Hemmingway: A Man, an Author, a Legend
...rom his personal philosophy. Hemingway’s novels are often noted as autobiographical due to the common characteristics between himself and his characters. In the novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, the protagonist stations himself in Spain to fight for the Loyalist party in the civil war, but ironically Hemingway stations himself to fight in the Spanish Civil war as well. From bullfighting to fish slaying, from destroying bridges to wandering aimlessly, Hemingway’s characters and Hemingway himself experiences this type of life. He describes the gruesome reality of war in precise detail as if Hemingway was retelling his life story; he philosophizes about the lost generation as if he was still wandering aimlessly through bars and love affairs; he proclaims his code hero as if he was the code hero. All of the novels together, on some level, symbolize Hemingway’s memoirs because each story tells a portion of the life of Ernest Hemingway. Another aspect to Hemingway as an innovative author is his unique themes, which are a direct reflection of his own philosophies. Hemingway is notorious for his creative themes, which are evident throughout all of his novels. In the Sun Also Rises, Hemmingway uses the theme of the aimlessness of the “Lost Generation;” a generation corrupted by war; a generation lost in the midst of promiscuity and alcohol; a generation struggling to find traditional values. Hemmingway exploits the men and women who become psychologically and morally lost as a result of the war. Unable to revert back to the traditional lifestyle, this generation wanders aimlessly through their meaningless lives. Although Hemmingway utilizes this theme throughout the novel, he never states that his characters’ lives are meaningless, but he reveals this notion through his characters’ emotional and mental lives. He allows his readers to formulate a theme with the clues and symbols he provides for them. Another theme that Hemmingway is widely known for is the theme of grace under pressure; he believes that in order to become a hero, a man must display grace under harsh circumstances. Many of Hemingway’s characters place themselves in dangerous, risky situations; they must act upon deadly situations with remarkable bravery. His characters are often tested on a physical as well as a mental level. While the hero of his novels displays incredible courage, the ultimate task at hand is to defeat the internal conflicts. Hemingway’s theme of death and disillusionment in war is, in some shape or form, evident in all of his novels. He exploits the grim reality of war and the psychological effects it has on the mind; it creates an internal conflict while the mind struggles to battle the external battles. Unable to balance the internal and external conflicts, Hemingway’s characters become disillusioned and question the motives that drive them into war. The mental struggle that his characters endure scars their lives far greater than the war itself. Hemingway never reveals his theme to the reader through diction, but rather allows the reader to generate a theme mentally. Among all of his novels, Hemmingway’s themes correlate with one another through the presence of war; the war symbolically reflects each theme, which marks every novel as memorable. Hemingway’s use of symbolism is consistent throughout every novel; he intentionally uses symbols as a source to reveal themes, conflict, and setting. Hemingway often uses the natural elements that derive from Mother Nature as well a weather symbolism. Henry “drags himself” through the “cold rain;” he sheds tears of sorrow for “the death” of his love” (A Farwell To Arms 284). Rain is a consistent symbol throughout the novel; it serves in the novel as a potent symbol of the inevitable disintegration of happiness in life. Rain symbolically represents the internal conflict between man and death, it foreshadows man’s struggle to beat the inevitable, but also washes away the lost souls from the earth. Hemingway uses the element of rain to shower clues onto his readers of an upcoming demise in one of his characters, but also serves as a method to create a setting for his readers to envision. The symbolic representation of mountains throughout his novels represents love, dignity and happiness while its adversary, the plains, symbolizes the obscenity of war, death, and suffering. While stationing in the mountains, Hemingway’s characters become one with nature; they become one with God; they become one with their inner self. Man’s life in the serenity of the mountains is a calm setting, which symbolizes man’s disillusionment with war because he begins to realize the gruesome reality of war and his only escape is the tranquility of nature. Hemingway’s protagonists display great courage, but reveal a sensitive side when interacting with the natural world. Although, the nature world contains two sides, while Hemingway’s protagonist finds meaning to life beyond war in the mountains, they also encounter death and the true horror of war in the plains. The plains represent the fields of death; it symbolizes the war grounds where man becomes morally lost and suffers the physiological effects of war; it represents man’s internal as well as external conflicts. The plains not only existent in the real world, but also in the mental world of Hemingway’s characters; the battle grounds that mentally exists are often more horrific than death itself because many of his characters become so mentally aimless after the war that death is the only means of escape. His character...