Heroes of Hemingway
Hemingway was one of the all time greatest writers, in my mind and in the mind of many others,
and he was able to write a ton of books on a ton of different topics. There is one thing that connects all
of these books though, and that is the idea and theme of what Hemingway basically created; the hero.
The hero was a great theme and Hemingway thrived off of the topic, he wrote countless books, such as
“Old Man and The Sea” and “Soldier’s Home”. In the “Old Man and The Sea” specifically the hero theme
is at its most prominent, where you can clearly tell that Santiago is a god as looked at by the young child
that he takes under his wing in this thrilling adventure between Santiago and a massive marlin. He can’t
bring himself to kill the fish at the end, and it is this same attitude that the young boy looks up to and
respects.
This very unique style has sold many of Hemingway’s so-called classics, and has led his books to
stand the test of time, but then where could a writer in those times develop such an exclusive theme?
Well, according to lostgeneration.com, Hemingway developed this manner through the cold times of the
World War. He was considered to be a war hero for his efforts in the war, although he never thought
that he was fully worthy of being titled that. He wrote about these times and how he was worn down
from the war and how no one could understand the “psychological impact on his parents son” in one of
his first war books, “Soldier’s Home”.
Lotsofessays.com disagrees, however, with lostgenerations.com and contradicts that he did not
develop the style due to war but actually the idea of heroism was built around the author himself,
Hemingway. These characters were built off of honor and integrity, almost being god-like while still
having the appeal of a middle-age American rough neck male. Being simply imperfect humans, but
making decisions that no other human could make, such as the example in “Old Man and The Sea”
where he lets the marlin loose after struggling for hours on end, trying to catch the big one and bring in
his riches. But, when faced with the task of killing the marlin in order to take him to shore, he makes the
inhuman-like decision to set it free. This new idea of heroism was unlike anyone had ever read before
and intrigued several people, making his books sure classics.
Hemingway was able to write many books with this style, but how did he continue to sell books
with the same style, were people interested in the hero and the challenges he faced? According to
Bookstove.com, Hemingway was a genius when it came to making his books with a twist to keep them
interesting. He did this by walking the fine line between great choices and what could have easily been
interpreted as common stupidity. Hemingway kept to the safe side of his main heroes making great
choices, but when you look at it, it could have gone the other way. In “Old Man and The Sea” Santiago
made the inhuman choice of letting the marlin go, but really if you think about it, was that really in his
best interest? He is in the lower class just scrounging to make due, and hasn’t caught a fish in over 85
days. He was very plainly put giving up the best fish he ever caught and gave up a lot of money doing so,
but Hemingway is able to present this in such a good way so it appears that Santiago is more that human
for making such a tough choice, and this is why today and most likely in the future, we will look back on
Hemingway’s books and writing and still consider him to be one of the best classical literature writers of
all time.
Works Cited
"Ernest Hemingway Biography ~ World War I." Hemingway Resource Center~Welcome. Web. 05 June
2010. <http://www.lostgeneration.com/ww1.htm>.
"The Hemingway Code Hero." Owatonna Public Schools. Web. 04 June 2010.
<http://www.owatonna.k12.mn.us/Classroom/OHS/Language Arts/eeitrheim/Pre AP 9
hemingway_code_hero.htm>.
"Hemingway Hero." LotsOfEssays .com - Over 32,000 Essays, Term Papers and Book Reports
Available for Instant Access!! Web. 05 June 2010.
<http://www.lotsofessays.com/essay_search/hemingway_hero.html>.
"Hemingway’s Code Hero | Bookstove." Bookstove | Books, Literature. Web. 04 June 2010.
<http://bookstove.com/classics/hemingways-code-hero/>.