Ernest Hemingway’s Portrayal of Masculinity Essay

Ernest Hemingway is among the most unmatched of American authors. In his works, he is often said to focus on gender roles, especially those of men. Hemingway often created characters that showed the characteristics that he believed made a boy into a man. However, these characteristics are not gender-specific, and could very well apply to women as well. This collection of characteristics became the Hemingway Code Hero. The Hemingway Code Hero, more commonly referred to as the Code Hero, was an embodiment of male prowess. Most of Hemingway’s characters failed to live up to this almost impossible standard, however, all of his characters are capable of

In The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway uses Santiago to demonstrate some of the qualities of a Hemingway Code Hero. Throughout the novel, Santiago encounters many trials and tribulations that test his role as a code hero. While reading the novel one will see that Santiago endures many of the rules of a code hero. However, the ones he encounters the most are misfortune, honor, and courage. Hemingway uses these rules in his novel in such a way that one can fully understand the life of Santiago.

       In his novels Ernest Hemingway suggests a code of behavior for his characters to follow: one that demands courage in difficult situations, strength in the face of adversity, and grace under pressure.  Termed the "code hero," this character is driven by the principal ideals of honor, courage, and endurance in a life of stress, misfortune, and pain.  Despite the hero's fight against life in this violent and disorderly world, he is rarely the victor.  The code that the hero follows demands that he act honorably in this uphill battle and find fulfillment by becoming a man and proving his worth.  Hemingway himself lived his life trying to show how strong and unlimited

Being such a standout masculine figure in the world of authors, Hemingway accomplishes conveying this idea through

In this article, East Carolina University English professor Dr. Margaret Bauer makes the claim that one cannot solely rely on the reputation on the writer in order to fully comprehend the meaning of a certain text. This is the precisely the case with Ernest Hemingway as he was well-known to scholars to have his short stories filled with male-chauvinist characters either abusing or disregarding weak and helpless women. However, Bauer, a professor of English and women’s studies, believes that the characterization of Hemingway as an abuser and having a blatant disregard of women is almost entirely created by the scholars and readers of his stories. With an analysis of Hemingway’s “Indian Camp” and “Hills Like White Elephants”, Bauer attempts to bring her own feminist perspective to Hemingway’s notoriously misogynistic texts to prove that there are more to his female characters than there is on the surface and to possibly emasculate his reputation of portraying women as powerless and one-dimensional characters.

The setting in which the story takes place emphasizes the relationship of the man and the woman in the story. Hemingway writes:

"Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never really care for anything else thereafter. You will meet them doing various things with resolve, but their interest rarely holds because after the other thing ordinary life is as flat as the taste of wine when the taste buds have been burned off your tongue." ('On the Blue Water' in Esquire, April 1936)

The matador is a figure both of masculinity in his strength and gender, and femininity in his passivity, dress, and manipulation of desire. The passivity of the feminized matador “becomes her strength … against the man who goes ‘straight to the point’” (Schwartz 65). This question of “going straight to the point” is questioned in the text and is analogous to the loudness and failed performances of masculinity and men like Cohn are further likened to a bull. While figures of androgyny exercise great power in the book and failed male figures, the bulls and the men Brett controls fall to the figure of androgyny, Hemingway complicates the power of the androgynous figure through his masculine figure, Jake. Jake in unable to go “straight to the point” as he is impotent. Instead Jake’s position involves a triangulation of the desire manipulated in a bullfight and he represents an observer. He both observes the object of his affection Brett manipulate the desires of men and he watches the figure of a matador manipulate the desires of the bull, suggesting a

Ernest Hemingway has long been known for his two “heroes” in his writing. The hero who is a weak, pathetic individual who is often lost physically and mentally, and the code hero who usually shows “grace under pressure” and helps the Hemingway hero find his place. These two heroes often come together in a relationship where the code hero is the teacher who initiates the Hemingway hero into the code. Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” is the quintessential example of Hemingway’s heroes.

Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises has his male characters struggling with what it means to be a man in the post-war world. With this struggle one the major themes in the novel emits, masculine identity. Many of these “Lost Generation” men returned from that war in dissatisfaction with their life, the main characters of Hemingway’s novel are found among them. His main characters find themselves drifting, roaming around France and Spain, at a loss for something meaningful in their lives. The characters relate to each other in completely shallow ways, often ambiguously saying one thing, while meaning another. The Sun Also Rises first person narration offers few clues to the real meaning of his characters’ interactions with each other. The

Examples of the “code” hero in Hemingway’s work include Manuel the bullfighter, in “The Undefeated” he fights with a noble dignity even when he is jeered by the crowd and gored by the bull, along with Wilson, the big game hunter from “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” who shows no fear when confronted with a charging lion. But perhaps the greatest figure of masculinity found in Hemingway’s work is Santiago from The Old Man and the Sea. He keeps his composure and maintains dignity after the fish that he has been fighting is lost to the sharks.

This further supports that he did not truly enjoy the male centered activities he immersed himself in. He had his longest marriage to Mary Welsh Hemingway, who was his wife when he committed suicide. They had been married for 15 years before he ended his life. Hemingway’s evaluation of his own life was poor, as he did not attempt hobbies other than writing, and did not deem his wife a good resource to discuss his intense emotion. The gender norms forced on him created a man who did not truly enjoy his hobbies and leisure. Reaction formation is a defense mechanism where one exaggerates the opposite behavior to cover up their insecurities. It’s extremely likely Hemingway utilized this for his whole life to make himself appear more masculine. Big-game hunting, obsession with bullfighting, multiple wives, excessive drinking, and a stoic demeanor all reflect what was expected of a man at this point in time. Never exploring what he truly enjoyed is detrimental to his mental stability and general wellbeing. Having no emotional outlet other than writing, he is left with no choice but to reflect on himself through his

Many authors, critics, and everyday social readers define Ernest Hemingway as the prime example of 20th century American literature. Hemingway’s works transcend time itself, so that even readers today analyze and criticize his works. His works, of course, have drawn praises and animosity from all corners of the globe. Critics often applause Hemingway on his short simple prose, for which many people recognize him for. His writing builds upon the masterful usage of “short, simple words and short, simple sentences” (Wagner, 3) to create clear and easy to

Due to Hemingway’s horrific relationship with his mother, Grace Hemingway, Hemingway was never able to endure all his other relationships long enough for him to truly enjoy them. Of course he did have a few memorable moments in each relationship he had, everyone receives one each day. But, it just comes down at the end of Hemingway’s life; he was unhappy and regretted almost all of his four marriages. Also, Hemingway felt that he was never truly “man enough” and continuously wanted to prove himself to others. When everyone told they believed he was very masculine, he would not believe it. Instead, Hemingway chose to express what he felt about his life experiences through his writing, letting the world see what he believed. Because of this, Ernest Hemingway became one the most respected and well-known authors that literature had ever

In Ernest Hemingway’s novel, The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago demonstrates the traits of the code hero. The Hemingway’s code hero covers the principal ideals of honor, courage, and endurance in a misfortune life. Throughout the novel, Santiago shows a contrast between opposite attitudes and values which associate his behavior with the guidelines of the code. In this case, the depiction of conflicting values, such as dignity despite humility, perseverance despite despair, and victory despite defeat are aspects that help to describe and understand the role of Santiago in the novel, and reflect the reason why this character is perfectly suited to the heroic conduct established by Hemingway.