____________

____________

____________

HEMINGWAY AND THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGION AND CULTURE

A Thesis

Presented

to the Faculty of

California State University Dominguez Hills

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Master of Arts

in

Humanities

by

Jeremiah Ewing

Spring 2019

Copyright by

Jeremiah Ewing

2019

All Rights Reserved

This work is dedicated to my father Larry Eugene Ewing who finished his Masterrsquos in

Liberal Arts in 2004 from California State University Sacramento and encouraged me to

pursue my own

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks to Dr Lyle Smith who helped and guided me through the process

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

COPYRIGHT PAGE ii

DEDICATION

CHAPTER

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

TABLE OF CONTENTSv

ABSTRACT vi

1 INTRODUCTION 1

New Historicism 1The Cultural Context and Overview of the Chapters to Follow 4

2 HEMINGWAY AND JUDAISM6

Historical Overview of Judaism6Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in his Novels 15

3 HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY 28

4 HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY 48

5 CONCLUSION71

WORKS CITED 74

v

ABSTRACT

Despite having been raised a Congregational Protestant Ernest Hemingway

abandoned the faith of his youth after he left homemdashespecially after he experienced

destruction and death in the Italian theater during World War I In the following years

Hemingway converted to Catholicism when he married his second wife Pauline Pfeifer

Hemingway also had an anti-Semitic streak often using racial slurs and even making the

villain in his first novel The Sun Also Rises to be a rich Jew This thesis uses new

historicism as the critical lens through which to view Hemingwayrsquos attitude towards

Judaism and Christianity It includes an investigation of his biography and some of his

novels Though he practiced Catholicism he sometimes had negative things to say about

it Yet his later novels show an increased level of spirituality culminating in The Old

Man and the Sea

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

This thesis utilizes new historicism as a lens through which to view Hemingwayrsquos

attitude towards religion and spirituality It involves first a brief explanation of this

perspective and then an investigation of Hemingwayrsquos life and several of his novels

New Historicism

Stephen Greenblatt gets the credit for coining the term ldquonew historicismrdquo in a

1982 issue of Genre (Harpham 363) Greenblatt saw new historicism as a practice not a

doctrine Greenblatt preferred the term ldquocultural poeticsrdquo in lieu of the term new

historicism New historicism is cultural interpretation New historicism searches the real

and the raw and claims to give a new approach to history Brook Thomas sees new

historicism as linking a bridge to the literary past (Thomas 182) It claims to give a new

approach to history providing a new angle from which to view the past According to

Thomas ldquoNew historicism suggests the newness of the pastrdquo (25) According to Joel

Fineman new historicism ldquoproposes to introduce a novelty or an innovation something

lsquo[n]ewrsquo into the closed and closing historiography of successive innovationrdquo (qtd in

Harpham 362) New historicism suggests that through an understanding of the past the

reader will see the past through new eyes and as it was seen in the past itself (Thomas

187) Plus new historicism seeks to represent those who were not represented in the

past New historicism is categorized as ldquoAgainst Theoryrdquo (187) Yet it is a theory in its

own respect New historicism questions whether dominant cultural forces predominate or

2

if cultural power is potentially undermined by other underlying destabilizing forces

(Harpham 360)

New historicism incorporates the reading of ldquoboth literary and non-literary textsrdquo

in order to understand the past from the point of view of the past (Kerridge 10)

Literature is defined as a cultural construct being unique to its own era and it is ldquoshaped

by the many peoples and discourses of that erardquo (10) New historicists believe that texts

should be viewed from their original setting and from the cultural context of that

particular period (10) Jane Tompkins in writing from the new historicist perspective

tries to sympathetically recreate the context in which literary works were produced and

the specific problems to which these literary works were devoted (185) Put simply new

historicism seeks to understand writers via their own historical terms (Veeser 186) New

historicists hope that by ldquoReconstructing an era from the materials it produced the

historian could sympathetically reinhabit the pastrdquo (89) Using the new historicist model

texts can reveal insights about the people that created them their discourses and their

ideology (Kerridge 10-11) In new historicism ldquoliterary and non-literary textsrdquo are given

equal scrutiny and regard (11) Consequently literature is a unique by-product of the

culture from which it originated and sheds unique insight into that culture

Despite Greenblattrsquos preference for his own term ldquocultural poeticsrdquo the term

new historicism stuck Whereas Greenblatt coined the term some scholars see Michel

Foucault as the power behind the method (Harpham 369) Foucault encouraged a group

of young scholars at Berkeley to promote new historicism in their journal

3

Representations In addition Foucault seemed to learn from this group Foucaultrsquos

ldquomost identifiable legacy in American literary studiesrdquo was new historicism (370)

New historicism claims to represent the real by defining the real as the textual

(360) According to Harpham ldquoLiterature is traditionally said to produce an lsquoethicalrsquo

effect through its ability to transcend its historical momentrdquo (374) Harpham says that the

real is defined as the local the material and the specific He also notes that ldquoA lsquonewrsquo

historicism promises knowledge of the past that really is knowledge that discloses the

object as in itself it really was that is not simply a reflex or internal mirroring of

contemporary self-awarenessrdquo (362) It is the goal of the new historicist to be objective

instead of subjective For instance the subjective seeks to define history through

personal tastes feelings and opinions New historicism is the opposed to this New

historicism seeks to present the past as it really was without the modern biases and

prejudices of those currently researching it New historicism tries to see through the eyes

and minds of the people who actually lived through and experienced history It tries to

understand the mindset and the feelings of the people of the time period in question

What people thought and how people thought is important Todayrsquos current beliefs

should be left out of the mix Past beliefs are essential to understanding the thinking

processes of the past

4

The Cultural Context and Overview of the Chapters To Follow

Ernest Hemingway was a man of his times Like many of his Lost Generation

after the Great War (in particular) he abandoned the faith of his youth although he quite

possibly did earlier World War I cemented this rejection In Hemingwayrsquos twenties he

married and then committed adultery According to Hemingway biographer Mary V

Dearborn he liked to marry those with whom he slept Hemingway started attending

religious services again after his second marriage to the rich Catholic Pauline Pfeiffer

