life, most all agree that he was a prolific and profound writer of the written word.

Hemingway wrote in a myriad of ways including; short stories, novels, poetry and articles. He began his writing career as a journalist at the young age of 18. His first foray into the writing community was as a cub reporter for the Kansas City newspaper The Kansas City Star. Similar to the remainder of his life, he quickly became bored with covering local events, he yearned for much more. During his brief stint with the Star he covered the 15th…

Kilimanjaro' and 'Killers'

Ernest Hemingway was larger than life, a heroic American icon who stood for culture, class, sport, power and sex. He was a hunter, a fisherman, a connoisseur of bullfights and boxing and cigars. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century. The author of classic stories and books, no writer in the nation had a higher profile than Hemingway. And finally, as novelist Robert Stone notes, he fell prey to " that fateful thing that destroys writers: He tried to be the hero of his own fiction. If you do that enough, all the weak seams in your personality are going to give way" (Cryer, 1999). Most critics agree that Hemingway was a part of his characters. He can be seen as Harry, in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" and none perhaps more than Nick Adams who appears in many of his stories,…

Hemingway uses his lack of feeling to indicate how the soldiers came home feeling hollow and empty inside, struggling to find meaning in a world that no longer made any sense. Krebs does not even attempt to find meaning. He knows there is nothing inside of him, and everything in life is too much "work." He is empty and dead inside - the war has killed him even though he survives.

In a way, Krebs mother is the antagonist in the story, because she is the one who pushes him to do things he does not want to do. She is the totally opposite of her son, a little ignorant, spiritual, and sure life makes sense. She represents everything the soldiers were fighting for, and yet, she represents everything Krebs did not want to return to. She makes him remember things he would like to forget, and she makes him…

However, he was not the only person that had this type of opinion. Jack Kerouac also shared much of the dissent and concern that Hemingway had for the civilization in the West, although his views were not the same as Gandhi's.

Kerouac felt that Western civilization was becoming apocalyptic and would basically self-destruct. Of course, this has not really happened, but yet in some ways it has. People in the Western world are still very uncivilized in many ways and the civilization that they do have is showing signs of fraying around the edges. Gandhi's opinion that the West needs to be civilized has obviously been shared by many other individuals, although their opinions of what needs to be done and how it should be done are somewhat different.

ibliography

Gandhi on Western Civilization. (n.d.) http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/will/CPP/gandhi.html

Simmons, ud. (2006). The decline of Western civilization. Word Press. http://bsimmons.wordpress.com/2006/11/09/the-decline-of-western-civilization-a-historical-time-line-now-add-nov-7th-2006

Earnest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway may not have been a deliberate or conscious chauvinist but the manner in which he presented his characters suggests that the "Hemmingway hero" is the focus of all his stories and the 'heroine' is somewhat lost in the aura of the man. Though the women in his books re represented as having strong characters there is an inherent division between the two genders that identifies the hero as struggling for survival in hard world while the woman is merely a shadow in the background.

In a rapidly changing world it has been seen that Hemingway is treated as a misogynist as his woman are presented as a mere reflection of the men. Their characteristics come out when the men need the support and they develop through the experiences of the men. This suggests that Hemmingway did not support feminism. Yet, this statement could be wrong as…

competing values in Ernest Hemingway's "In Our Time"

This essay illustrates and explores how complicated it is to be a human, have relationships, and live in a world of complex and competing values. The essay specifically explores the chapters 'The End of Something' and 'The Three Day Blow.' One source used. MLA format.

In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway

In Our Time, first published in 1925, is a collection of short stories and vignettes about the years before, during and after orld ar I. This collection marked Ernest Hemingway's publishing debut and his fame. It is considered one of the most original short story collections in Twentieth Century literature. Many critics credit this book with introducing major developments into modern literature by Hemingway's sparse style, simple sentences with little or no emotional descriptions. Through the weave of stories he creates, readers gain key insights into Hemingway's later works, particularly one…

