Ernest Hemingway Essay

Ernest Hemingway is one of the most legendary figures in Ameri gutter literature, known for his writing as well as his complete of the suicidaldeep sea fishing, big game hunting, bullfighting in Spain, etc. As an author, he c overs myriad subject matter in a precise distinctive course. His sentences are short and non-descriptive, and the subscriber must treat to uncover literary elements like theme. Dialogue is his real specialty. He uses very few descriptive details. His romilitary personnelces tend to be more somewhat mannish subjects and based on his adventures while his short stories are known for his exploration of roles amongst men and women.His novels tend to be based on his experiences. In fact, as the Hemingway resourcefulness Center states, When you want to find the truth ab knocked out(p) Hemingways life, look first to his fiction (Hemingway resource center). In Our duration was published in 1925 and contained some very notable short stories, such(prenominal) as Big Two-Hearted River. Men Without Women was published in 1927. The Sun in like manner Rises was one of the first books he published, and the subject matter was a convocation of young people living in Spain, expatriates living abroad.The chief(prenominal) fount was in respect with a char who was also in love with a bullfighter. The Sun Also Rises introduced the world to the lost generation and was a critical and commercial success. Set in Paris and Spain, the book was a flooring of unrequitable love a soak upst a backdrop of bars and bullfighting (Hemingway imagination Center). Soon after that in 1929 came A Farewell to Arms, which some would allege is the beat out book to come out of the experience of World state of war I. The tragic ending actually comes from one of Hemingways wives (Pauline) and her struggles with childbirth.And after that came his speaking called Death in the Afternoon, all about bullfighting. Hemingway spread abroads that, It is intended as an unveiling to the modern Spanish bullfight and attempts to explain that spectacle both emotionally and practically. It was indite because there was no book which did this in Spanish or in English. In this dissertation he began to form his idea of the true fighter aircraft as grace under pressure. He also outlined his system of omission or iceberg principle, which is a theory very strategic to future literature.He states If a generator of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the generator is writing truly enough, will puddle a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of transaction of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. The writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing. (Hemingway Resource Center). His novel called The Green Hills of Africa in 1935 came from the fascination Hemingway had wit h Teddy Roosevelts African hunting hunting expeditions.With borrowed money from his wifes uncle, Hemingway spent three months in Africa on a safari of his own. The novel comes from this. 1940 brought For Whom the Bell Tolls, a novel about the Spanish Civil War. M either of his novels were really about that full idea of the Hemingway hero. The Hemingway hero must face death bravely and die hard life to the fullest point in the presence of death. Hemingway suffered through a pine period of not being favored by the critics and was determined to gain back his previous status. This is when he published The Old Man and the Sea, the quintessential novel of courage and persistence.This book sold over 5 one million million copies in a very short time, and suddenly Hemingway was on cover version of the heap once again. This book about a mans struggle with a humongous marlin even win the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. He simply could not duplicate the brilliance of this book again. His nonfic tional prose sketches of Paris in the 1920s called A Moveable Feast (1964) did postal code to advance his reputation. Unfortunately, due to age and medical problems Hemingway never wrote anything close to this again. He ended up killing himself due to depression and medical problems. spell the themes of his novels tend to revolve around his experience, his short stories do so to a fault tho to a lesser result. His focus in many of his illustrious short stories tends to be more about the lack of communication amidst males and females. For example, His short stories The Snows of Kilimanjaro and The Short Happy Life of Frances Macomber both come from the safari experience as well although the focus is different. In Snows of Kilimanjaro, Hemingways main male character is a writer who has basically wasted his endowment fund by becoming sexually involved with a rich woman who buys him everything he needs.This short story can certainly be run acrossn as Hemingway himself lamenting the way that he was wasted his talent as a write although some say it is about F. Scott Fitzgerald. His male character, Harry, is a superpatriotic pig while the female character attends to his every need. She is weak, and this allows the writer to declare total advantage of her. Again, the reader cant help nevertheless wonder how much of this is autobiographical. Another short story that has gained much oversight is from the 1927 book called men without Women.This story is called Hills Like White Elephants shows how much of a story Hemingway could tell with very little. It defines his minimalist style. In classic Hemingway style a couple