Hemingway lived as an expat in Paris during the Roaring 20s Hemingwayrsquos friends

were newspapermen artists and writers Paris was hedonistic in those days After the

carnage and terror of World War I the returning Lost Generation just wanted to live life

to the utmost and the fullest In early-twentieth-century Paris Hemingway lived in an

atmosphere of lax morals Anything went In consequence he conformed to the culture

around him Some of Hemingwayrsquos literary friends were anti-Semitic Perhaps they

influenced him but Hemingway eventually showed signs of anti-Semitism too

Moreover some of the authors that Hemingway read especially as he was trying to

become a better writer were anti-Semitic themselves Living in predominantly Catholic

France converting to Catholicism at the insistence of his second wife was an easy task

for Hemingway Many of his friends were CatholicmdashJames Joyce being one At the

time Hemingway was just a conforming product of the culture and attitudes of those

around him He wanted to fit it inmdashhe wanted to be one of the boysmdashyet throughout his

life and his writing he was haunted by death and he wanted to find a spiritual solution to

his many struggles

5

Chapter 2 investigates Hemingway and Judaism and Chapter 3 centers on

Hemingway and Christianity In Chapter 4 the author argues that although he didnrsquot turn

out to be a good person and was vindictive against fellow writers critics and others

Hemingway was a good writer and used all his experiences good and bad to bring across

the truth and reality of life in his works of literature Hemingwayrsquos last novel Old Man

and the Sea provides the clearest statement of his spiritual and religious perspective

6

CHAPTER 2

HEMINGWAY AND JUDIASM

Historical Overview of Judaism

Anti-Semitism or hatred of Jews has been around since the rise of Judaism In

the Old Testament Pharaoh was the first political leader known to persecute the Jews

Pharaoh was concerned with the growing Jewish population and their loyalty Among

many other things he tried to kill Jewish ldquofirst-born sonsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 13) Next in

the Old Testament Haman tried to have the Jews killed off under Queen Esther

However most scholars agree that anti-Semitism came into its own in the years after

Christ left this earth For example Dan Cohn-Sherbok argues that ldquoit was only when

Christianity emerged in the first century CE that Jews came to be viewed as contemptible

and demonicrdquo (17)

Unfortunately the intensity of anti-Semitism in Christianity was mainly due to

misinterpretation In earlier centuries AD people could not read Scripture for themselves

and they were consequently misled In those days people had faith in and trusted the

Catholic Church seeing the pope as infallible Some misinterpreted Scripture to say that

the Jews were responsible for Christrsquos death However Scripture emphasizes that Christ

died for all so consequently he died for everyone If one looks at it from that point of

view then everyone past present and future were are and will be responsible for

Christrsquos death Yet some didnrsquot look at it that way In fact the Apostle Paul went out of

his way to preach and try to reach Jews first

7

Paul wrote in Romans 116 ldquoFor I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the

power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the

Greekrdquo (English Standard Version) John 422 reads ldquoYou worship what you do not

know we [Jews] worship what we know for salvation is from the Jewsrdquo In Romans

1117-18 Paul suggests that Gentile believers are just grafted into the Jewish promise ldquoIf

some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive were grafted in

among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree [then] do

not be arrogant toward the branches but if you are arrogant remember that it is not you

who supports the root but the root supports yourdquo Unfortunately some uninformed

early Christians did not put two and two together For some it was believed that the

Christian Church took the place of Israel which isnrsquot accurate Some believed that ldquothe

Church was the true inheritor of Godrsquos promisesrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 45) It was

believed that Jews no longer had a covenant with God and that Christians had completely

overshadowed and replaced Israel in that covenant This is not true

Acts 1346 reads of preaching to the Jews first ldquoIt was necessary that the word of

God be spoken to you firstrdquo Jesus also a Jew promoted preaching to the Jews first In

Matthew 125-6 Jesus says to the twelve disciples ldquoGo nowhere among the Gentiles and

enter no town of the Samaritans but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israelrdquo

(English Standard Version) In Matthew 1524 Jesus says ldquoI was sent only to the lost

sheep of the house of Israelrdquo (English Standard Version) The first Christians were a

group of Jews Jews were different so eventually urban legends sprang up without

accurate facts and the knowledge of Judaismrsquos teachings some people latched onto these

8

false assumptions and believed the lies that others were propagating about the Jews For

instance Jews were accused of murdering Christian children and then using their blood

for ritual practices It was believed that Jews used the blood of murdered Christian

children ldquoin the preparation of unleavened bread for Passoverrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 54) The

ritual murder charge was a misunderstanding (81) In fact in the fourteenth century

Jews were accused of bringing about the Black Death by poisoning the wells and springs

(60 67) This assertion first gained credence in southern France (81) Yet Jews suffered

and died under the Black Death as well This is an example of the Jews being blamed as

scapegoats

In the early Church the Bishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom accused the

early Hebrews of sacrificing ldquotheir sons and daughters to demons andrdquo eating their own

children (37 47) Chrysostom said of synagogues ldquoto go there was no better than

visiting a brothel a robberrsquos den or any indecent place [it is] a theatre a house of

prostitution and domicile of the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom said that the Jews ldquohave

surpassed the ferocity of wild beasts since they murder their offspring and immolate

them to the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom also accused the Jews of worshipping the devil Yet

Jeremiah 313b reads in reference to Israel ldquoI have loved you with an everlasting love

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to yourdquo (English Standard Version) If so-

called Christians would have accurately read this during this period they would have

seen that God loves his people and his nation Israel But some Christians thought that

the Christian Church entirely replaced Godrsquos Covenant with the Jews Consequently

Chrysostom said that Christians must hate the Jews (Cohn-Sherbok 47) Yet hatred is an

