By: Brenden Peterson A Biography

Childhood

 Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois on July 21 st , 1899.

 While growing up his father taught him to love the out-doors and Hemingway grew a passion for sports, one which being hunting (receiving his first shotgun at the age of ten).

 Hemingway grew up in a safe, clean and protected neighborhood not prepared for the outside world.

Initial Writings

 Hemingway attended the public schools in Oak Park and published many of his short stories and poems in the high school's newspaper.

 At the age of 17 Hemingway landed a job as a writer with a newspaper company in Kansas City,

The Kansas City Star.

Early Life

 Upon the United States entrance into the First World War, Hemingway joined a volunteer ambulance unit in the Italian Army.

 Serving in the front lines, Hemingway suffered a severe leg wound and for his service was decorated twice by the Italian government.

 The war gave Hemingway a new outlook on life and had destroyed his originals views, but not his spirit.

Famous Literary Works

 A Farewell to Arms (1929) was influenced by Hemingway’s stay in a hospital during his recovery and his affair with an American nurse, Agnes von Kurowsky.

 The story is about the disenchantment of an American ambulance officer and his desertion.

 It was given a spot on the 100 Best English language novels of the 20 Library.

th Century by the Editorial Board of the American Modern

Famous Literary Works

 The Sun Also Rises (1926) is a narration by an American journalist who depicts the story of a group of expatriates (people who live in a country and culture other than their own upbringing) who must cope with despair at the end of World War I and end up turning to alcohol, violence and sex.

 The main character, Jake, deals with an injury from war (just as Hemingway had) and shares an interest in bullfighting (also as Hemingway had).

Famous Literary Works

 To Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) is a story placed in time with the Spanish Civil War and covers only a few days and deals with the blowing up of a bridge by partisans.

 The story was partly influenced by his stay in Spain during the war and its heroine was influenced by his third wife, Martha Gellhorn, whom he had met there.

Famous Literary Works

 The Old Man and the Sea (1952) was first published in

Life

magazine and brought a great deal of fame to the already known writer.

 The book is about the trials of an aging fisherman and the battle he has at open sea with a giant marlin.

 The story was heavily influenced by Hemingway’s new found love for deep-sea fishing and his home in Cuba.

 The main character, Santiago, was drawn from the real-life Gregorio Fuentes who had served as captain on Hemingway’s boat,

Pilar

, in the late 1930’s.

Themes in Hemingway’s Writing

  Hemingway had many overbearing themes of struggle and angst in his stories.

Many times the main characters’ dealt with death and pain (probably from the deep emotional pain from his father’s suicide)  Hemingway often wrote about soldiers, hunters, and simple peoples put against the trials of society, which usually resulted in the loss of faith and hope.

Late Life

 As Hemingway’s life progressed he began to develop severe depression and alcohol abuse (although he had been able to tolerate large amounts since he had been a reporter).

 In the 1940’s Hemingway started to hear voices in his head, had very high blood pressure, and signs of cirrhosis of the liver.

 The many health issues did not stop him from his ongoing adventures, which resulted in two flying accidents while in Africa.

 Hemingway was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature, but was unable to attend the ceremony due to his injuries from the plane crashes.

 In 1960 Hemingway was admitted to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, for his depression. After enduring electroshock therapy for two months, Hemingway was released in 1961.

 On July 2 nd , 1961, Ernest Hemingway committed suicide with his favorite shotgun.

Other Works Written by Hemingway

 THREE STORIES AND THREE POEMS (1923)  IN OUR TIME (1924)  THE TORRENTS OF SPRING (1926)  THE GREEN HILLS OF AFRICA (1935)  ACROSS THE RIVER AND INTO THE TREES (1950)  THE SHORT HAPPY LIFE OF FRANCIS MACOMBER (1963, posthumously)

Bibliography

 http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/ laureates/1954/hemingway-bio.html

 http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/hemingwa.htm

 http://www.biographybase.com/biography/ Hemingway_Ernest.html

 http://www.lostgeneration.com/childhood.ht

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