Hemmingway' Life And Work

Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899, in Oak Park, Illinois. His father, Dr. Clarence Edmonds Hemmingway, was the owner of a prosperous real estate business and imparted to Ernest the importance of appearances, especially in public. Dr. Hemingway invented surgical forceps for which he would not accept money. He believed that one should not profit from something important for the good of mankind. Ernest's father, a man of high ideals, was very strict and censored the books he allowed his children to read. He forbade

e

Ernest's sister from studying ballet for it was coeducational, and dancing together led to "hell and damnation". Grace Hall Hemingway, Ernest's mother, considered herself pure and proper. She was a dreamer who was upset at anything which disturbed her perception of the world as beautiful. She hated dirty diapers, upset stomachs, and cleaning the house; they were not fit for a lady. She adored the singing of the birds and the smell of flowers. Her children were expected to behave properly and to please her, always. Mrs. Hemingway treated Ernest, when he was a small boy; as if he was a female baby doll and she dressed him accordingly. This was all right until Ernest got to the age when he wanted to be a "gun-toting Pawnee Bill". He began to pull away from his mother, and never forgave her for his humiliation. The town of Oak Park, where Ernest grew up, was very old fashioned and quite religious. The townspeople forbade

e

the word "virgin" from appearing in schoolbooks, and the word "breast" was questioned, though it appeared in the Bible. Ernest loved to fish, canoe and explore the woods. When he couldn't get outside, he escaped to his room and read books. He loved to tell stories to his classmates, often insisting on a friend listening to one of his stories. In spite of his mother's desire, he played in the football team at Oak Park High School. As a student, Ernest was a perfectionist about his grammar and studied English with fervour. He also contributed articles to the school's weekly newspaper. It appears that the principal did not appreciate Ernest's writings as he often complained about the content of these articles.

Ernest was clear about his writing; he wanted people to "see and feel" and he wanted to enjoy himself while writing. He loved having fun. If nothing was happening, you could be sure he would make something happen. He would sometimes use forbidden words just to make a fuss. Ernest, though wild and crazy, was a warm, caring individual. He loved the sea, mountains and the stars and hated anyone who he saw as a phoney.

During World War I Ernest had been rejected from service because of a bad left eye. So he became an ambulance driver in Italy for the Red Cross. Very much like the hero of "A Farewell to Arms", Ernest is shot in his knee and rests in a hospital looked after by a caring nurse named Ð'gnes. Like Frederick Henry in the book, he fell in love with the nurse and was given a medal for his heroism. Having been rejected by Ð'gnes, Ernest returned home. He would party late into the night and invite people his parents disapproved of. Ernest's mother rejected him and he felt that he had to move from home.

He moved in with a friend living in Chicago and he wrote articles for The Toronto Star. In Chicago he met and then married Hadley Richardson. She believed that he should spend all his time writing and so she bought him a typewriter for his birthday. They decided that the best place for a writer to live was in Paris, where he could devote himself to his writing. At the time he said that the most difficult thing to write about was being a man. They could not live on the income from his stories so Ernest wrote for The Toronto Star, again. He took Hadley to Italy to show her where he had been during the war and was devastated to see that everything had changed and all had been destroyed.

Hadley became pregnant and was sick all the time. She and Ernest decided to move to Canada. He had by then written three stories and ten poems. Hadley gave birth to a boy who they named John Hadley Nicano Hemingway. Even though he had his family Ernest was unhappy in life and decided to return to Paris. It was in Paris that Ernest got word that a publisher wanted to print his book "In Our Time" but with some changes. The publisher felt that in-story sex was too blatant, but Ernest refused to change one word. Around 1925, Ernest began to write a novel, which would be based on his experiences while living in Pamplona, Spain. He planned on calling this book Fiesta, but eventually changed the name to "The Sun Also Rises", which is a well-known saying from the Bible. In this book just as in his other works we can see Hemingway being obsessed with death.

The Sun Also Rises opens with the narrator, Jake Barnes, delivering a brief biographical sketch of his friend, Robert Cohn. Jake is a veteran of World War I who now works as a journalist in Paris. Cohn is also an American expatriate, although not a war veteran. He is a rich Jewish writer who lives in Paris with his forceful and controlling girlfriend, Frances Clyne. He heads to Jake's office one afternoon to try to convince Jake to go with him to South America. Jake refuses, and he gets rid of Cohn. That night at a dance club, Jake runs into Lady Brett Ashley, a divorced socialite and the love of Jake's life. Brett is a free-spirited and independent woman, but she can be very selfish at times. She and Jake met in England during World War I, when Brett treated Jake for a war wound. During the conversation, it is mentioned that Jake's injury rendered him impotent. Although Brett loves Jake, she hints that she doesn't want to give up sex, and that for this reason she will not start a relationship with Jake.

The next morning Jake and Cohn have lunch. Cohn is quite taken with Brett, and he gets angry when Jake tells him that Brett plans to marry Mike Campbell, a heavy-drinking Scottish war veteran. That afternoon, Brett stands Jake up. That night, however, she arrives unexpectedly at his apartment with Count Mippipopolous, a rich Greek expatriate. After sending the count out for champagne, Brett tells Jake that she is leaving for San Sebastian, in Spain, saying it will be easier on both of them to be apart.

Several weeks later, while Brett and Cohn are both travelling outside of Paris, one of Jake's friends, a fellow American war veteran named Bill Gorton, arrives in Paris. Bill and Jake make plans to leave for Spain to do some fishing and later attend the fiesta at Pamplona. Jake makes plans to meet Cohn on the way to Pamplona. Jake runs into Brett, who has returned from San Sebastian; with