9

anti-Christian doctrine In Matthew 544 Jesus says ldquoBut I say to you Love your

enemies and pray for those who persecute

yourdquo (English Standard Version)

False conceptions of the Jews even seemed to be found among some of the

Church Fathers Some of the Church Fathers were frustrated that the Jews would not

convert to Christianity nor would they renounce their Judaism In some cases the quest

for converts became a competition Cohn-Sherbok writes ldquoDuring the same period

Tertullian the African Church Father called the synagogues of his day lsquofountains of

persecution of Christiansrsquordquo (46) Justin Martyr ldquorelated that Jews laugh curse and insult

Jesusrdquo (46) Jerome referred to Jews as Judases (47) In fact Judas was thought to be

ldquosymbolic of the Jewish peoplerdquo (84) In the New Testament ldquothe figure of Judas

was associated in the public mind with deviousness and treacheryrdquo (83)

Desecration of the communion host became another false charge against the Jews

as the then-Christians believed in the doctrine of transubstantiation In the doctrine of

transubstantiation the communion bread and wine (of the Eucharist) literally becomes

the body and blood of Jesus During this time it was believed that Jews stole the host in

order ldquoto assault it and thereby torture Christrdquo (80) The charge of desecration of the

Host was a hallucinatory fantasy (82) However the Jews did not believe in the Doctrine

of Transubstantiation which was affirmed at Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 (80) Only

Catholics believe this doctrine today Since the Jews did not believe in

transubstantiation they would in all likelihood not have attacked the host because they

10

couldnrsquot believe that they were actually attacking Christ in the process Desecration of

the Host was a wild belief and a total fantasy

In some cases the Talmud was burned because it was believed to be anti-

Christian Agobard Archbishop of Lyons believed that Jews stole Christian children

and sold them to Arabs (64) He also believed that Jews seduced Christian women All

sorts of wild beliefs developed about Jews many without factual basis It was all

conjecture and imagination In Germany ldquoa French monk Radulph went about preaching

that Jews were enemies of God and should be persecutedrdquo (65) As previously

mentioned the Jews were scapegoats they were blamed for everything During the

witch-hunting crazed days of the fifteenth century Jews were seen as being in cahoots

with witches and the devil (71) During this time it was believed that the Jews were born

misshapen hemorrhoidal and both sexes afflicted with menstruation In Trnava

Slovakia it was believed that Christian blood was an excellent means by which ldquoto cure

the wound produced by circumcisionrdquo (71)

For the duration of the Middle Ages ldquoChristians viewed Jews as sorcerers able to

cast spells against their enemiesrdquo (72) It was believed consequently that the Jews were

capable of working magic against Christians During the Black Death it was also

believed that Jews wanted to poison Christians In fact ldquoJews were accused of using

Christian blood for magical purposesrdquo (73) The little contact that these early Christians

had with Jews also led to their paranoia viewing the Jews as an alien mysterious and

strange people (74) Urban legends seemed to sprout up due to the lack of knowledge

Ignorance of Jews reigned

11

Jewish medicine too became suspect It was claimed that high rulers were killed

off through Jewish medicine During the Middle Ages the Vienna Faculty of Medicine

thought that ldquothe private code of Jewish doctors required them to murder one patient in

tenrdquo (77) Jews were eventually thought to possess attributes of the devil The Jews

ldquowere perceived as having horns tails and the beard of a goat and could be recognized

by their noxious smell the foetor judaiumlcusrdquo (79) Consequently the Jews were seen as

sub-human It was believed that Jews lacked morality anything went with them Jews

were so despised that they were exiled from countries At different times Spain France

and England expelled their Jewish populations In some instances they were invited

back

The charges against Jews were grotesque fantasies Tracts were written against

the Jews One such read of the Jews ldquolsquoDemons from hell race of the Jews detestable

men more accursed than Lucifer and more wicked than all the devils cruel tigers be

gone unworthy as you are to live among us when you thirst so for bloodrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 86)

Martin Luther at first favored the Jews writing a pamphlet That Christ was Born

a Jew However after he was unable to convert the Jews to his Protestant Reformed

Christian faith he became anti-Semitic So ldquoLuther stressed that they [the Jews] are the

most contemptible of all peoplesrdquo (90) Luther wrote ldquorsquomake no mistake that aside from

the Devil you have no enemy more venomous more desperate more bitter than a true

Jew who truly seeks to be a Jewrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90) Moreover ldquoMartin Luther

speculated that if the Jews could kill Christians they would gladly do sordquo (73)

12

Of the Jews Luther believed that ldquoThose who tolerate them [the Jews] will incur

great loss lsquoWhoever wishes to accept venomous serpents desperate enemies of the Lord

and to honour them to let himself be robbed pillaged corrupted and cursed by them

need only turn to the Jewsrsquordquo (90) Luther suggested of the Jews ldquoTheir synagogues

should be set on fire and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over

with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of itrdquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 90) Luther wrote ldquoTheir [Jewsrsquo] homes should likewise be broken down and

destroyed For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues

they should be deprived of their prayerbooks [sic] and Talmud in which idolatry lies

cursing and blasphemy are taught their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death

to teach any morerdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther also wrote ldquoPassport and travelling privileges should be absolutely

forbidden to the Jews They ought to be stopped from usury Let the young and

strong Jews and Jewesses be given the flail the axe the hoe the spade the distaff and

spindle and let them earn their bread by the sweat of their browrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok

90) Luther called the Jews an ldquoinsufferable devilish burdenrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther said that Jews were ldquochildren of the Devil condemned to the flames of hellrdquo (qtd

in Cohn-Sherbok 91) Luther believed that the Jews should be despised Luther even

thought that ldquothe Jews are worse than the devilsrdquo (91) Luther saw the Jews as

ldquoinstigators of social and economic corruptionrdquo (94) Luther thought that the Jews

wanted to ldquodestroy Christian civilizationrdquo (95)