Faulkner and Hemingway: Comparison

William Faulkner (1897-1962) and Ernest Hemingway (1898-1961) were contemporaries who chose to adopt writing style that was highly unique and totally different from many of other writers of their time. Both reached great heights of success and were awarded Nobel Prize for literature. Both Faulkner and Ernest were similar in many ways but there was something essentially different about their narration styles and the psychological influences, which their writings reflect. For example while Faulkner was totally obsessed with dark mysteries such as death and murder, Ernest created stories, which were closer to reality. That is the reason why latter received more appreciation for his work than Faulkner who was highly popular among those who enjoyed thrilling mysteries and dark adventures. But they were both totally original in their writing style and they are responsible for introducing unique powerful devices in literature. Ernest Hemingway enjoyed concealing important…

Clearly, he's an excellent player, however, the underlying suggest is that he has rigged games. Bill comments, "But he loses ball games'" (Hemingway 48). The idea that he may not be above board evokes the comment from Nick that "There's always more to it than we know about'" (Hemingway 48). The disappointment that both feel about this player indicates a kind of disillusionment with the game. Hemingway intentionally makes this suggestion based on the famous Black Sox scandal of 1919 when the orld Series was thrown (Hurley). Americans so often believed in the power of baseball as something good and virtuous. The thought that baseball could be corrupted helps convey Nick's cynicism in this story (Hurley). Nick is a young man with a future and should be optimistic, but he has been tainted by something.

Baseball serves to illustrate the relationship between the men, but so do the novels that…

Hemingway & Lessing

Compare and Contrast: Martial and Romantic Relationships

Ernest Hemingway and Doris Lessing each examine marital and romantic relationships their short stories Hills Like hite Elephants and To Room Nineteen respectively. Hemingway's story is set in a bar in Northern Spain near a train station and centers around a conversation between a man and a woman as they wait for a train to Madrid one afternoon ostensibly so the woman can get an abortion. Lessing's story takes place over the course of a number of years and examines the evolution of the relationship between a Matthew and Susan Rawlings, an English couple who married in their late twenties and had four children during the course of the union.

Hemmingway does not name the man in his story and refers to the "girl" as Jig. The content of their character is revealed chiefly through their dialogue. The conflict between…

Moreover, the girl changes the subject quickly to having another beer.

While the man in the story remains utterly insensitive to his girlfriend, her state of mind is less clear. On the one hand, her self-esteem seems dreadfully low. She repeats, "I don't care about me," and she asks the man if getting the operation will make him happy. When she states, "I don't care about me," she could also mean "I care about you more," but she never says that." She utters the finishing lines of the story: "I feel fine...There's nothing wrong with me. I feel fine." Her words most likely indicate her further suppression of her anger and true feelings. However, the girl might also have come to a decision about ending their relationship. It is entirely possible that her hill-gazing has inspired her to make major changes in her life. After all, the open-ended story does…

Hemingway is classified as a modernist in fiction. Modernism rejected traditions that existed in the nineteenth century and sought to stretch the boundaries, striking out in new directions and with new techniques. More was demanded of the reader of literature or the viewer of art. Answers were not presented directly to issues raised, but instead the artist demanded the participation of the audience more directly in finding meaning and in seeing the relationship between technique and meaning. In literature, writers developed new structures as a way of casting a new light on such accepted elements as character, setting, and plot. Much of modernist fiction shows this increased demand on the reader. Ernest Hemingway gives the illusion of moving in the other direction by simplifying language to the point where it seems ascetic, but in truth his language is complex in its way, building meaning into every word and the placement…

It is certainly difficult to determine in Hemingway actually wanted Adams to be a mirror image of who he was or if he wanted the character to reveal his experiences and his feelings from the war period.

Nick Adams does not necessarily have to be considered to be Hemingway's attempt to show the world who he is, as it would be more natural for people to understand Nick as the writer's idea of a perfect individual, even if the character has several visible flaws. Adams constantly tries to compensate for the situations when he feels that his power is put to test by getting in control and putting across his superior influence. Although the author is well aware of the human condition and of the fact that death is inevitable, he makes it possible for Nick to be less vulnerable to being a human by expressing the character's certainty regarding…

Hemingway

If literary genius can be described as one person's ability to influence the thinking of others and to do it only with written words, then Ernest Miller Hemingway was certainly deserving of the title. With his direct, declarative and streamlined style of writing, a style he first learned while writing as a newspaper journalist, Hemingway observed the world around him and the people in it, and then wrote of his observations on the nature of mankind.

