Ernest HemingwayThe Wasteland and Beyond

1899-1961

Hemingway’s Life and Death Married four times, divorced three Accomplished big game hunter, fisherman, also

tried race-car driving, bullfighting, boxing, etc. Loved and hated the trappings of wealth and

celebrity—detracted from his writing. He was cruel to his wives and others who helped him financially

Suffered from fits of depression, as did his father Committed suicide, as did his father, one of his

sons, and one of his granddaughters

Hemingway’s Life Ambulance driver in World War I Italy—severely

wounded Worked as a newspaper reporter in the U.S. Expatriate writer in Paris beginning in the

1920’s Told by Gertrude Stein (another American

expat)—”You are, all of you, a Lost Generation.” Used his experiences as the bases for writing

novels, short stories, and non-fiction pieces

Hemingway Style A new type of writing "in which meaning

is established through dialogue, through action, and silences—a fiction in which nothing crucial—or at least very little—is stated explicitly.“

Hemingway called his style the iceberg theory: the facts float above water; the supporting structure and symbolism operate out of sight

Hemingway Style 2 Revitalized fiction writing Stock characters in his work have

become standard characters in American fiction and pop culture

Terse, realistic dialogue

Rebellion Against Old Style Hemingway’s style was a rebellion against

the formality and complexity of the nineteenth century writers

Was well known for the quickness and action of his writing as opposed to the formality of writers such as Dickens or Henry James

Often used alternating narration—in third person—between characters. It was an innovation.

Hemingway’s Work Several novels, including The Sun Also

Rises, A Farewell to Arms, The Old Man and the Sea, etc.

Dozens of short stories Newspaper work and non-fiction articles

and books Deeply influential writer on the current

and next generations

Heroes and NonheroesThe Hero

Robert Wilson Jake Barnes Nick Adams His heroes

demonstrate “grace under pressure.”

The “Coward” Francis Macomber

—who may become a hero by the end of the story

Hemingway’s Women The dark woman—Brett Ashley of The

Sun Also Rises—is a goddess; the light woman—Margot Macomber of “The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber”—is decidedly not

In early Hemingway, men find redemption in a world without women (the fishing trip in “Big, Two-Hearted River”)

The Wasteland

The forest in “Big, Two-Hearted River”The Valley of Ashes in The Great Gatsby

The concept of a world ruined by

mankind’s destructive impulses

mirrors what happened in the

Fisher King myth.First major example

was in T.S. Eliot’s poem, The Wasteland

The Wasteland and Hemingway Hemingway saw combat in Italy and saw the

destruction. He equated the damage of the war with its

damage to his characters—they are all wounded in some way, but the wounds eventually heal and they find redemption.

“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are stronger at the broken places.”

The Mythic(al) Method is a way to

structure a poem or work of prose

fiction. The author uses an already

well-known myth or legend as the basis for his plot

and then adds to or adapts it as necessary.

Think “Journey of the Magi.”

The Mythic(al) Method

The Mythical Method is “a way of controlling, of

ordering, of giving a shape and a significance to the

immense panorama of futility and anarchy which is

contemporary history.... Instead of narrative

method, we may now use the mythical method. It is, I

seriously believe, a step toward making the modern

world possible for art.“T. S. Eliot

The Dial 1923

The Fisher King Myth Versions of his story vary

widely, but he is always wounded in the legs or groin, and incapable of moving on his own.

When he is injured, his kingdom suffers as he does, his impotence affecting the fertility of the land and reducing it to a barren wasteland

Little is left for him to do but fish in the river near his castle

He is cured (redeemed) by drinking from the Holy Grail