earnest hemmingway
...cs. Hemingway’s literary style is present in all of his writings in which his life has composed a backbone structure for his fictional characters in his literary works. This can be seen through the development of his characters. For instance, in one of his greatest short stories The Old Man and the Sea, which was published in 1952 nearing the end of his life, the old Cuban man, Santiago, is described as “An old man who fished alone in a skiff in the gulf stream and he had gone eighty-four days without catching a fish” (Bloom 11). This resembles and reflects the loneliness and isolation Hemingway might have felt at that point. To reason for this notion, during and around the creation of this story, Hemingway had already been married four times. These unhealthy marriages of his may have caused him to characterize women in his stories as antagonists. For example, in “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” women are described as “…The hardest in the world; the hardest, the cruelest, the most predatory and the most attractive and their men have softened or gone to pieces nervously as they have hardened” (Hemingway 208). His lifelong fear of dying due to a near death experience during World War I left him in a paralyzed state of fear. This fear was a driving force for his character development in a lot of his most admired novels and books. He wanted to place fear into ones heart. For instance, all the signs of death are apparent in “The Killers,” which grasps and fools the reader into thinking that Ole Anderson is going to die. Another short story, which he uses a character to depict his fear of death in a passive way is “The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber.” He uses his life long fear of death, which he cannot escape from, and expresses it through the life of Macomber. Though Hemingway tries to deny his own fear, it is very prevalent in his characters like Macomber, who is afraid of the lion and runs away. Taken from a critical response on The Good Soldier Shweik, his precise knowledge of fear is expressed in his character Robert Jordan, whom he places the delusions associated with fear through him saying: “‘I believe that fear produces evil visions’”(Leone 52). The plots that Hemmingway places in his literature are all the instances that he has endeavored as well. All of his familiarities to nature, the wilderness of the safari, and love for fishing all contributed to his outdoor theme development. His plot setting is developed through his lifelong travels and outdoor experiences. For example, in The Old Man and the Sea, the setting alone is one of Hemmingway’s most desired places, the outdoors, in the sea. Hemmingway’s fisherman qualities and experiences are placed into the plot of his story. The old man Santiago and his failed struggle to land the giant marlin can resemble the long hardship of faith lost in his prior marriages. Another interesting wilderness plot that is prevalent in his writings is the African Safari. Having traveled there in 1953, for a remarkable hunting experience, he wrote about it in “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” which is a detailed experience on a barbaric hunt for nature’s most feared beasts. “Hemingway’s own experiences on the safari help to account for the origin of the story.” (Bloom 79) Again, Hemingway utilizes his knowledge of the outdoors to structure his theme. His experience of the safari was used to create such an adventurous story, which is unparalleled in those times, to any type of literary experience. Ernest’s brilliant style and life encounters are placed into his stories with great dignity. The way Hemingway structured his theme is all in relation to his life travels and near death experiences. His lifelong travels outside of the United States brought him to Paris, Spain, Cuba, Africa, Italy, and England. All of his foreign visits contributed to the design of his plots. His plot structure also has common relations with death, which to some may be terrifying, but to Hemmingway it is bliss beyond words. His fascination with the matchmaker was customary to almost all of his stories. Deaths in his stories occur and are written with precise knowledge of the moment and a nonchalant attitude about it. Hemingway’s urgency of death...