Earnest Hemingway Yuan Xuemei Foreign Languages Department

Ernest Hemingway ( ) -American writer -Winner of Nobel Prize for Literature -A legendary figure in American literature

1925: In Our Time; The Torrents of Spring 1926:The Sun Also Rises 1928: A Farewell to Arms 1932: Death in the Afternoon 1935: Green Hills of Africa 1937: To Have and Have Not 1938: The Fifth Column 1952: The Old Man and the Sea He also wrote a lot of short stories. Major Works

Hunt and explorations in the African jungles, and fishing on the Cuban seas. During WWI, an ambulance driver in Italy; During WWII, services for the US navy and then a reporter with the British Air Force. wounded many times and over a dozen injuries to the brain. All these sports and war experiences became his subjects and themes later. Life Experience

Self-exile to Paris After WWII, Self-exile to Paris, like many other of the Lost Generation writers. Gertrude Stein’s encouragement.

Unique Style As a journalist, and the economy of expression. Short sentences and paragraphs, vigorous, positive language, and the deliberate avoidance of gorgeous adjectives. The Iceberg analogy

Hemingway Code Hero The major theme, grace under pressure acted out by the Code Hero with following traits: (1) Measuring himself against the difficulties that life throw in his way, realizing that we will all lose ultimately because we are mortals, but playing the game honestly and passionately in spite of that knowledge. (2) Facing death with dignity, enduring physical and emotional pain in silence (3) Never showing emotions (4) Maintaining free-will and individualism, never weakly allowing commitment to a single woman or social convention to prevent adventure, travel, and acts of bravery

Hemingway Code Hero (5) Being completely honest, keeping one's word or promise (6) Being courageous and brave, daring to travel and have "beautiful adventures," as Hemingway would phrase it (7) Admitting the truth of Nada (Spanish, "nothing"), i.e., that no external source outside of oneself can provide meaning or purpose. This existential awareness also involves facing death without hope of an afterlife, which the Hemingway Code Hero considers more brave than "cowering" behind false religious hopes.

A Farewell to Arms A Farewell to Arms (1928) Fredric Henry goes to the war and discovers the insanity and unreason of the world. He becomes disillusioned and “embarrassed by the words sacred, glorious, and sacrifice.” The mood of the post-war generation. The speaker and describer of the Lost Generation.

The Break with Society In the chaotic and meaningless world, man fights a solitary struggle against a force he does not understand. The awareness that he must end in defeat, no matter how hard he fights against it, engenders a sense of despair. Finally, the Hemingway hero breaks with society in writings like Death in the Afternoon (1932), Green Hills of Africa (1935) and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940).

The Grace Under Pressure The Hemingway hero possesses “despairing courage”. It is this courage that enables a man to behave like a man, to assert his dignity in face of adversity. This is the essence of a code of honor in which all the Hemingway heroes believe.

The Old Man and the Sea The Old Man and the Sea (1952) about an old fisherman Santiago and his battle with a giant marlin fish and sharks. Santiago, an example of the code hero, the spirit of the tragic but noble Hemingway hero, contending with a force he knows it is futile to fight with, nevertheless, believing that “a man is not made for defeat…A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.

The Old Man and the Sea Something exceptional should be noticed in the novella is that the old man eventually realizes that he has met his doom, and he feels good to be in the human and natural world. The feeling of brotherhood and love for both his fellowmen and fellow creatures in nature. Hemingway’s world view has undergone a profound change.

Hemingway ’ s World View A negative writer Seldom saying “yes” Dark, naturalistic view of the world, “all a nothing,” and battles and tension, nothingness ( 虚无 )

Typical Situation in Writings chaos and violence, crime, death, sport, hard drinking and sexual promiscuity

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