13

Luther saw himself in a fight against Satan in the Jews Despite Lutherrsquos anti-

Semitism a good thing did emerge out of the Protestant Reformation Scripture was

translated into the common vernacular so that literate people could see what the Bible

said for themselves instead taking a priestrsquos or a popersquos word for it This led to literate

Christians seeing the Jews through the lens of Scripture instead of through anti-Jewish

sermons and hear-say from church leaders

In Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century the Jews were seen as favoring political

revolution and as having played a role in the revolutionary activities of the era (231)

This viewpoint started after the revolutions of 1848 (244) and it is not entirely off the

mark For example Karl Marx was a Jew Although not all Jews were revolutionaries

Nicholas Reynolds says that ldquoMore than a few Russian revolutionaries were Jewish one

reaction to the state-sanctioned anti-Semitism and the resulting pogroms that occurred

with frightening regularityrdquo (Writer Sailor Solider Spy 72) Capitalism also came to be

associated with the Jewsmdashparticularly its vices (Cohn-Sherbok 248) In the United

States the Jews were blamed for the Russian Revolution (231) There was fear of the

Jews or Judaeophobia A writer that Hemingway read was the anti-Semitic Fyodor

Dostoyevsky Perhaps this helped to influence Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

Dostoyevsky wrote ldquoLike a vast tightening net the power of assimilated Jewry stretches

over the whole world and no matter where we set foot we are caught in it We must

struggle to our last drop of blood against the insidious Judaization of Europe and

especially of Germanismrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 232)

14

In 1912 the Marconi Affair hit Great Britain Two leading Jewish politicians

Rufus Isaacs and Herbert Samuels were implicated in this corruption scandal

Eyewitness reported ldquoIsaacsrsquo brother is the president of the Marconi Company Isaacs

and Samuels have privately arranged to have the British people pay the Marconi

Company a considerable sum of money through the intermediary of Samuels and for

Isaacsrsquo benefitrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 236) In wake of the Marconi Affair one of

Hemingwayrsquos early favorite writers Rudyard Kipling ldquodedicated a hymn of hate to the

affairrdquo (236) Like the biblical greedy and crafty servant (of the prophet Elisha) Gehazi

who is punished with leprosy for his sins Kiplingrsquos poem ldquowas intended to illustrate the

cunning of these Jewish [Marconi] politiciansrdquo (236)

Once America made its foray into World War I ldquoJews were seen as participants

in international conspiracyrdquo (240) Americans thought that the Jews might be part of the

Russian Revolution In the literary world ldquoa number of writers commented on the evil

influence of Jewryrdquo (241) Hemingwayrsquos one-time-friend and literary mentor F Scott

Fitzgerald was one such example In fact Fitzgerald negatively portrayed New York

Jewish merchants in his novel The Beautiful and the Damned

Down in a tall busy street he read a dozen Jewish names on a line of stores In

the door of each stood a dark little man [Jew] watching the passersby with intent

eyes eyes gleaming with suspicion with pride with clarity with cupidity with

comprehension New Yorkmdashhe could not dissociate it now from the slow

upward creep of this people The little stores growing expanding consolidating

15

moving watched over with hawkrsquos eyes and a beersquos attention to detail (qtd in

Cohn-Sherbok 241)

This anti-Semitic view of Jews could have influenced Hemingway whether he read the

book or if Fitzgerald made his anti-Semitic views known to Hemingway The same

could be said of Ezra Pound Ezra Pound was a big anti-Semite and one of Hemingwayrsquos

friends It could be questioned if Ezra Pound influenced Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

In July of 1943 Pound was indicted for treason due to his anti-Semitic pro-Fascist radio

broadcasts from Italy (Dearborn 491) Poundrsquos radio broadcasts ldquowere shocking even

vilemdashhe recommended The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf he spoke of

the lsquo60 kikes who started this warrsquo and asserted lsquoThe Jew is a savagersquordquo (491) Later

due to Hemingwayrsquos suggestion Pound pleaded insanity and spent several years in an

Institution Hemingwayrsquos one-time friend Donald Ogden Stewart who was present for

the Pamplona bull fights in 1925 ldquotook the blame for having been the probable inspiration

for Bill Gortonrsquos [a character in The Sun Also Rises] anti-Semitic remarks and

exclamationsrdquo (Blume 123) Stewart wrote that ldquoI have no doubt that I was really

basically anti-Semitic in those days as probably also was Hemingwayrdquo (123) Lesley

Blume stresses that Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism ldquowas not a deep-rooted hatred like

the variety that gave rise to Nazismrdquo (123) Stewart referred to Hemingwayrsquos anti-

Semitism as ldquoa form of social snobbishness something that people simply took for

granted [during that time]rdquo (Blume 123) One would think that after the Holocaust

Hemingway would cease his anti-Semitic comments but he still continued In

16

Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century ldquoAmerican literature repeatedly described Jews in the

most unsavoury (sic) termsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 249)

The French also saw the Jews as having played a part in the Russian Revolution

(241) In France where Hemingway lived part of his literary life Alphonse Toussenel

wrote ldquoThe Jews King of the Epoch [in which] he blamed the Jews for the ills afflicting

societyrdquo (248) In France ldquoAccording to Edouard-Adolphe Drumont in La France Juive

the [French] Revolution had benefited only the Jewsrdquo (248) Edouard-Adolphe Drumont

caricatured the Jews as being hook-nosed possessing ldquohuge ears soft hands and arms of

unequal lengthrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 248) In France the Dreyfus Affair of the

nineteenth century had ratcheted up the prominence and appeal of French anti-Semitism

Yet the logical consequence of anti-Semitism took place years later during World War II

when Hitler instituted the Holocaust Of course Hemingway knew of this deadly result

of anti-Semitism but it is unknown how much it changed his view of Jews as later he

did show some more anti-Semitic behavior Perhaps old habits die hard

Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in His Novels

Unfortunately Hemingway was an anti-Semite To what degree is unknown

Some say that Hemingway was mildly or casually anti-Semitic (Hendrickson 32)

