Hemingway and Women
Is Ernest Hemingway a misogynist, a woman hater? Whenever one discusses Hemingway, his personal life, his literary works, this question inevitable pops up in the conversation. While it's a fascinating question, one that's fun to discuss from time to time, it's ultimately a reductive pursuit. It's reductive for two reasons (a) one can never truly know what's in another person's heart, (b) the purpose of great literature is not to provide one with answers about the author's convictions, but to raise questions that challenge the reader's convictions.
To cut to the chase, Hemingway's short story "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" doesn't reveal how Hemingway feels about women, it ultimately asks the reader how he/she feels about women. In short, it can be considered a Rorschach test for the reader on the subject of misogyny. It is the purpose of this paper to examine the way in which Hemingway forces the reader to question his/her perspective of women as well as the dynamic between men and women.
Everyone knows there's something special about American women. Wilson, the consummate hunter and archetypal manly man, knows it too, he says in the story, "She is away for twenty minutes and now she is back, simply enamelled in that American female cruelty. They are the damnedest women. Really the damnedest." There are many ways to evaluate this statement. While most readers may think it to be a pejorative comment, one that puts women in a negative light, there's another interpretation. That is, women, in particular American women, are tough, are powerful, are obstinate to the sexist wishes and conventions of their male counterparts. To a provincial hunter who has certain expectations for how a woman should act and/or behave, a red-blooded, independent American woman is the "damnedest" -- but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
This "damnedest" quality that women possess is further explored in subsequent paragraphs, Wilson says, "She's damn cruel but they're all cruel. They govern, of course,...
Moreover, the girl changes the subject quickly to having another beer. While the man in the story remains utterly insensitive to his girlfriend, her state of mind is less clear. On the one hand, her self-esteem seems dreadfully low. She repeats, "I don't care about me," and she asks the man if getting the operation will make him happy. When she states, "I don't care about me," she could also
Ernest Hemingway The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber Ernest Hemingway -- the Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber (Hemingway 5-28) and Ernest Hemingway's biography (Hulse) illustrate several key aspects of Ernest Hemingway's his personality. Hemingway's upbringing and observations of the characters in this short story reveal his attitudes about men, women and their relationships. If The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber is a true indication
Ernest Hemingway The author Ernest Hemingway specialized in what is known as naturalistic writing. He tells the reader only the basic information about what is going on in a particular short story or novel. Much is told about the natural settings of the stories, but very little is given about the characters in his stories. Instead, the facts about the people, including their personalities and characteristics, have to be inferred by
Hemingway is classified as a modernist in fiction. Modernism rejected traditions that existed in the nineteenth century and sought to stretch the boundaries, striking out in new directions and with new techniques. More was demanded of the reader of literature or the viewer of art. Answers were not presented directly to issues raised, but instead the artist demanded the participation of the audience more directly in finding meaning and in
Hills tells the story of a young American man and his pregnant lover waiting for the train that will take them to an abortionist. In addition to the directness of speech characteristic of Hemingway's writing, Hills explores several themes characteristic of Hemingway, to include boredom, dissatisfaction, and self-destruction as a moving paralysis. "And we could have all this," she said. 'And we could have everything and every day we
Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises'" and World War I Initially printed in 1926, The Sun Also Rises turned out to Ernest Hemingway's first huge success. Not more than ten years after the end of World War I, the novel found a way to define what his generation was like: young people that were disillusioned whose lives were deeply touched by the war. Not even Hemingway himself was any kind of
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