1. Ernest Hemingway

2. Life • Hemingway was born in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois. • He started working as a reporter at the age of 17. • He joined the WWI effort, spending many years in Europe as part of an ambulance team. • Upon his return, he started working for the papers again, but was sent back to Europe many times. • During the 1920’s, Hemingway became part of the expatriate movement and stayed in France (during which time he wrote The Sun Also Rises).

3. Life • Hemingway also spent a great deal of time near the Spanish Civil War gaining the content for For Whom the Bell Tolls. • Hemingway loved the outdoors and athletics. • He often chose subject such as war, hunting, bull-fighting, sailing, etc. in order to show the contrast between primitive, courageous people and the brutality of the modern world. • Hemingway lived in many places in the US, Canada, and overseas. • He had lived in Chicago, Toronto, Cuba, Key West, Michigan, and Idaho.

4. Life • Hemingway lived permanently in Florida, but spent many of his summers, both in childhood and adulthood, in Michigan. • In fact, many of his short stories are either set in Michigan, or even have Michigan in their title. • Hemingway struggled with depression and alcoholism for most of his adult life. He was even subjected to shock therapy for his depression and mental illness. • In was found early in 1961 that Hemingway was diagnosed with hemochromatosis, a disease which affects the bodies metabolism and ability to process certain minerals.

5. It is thought that this disease may have contributed to his mental decline. • In 1961, though the reports called it an “accident,” Hemingway shot himself in the head with his favorite 12-guage shotgun. • His father, brother, and sister also committed suicide.

6. Writing • Hemingway wrote ten novels, had published ten collections of short stories, and published many other works of non-fiction. • His style is described as such: “His straightforward prose, his spare dialogue, and his predilection for understatement are particularly effective in his short stories.” • Hemingway often writes in an objective narrative style, perhaps due to his journalistic background. • Hemingway’s work is sometimes dark and brooding, with elements of existentialist truths.

7. He often writes about “the athlete,” women, death, courage, emancipation, emasculation, and nature. • Many critics find Hemingway homophobic and misogynistic. • Hemingway could most likely be considered a “Modernist” writer. • The Modernist time period took place from somewhere around 1920 and ended sometime in the 1960’s. • It was a refutation of the Victorian ideals of nature and dwelled more on the individual, decay, and alienation. • Form also became experimental. • See handout on “Modernism”