sits at the bar of a train shoes discussing an unknown subject. Part of the beauty of the story is that the reader must imprint to uncover the subject of their conversation, but also that every detail in the setting, in the story itself goes toward making meaning. It also shows the communication breakdown between man and woman.For example, the very fact that the story is set in a train station is stark(a) beauty. This couple must make a decision about the issue before them (abortion). There is no passing play back and there is not standing still. They must get on whichever train they are getting on without hesitation. As the girl looks out one side of the station, she sees green, fertile ground. As she looks out the other side, she sees run dry barrenness. Again, the symbolic meaning is clear. The couple has an entire conversation and never mentions the devise abortion, nor do they look at each other.They look at everything else which shows the extent to which they are uncomfortable with the subject and each other. They repeat the same phrases over and over again without any true understanding, although the girl does seem to sweep over on in the end. This is classic Hemingway to show the lack of communication even between two people who are supposed to be close. A sample of Hemingways masterful dialogue follows Well, the man said, if you dont want to you dont have to. I wouldnt have you do it if you didnt want to. But I know its perfectly naive. And you really want to? I think its the best thing to do. But I dont want you to do it if you dont really want to. And if I do it youll be euphoric and things will be like they were and youll love me? I love you now. You know I love you. I know. But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants, and youll like it? Ill love it. I love it now but I upright cant think about it. You know how I get when I worry. If I do it you wont ever worry? I wont worry about that because its perfectly simple. To say that this man and girl do not understand each other is pure understatement. They are talking in circles and are just not communicating. Hemingways short stories are full of this kind of dialogue. Another famous story called Cat in the Rain discusses the sense of isolation for an American wife. As Darren Felty states , The work revolves around the desire of Hemingways protagonist, an American wife holiday in Italy, to rescue a cat from an afternoon rain storm. She fails in her attempt, revealing in the process the emotional distance she feels from her husband and the attendants at the hotel.The story employs a complex of barriers, enclosures, and geometrically defined details to catch up with the emotional and psychological boundaries that restrict character interaction (Felty). This seemingly simple story uses barriers to symbolize the relationship between the man and woman. Once again, communication is a huge problem. While the wife tells her husband of this poor smoke in the rain, he barely looks up from his paper. Eventually she ends in a tantrum, much like Hills Like White Elephants in order to be heard. But the details of setting that Hemingway uses are genius to show the lunacy of the characters.This story is told to perfect satisfaction in two pages. In chase with a very great them e of Hemingway is Big Two-Hearted River. In this story, the reader follows Nick from innocence to knowledge. Basically Nick returns to a place he fished when he was younger, but the whole area has been destroyed by fire. However, by returning to this place of innocence from his youth, Nick is able to go forrard in life as Hemingways heroes are. The theme of alienation is compete out chillingly well in A Clean Well-Lighted Place. Again, we see a Hemingway hero living his life but accepting death.In this story an old man comes to this diner every night. He arrives juvenile one night as the young waiter is closing up, but the young waiter doesnt want to let him have a drink. An older waiter, the voice of experience, allows him to have a drink because he understands just how important it is for everyone to have a clean well-lighted place that is spread out as long as possible. In other words, he understands bareness in a way the younger waiter could never imagine. Lastly, an impo rtant short story is The Short and Happy Life of Frances Macomber.In this story, Hemingways idea of a hero is played out. On this safari, Frances is very scared. He is also ruled by his wife. However, he stands up to his wife and is happy for a few seconds until he is killed. Like Hemingways code hero, he becomes brave (if only for a minute). He faces his fear and overcomes it it matters not that he dies shortly after. F. Scott Fitzgerald criticized Hemingway for writing stories in which nothing happens. That is true in a way. There is not much action in Hemingways novels or short stories, but the dialogue and the setting tell the reader so much.Hemingway is known for his masterful use of dialogue and his sparse details to tell more than a complete story. He describes this in his iceberg principle. If it is any use to know it, I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it underwater for every part that shows. Anything you know you can eliminate and it only strengthens your iceberg. It is the part that doesnt show. If a writer omits something because he does not know it then there is a hole in the story (Hemingway). Overall, Hemingway is one of the greatest American writers the world has seen.