Main Works
Main works
• (1)The Sun Also Rises (1926)《太阳照样升起 》 paints the image of a whole generation—the lost generation, spiritual crisis • (2)A Farewell to Arms (1929) 《永别了，武器 》based on his war experience in Italy, a love tragedy in the War, the lovers called “modern Romeo and Juliet”, firmly established his reputation
The iceberg theory
• Hemingway called his style the iceberg theory: the facts float above water; the supporting structure and symbolism operate out-of-sight. • “I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it underwater for every part that shows”
The iceberg theory
• “The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.” • One must go very deep beneath the surface to understand the full meaning of his writing (a good writer did not need to reveal every detail of a character or action. )
• Then he was tortured by several kinds of diseases . He never created some influential works after that, and finally, may be discouraged by a troubled family background, illness and the belief that he was losing his gift for writing, in 1961, he shot himself with gun in his home.
Life
• After WWI, he published his first influential novel——The Sun Also Rises. It describes the World War I makes young Americans feel lost， empty and depressed and they are called The Lost Generation
Life
• In all his life, 4 marriages • he loved tough games, such as boxing, hunting, deep-sea fishing. • Injured many times. (237 steel fragments were taken out from Hemingway’s body). He also suffered 3 car accidents and 2 air crushes. • He was admired as a hero by lots of people and his life style was imitated.
Ernest Miller Hemingway
(1899-1961)
Life
• born and raised in Oak Park, Illinois near Chicago in 1899 • father: a successful physician, love fishing and hunting; • mother: music teacher, who was very interested in literature
Life
• In 1917,after graduation from high school, Hemingway went to work as a reporter for The Kansas City Star(堪萨斯《星报》)
Life
• In 1914, World War I broken out. Hemingway joined the Red Cross and enter the battle field. • He was seriously wounded in the battlefield. The nightmarish war experience changed his life.
Main works
• (4)"The Old Man and the Sea” (1952) 《 老人与海》
•
(One of his best, winning the Nobel Prize) Symbolism：
Santiago – mankind; sea – nature and environment; marlin – purpose of life; shark – the evil force which control human’s fate
Main works
• (3)For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) 《丧钟为谁 而鸣》（《战地钟声》） • (also a story about war and love) Based on his experience as a journalist in Spain during its civil war, anti-Fascism
•
Theme: the importance of life lies in the process of searching and resistance
• Short story collections:
Men without Women (1927)《没有女人的男 人》 Winner Take Nothing (1933) 《胜者无所得》
• Play:
The Fifth Column (1940) 《第五纵队》
Hemingway’s style
Hemingway’s style
• Direct, terse, and often monotonous • Simple , natural ,conventional words and sentences • Few conventional emotive language, few authorial comments • Focus on facts • Symbolism
The Hemingway Code Hero
• The phrase, Hemingway code hero originated with scholar Philip Young. He uses it to describe a Hemingway character who lives correctly, following certain principles of honor, courage, and endurance which in a life of tension and pain make a man a man.
Life
• Participated the WWII • In 1952, created The Old Man and the Sea (winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1952 & the Nobel Prize in LiterConclusion
• All the works of Hemingway, no matter long or short, are almost expressed a tender and profound emotion by his straightforward writing style which are just like the flowing figure. Hemingway's writing style was probably the most widely imitated in the 20th century and had an huge impact influence on world literature.
Typical traits for the Code Hero:
• will, pride, and endurance • “Grace under pressure” is their motto • Whatever is the result is, they are ready to live with grace under pressure. • No matter how tragic the ending is, they will never be defeated. • Finally, they will prevail because of their indestructible spirit and courage.