Transcript Ernest Hemingway Jiena Hu

Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway (1899~1961)
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Won Nobel Prize in 1954 “for his mastery of
the art of narrative, most recently
demonstrated In The Old Man and the Sea, and
for the influence that he has exerted on
contemporary style.”
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Born: July 21, 1899 in Oak Park, Chicago
Died: July 2, 1961 in Ketchum, Idaho.

Ernest Hemingway –
An Influential Writer

20th century Nobel Prize winning American novelist
known for his adventurous lifestyle, active political
involvement and battle with depression. His short,
plainspoken, simple sentences became a model for
American prose fiction in the second half of the 20th
century. His realistic, character centered novels reflect
the despair, disillusionment, moral uncertainty and
yearning idealism that gripped much of Western culture
after each World War. His work also examines the
nature of violence and the value of personal honor.
Major Works
First works:
 Three Stories and Ten Poems (1923)
 in our time (short stories, 1924)
 The Torrents of Spring (a novel, 1926)
The Sun Also Rises (1926)
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Through this book, he
was recognized as the
spokesman of the “lost
generation”. (so called
by Gertrude Stein)
It is about a group of
psychologically bruised,
disillusioned expatriates
living in postwar Paris.
Themes
Dissatisfaction
 Identity
 Men and Masculinity
 Love
 Drugs and Alcohol
 Warfare
 Exile

A Farewell to Arms (1929)

A tragic wartime loveaffair between an
ambulance driver
(Frederic Henry) and
an English nurse
(Catherine Barkley).
Themes
Love and Warfare
 Men and Masculinity
 Women and Femininity
 Courage
 Language and Communincation
 Forgiveness
 Drugs and Alcohol

For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940)
Written from his
experience in the
Spanish Civil War.
 Argues for human
brotherhood.
(The left picture is the
poster of the movie)

Themes
Mortality
 Warfare
 Love
 Forgiveness
 Duty
 Men and Masculinity
 Politics

The Old Man and the Sea (1952)
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won the Pulitzer
Prize for fiction in
1953.
It epitomes the
indomitable courage of an
aged Cuban fisherman.
“A man can be destroyed,
but not defeated.” – a
famous line from this
book.
Themes
Perserverance
 Suffering
 Strength and Skill
 Pride
 Defeat
 Man and the Natural World
 Respect and Reputation

More Hemingway Quotes
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All good books have one thing in common - they are truer
than if they had really happened.
All things truly wicked start from innocence.
Courage is grace under pressure.
I know war as few other men now living know it, and
nothing to me is more revolting. I have long advocated its
complete abolition, as its very destructiveness on both
friend and foe has rendered it useless as a method of
settling international disputes.
I wish I could write well enough to write about aircraft.
Faulkner did it very well in Pylon but you cannot do
something someone else has done though you might have
done it if they hadn't.
In modern war... you will die like a dog for no good reason.
Hemingway’s Writing Style

Simple and terse.
Telling stories in a straight forward way run counter to the
traditional nineteenth and early twentieth century stories
described as "well-made.” and unlike Faulkner who dwells much on
details. Using short sentences and short words.

Iceberg Theory
"If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is
writing about he may omit things that he knows and the
reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a
feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had
stated them. The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due
to only one-eighth of it being above water."
- Death In the Afternoon, Scribner's, 1932, Chap. 16, 192.
Hemingway’s Writing Style