However in fits of anger Hemingway would hurl anti-Semitic slurs at those he knew to

be Jews Yet ironically ldquoHemingway knew admired and imitated Jewsrdquo like his friend

and literary mentor Gertrude Stein (Berman 39) Hemingway was also friends with

Harold Loeb a Jewish man (Dearborn 192) Hemingway and Loeb had played tennis

17

boxed and wrestled together In The Sun Also Rises the character of Robert Cohn is

based upon Harold Loeb Hemingway once had good things to say of Loeb On March

4 1925 Hemingway wrote to William B Smith of Loeb ldquoA hell of a good guy

Loeb is a male you can wrestle wit He aint been throwed since he learned in Princeton-

only weighs 150 about Heavy weights cant throw him Hersquos never wrestled pros or of

course hersquos have got throwed Still he aint been throwed I tried to throw him and he

throwed me in no timerdquo (sic throughout Hemingway in Katakis 28) In The Sun Also

Rises the Loeb Robert Cohn character is also Jake Barnesrsquo tennis partner (13) Despite

all his anti-Semitism later Hemingway married the half-Jewish reporter and writer

Martha Gellhorn as his third wife (Stoneback 136) Unfortunately it is exactly unknown

why Hemingway was anti-Semitic It would seem that the times in which he lived played

a role

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway has a stereo-typical Jewish character Robert

Cohn that he portrays as a proud rich weak self-pitying self-doubting awkward

sniveling whining misbehaving mannerless undesirable unremarkable and

dysfunctional killjoy who is an outsider and a drag on everyonersquos spirits Cohn is

supposed to represent all Jews (Berman 39) In fact Hemingway goes so far as to write

that Jews are inferior Hemingway writes of Cohn ldquoHe cared nothing for boxing in fact

he disliked it but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of

inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princetonrdquo (Sun 11) Loeb

had also gone to Princeton

18

Hemingway based almost the entire book of The Sun Also Rises on a real life

event that happened when Loeb Lady Duff Twysden and Pat Guthrie (Lady Duffrsquos

cousin and boyfriend) joined him Hemingwayrsquos first wife Hadley Richardson Don

Stewart and Bill Smith in Pamplona for the Festival of San Fermiacuten in July of 1925

(Dearborn 188) In the novel this group goes to Pamplona to have fun They join in the

Spanish Festival of San Fermiacuten where they drink excessively party and watch

professional bullfights All this time the Harold Loeb character Robert Cohn follows

his former lover Lady Brett Ashely around like a lap-dog and from the perspective of

the other festival-goers makes everyone else miserable

Hemingwayrsquos publication of this event into fiction hurt many of the real-life

players in the memorable drama The real Lady Brett Ashley Lady Duff Twysden later

referred to the book as nothing more than ldquocheap reportingrdquo (qtd in Blume 206) Former

Hemingway friend Donald Ogden Stewart felt the same way In his 1975 memoir By a

Stroke of Luck Stewart still refused to give The Sun Also Rises ldquothe artistic stature that

others accorded itrdquo (Blume 230) Stewartrsquos son recalls that his dad would say ldquoThatrsquos

exactly what happened it was like a photographrdquo (qtd in Blume 230) So for Stewart

the novel was just a retelling of events it is did not utilize artistic narrative originality

Just as Robert Cohn had had an affair with Lady Brett Ashley so Loeb had had an

intimate relationship with Lady Duff Twysden Scholars are unsure as to whether

Hemingway had any serious relationship with Lady Duff however he was jealous He

liked her In his reasoning he had met Lady Duff first (Dearborn 188) ldquoEven though

[Hemingway] had no plans to sleep with Duff himself that didnrsquot mean according to his

19

logic that she was fair game for Harold [Loeb]rdquo (188) Hemingway was protective of

Lady Duff and Hemingway saw Loeb as a snake (189) Perhaps Loebrsquos success with

Lady Duff finally pushed Hemingway against him

Mary V Dearborn notes that Hemingway was also jealous that Loebrsquos book

Doodab was coming out before his ownmdashLoebrsquos in May Hemingwayrsquos in October

(191) Hemingway was very competitive in his writing career In fact before

Hemingway made it as a fiction writer Harold Loeb had gone so far as to help

Hemingway get his first book of short stories In Our Time published (204) It is noted

that ldquoHarold [Loeb] rescued In Our Time from the returns pile at [Boni amp] Liveright [the

publishing company] he fought for the book and he was instrumental in getting it

publishedrdquo (192) Loeb had pleaded with Boni amp Liveright ldquoHold it Give it [In Our

Time] another reading I know what Irsquom talking aboutrdquo (Hawkins 39) In fact if it

were not for the persistence of his well-connected friends Hemingway may have quite

possibly never been published at all since his manuscripts had been repeatedly rejected

Unfortunately Hemingway did not like to give credit to others for helping him to rise in

his profession He wanted to take all the credit and the glory for himself He wanted to

be self-sufficient In addition having not gone to college Hemingway was leery of

college-educated men He felt inferior to them and he would try to compete with them in

order to make himself look and feel better Since Harold Loeb was a Princeton graduate

Hemingway was possibly disdainful of this and in all likelihood held it against Loeb

In trying to get In Our Time published Loeb took Hemingway to former Boni amp

Liveright vice president Leon Fleischmanrsquos Paris apartment (Blume 71) Previously

20

ldquoKitty Cannell [the Frances character in Sun] heard him [Hemingway] unthinkably use

lsquokikersquo with such casualness and scorn that she warned her Jewish lover Harold Loeb to

be careful with Hemingwayrdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 242) Kitty Cannell worried

that Hemingway ldquomight create a terrible scene in front of Fleischman and his wife