Born on July 21, 1899 in the family home at Oak Park Illinois, Hemingway was the second of six children for his parents. His father, Dr. Clarence Hemingway, was a family physician, and his mother, Grace Hall Hemingway a music teacher. As a boy he was taught by his father how to hunt and fish, and it was in his childhood that he developed a passion for exploring nature that would not only…

In the letter, those were rooms 112 and 113 (in the play, 108-109); "It seemed eminently more sensible to live in a part of a hotel which you knew would not be struck by shell fire" the author wrote in the letter (ashington, 2009, p. 1). The point ashington makes vis-a-vis Column is that room 109 wasn't just a "safe" place, it was a place with "good things" like sex, perfume, alcohol, hot water, and yes, food.

The brilliance of Hemingway's narrative -- not just in war themes but also throughout his work -- cannot be over-emphasized. In A Farewell to Arms Hemingway uses the character Frederic as narrator, and Frederic's narration is mainly descriptive, but in its simplicity, it packs a punch. Critic Katie Owens-Murphy explains that when Frederick -- an ambulance driver, not a soldier -- is asked about the war by a bartender, he first replies, "Don't…

Unable to serve in the army, he too, like Jake is haunted by a feeling of vulnerability. His mother financially supports his career as a novelist, and he is highly dependant upon Frances, the woman with whom he is involved, even while he is lusting after Lady Brett. Likewise, Jake's feelings for Brett are characterized by male vulnerability: "I was thinking about Brett and my mind stopped jumping around and started to go in sort of smooth waves. Then all of a sudden I started to cry. Then after a while it was better and I lay in bed and listened to the heavy trams go by and way down the street, and then I went to sleep" (39).

In love, Jake is frustrated. However, Jake is far from impotent in other manly pursuits. Especially when he is away from Paris, the city of romance and love, he finds a…

With him, this vital energy goes its own way, independent of the pessimism and the disillusionment so typical of the age.' Hemingway did not go to the awards ceremony due to illness, some time before that same year his plane crashed and he lived to read his own obituaries. y then he was already experiencing the results of his fast paced lifestyle and at the end of his life he dealt with sicknesses such as mental depression, and eventually a form of paranoia. This was written of his last days 'After Hemingway began talking of suicide his Ketchum doctor agreed with Mary that they should seek expert help. He registered under the name of his personal doctor George Saviers and they began a medical program to try and repair his mental state. The Mayo Clinic's treatment would ultimately lead to electro shock therapy. According to Jefferey Meyers Hemingway received "between…

Hemingway both describes these characters in the relation with him as well as in the relation with other subjects. Regardless however of the perspective, the hurdles the characters overcome make them successful both in the mind of the reader and in terms of the artistic legacy they left behind.

Gertrude Stein can be seen as an example of a person that overcame adversities and became successful. This is particularly taking into account the preferences in her private life and her long-term female companion, Alice Toklas. Back in the day, such preference was not necessarily condemned but it was not overlooked either. However, in the case of Gertrude Stein, her qualities and determination made her one of the most appreciated women of the French society. Hemingway points this success in his writing, "When you have two people who love each other, are happy and gay and really good work is being…

Kilimanjaro

For many critics, no other short story by Ernest Hemingway is as overtly autobiographical as the Snows of Kilimanjaro. Richard Hovey goes as far to say that the story "must have been (Hemingway's) effort to purge himself of long-accumulated guilts" (83).

This paper examines how the parallels between the story's protagonist Harry and Hemingway reveal a theme of the conflict between financial comfort and the artistic calling. It shows how Hemingway depicts a writer, literally rotting from within, as he reflects on his own moral corruption and the loss of his artistic integrity.

As the story begins, the reader quickly learns that the protagonist, a writer named Harry, is dying. A scratch sustained earlier has become infected and has poisoned his blood, causing a gangrenous infection. Harry knows that death was coming, but he could no longer muster any horror or fear. Instead, all he feels is "a great…

Honor is frequently mentioned in Ernest Hemingway's short story entitled "The Happy Life of Francis Macomber." Clearly the characters and Hemingway tie strong meaning to honor. Francis Macomber has a strong desire for honor and courage, especially after seeing his wife sneak into another man's tent. Francis and Wilson go hunting two times in this story. On the first excursion, Wilson the "professional hunter" (p. 4) is brave, and defeats the lion before it can injure the terrified Macomber. According to Hemingway, Macomber "…had just shown himself, very publicly, to be a coward" (Hemingway, p. 2). Margot Macomber aids in demonstrating the importance of honor when she not only makes fun of her husband for being afraid, but beds with the much more "honorable" Wilson after the first hunting trip. On the second hunting trip Macomber and Wilson encounter a wounded buffalo and end up in almost the same situation…

