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Review of Ernest Hemingway and Writings Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist and short-story writer whose writings and personal life exerted a profound influence on American writers of his time and thereafter. Many of his works are regarded as American classics, and some have subsequently been made into motion pictures. A review of Hemingway reveals many interesting points about his life, about the influences upon his works, and of the the themes and styles of his writings. An examination of Hemingway's past brings to light many interesting points and helps to create a better understanding of how he came to be the master of the understated prose style. The second of six children born to Clarence and Grace Hemingway, Ernest was born July 21, 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois. The society he grew up in was one of strict disciplinarians.
His parents were no exception. In fact he spent much of his life trying to escape the repressive code of behavior (CLC, 177) that was pushed upon him as a child. After graduating high school in 1977 he chose not to go to college and instead became a reporter for the Kansas City Star, where he remained for seven months. His oppurtunity to break away came when he volunteered as a Red Cross ambulance driver in Italy. In July of 1918 while serving along the Piave River, he was severely wounded by shrapnel and forced to return home after recuperation in January 1919. The war had left him emotionally and physically shaken, and according to some critics he began as a result a quest for psychological and artistic freedom that was to lead him first to the secluded woods of Northern Michigan, where he had spent his most pleasant childhood moments, and then to Europe, where his literary talents began to take shape. (CLC, 177) First he took a part-time job as a feature writer for the Toronto Star, eager to further pursue his journalistic ambitions.
In the fall of 1920 he became the contributing editor of a trade journal, which took him to Chicago. It was there that he met his first wife, Hadley Richardson. They were married in September 1921. In December of that year they went to France and for a 19 month street Ernest travel over Europe and Anatolia as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star. In late 1923 they returned briefly to Toronto where their son John was born, but Europe was still in Hemingway's mind. In early 1924 he resigned his job at the Star and moved back to Paris to launch his career as a writer.
In an examination of Hemingways writings is very much akin to a study of his life. Most all of his fiction was based upon or expanded from events that he himself had experienced, or at least that which he knew completely, inside and out. Being the perfectionist that he was, Ernest did not feel justified in writing about topics of which he was not completely informed. Through his extensive travels in Europe and Africa, as well as other areas, he formed the groundwork for many of his most famed and cherished stories. His work as a Red Cross ambulance driver (mentioned earlier) in Italy ended up providing the theme and location of one of his most successful novels, A Farewell to Arms, published in 1929. Many of his tales, especially in earlier years, centered around a character named Nicholas Adams, undoubtedly an incarnation of Hemingway himself.
Just as Hemingway before him, Nick Adams grew up around the Michigan woods, went overseas to fight in the war, was severely wounded, and returned home. Earlier stories set in Michigan, such as Indian Camp and The Three-Day Blow show a young Nick to be an impressionable adolescent trying to find his path in a brutally violent and overwhelmingly confusing world. Like most all of Hemingway's main characters, Nick on the surface appears tough and insensitive. However, critical exploration has resulted in a widespread conclusion that the toughness stems not from insensitivity but from a strict moral code which functions as the characters sole defense against the overwhelming chaos of the world. (CLC, 177) Not just Nick Adams experiences, but his attitudes as well seem to mimic those of his creator.
Ernest's 1924 - 25 adventures in Paris and Pamplona were the basis of a memorable novel, The Sun Also Rises, which helped to build him a reputation. The book was instantly successful and made him the leader of what was called The Lost Generation. (Grolier, 1) His 1938 play and melodrama of the Spanish Civil War, The Fifth Column, was composed a year earlier during a stay in Madrid. In 1933 - 34 He went on a big-game safari in Kenya and Tanganyika where he became an avid hunter and picked up the knowledge for his 1935 nonfiction work, Green Hills of Africa. Also derived from his African experiences were two of best stories, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.
Dubbed his most ambitious novel, For Whom The Bell Tolls, about the tragedy that had befallen the Spanish people, came following the time he spent serving as a correspondent for the North American Newspaper Alliance during the Spanish Civil War. Other stories of his, while not based as directly on events in his life, were still of subjects he took interest in and was quite knowledgeable about. Upon review of Hemingway's writings, it can be concluded that his works, on the whole, reflect the themes and attitudes of his own life, and tend to be rejecting of society. All of his works seem to revolve around the psychologically wounded Hemingway Hero, accurately representing his own ongoing struggle to face the world with grace under pressure. (CLC, 178) All of Hemingway's heros adhere to their own code, or set of moral standards. They are usually men, tough and experienced in the world they know, yet seemingly insensitive. Though they may seem cold on the surface, it has been said that the fidelity to a code, to a discipline, may be an index to a sensitivity which allows the characters to see, at moments, their true plight.
At times, and usually at times of stress, it is the tough man, for Hemingway, the disciplined man, who actually is aware of pathos or tragedy. (CLC, 179) For example Harry, in The Snows of Kilimanjaro, who fits the above description of a Hemingway Hero, lying incapacitated and ready to die, reveals through a series of flashbacks his own imperfections and regrets. What he experiences on his death bed is a moment of clarity, and is akin to the man of discipline who, in a time of stress, finds his own sensitivity and is able to see his true plight. The general idea behind Hemingway's stories usually fall into one of two categories. First, there is the story about the man who as already adopted his code, or disciplines, in the world which he cannot otherwise cope with. The second, which is used more often, is about growth and learning, about discovery of the worlds evils and disorder, and about the steps taken towards mastery of discipline (CLC, 180) and the building of ones code. One good example of the latter would be The Short Have Life of Francis Macomber in which a weak spineless man on safari in Africa (note the similarity to Hemingway's own experience) experiences various achievements and rejections which lead to his timely evolution from a normal twit to a disciplined man.
Still the definitive hero of Hemingway's tales is Nick Adams, whose collected stories are entirely about just that, the initiation into a swirling world of evil and confusion, and the learning necessary to cope with it. Over half of the first forty-five stories that Hemingway wrote focus on Nick, or occasionally another young man so similar that they could be one and the same. As a young boy, Nicks reaction to the world is that of shock. He stands to the side and observes events, more than taking part in them.
Terrible things happen to him, and about him, as he grows up through the course of Hemingway's work. His experiences teach the reader about life, and help to reveal the truths we would otherwise encounter in a manner similar to him. In other words, He is the whipping-boy of our fearful awareness He suffers our accidents and defeats before they happen to us. (CLC, 183) The impact which Ernest Hemingway's work has left upon society is nothing short of astounding. He has taught about lifes harsh realities and the importance of maintaining a code by which to live and deal with those realities. Through his own extensive experiences he has compiled these stories of the dark side of life, and of the good that can be found within. His own battle with the unforgiving world in which we exist, from which his stories were derived, was lost in 1961 when he committed suicide.
The world will forever bear his mark.
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Research essay sample on Spanish Civil War Life Of Francis Macomber