Helen She said as much to Loeb He brushed her offrdquo (Blume 71) After this meeting

with Fleischman Harold Loeb heard Hemingway malign Jews in his speech

Hemingway had a way of maligning making fun of and satirizing his friends and his

perceived enemies In the process he lost many friends and unnecessarily caused the

creation of many enemies In fact the release of The Sun Also Rises shocked Loeb as he

had thought that he and Hemingway were good friends (Dearborn 191-92)

Hemingway also turned on his former Jewish mentor Gertrude Stein

Hemingway got mad at Stein when she would not write a review for his new book In

Our Time Stein wanted to wait and see if Hemingway was going to be a success first

On November 8 1925 Hemingway commented to Ezra Pound of Stein ldquoWhat a lot of

safe playing kikesrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 38) Later in life after they broke with each

other Hemingway and Stein would arguemdashthrough writingmdashand trade barbs with one

another Hemingway would mock Stein In his article for Esquire in the April 1934

issue ldquoAD in Africa A Tanganyika Letterrdquo Hemingway wonders ldquohow much Buddha

at that age would resemble Gertrude Steinrdquo (Hemingway in White 159)

Hemingway was also against the troubled literary critic Dorothy Parker

(Dearborn 247) The half-Jewess Dorothy Parker was tough in her literary criticism yet

she gave Hemingway great reviews She adored Hemingway but Hemingway didnrsquot

21

return the feelings (Blume 155) Parker and Hemingway had met in New York In

Hemingway Parker thought that she had found a kindred spirit (156) During

Hemingwayrsquos New York visit Parker ldquobecame so engrossed in his tales of the Left Bank

that she shunted aside her skepticism and decided on the spot to move abroadrdquo (156)

Parker became for Hemingway a strong ally among literary critics Blume notes of

Parker ldquoIn years to come she would also pen several adoring Hemingway profiles and

book reviewsrdquo (156) Hemingway and Parker became so familiar that eventually

Hemingway started calling Parker ldquoDottyrdquo (156) Parker was so taken with Hemingway

that her ldquodevotion to him bordered on idolatryrdquo (158) But Parkerrsquos love for Hemingway

was a useful tool in Hemingwayrsquos arsenal

Unfortunately Parker was probably not stable She had tried to kill herself twice

within three years She confided in Hemingway ldquoabout a late-stage abortion she had

recently undergone about attempting suicide and about some other recent bad luck in

her liferdquo (qtd in Dearborn 247) During their conversation Hemingway discovered that

Parker did not like Spain For Parker ldquoPretty much everything about the countrymdashfrom

its treatment of animals to the rump-pinching habits of Spanish menmdashhad appalled herrdquo

(Blume 193) Moreover ldquoIn Barcelona she had walked out of a bullfight after a bull

gored a horse and declared that she found matadors disgustingrdquo (193) Back in Paris with

Hemingway ldquoParker had imparted these impressions to Hemingway for whom such

views amounted to sacrilegerdquo (193) Hemingway was offended by this and like other

things Hemingway took this personally to heart as he was an ardent Hispanophile loving

the Spanish country its people the slow pace of life and its culture (Dearborn 247)

22

Finally Hemingway ldquohad little sympathy for the self-inflicted wounds of a caustic and

comparatively pampered urbaniterdquo (Blume 194)

Later ldquoErnest wrote a long cruel poem about Parker not published until both

were dead called lsquoTo a Tragic Poetessrsquo revealing the personal details she had evidently

related during their most recent meetingrdquo (Dearborn 247-48) In the poem Hemingway

ldquoreferred to the dead fetus noted that she had all too conveniently failed in her suicide

attempts and mocked her failures with men He was pointedly mean about her being

Jewish referring to lsquothe Jewish cheeks of your plump assrsquordquo (248) The second half of

Hemingwayrsquos poem ldquoconsists of insults piled on Parker and others who out of ignorance

about it do not appreciate Spain (inevitably bullfighting comes up)rdquo (248) Pauline

Pfeiffer didnrsquot like this poem and referred to it as ldquoabout twelve tents [tenths] out of water

mayberdquo (Hawkins 59) Pauline thought the poem shrill In 1926 at the home of Archie

and Ada McLeish Ernest read this poem ldquoTo a Tragic Poetessrdquo to the assembled

gathering to try to get some laughs (Dearborn 248) No laughs came Donald Ogden

Stewart called the poem ldquoviciously unfair and unfunnyrdquo (qtd in Blume 194) Because of

the reading of the poem the Stewarts kept their distance from Hemingway from there on

out and Don Stewart was never close to Hemingway again (Dearborn 248) Ironically

since the poem was never published until after Parkerrsquos death ldquoParker never learned

about the existence of the poem [and] unaware of its existence she continued to write

wildly enthusiastic reviews of Hemingwayrsquos work in The New Yorker and called him one

of her favorite writersrdquo (Blume 194) Parker also called Hemingway ldquothe greatest living

American short story writerrdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 164)

23

There is also other evidence of Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism In his early years at

Lake Walloon the Point where the young people always liked to fish was sold ldquoto two

Jews who wanted to build a club houserdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 114) Bill

Smith later recalled that he and Ernest had planned to throw rotten fish down the Jewsrsquo

chimney at the lake (M Reynolds Paris Years 252) In the mid-1920s Hemingway

wrote Ezra Pound calling the aspiring poet Dave OrsquoNeil a ldquorsquoCelto-Kikersquordquo (Dearborn

134) Hemingway also wrote of his friend Nathan Asch ldquoYou couldnrsquot tell [of Asch

being a talented writer] Jews go bad quicklyrdquo (163) Later in Key West Hemingway

referred to the town as a ldquoJew administered phony of a townrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 154)

At the time that Hemingway wrote this Key West was for all intents and purposes

bankrupt ldquounable to collect enough taxes to pay its billsrdquo (N Reynolds 7) Under the

New Deal the town of Key West had ldquopetitioned the governor to take over the cityrdquo

(Hendrickson 154) As such ldquoThe Florida branch of Franklin Delano Rooseveltrsquos