Fitzgerald and Hemingway

The writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway have quite a lot to do with one another. Besides the fact that both men were writing during the same historical period in time, both men were interested in some of the same themes and expressed their feelings through their writings. Two novels, F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night and Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, deal with American male protagonists who find themselves in foreign lands following the First orld ar. Each turns his back on his American nationality and becomes an expatriate, wallowing in the grandeur of foreign pleasures while at the same time serving no real function in the world outside of their indulgences. The men are part of what would come to be known as "The Lost Generation." This was a group of people who were so impacted by the blood, gore, and…

This conflict led Krebs to want to seek a staid, trouble free existence in which there were as few responsibilities and hardships incurred as a result as possible. In addition to the evidence already discussed that reinforces the truth of this thesis, such as the fact that Krebs lost the facets of his memory and life before the war that he once valued, that he spurns his parents' desires to get a good job and to readily marry, and that he has become exceedingly apathetic to the point of losing his love for his mother and himself, there is other evidence to support this claim. Hemingway spends a substantial amount of the text discussing Krebs' desire for young girls, yet his lack of interest in actually pursuing them. This aspect of his characterization is accounted for by the several allusions to sex and his involvement with prostitution in the war.…

Keats and Hemingway

Although the literary texture John Keats' poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" and Ernest Hemingway's "A Very Short Story," have profoundly different tones, given that one was written during the Romantic period of the 19th century in England, and the other during the modernist period of 20th century American literature, both works have similar tales and attitudes towards love -- a military man seeks beauty and solace in the arms of a woman. Yet the man's love comes to naught because of a woman's faithlessness.

The Keats has a distinctly 'unreal' or crafted poetic tone, in contrast to the Hemingway attempt to have the quality of ordinary speech and life. Keats' poem is a ballad in the modern style. Hemingway's reads almost like a newspaper story in its quiet, factual description of its characters. Keats' poem is about a fairy queen, rather than an attempt at capturing…

Burke Hemingway

Burke as a Disciple of Hemingway

In interview, New York Times best-selling novelist James Lee Burke (2002) has been quoted as identifying Ernest Hemingway as among his favorite authors. This is in clear evidence in the first of 19 books which would go on to feature Dave Robicheaux, a Vietnam veteran, a recovering alcoholic and a renegade Louisiana Sheriff's Deputy. In Robicheaux, and in the world that we are introduced to with 1987's The Neon Rain, Burke truly betrays his affinity for Hemingway's thematic and stylistic impulses.

As Lowe (2012) observes, "Burke's novels are painted with vivid descriptions of the land, pithy dialogue and sudden acts of physical violence. The combination of action, description and dialogue makes for a page-turning read. The common criticism made against his work is that there is too much violence." (Lowe, p. 1)

This is a criticism perhaps not unlike that often visited…

Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Cather share a bond when it comes to style and framing fiction with language. ords are not simply meant to describe a character or scene; they can help round the story through how they are arranged. Fitzgerald illustrates how language can blossom around particular aspects of characters and ideas. Hemingway and Cather demonstrate how short, concise sentences can enhance a scene by increasing tension. Style emerges as an afterthought but as we study it, we realize it is a deliberate act that is so subtle that most readers overlook it when it comes to reading. Nouns and sentences are structured in a way that helps the reader make an emotional connection with the reader. These writers have different styles but this does not make one better or worse than the other. The variety we see in them represents the vast capability of writing styles around the world.…

Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway, and a passage in "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," by J.D. Salinger.

IMITATE SHORT PASSAGES BY HEMINGWAY AND SALINGER

Hemingway's short, staccato style and "macho" man image has often been parodied, reviewed, and dissected. "The Sun Also Rises" has been called one of his best books. This passage parodies Hemingway's macho style, and outlook on women as the weaker sex.

