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“All my life I’ve looked at words as though I were seeing them for the first.” Ernest Hemingway
said this quote and for only sixteen words, it holds an important meaning. Hemingway uses his words
very carefully to emphasize how such a little word can be so powerful. For example, he turns the word
war into something you would have never thought of. The dictionary definition of war is simply a
conflict between two opponents, but Hemingway turns it into something so much more. He brings
emotion and meaning to his writing, he doesn’t just write down words.
Hemingway’s writing has influenced so many writers to bring meaning to words, but they simply
can’t do it like him. “His writing is so unique and incomparable,” says Robert (Trogdon). One author
that was influenced by Hemingway is Mark Twain. Mark Twain uses some of Hemingway’s techniques
in the story Huckleberry Fin. Although he did an all right job, he still couldn’t compare to Hemingway.
Although most view Hemingway’s work as stylistic and innovative, he also embraces a modern, realistic
world view that influences twentieth century literature.
Ernest Hemingway didn’t have a horrible childhood, but it was a pretty tough one. Hemingway
was the second child and first son of Dr. Clarence and Mrs. Grace Hall Hemingway. He was born on
July 21, 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois. Hemingway’s father was fairly strict, but he seemed to have enjoyed
his childhood. Hemingway’s mother was a talented musician and painter who encouraged Hemingway’s
interests in arts. Hemingway began his literary apprenticeship when he wrote for the Oak Park and River
Forest Township High School weekly paper, The Trapeze, and its literary magazine, The Tabula (short
stories).
After graduation in 1917, Hemingway moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and began working as a
cub reporter for the Kansas City Star. He left his job in January 1918 and in July took over operation of
a Red Cross canteen near Fossalta, Austria on the Piave River. He suffered wounds from Austrian
trench-mortar and machine-gun fire, and more than two hundred pieces of shrapnel had to be removed
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from his legs. Hemingway never returned to the front. At the hospital, he met and fell in love with
Agnes Von Kurowsky, an American nurse whom he wanted to marry.
After she broke off the relationship, he moved back to America and later on incorporated these
war time experiences in the short story, A Farewell to Arms in 1929. In 1920, he joined the staff of the
Toronto Star and contributed to a publication of the Cooperative Society of America. While Hemingway
was in Chicago, he met Hadley Richardson of St. Louis. Hemingway proposed in 1921 and on
September third the two married and moved to Chicago (
That year, Hemingway met with Sherwood Anderson, who encouraged him to continue writing
and advised him to go to Paris to work. He and his wife left for Paris in December. The Hemingways
traveled extensively in 1922 and 1923 to Austria, Germany, Italy, and Spain. He also published his first
book, Three Stories and Ten Poems, in 1923. The couple moved to Toronto that year for the birth of
their son, John, but they missed Paris. They moved back at the end of the year.
“The Killers” is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. It first appeared to the public in 1927 in
Scribner's Magazine. Two men named Al and Max go into Henry’s lunchroom. They are wearing
overcoats, mufflers, and derby hats. Al and Max order Nick and Sam to come around the counter. Al
takes Nick and Sam to the kitchen while Max sits at the counter. Max tells George about how hi, and Al
want to kill a Sweden named Ole Anderson. They are hit men hired to kill Anderson. Al announced that
he tied Sam and Nick in the kitchen. George is ordered to send everyone out. When Anderson doesn’t
show up to the lunchroom, Al and max leave and untie Nick and Sam. George urges Nick to warn
Anderson, but Sam disagrees. They finally go to warn Anderson, but when they tell Anderson, he is
resigned to fate. Nick is depressed and resolves to leave town.
Hemingway is famous for his usage of direct speech. The Killers is the story about two hit men
who come into a small town in search of a man. Hemingway is known to incorporate manly men into his
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stories, and in this story creates his two main characters as the stereotypical gangsters, both hit men,
dressed in derby hats, tight-fitting trench coats and dark gloves (www.enotes.com/Killers). The change
in mood goes from preventing death to already knowing that death is coming.
I studied a research paper from Hal Bythe and Charlie Sweet on the short story, The Killers.
