Ernest Hemingway has won many awards during his lifetime. During World War I, he was awarded with a silver medal of valor. In 1953, he won the Pulitzer Prize. Most importantly, in 1954, he was awarded with the Nobel Prize for literature. Despite these major lifetime achievements, many people don’t even know who Ernest Hemingway actually is. (Biography Base, p. 1).
Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, IL on July 21st, 1899. He grew up around literature, and began his professional writing career at age 17 while working for a local newspaper in Kansas City. Soon after, however, Hemingway stepped away from writing to join the army. During the First World War, Hemingway was wounded during battle in Italy, and was promptly sent back home to Kansas City. (Nobelprize.org, para 1).
Hemingway’s time spent fighting in the war introduced him to violence and death. These motifs in his life soon transferred to his writing. Hemingway used violence as an antagonist in his books, rather than using an actual person. This was an idea that had been previously unexplored in literature, and allowed readers to get a sense of how Hemingway felt about the true nature of violence. (Biography Base, p. 1).
Overall, Ernest Hemingway was a pretty average guy, and liked to write his novels with that in mind. On the surface, his writing seems fairly average. He doesn’t use an overly complex vocabulary, and his plots are simple to follow. However, Hemingway worked very hard to write the way that he did and always did his best to utilize symbolism whenever possible. While his writing was “average” at first glance, it was actually very revolutionary because many other authors still wrote with much more elevated language and literary devices. (Biography Base, p. 1-3).
Robert Evans, from Ball State University once said “The charge that Hemingway is an “anit-intellectual” writer has, in one formulation or another, echoed through some decades of criticism and, by dint of much repetition, has emerged as a critical commonplace.” (Evans, p.161). This conclusion is easy to arrive at because Hemingway has always written only about what he feels is truly important. His life experiences in the war, his battles with love and depression are all things that his characters must face as well, but more so, they are things that all people must face at one point or another in life.
Shorty after the end of World War II (which Hemingway also served in), he wrote several other novels, also loosely based on his own life, that were all met with very unfavorable reviews. Hemingway was convinced that his career was over. In a last ditch effort, Hemingway drafted one final novel, which soon became “The Old Man and the Sea” which was an international success almost immediately after it was published. (Biography Base p. 7).
In the spotlight once again, Hemingway was quickly awarded both the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for literature. (Biography Base p. 7). Hemingway was initially upset that he wasn’t awarded the Nobel Prize sooner, and even considered not accepting the award at all. He was quoted as saying to a friend: “I should have had the damn thing long ago. I’m thinking of telling them to shove it. Well, maybe not. There’s thirty five thousand dollars. You and I can have a lot of fun with thirty five thousand dollars.” (qtd in Baker, p. 527).
After being awarded with the Nobel Prize, Hemingway’s life soon began to spin out of control. He moved to Cuba and feared that he was being investigated by the government. He also had several health issues including high blood pressure, and liver problems. He was suffering from serious bouts with depression and paranoia during this time as well. Unfortunately, all of these factors led Hemingway to take his own life on July 2nd, of 1961. (Biography Base p. 8).
After being awarded with the Nobel Prize, Hemingway’s life soon began to spin out of control. He moved to Cuba and feared that he was being investigated by the government. He also had several health issues including high blood pressure, and liver problems. He was suffering from serious bouts with depression and paranoia during this time as well. Unfortunately, all of these factors led Hemingway to take his own life on July 2nd, of 1961. (Biography Base p. 8).
All in all, Ernest Hemingway was a very average American. He went through good times and bad, and had many faults as well as various obstacles to overcome. It is important to remember that these factors are what contributed to his writing style. He is such a well known and highly regarded author because he wrote books aimed at people like himself, the “simple, average American.”
Works Cited
Baker, Carlos. Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story. 1st ed. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1969. 525 - 531. Print.
"Ernest Hemingway - Biography". Nobelprize.org. 16 Nov 2010 <http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1954/hemingway-bio.html>.
"Ernest Hemingway Biography." Biography Base Home. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. <http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Hemingway_Ernest.html>.
Evans, Robert. "Hemingway and the Pale Evidence of Thought." American Literature 38.2 1966. 161-176. Web. 18 Nov 2010. EBSCOhost. Badger Link. Retrieved at Badger Link. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&hid=106&sid=ac7e017d-9a63-4ece-908e-8d8e0a38aa92%40sessionmgr104>.
Interesting!!
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