Paris again, and another broad in another taxi. How do I get myself into these things? Last thing I knew, I was in Pamplona, running with the big dogs. Now, I'm in a taxi with Brett, who's married to somebody else, and flirting with me. She's not half bad looking for a dame. Maybe I should just kiss her. Let her know I'm interested. What the hell. "Don't touch me, please don't touch me," she says to me, and I'm a pretty damned good…

In stark contrast to Hemmingway's Old Man and the Sea is Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron which is not only set in the future, but a bleak, tyrannical, almost farcical future. 2081 is not a year in which any sane person would hope to see if Vonnegut's future comes true; it is a dystopian future where everyone if forced to be equal, no matter how ridiculous the attempt to do so. The Bergeron's, George, Hazel, and their son Harrison live in a world where intelligent people have buzzers in their heads to keep them from being too smart, while beautiful people must wear masks to cover their faces so other, less attractive people don't feel bad. As Vonnegut himself stated "Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else." (Vonnegut) Every natural advantage is handicapped by the government to make everyone exactly equal. And everyone seems content…

Autobiographies

A memoir or autobiography can take on a myriad of different literary forms; for both Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway self-reflection is best achieved through the eyes of other people. The impact of Hemingway's A Moveable Feast and Stein's The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas is remarkable: the creation of autobiographical material that is neither narcissistic nor self-centered. The authors achieve their literary feats in part by writing in a straightforward style of prose that characterizes the remainder of their respective canon of work. hat impressionistic elements do add nuance and flourish to Hemingway and Stein's memoirs never becomes purple prose. Moreover, both A Moveable Feast and The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas are constructionist, or constructivist, texts in that the authors assemble a "self" for the reader. The "self" is not monolithic, but rather, pluralistic and multi-faceted. In spite of their rather basic use of prose elements, both…

Freudian Reading of "The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber"

Diagnose Hemingway on the basis of the characters in Macomber. Freud felt that the work exemplified the author's mental state, so on the basis of the biography and the characters in the story, what might you conclude about Hemingway himself?

"The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber" is one of many of Ernest Hemingway's compelling and dense short stories. This paper will attempt to psychoanalyze Hemingway by critically reading and interpreting the themes, characters, and narrative of the short story. Hemingway was a man who was concerned with virility and masculinity as a writer and in his life. This story centers around a weak man married to a strong woman. Hemingway's female characters are often exceptionally alluring, but not because they are perfect or healthy. The women of Hemingway's stories and novels are imperfect, flawed, and often perceptibly…

Early in the book, the fishermen look at him with sadness, or with derision (Hemingway 1980, 11), but there is still a camaraderie and togetherness in their group that indicates they are all brothers in the same quest for a living.

Finally, religion and spirituality is an important aspect of the novel that many critics acknowledge. Critic Bloom continues, "In the Old Man and the Sea, Santiago, the principal figure, is a primitive Cuban, at once religious and superstitious. Yet neither his religion nor his superstitious beliefs are relevant to his tragic experience with the great marlin; they do not create it or in any way control its meaning (Bloom 1999, 13). Thus, the religion and spirituality that form the backbone of the novel form the backbone of the people, as well. They believe, but their spirituality does not control every aspect of their lives. Hemingway alludes to this faith…

This battle is Santiago's personal struggle and it has meaning to him. In his struggle with the fish, Santiago says, "But I must have the confidence and I must be worthy of the great DiMaggio who does all things perfectly even with the pain of the bone spur in his heel" (Hemingway 68). This shows that the catching of the fish is like a personal test for Santiago. He is challenging himself to be the best he can be, and he does ultimately succeed. Santiago is also recognizing his own flaws by his reference to the bone spur in DiMaggio's heel. In this, he is saying that he must take this moment and do his best regardless of his own flaws. In the end, Santiago does catch the fish but on the way into shore, it is eaten by sharks. Ultimately then, he fails in his task. However, as he…

Now that he is dying, Harry thinks that he has waited too long to write the things he really wants to write, and that he will never be able, now, to write all that he has left for a later time. As the article "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" (ikipedia, August 31, 2006) suggests "This loss of physical capability causes him to look inside himself - at his memories of the past years, and how little he has actually accomplished in his writing." He realizes that although he has seen and experienced many wonderful and astonishing things during his life, he had never made a record of the events; his status as a writer is contradicted by his reluctance to actually write.

