Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway

Growing up, many of us have a hard time finding out what our identity is. We have to go through multiple of trials and try many new things in order to know where it is that we fit in. Ernst Hemingway, most definitely went through multiple of trials throughout his life, and he was able to find his true identity in writing. One of the things that most influenced Hemingway in is writing was the identity of masculinity.

Hemingway's early years were spent largely in fighting the feminine influence of his mother while feeding off the influence of his father. Although he was forced to learn to play music as a child, Hemingway never really took an interest for this type of art. He obviously preferred writing. Not yet fully knowing what he wanted to do with his life, after graduating high school, Hemingway drafted himself into the army. After the war, Hemingway’s maturity level definitely increased, although he was still only 19. Having to grow up so fast, Hemingway never really had that proper role model of a men to show him how to “correctly” be one. His father was not much help, because he used to get abused by his wife (Hemingway’s mother). Also, his love life something that he could say that he mastered very well, considering the fact that he got married four times. The reason why I am touching upon the main points of Hemingway’s life were his “manly-hood”, per say, mattered is because this is what has influenced him in is writing the most.

The main characters in arguably all of Hemingway’s novels all embody the same spirit: the very masculine man. Most of his characters also portrayed the same likes that he had, things such as fishing, hunting, and bullfighting. Generally, the “Hemingway heroes” of the stories are independent, strong-willed, and self-directed. Then, they are faced with a challenge, where they are required to persevere and overcome, ultimately making them stronger. Hemingway wrote many great story that show this perspective of a man’s role. One of his short story titled Hills Like White Elephants, although a little more controversial than most of his writing, still portrays the man of the story as strong-willed and self-directed, because he knows that he doesn’t want to change his life and he wants to continue life living it the adventurous way, without worrying about responsibilities. Although, at the end he sympathizes more for his girl, because he is thinking about how that might change their lives, or how the decision that they have to make is very important to her. This character is much like Hemingway, who did not know what to do with his life after he got out of the war, but he was quite strong-willed with the fact that he wanted to be a writer.

There is no doubt about it, that Hemingway evokes a masculinity perspective in his writing, as I mentioned before, a handful of his writing involve these manly characters that try to take control of their own

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