Přeskočit na hlavní obsah

American Literature

American Literature: Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)​

Summary​

  • Notable Works:
    • The Old Man and the Sea
    • A Farewell to Arms
  • Birth: Oak Park, Illinois – 1899
  • Death: Committed suicide with a shotgun
  • Events in His Life:
    • Served in WW1 and other wars.
    • Lived in Paris for some time.
    • Worked as a war correspondent.
  • Marriages: Married four times, none of them were happy.

Early Life​

Ernest Hemingway was one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. A novelist and short-story writer was born in Oak Park, Illinois, the second of six children. However, he spent much of his early life in the Great Lakes region, which provided the settings for his early stories. His family was strict and very religious. His father taught his children a love of nature and the outdoor life. Ernest caught his first fish at the age of three, and was given a shotgun for his twelfth birthday. His mother taught him a love of music and art. At school, he was good at English and wrote for the school newspaper. He graduated in 1917, but he didn't go to college. After graduating he worked as a reporter for The Kansas City Star. He learned a lot but six months later he volunteered for service in World War I.

Hemingway and War​

Hemingway was fascinated by war. He had wanted to become a soldier, but couldn't because he had poor eyesight. Instead, he was sent to Italy to serve with an ambulance unit as a driver. He was wounded there in 1918. After the war he worked as a journalist in Chicago and Toronto. However, he went to live in Paris soon, where he was encouraged in his work by the American writer Gertrude Stein. In the 1930's, he became a war correspondent in the Spanish Civil War and World War II. Many of his books were about war. His most successful book, For Whom the Bell Tolls, was written in 1940 and is about the Spanish Civil War. Another novel, A Farewell to Arms, is about the absurdity of war.

Personal Life​

Hemingway's success in writing was not mirrored by similar success in his personal life. He married four times. His first wife divorced him in 1927. He immediately married again and moved to Key West, Florida, where he enjoyed hunting, fishing, and drinking, but he also suffered from depression. This wasn't helped when, in 1928, his father committed suicide. Hemingway's health was not good and he had many accidents. Two more marriages failed and he began to drink heavily. In 1954, he survived two plane crashes. In October of the same year he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature, but he was too ill to receive it in person.

HIS FINAL YEARS​

His final years were taken up with health problems and alcohol. He began to lose his memory and he couldn't write any more. On Sunday, 2nd July, 1961, Hemingway killed himself with a shotgun, just as his father had done before him.

Notable Works​

  • For Whom the Bell Tolls: a psychological picture of war, during the Spanish Civil War Robert Jordan, the main character in the novel, a capable, conscientious American, comes to Spain to help in the fight against fascism; facing certain death in a guerrilla action, he realizes, what a beautiful place the world really is, and how much it is worth fighting for.
  • The Old Man and The Sea: Hemingway shows the eternal fight between nature and man; the old Cuban fisherman, who struggles to catch a big fish and finally loses it, does not, however give up; the story also shows Hemingway's cordial feelings toward common people as well as his positive attitude to the problems of Cuban people.
  • A Farewell to Arms: an epic description of World War I, Hemingway presents a charming and moving love story of an American lieutenant in the Italian Ambulance Service and an English nurse.