As the now pain-ridden and dying Harry thinks to himself bitterly, for example:

So now it [his writing career] was all over... So now he would never have a…

Life sucks and then you die, is a popular saying among Gen-Xers to describe the futility of it all. The phrase may be original, but the sentiment certainly is not. Long before Generation X came on the scene, Ernest Hemingway was writing about heroes who faced the harsh unfairness of finite life with dignity and grace. This "grace under pressure" became known as the Hemingway Code.

Hemingway scholar Philip Young explains that the code "is made of the controls of honor and courage which in a life of tension and pain make a man..." (63). Feminist scholars have suggested that this definition of the code is sexist and that women in Hemingway's work, too, display honor and courage (Tyler 29).

Rovit and Brenner agree with Young's basic definition and add an additional component. Hemingway's code, they say, also has to do with "learning how to make one's passive vulnerability (to…

aiting is a critical aspect in this story and there are several images that point to this notion. alls, doors and clocks are powerful images. Arthur aldhorn believes that the walls are significant symbols in "The Killers." They represent an "irresistible obstacle" (aldhorn 37) which "adds to the total image of terror without becoming an effect for its own sake" (37). They are symbols of the prison in which Ole lives. He has no choice in this world and, as a result, nowhere to go. On the other hand, the door proves to be a symbol of hope and the future for Nick. Hal Blythe believes the doors are a "passages through what appear to be barriers" (Blythe). Blythe states that Hemingway "laced his narrative with the door motif to suggest that Nick is free to make choices" (Blythe). The images in this story are powerful because they seem to…

male/female perspective on the issue of abortion as it appears in Ernest Hemingway's most subtle short story, 'Hills like white elephants'. The author has made use of symbolism to highlight the problems experienced by most married couples due to lack of proper communication. Hemingway chose this topic because he believed in this interesting iceberg theory which has been explained in the concluding part of this paper.

HILLS LIKE WHITE ELEPHANTS: MALE/FEMALE PESPECTIVE ON ABOTION

The theme of abortion is predominant in the story titled, "Hills like white elephants." The author, Ernest Hemingway, however has not mentioned the actual word 'abortion' throughout the entire short story but instead has used symbols and vague dialogues to convey his message to the readers. The reason why Hemingway probably refrained from using the actual term was because he firmly believed in using dialogues and language, which required deeper study. The author wanted the readers…

As Hemingway also states,.".. The old man always thought of her as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favors, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them. The moon affects her as it does a woman, he thought" (30). Moreover, to Santiago, there is something magical about the sea. By contrast, the younger fishermen, those who laugh at Santiago's bad luck, think of her only pragmatically, unromantically, as a means of commerce.

Despite his persistent streak of bad luck, Santiago still tells himself to fish the best he can, out of respect to the sea, and himself. "I could just drift, he thought, and put a bight of line around my toe to wake me. But today is eighty-five days and I should fish the day well" (p. 41). As he fishes, alone but determined, Santiago identifies with some…

Thus, Hemingway suggests that the link between secondhand knowledge and violence is that the violence becomes muted when passed on secondhand, making it nearly impossible for others to understand the violence, and so, therefore, rendering the violence useless.

Like Krebs, Mrs. Mallard's sister and husband's friend both have secondhand knowledge of violence in "The Story of an Hour," despite the fact that that knowledge is misinformation, for when they reveal that knowledge to Mrs. Mallard, the knowledge is real to them. Because both Josephine and Richards have only secondhand knowledge of Mr. Mallard's tragic and violent death, the violence of such a death is muted when passed onto Mrs. Mallard, allowing her to misconstrue the pain that her husband, whom she had "sometimes" loved into a joyous occasion. That she did, indeed, misconstrue his pain is emphasized by the fact that Mrs. Mallard "knew that she would weep again when…

As a result of his impotence, Jake sees Lady Brett's sexuality as threatening, rather than an expression of a feminist sensibility. Brett's independence is shown as futile, a kind of a symptom of the 'world upside down' of gender relations created by the war, but the implication by Jake (and by Hemingway) is that her strength is not fulfilling for her as a woman, and she is really looking for a male to subdue her, such as the bullfighter Romero.