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) stepped in and took overrdquo (N

Reynolds 7) Plus under the New Deal the plan was to turn Key West into a tourist

destination making Hemingwayrsquos home on Whitehead Street one of the attractions (8)

This would interfere with Hemingwayrsquos deeply coveted privacy (8) Moreover

Hemingway was disillusioned with the government after some World War I veterans

were killed during a hurricane that hit some of the Florida Keys

Later In Cuba in May 1955 The Old Man and the Sea film version of the novel

was to be filmed Hemingwayrsquos Jewish friend Peter Viertel who was writing the

screenplay joked with Hemingway in order to try to break up the tension between Ernest

24

and the film producer kidding ldquoabout Santiago going out on the eighty-fifth day and not

catching a fishrdquo (Dearborn 573) This made Hemingway mad Narrowing his eyes and

gritting his teeth he said ldquoThe Jews have always had a superior attitude toward fishingmdash

probably because fish has never been part of their dietrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573) This

Jewish comment in turn made Viertel mad and he said that ldquohe thought Ernest had

gotten beyond his anti-Semitism with The Sun Also Risesrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573)

Hemingway felt contrite that he had lashed out against his friend Viertel and he

ldquoassured Peter he had never been anti-Semitic and matters were smoothed overrdquo (573-

74)

Some Jews have the last name Stein Especially in his youth Hemingway like to

refer to himself as Hemingstein or Stein According to Dearborn Hemingway was

referring to a stein of beer in this case (39) Other nicknames he used were Hymenstein

or the Great Steinway (Hendrickson 266) Catherine Reef thinks that these nicknames

sound Jewish She writes

The last one [nickname] amused him [Ernest] most because it sounded like a

Jewish name Like many young people in narrow-minded Oak Park Ernest grew

up thinking it was all right to make fun of people of different faiths and

backgrounds and he never fully let go of this attitude As an adult he

occasionally called himself Hemingstein or just Stein and although he had

Jewish friends he sometimes mocked them behind their backs (14)

25

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway refers to himself as the great psychiatrist Dr

Hemingstein (53) In real life Hemingwayrsquos son Gregory ldquoGigirdquo for short was known

as the Irish Jew (Hendrickson 245)

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway gives Cohn boxing as his only strength

ldquoThere was a certain inner comfort in knowing he could knock down anybody who was

snooty to himrdquo (11) Because of boxing Hemingway goes so far as to portray Cohn with

the stereotypical Jewish nose In the novel Cohn gets his nose broken during a boxing

bout The narrator Jake Barnes says of Cohnrsquos reworked nose ldquoit certainly improved

his noserdquo (11) Ironically Hemingway threatened a similar situation later in his life In

Spain at the Hotel Florida after a serious shelling during the Spanish Civil War some of

the guests including the movie producer Herb Klein wanted to switch their rooms to the

safer rooms in the back of the hotel At this point in his life Hemingway would hold

people to a higher standard of bravery than his own (Dearborn 387) So Hemingway

intimidated and bullied those Hotel Florida guests into keeping their rooms in lieu of

switching them saying they ldquowould be running away from the enemy capitulating to the

Fascistsrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 387) However in fact Hemingway had his own room in one

of the safer back parts of the hotel Then ldquoaccording to one observer he rode up with

[Herb] Klein in the elevator called him a coward and lsquojostledrsquo him saying lsquoIrsquod like to

flatten your big Jewish nosersquordquo (388)

In The Sun Also Rises nobody wants to be around Cohn He is trying to be an all-

round guy and a Protestant gentleman (Berman 44) However Ron Berman refers to him

as a fake gentleman Melvin Backman argues that Cohn lacks any real identity (4)

26

Although Cohn tries to assimilate and be chivalrous nobody accepts his behavior as

authentic Hemingway portrays Cohn as still ldquotoo different to acceptrdquo (38) Cohn is also

a show-off and he likes to brag For example in winning a ldquoseveral hundred dollarsrdquo in

bridge ldquoIt made him rather vain of his bridge game and he talked several times of how a

man could always make a living at bridge if he were ever forced tordquo (17) In another

instance Cohn likes to brag about his relationship with Brett ldquoHe was being confidential

now and it was giving him pleasure to be able to talk with the understanding that I knew

there was something between him and Brettrdquo (106) Moreover Cohnrsquos believed and

perceived superiority is offensive to Jakersquos friend Bill Gorton One time Bill Gorton

says of the approaching Cohn ldquoWell let him not get superior and Jewishrdquo (Sun 102)

This perceived superiority makes Jake extremely dislike Cohn

Why I felt that impulse to devil him I do not know Of course I do know I was

blind unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to him The fact that I took it

as a matter of course did not alter that any I certainly did hate him I do not

think I ever really hated him until he had that little spell of superiority at lunchmdash

that and when he went through all that barbering (105)

According to Dearborn the character of Bill Gorton is a combination of Bill

Smith and Don Ogden Stewart In the novel Bill really doesnrsquot like Jews Bill says of

his Jewish friends adding of Cohn ldquoOh yes Irsquove got some darbs But not alongside of

this Robert Cohn But hersquos just so awfulrdquo (107) Bill is blatantly anti-Semitic He

asks Jake of Brett and Cohn ldquoWhy didnrsquot she go off with some of her own peoplerdquo

(107) Mike adds to this criticism later when he comments ldquoBrettrsquos gone off with men

27

But they werenrsquot ever Jews and they didnrsquot come and hang around afterwardrdquo (148) Bill

Gorton makes a number of anti-Semitic slurs Before their fishing trip Bill says to Jake

ldquoAnd as for this Robert Cohn he makes me sick and he can go to hell and Irsquom damn

glad hersquos staying here so we wonrsquot have him fishing with usrdquo to which Jake agrees (108)

In another case Hemingway likens Cohn to an animal a steer Cohn likes to tag-

along with Brett (141) After a bull fight Cohn says ldquoItrsquos no life being a steerrdquo (145)