They explain how Hemingway uses a motif to emphasize that Nick and Adam not only confront the
situation of death and violence, but they face a choice. To prove this, Hemingway includes when
someone enters and exits the door openings and closings. He shows that there are sixteen departures to
stress that Nick has to make a decision. They say that it is strange that Hemingway put so much attention
on the wall. Hemingway notes that Anderson looks at the wall six times. They say that the wall is the
essential symbol used to suggest entrapment. Anderson believes that there is nothing he can do to escape
his fate (Bythe).
Hemingway based his stories mostly on war. In the short story, In another Country, his main
point is war. The war he refers to is World War one. The setting is in Milan, away from the scene of
fighting. Hemingway describes the city he passes on the way to the hospital because he had hurt his leg
while at the front. The narrator is Hemingway’s alter ego, Nick Adams. At the hospital he is introduced
to Milanese soldiers. They are all criticized for being officers with medals. His doctor is overly
optimistic and promises the soldier that his injured knew will soon recover. The officer was once a
renowned fencer and is now angry and bitter. His condition and death of his wife from pneumonia has
snapped his will. He has no faith and doesn’t believe in bravery. In the meantime, Nick Adams
socializes with four young men undergoing treatment. Nick admits that his injury wasn’t the result of a
heroic accident, but an accident. He explains how the medals he received weren’t deserved.
Life may be a series of random events, but some people have it way worse than others. The only
certainty in the lives of these characters is that “the war was always there.” Michael Zam wrote a
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research paper on this short story. He describes how Ernest Hemingway’s writing has a very distinctive
style. His work has been described as sparse, objective, and journalistic. It has also been called
“original.” The fact that Hemingway worked a lot in his life has really influenced his style. Alex Vernon
from Wisconsin University says that Ernest Hemingway was among many writers who experienced and
gave testimony about the brutal conflict of World War one. He shows the type of person he is through
his through his short stories. By this short story we can tell that he has witnessed many horrific events in
his life and makes him the person he is.
Ernest Hemingway shows his life through another one of his short stories, A New Kind of War.
This short story also takes place during World War one and the narrator is a reporter. The reporter talks
to a soldier named Rewen. Rewen has been through a lot and has seen many things. He lost both of his
eyes and his legs were badly wounded. He lost some of his teeth and some toes as well. He gets sad
sometimes because he wishes he can see everything that is happening. Hemingway starts to believe that
you learn as much as you are able to believe.
Roberts Silman, also a student of Wisconsin University, thoroughly researched this short story.
She says that Hemingway sometimes behaved as though writing was a tennis match. Down deep he
knew that it was the search for truth and worked very hard to achieve it. Instead of going to college, he
joined the Red Cross as an ambulance driver during World War one. While he was in World War one,
he was wounded and became a “hero.” Shortly afterwards, he fell in love with a woman named Hadley
Richardson and fell in love. Hadley somewhat impacted Hemingway’s writing.
By 1953, Hemingway was the most famous writer in the world. He also made his first trip to
Spain since the civil war, and he received a warm welcome. In 1954, Hemingway was in two plane
crashes in Africa. Newspapers around the world reported him as dead, but Hemingway survived with
burns and internal injuries. In 1957, his work was impaired by poor health: high blood pressure,
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diabetes, and the lingering effects of the concussions he had received. He also suffered from depression.
These issues destroyed Hemingway’s ability to edit his work. In 1960, Hemingway became increasingly
paranoid and suicidal. In November, he was sent to the Mayo Clinic for treatment for his depression and
other health problems. He persuaded his doctor to release him in June and move to Ketchum, Ohio. On
the morning of July second 1961, Hemingway shot himself in the head with one of his shot guns.
After Hemingway’s death, John F. Kennedy built him a library in his name in Boston. Hemingway lived
an exciting life and his stories show it all. Hemingway is one author that people will never forget. He
went through war, and had to overcome his fears. His writing is so unique and doesn’t compare to any
author’s writing. Although most view Hemingway’s work as stylistic and innovative, he also embraces a
modern, realistic world view that influences twentieth century literature.