Jake's cool and distanced character makes him a superior, if not a less disinterested narrator than Cohn. Cohn is emotional and romantic, and lashes out with his fists or tears. He lacks the ability to engage in cool, self-searching analysis to understand his own psyche or the psyche of others, although he has enjoyed some success as a writer. Because of the anti-Semitism he has experienced, like Jake he has…

This perspective gives us insight into the human condition in that it reveals that life experience is worth something and that notion is something young people simply cannot grasp fully. The young are more confident because they have not experienced as many hardships. For example, the younger waiter is "all confidence" (96) while the older waiter is not. In fact, he can relate to the old man more than he would like to. He knows there is nothing worse than going home to nothing. The younger waiter wants to hurry home while the older waiter feels as if he is doing a good deed by providing a "light for the night' (97) for the old man any anyone that might be like him. The older waiter knows why the clean and bright cafe is appealing to the people that come around at night and he does not mind keeping the…

myth of Narcissus is often misunderstood; many of the readers of the myth interpret the events as Narcissus gazing down at his own reflection in the water and falling in love with himself. The reality of the myth is that through some insufficiency of his own character, Narcissus is unable to identify that the reflection in the water is himself. The lack inside of Narcissus causes him to believe it's another person and he falls in love with this vision. A similar lack pervades through the characters of the story "Indian Camp" by Ernest Hemingway and "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor. In these stories, characters abound with paucities in nature but surfeits in egotism. This paper will examine the similarities in the imbalance of the moral fiber of these characters, the language that surrounds them to display this phenomenon and attempt to demonstrate how such visions of superiority have…

Advice in "Advice to a Son" and "It Was a Dream"

Both Ernest Hemingway's "Advice to a Son" and Lucille Clifton's "It Was a Dream" aim to inspire, yet key differences in style influence the impact of the authors' message and intent. Both poems seek to provide advice and approach the matter in different ways.

Hemingway's "Advice to a Son" provides a list of dos and don'ts that have helped him achieve his goals in life. "Advice to a Son" draws from Hemingway's experiences in multiple wars and conflicts, his multiple marriages, and his writing career. He also refers to historical events and the impact that they had on the world. Hemingway tells his son to not "enlist in armies/Nor marry many wives" and to "Never trust a publisher" because they will rob one of their money due and "you'll sleep on straw." Hemingway also provides a sense of reassurance…

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This essay is well-written and well-constructed. The writer refers to the primary source material liberally and provides in-text citations as well as a bibliography. However, the writer could use active voice more often. For example, the sentence "The use of different point-of-view for the narration of the story has great influence on how the elements of characterization and setting are presented" could be rewritten and presented in active voice: "...great influence on how the authors present elements of characterization and setting." The sentence that follows is also slightly clumsy and would be improved through using more parallel verb forms. It reads: "The first person narrative can use more direct characterization to establish the people in the story while the objective point-of-view relies on indirect interpretation." It could be changed to read: "The first person narrative uses direct characterization to establish the people in the story, while the objective point-of-view…

Yank in "Hairy Ape" by Eugene O'Neill

In the play, "Hairy Ape," by Eugene O'Neill, the character of Yank portrays the individual who seeks to conform in his society and is always in need to belong with other people. Robert Smith, or Yank, is illustrated as an individual who personifies anything that is deviant in the society: O'Neill portrays him as "broader, fiercer, more truculent, more powerful, and surer of himself than the rest. They respect his superior strength -- the grudging respect of fear. Then, too, he represents to them a self-expression, the very last word in what they are, their most highly developed individual." This passage from the play shows how, because of both his physical appearance and personality, Yank is immediately identified as 'distinct' and 'different' from other people.

Looking into his portrayal in the play, Yank also shows apparent dislike for conformity, deviating from all the…

True War Story" and "Soldier's Home" by Tim O' Brien and Ernest Hemingway, respectively, are stories that tackles the issue of social, psychological, and emotional complications that a war veteran/soldier experiences during and after the war. The two stories have its differences and similarities, and one of its differences is the way the authors focused on their main character's dilemma and the way each of them narrated their stories. O' Brien used a more personal, first person account of the main character's life as a soldier in the Vietnam War, while Hemingway used the third person to illustrate the detached attitude of Krebs in the story. But there are also similarities in both stories, that is, both authors tell us of the hard time the characters had in fitting in and going back into their normal lives after the war. O' Brien's character poses the dilemma that he was unable…