Ernest Hemingwaynotes from: Kelsey Hemingway is considered one of the most influential American fiction writers because he uses strong nouns and concise sentences making his writing seemingly objective. With strong, terse writing instead of traditional long, complicated sentences, readers became accustomed to his "easier" style and no longer want to read complex American writing. He has an understanding of silences in conversation -- what isn't there is just as meaningful as what is. He represents manly ideals: boxing, war and fornicating. In 1961 he killed himself. He lived in Paris, France for part of his life and in 1945 fought in the Spanish Civil War. He wrote In Our Time, which is a collection of short stories. Earlier, in 1926, he wrote The Sun Also Rises, based around the expatriate characters searching for values in life -- something to believe in after World War One. This story questions what honor is. A Farewell to Arms was written in 1929, based on his experience on the Italian Front and also a failed love affair in 1918. In 1935 Hemingway wrote The Green Hills of Africa. 1934 he wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls, and then The Old Man and the Sea, in 1952. In 1954 he won the Nobel Prize. After he died in Ketchum Idaho 1961 due to suicide, two of his unfinished novels were published, first, Islands in the Stream, in 1970, and Garden of Eden in 1986. Hemingway was considered pretentious, cruel, and argued a lot. He used trauma as a theme reveling how much a man can handle. Unlike Stephen Crane who was also an author of war and trauma, Hemmingway actually took part in a war and was personally shot, and traumatized by war. His writings also took the form of a travel guide. He had the inside scoop about life in Paris and wrote in detail about the food, wine, accomodations, and touristy spots so the reader felt included in the story. He wrote about sports and the confrontation of pain, of finding grace under pressure. Hemingway was public about his private life -- extremely famous. The Sun Also Rises is based on actual events and relationships with the Fitzgeralds: Zelda is both Brett and Francis -- an avid drinker and somewhat androgenous. Jack Barns is the narrator. He is powerful, yet he goes fishing: he is impotent due to the war -- a paradox. Hemingway presents the idea that man pays for everything and is constantly searching for healing and wholeness. As Thoreau said, "the value of a thing is how much life you have to give to have it." So many people died in World War One that Americans held back from joining World War Two. Hemingway writes in a way that expresses the hopelessness that the generation is forced to cope with after the First World War. By using the title, The Sun Also Rises Hemingway conveys that things can be hopeful; the characters in this story are searching for a meaning in life. The setting in the book plays an extremely important role, in defining characters' moods & internal feelings. Paris is shown at night time, and people are constantly moving -- always drinking to try and forget the past. While in Spain, it is day time in the countryside, Spain is seen as a restful place full of nature, the men drink for a good time rather than to get drunk. The setting parallels the characters' mental processes. Jake is impotent, so for him day is easier than night, hence he enjoys Spain and dislikes Paris. He is trying to find control...reason in his life. Jake and Brett are in love, however she is unsatisfied because she operates in a carpe diem, seize the day lifestyle -- his impotence is disappointing for her. Hemingway gives his characters no direction in their lives, they merely live in the present, and most are fed up with America. These artists and writes were called The Lost Generation, described as "Those years between the wars in which authors wrote novels involving searching, disillusioned characters." Many authors who had fought in the war around the age of eighteen became disillusioned and wanted to go back in time to enjoy a simpler era, their childhoods. The past looked better. Jake says he is a Catholic, but he is a religiously careless person, for him fishing (nature) is more of his religion. Robert Cohen is the lightweight boxing champion of Princeton, he is also Jewish, Jews were considered out of touch; outsiders -- a racial view to which Cohen is oblivious. Judaism is an inherited religion; one which a child is typically born into, it also pertains to a certain lifestyle. Bill is not like the rest of the group, he cares about the group, he is an American, however not an expatriot. Pedro Romero is the image of perfection; he has complete control over the bull and his life, yet he is young and vulnerable to the praise of others. In Paris the characters are constantly moving, the group is restless. While on the fishing trip Bill & jake are trying to find meaning, it is a voyage to discovery. Jake guides the whole journey -- he is in charge, but just as lost due to the fact that he cannot procreate or keep someone happy. The journey is a spiritual quest, Paris is a place where everyone eats and drinks in excess, it is based on material processions. On the other hand, the pilgrimage to Spain is based upon the rituals of bullfighting, fishing, and bathing: the trip has a meaning and a set way to do things. All Americans in the novel are sick in some way; Jake is vulnerable, impotent and can be looked upon as ambiguously gay all because of one wound. The plot is based around verbal criticism; the un-layering of peoples' stories, piecing together the missing stuff. Cohen also acts badly; he doesn't know how to behave -- a wound. Brett has used too many men, and now she must pay for it by being in love with an impotent man. The fishing trip represents the great times men have together. Jake and Bill go up to fish, share bread and wine with the Basques on the bus -- this is a religious idea. This trip is a symbol of their religion. In Spain Jake is considered an insider because he has such a passion and true understanding for bull fighting. The characters question whether they are ever going to be good enough. |
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