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Employed a technique by which he would
leave out essential information of the story
under the belief that omission can
sometimes add strength to a narrative
The slang word "hard-boiled", used to
describe characters and works of art, was a
product of twentieth century warfare. To be
"hard-boiled" meant to be unfeeling, callous,
coldhearted, cynical, rough, obdurate,
unemotional, without sentiment. This
describes his style
Hemingway’s Writing Style
Hemingway tries to keep his sentences
uncluttered, and often deletes commas
from the places they would normally
appear.
 Hemingway often uses no adjectives at all
 Hemingway's style has often been
described as "gritty"; it involves removal of
commas and deadpan description of often
gruesome events. Hemingway often uses
concise, staccato sentences with few
authorial comments.
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Hemingway’s Writing Style
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"Find what gave you the emotion; what the
action was that gave you the excitement.
Then write it down making it clear so the
reader will see it too and have the same
feeling as you had.“
Hemingway provided detached descriptions
of action, using simple nouns and verbs to
capture scenes precisely. By doing so he
avoided describing his characters' emotions
and thoughts directly
Hemingway’s Themes
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He’s written about failure, moral bankruptcy, death,
deception, and sterility in the post World War I
society. His "code-heroes" are characters with inner
moral discipline who are usually involved with rituals
like bullfighting, big-game hunting, and fishing.
Courage is another theme as reflected in some of his works
especially The Old Man and the Sea. He defines “courage” as “grace
under pressure”
"DP: `Exactly what do you mean by `guts'?'
EH: `I mean, grace under pressure.'"
--Ernest Hemingway, an interview with Dorothy Parker,
New Yorker, 30 November 1929
Other People’s Comments on
Hemingway
1. "You're even bigger than I imagined.“
Lauren Bacall, costar of the movie version of To Have and Have
Not, comments on Hemingway after meeting him in Spain.
2. "All of you young people who served in the war ... are a lost
generation. ... You have no respect for anything. You drink
yourselves to death.“
Author and friend Gertrude Stein commented to Hemingway about
the American expatriates living in Paris in the 1920s.
3. "Ernest found time to do things most men only dream
about. ... Ernest Hemingway was the most positive life
force I have ever encountered. I hate anything negative,
and I hate waste. In Hemingway, nothing was wasted.“
Actress Marlene Dietrich speaks about her longtime friend
Hemingway.
Comments by Two Authors
1. "He is candid; he is highly skilled; he plants words
precisely where he wishes; he has moments of bare and
nervous beauty; he is modern in manner but not in vision;
he is self-consciously virile; his talent has contracted
rather than expanded ... “
Author Virginia Woolf criticizes Hemingway in a front-page essay
published in the New York Herald Tribune Books section.
2. "This time [Hemingway] discovered God, a Creator. . . It's
all right. Praise God that whatever made and loves and
pities Hemingway and me kept him from touching it any
further.“
William Faulkner, one of Hemingway's biggest rivals, comments on
"The Old Man and the Sea."
More Comments
"I think you are more intelligent than this mss. ... I want to say: me
frien Hem, kin knock yew over the ropes; and then I want to see
the punch delivered. I dont want gentle embraces in the middle of
the ring.“
In his unusual writing style, poet Ezra Pound criticizes Hemingway's notebook
writings. “
Your method is obviously one which enables you to express what
you have to say in a very small compass.“
Editor Max Perkins on Hemingway's "In Our Time" after an early reading.
"This is to tell you about a young writer named Ernest Hemingway,
who lives in Paris, writes for the Transatlantic Review, and has a
brilliant future. I'd look him up right away. He's the real thing.“
Longtime friend F. Scott Fitzgerald speaks about Hemingway in a letter to
Scribner & Sons*editor Max Perkins.
• Scribner & Sons later became Hemingway’s exclusive publisher.
• Now Let’s read his Nobel Acceptance Speech
What is the Lost Generation?

For the most part the "Lost Generation"
defines a sense of moral loss or aimlessness.
The World War seemed to destroy for many
the idea that if you acted properly, good
things would happen. But so many good
young men went to war and died, or
returned damaged, both physically and
mentally, that their faith in the moral
guideposts that had given them hope before,
were no longer valid...they were "Lost."
Characteristics of “Lost
Generation” Authors
~youthful idealism
~sought the meaning of life
~drank a lot
~often love affairs
~many of the finest literary masterpieces were written
during this period
~rejected modern American materialism
~lived in Paris
~gained prominence in twentieth century literature and
created a mold for many future writers
Lost Generation
Ernest Hemingway