Essay on Ernest Hemingway’s Writings and Wartime Experiences

Edmund Wilson, Cleanth Brooks, Jr. and Robert Penn Warren provide a clear view to Ernest Hemingway’s writing. The criticism shows little opinion and looks deeper into the literary elements of Hemingway’s stories. In Wilson’s review of In Our Time he calls Hemingway’s work “..odd and original..”(Wilson). Wilson describes the unique quality of Hemingway’s story which involves not only a series of literary works but also “a set of brief and brutal sketches”(Wilson). These sketches involve many violent times that Hemingway had experienced I his lifetime. The word brutal would accurately describes the scenes that were drawn out and the book may have been seen as too violent for many readers at the time it was published and to this current day. Wilson believes that Hemingway’s stories follow the bases that “The condition of life is pain, and the joys of the most innocent surface are somehow tied to its stifled pangs”(Wilson). This abstract thought “in art made the beauty of Hemingway’s stories”(Wilson).

“Bodies bleed in his novel, at times uncontrollably, and Frederic's narrative likewise suffers at times from troubling and uncontrollable outflow” (Dodman 98). These soldiers are bleeding uncontrollably, which shows the physical destructiveness of war, but these doctors are more greatly emotionally traumatized by witnessing these soldiers bleeding out and dying and knowing that there is not much they can do to save them. Just as the bullets and bombs have caused the soldier’s “uncontrollable outflow” of blood, Hemingway’s novel suffers from “uncontrollable outflow” because of the traumatizing events he witnesses.

The words and works of an author are like a fingerprint. They are unique, distinct and enable you to identify the owner. Some writers choose to remodel techniques, while others choose to create their own. This is the case with Ernest Hemingway. I chose this author because he not only respects his audience but, trusts them to discover the true meanings of his works. Between each line and word is an emotion and purpose that transcends the dialogue. The former reporters roots have caused him to create his own style of writing now coined as “The Iceberg Theory”. This direct, minimalistic style leaves and enduring impression on the reader and has made his writing instantly recognizable. In Hemingway’s works, the dialogue brilliantly executed technique subtly exposes the reader to his theme that revel dark parts of the human psyche when it comes to war, love and humanity.

Ernest Hemingway’s “Soldiers Home” is about a young man named Krebs who is learning to adjust to society after his experience in Europe during World War I. Hemingway’s purpose for writing this story can be confusing and also very telling. I believe Krebs was not a soldier at all and in fact, deceives his family, his friends, and his community into believing he was an experienced soldier in World War I. At first glance, Krebs may be seen as a war hero. However, by observing the characteristics such as Kreb’s background, actions, motivation, and the author’s Implied Evaluation, we see that he is not a war hero at all.

In Hemingway’s writing, he is always searching for truth, although, he often looks at the world in a nihilistic way. When reading through the authors’ short-stories or novels, he often refers to nothingness and the meaninglessness of existence. However, he also uses a practical application to repair his existential nihilistic viewpoints. Hemingway’s work is often seen as a representation of himself, and I believe that he used pragmatism as a distraction from the meaninglessness of the world. With suicide being prevalent in his family, I firmly believe that Hemingway himself strived for meaning in life, but eventually opted out because life is chaotic and there are too many unknown answers in the world. Hemingway tried to establish values and morals through pragmatism, but in reality, values are constantly changing and everything is temporary. By looking through a philosophical lens, I will demonstrate how Hemingway uses absurdism, nihilism, and pragmatism as a way to understand and interpret the world. In order to do so, I will look through Hemingway’s short-stories and novels and analyze passages critically to showcase the theories that are present in his work. In order to undertake this grand idea, I will also incorporate biographical elements to display Hemingway’s family history of suicide and to showcase his personal struggle to find meaning in the world.

The period between World War I and World War II was a very turbulent time in America. Ernest Hemingway most represented this period with his unrestrained lifestyle. This lifestyle brought him many successes, but it eventually destroyed him in the end. His stories are read in classrooms across America, but his semi-autobiographical writings are horrible role models for the students who read them. Hemingway’s lifestyle greatly influenced his writings in many ways.

Hemingway wrote over fourteen books, some of which being some of the most influential in the history of American literature throughout the twentieth century. Some of his most popular

Hemingway creates a scene that is still very powerful even though he uses easy sentence structure and words.

            War, usually thought of as a masculine fight for glory, is reversed in Hemingway's writings.  Instead of men showing their masculinity, he portrays a war that takes away men's masculinity through injuries that deprive them the rest of their lives.

Ernest Hemingway’s story, A Farewell to Arms, is a story of war and its effects on individuals and the relationships between them. Hemingway writes about how war may create stronger social bonds while simultaneously degrading societal integrity. Whether it is the social integrity of individual character or the society as a whole, both are degraded within A Farewell to Arms. A theme Hemingway conveys throughout A Farewell to Arms is the uninviting truth of war. The uninviting truth is that war only brings tragedy and death. Hemingway conveys his message by using the symbols of rain, the stars of officer’s, the hair of Catherine and Henry’s beard, and Catherine herself.

Let’s begin by “Soldier’s Home”, Hemingway presents the story of a soldier and his vision of war. The main character of the story is Krebs;

Hemingway grew up in a sheltered environment, which pushed him to forgo college and move to Kansas city and work as a reporter for the Star. Milan, Chicago, Paris, Spain, Havana, China, and African were the destinations Hemingway found himself living and corresponding in, as well as travelling to, over the course of his life. Hemingway’s descriptions and dialogue was simple, having rid of ‘inessential language’ which left his style objective and honest, and without verbosity, embellishments and sentimentality. This style was influential for the proceeding two decades in American and British literature, and Hemingway’s use of style allowed him to complete works that were

Many of the passages of the novel reflect his life. Hemingway writes: “But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” This has been shown through his life, as Hemingway wrote the novella to prove he wasn’t finished as a writer. This is also reflected during his time in World War 1. Hemingway was wounded by Austrian Mortar fire, and yet despite his injuries or “defeat,” Hemingway carried a wounded italian soldier to safety. Hemingway wrote: "When you go to war as a boy you have a great illusion

Ernest Hemingway produced dozens of novels and short stories between the 1920s and 1950s, many of his writings have become American literature classics. Hemingway’s literature and writing style were greatly influenced by current events occuring during his lifetime such as major wars. During his lifetime World War I and the Spanish Civil War took place, Hemingway was closely involved in both wars. His experiences in the wars inspired the novels, A Farewell to Arms and For Whom The Bell Tolls.

Ernest Hemingway the winner of the Nobel Peace prize lived a troubled life over his Sixty-two years of life and experienced many struggles. He went through a few marriages, different faiths and in the end, he lost his battle with depression. However, though all of this he made an impact on the world with the style and theme of American literature he wrote and is a significant influence to many authors and readers alike. During his life, there were many things that were an influence and help shape his writing into what it is today. Hemingway heavily focused on the theme of war during his career and was a topic of several of his novels one of those novels being “For whom the bell tolls” (Hemingway) The recognizable effects of Hemingway’s influence on literature is still witnessed around the world in the many tributes to him to this day.