Introduction


Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway played a major role in defining twentieth-century American literature, but his life, art, and image are so deeply intertwined that it is hard to separate them. This is because he had such high standards and because he insisted on a certain type of intense truth in his writing. Since he often wrote about the sort of experience that tested a man’s mettle, he repeatedly risked his life in high-adventure situations. Hemingway served as a Red Cross ambulance driver in World War I (where he was injured by both mortar and machine gun fire), reported on the Spanish Civil War and World War II, worked as a deep sea fisherman, and went on big game safaris throughout Africa. He was in two plane crashes while visiting Africa and was so badly injured in one that some newspapers reported he had been killed. All of this and more showed up in his writing.

Essential Facts

  1. Hemingway won the Italian Silver Medal for Valor for his actions in World War I. (Even though he had over 200 pieces of mortar shell in his legs, Hemingway carried an injured soldier to medical help.)
  2. While his work was well received by critics almost from the start, Hemingway himself was the subject of much criticism for his morals and behavior. This led to a lot of verbal conflicts...and even some physical ones.
  3. In the 1920s, Hemingway was part of a group of American expatriate writers living in Paris. There he socialized—and argued with and learned from—writers such as Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and T. S. Eliot.
  4. Hemingway married four times, often falling for one woman while still married to another one.
  5. After battling depression and poor health for several years, Hemingway shot himself in 1961...just as his father had in 1928.
 

Recommended Resources

  1. Ernest Hemingway - Dictionary of World Biography: The 20th Century
  2. Ernest Hemingway Author Guide
  3. For Whom the Bell Tolls Study Guide (eNotes)
  4. The Old Man and The Sea Lesson Plans

All Resources

Display as: Categories, List
  1. A Canary for One Study Guide (eNotes)
  2. A Canary for One Study Guide (Masterplots II: Short Story)
  3. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place - Book Review
  4. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place - Short Story Criticism
  5. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place Study Guide (eNotes)
  6. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place Study Guide (Masterplots II: Short Story)
  7. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place Study Guide (quickNotes)
  8. A Farewell to Arms (1932)
  9. A Farewell to Arms - Book Review
  10. A Farewell to Arms - Censorship
  11. A Farewell to Arms - Literary Characters
  12. A Farewell to Arms - Literary Places
  13. A Farewell to Arms - The Oxford Companion to American Literature
  14. A Farewell to Arms - Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism
  15. A Farewell To Arms Lesson Plans
  16. A Farewell to Arms Study Guide (eNotes)
  17. A Farewell to Arms Study Guide (quickNotes)
  18. A Moveable Feast - Identities and Issues in Literature
  19. Across the River and Into the Trees - Literary Characters
  20. Across the River and Into the Trees Study Guide (Masterplots II: American Fiction)
  21. After the Storm (2001)
  22. After the Storm Study Guide (eNotes)
  23. After the Storm Study Guide (Masterplots II: Short Story)
  24. An Alpine Idyll Study Guide (eNotes)
  25. An Alpine Idyll Study Guide (Masterplots II: Short Story)
  26. Big Two-Hearted River Study Guide (eNotes)
  27. Big Two-Hearted River Study Guide (Masterplots II: Short Story)
  28. Ernest Hemingway - American Decades 1920s The Arts
  29. Ernest Hemingway - American Decades 1950s The Arts
  30. Ernest Hemingway - Author Profile
  31. Ernest Hemingway - Censorship
  32. Ernest Hemingway - Contemporary Literary Criticism
  33. Ernest Hemingway - Contemporary Literary Criticism (Vol. 1)
  34. Ernest Hemingway - Contemporary Literary Criticism (Vol. 13)
  35. Ernest Hemingway - Contemporary Literary Criticism (Vol. 3)
  36. Ernest Hemingway - Contemporary Literary Criticism (Vol. 6)
  37. Ernest Hemingway - Contemporary Literary Criticism (Vol. 8)
  38. Ernest Hemingway - Critical Survey of Long Fiction
  39. Ernest Hemingway - Critical Survey of Short Fiction
  40. Ernest Hemingway - Cyclopedia of World Authors
  41. Ernest Hemingway - Dictionary of World Biography: The 20th Century
  42. Ernest Hemingway - Short Story Criticism
  43. Ernest Hemingway - The Oxford Companion to American Literature
  44. Ernest Hemingway - The Oxford Companion to English Literature
  45. Ernest Hemingway - Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism
  46. Ernest Hemingway Author Guide
  47. For Whom the Bell Tolls - Book Review
  48. For Whom the Bell Tolls - Literary Characters
  49. For Whom the Bell Tolls - Literary Places
  50. For Whom The Bell Tolls Movie Learning Guide
  51. For Whom the Bell Tolls Study Guide (eNotes)
  52. For Whom the Bell Tolls Study Guide (quickNotes)
  53. Hills Like White Elephants Study Guide (eNotes)
  54. Hills Like White Elephants Study Guide (Masterplots II: Short Story)
  55. In Another Country Study Guide (eNotes)
  56. In Another Country Study Guide (Masterplots II: Short Story)
  57. In Our Time Study Guide (quickNotes)
  58. Indian Camp Study Guide (eNotes)
  59. Indian Camp Study Guide (Masterplots II: Short Story)
  60. Islands in the Stream - Literary Characters
  61. Islands in the Stream Study Guide (Masterplots II: American Fiction)
  62. Not Without Laughter Study Guide (Masterplots II: American Fiction)
  63. Roaring Twenties Primary Sources
  64. Snows of Kilimanjaro Lesson Plans
  65. Soldier's Home Study Guide (eNotes)
  66. Soldier's Home Study Guide (Masterplots II: Short Story)
  67. The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway - Book Review
  68. The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway Study Guide (quickNotes)
  69. The Dangerous Summer - Book Review
  70. The Garden of Eden - Book Review
  71. The Garden of Eden Study Guide (quickNotes)
  72. The Killers (1964)
  73. The Killers Study Guide (eNotes)
  74. The Killers Study Guide (Masterplots II: Short Story)
  75. The Killers Study Guide (quickNotes)
  76. The Nick Adams Stories - Identities and Issues in Literature
  77. The Old Man and the Sea - Book Review
  78. The Old Man and the Sea - Literary Characters
  79. The Old Man and the Sea - Literary Places
  80. The Old Man and the Sea - Short Story Criticism
  81. The Old Man and the Sea - The Oxford Companion to American Literature
  82. The Old Man and The Sea Lesson Plans
  83. The Old Man and the Sea Study Guide (eNotes)
  84. The Old Man and the Sea Study Guide (quickNotes)
  85. The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber Study Guide (eNotes)
  86. The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber Study Guide (Masterplots II: Short Story)
  87. The Snows of Kilimanjaro - Short Story Criticism
  88. The Snows of Kilimanjaro Study Guide (eNotes)
  89. The Snows of Kilimanjaro Study Guide (Masterplots II: Short Story)
  90. The Sun Also Rises - Book Review
  91. The Sun Also Rises - Literary Characters
  92. The Sun Also Rises - Literary Places
  93. The Sun Also Rises Lesson Plans
  94. The Sun Also Rises Study Guide (eNotes)
  95. The Torrents of Spring - Literary Characters
  96. The Torrents of Spring Study Guide (Masterplots II: American Fiction)
  97. To Have & Have Not (1944)
  98. To Have and Have Not - Literary Characters
  99. To Have and Have Not Study Guide (Masterplots II: American Fiction)
  100. To Have and Have Not Study Guide (quickNotes)
  101. True at First Light - Criticism
  102. True at First Light Study Guide (quickNotes)
  103. Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993)