Mike sarcastically replies ldquoDonrsquot you think so I would have thought yoursquod loved

being a steer Robertrdquo (146) Being likened to a steer makes Cohn mad Mike partially

drunk says ldquoIs Robert Cohn going to follow Brett around like a steer all the timerdquo

(146) These demeaning remarks imply that Jews are sub-human

At one point Mike intimates that Cohnrsquos Jewishness disqualifies him from being

a part of the group ldquoDo you think you amount to something Cohn Do you think you

belong here among usrdquo (181) Mike says to Cohn ldquoIrsquom not one of your literary chaps

Irsquom not clever But I do know when Irsquom not wanted Why donrsquot you see when

yoursquore not wanted Cohn Go away Go away for Godrsquos sake Take that sad Jewish

face away Donrsquot you think Irsquom rightrdquo (181) In another instance when Cohn tells Brett

that he will stay with her Brett replies ldquoOh donrsquot For Godrsquos sake go off

somewhererdquo (184) Cohn is portrayed as leech-like a clinger similar to Jews accused of

usury bleeding people dry With the eternal theme of Jewish suffering Brett says of

Cohn ldquoI hate him too I hate his damned sufferingrdquo (186)

In his short story ldquoGod Rest You Merry Gentlemenrdquo published in 1933

Hemingway takes a less anti-Semitic approach to Jews In this story there are two

28

doctors Dr Wilcox and Dr Fischer Dr Wilcox is Christian while Dr Fischer is Jewish

A sixteen-year-old boy comes into the hospital and says that he wants to be castrated

because he is struggling with lust The boy is religious and to him lust is a problem Dr

Fischer is compassionate with the boy and genuinely seems interested in his predicament

Dr Fischer converses with the boy and finally tells him ldquoTherersquos nothing wrong with

you Thatrsquos the way yoursquore supposed to be Therersquos nothing wrong with thatrdquo (Short

Stories 299) The boy still sees himself as sinning Dr Fischer tells the boy that what he

is going through is natural and that later he will think himself fortunate (300) The boy

is adamant that he is wrong He doesnrsquot want to listen to Dr Fischerrsquos explanations

Logically Dr Fischer explains to the boy that there is nothing wrong with his body that

he has a good body and that if he is religious then in the future his body can help him

consummate the sacrament of matrimony (300)

Dr Wilcox takes a different approach He calls the boy a fool (300) Then the

boy leaves when he finds out that nobody will castrate him Dr Wilcox rudely says to

the boy ldquoOh go andmdashrdquo (300) Horst Kruse interprets the absence as meaning ldquojack-

offrdquo (62) The boy leaves and later he does try to castrate himself amputating himself

in the process When the boy returns to the hospital with life-threatening injuries Dr

Wilcox ironically isnrsquot in a hurry to try to save the boy as he doesnrsquot see the condition as

an emergency In the story it is Dr Fischer who has shown mercy on the boy not Dr

Wilcox Kruse sees Doc Fischer as the moral center of the story and suggests that

Hemingwayrsquos portrayal of Dr Fischerrsquos knowledgeable insight and humanity might be an

attempt to try to ldquoatone for his former anti-Semitismrdquo (72) Kruse argues that Dr Fischer

29

might even be seen as a Christ-figure a fisher of men (65) Other scholars speculate that

this story might have been an attempt for Hemingway to apologize for the way he treated

Harold Loebrsquos alter-ego Robert Cohn (Kruse 73) But this interpretation is problematic

AE Hotchner once asked Hemingway if he had remorse about the way he had portrayed

Loeb and the others in The Sun Also Rises (Blume 237) Hotchner asked Hemingway

ldquoso if you had it to do over would you have been softerrdquo (237) Hemingway replied to

Hotchner ldquoOh hell nordquo (237) Despite this possible attempt at atonement Hemingway

continued to make anti-Semitic statements after this story first came out

30

CHAPTER 3

HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY

Ernest Hemingway was a born on July 21 1899 in Oak Park Illinois then a

Protestant conservative bastion There in his earliest years Hemingwayrsquos maternal

grandfather Ernest Hall led his family and their servants after breakfast on their knees

in morning prayer (Dearborn 11 Hemingway-Sanford 14) Unlike the others

Grandfather Hall did not pray with his eyes closed nor his head bowed (Pawley 22)

Instead he prayed with his head upraised and ldquowith his arms stretched upward as if

locked in a face-to-face with Godrdquo (Dearborn 11) He also prayed in a thundering voice

(Pawley 22) Ernestrsquos older sister Marcelline Hemingway-Sanford noted that she liked

to peak out at Grandfather Hall through her fingers ldquobecause he seemed so surely to be

talking right to his friend Godrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 15) Marcelline suggested that

Grandfather Hall knew God intimately (14) In addition Grandfather Hall led daily

devotions for the household with the book Daily Strength for Daily Needs (Isabelle 2

Hemingway-Sanford 14) Even the cook and the maid were present at these family

gatherings Grandfather Hall also led grace at the table (Isabelle 2) and he would lead

the family in worship (Hemingway-Sanford 15) He was Episcopalian and he liked to be

referred to in the biblical term ldquoAbbardquo which refers to God as in ldquoAbba fatherrdquo (Isabelle

2 Mark 1436) Marcelline referred to Grandfather Hall as being a very religious man

(Hemingway-Sanford 14) Every Sunday he would go to Grace Episcopal Church

where kneeling on the Brussels carpet he would lead the church in evening prayer

31

(Pawley 21) He once said of his grandson Ernest to his mother Grace ldquothis boy is

going to be heard from someday If he uses his imagination for good purposes hersquoll be

famous but if he starts the wrong way with all his energy hersquoll end in jail and its up to

you which way he goesrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 12)

Ernestrsquos paternal grandfather Anson Hemingway converted to Christianity in

1859 (Dearborn 13) Anson was a descendent of Ralph Hemingway ldquowho came to

America with the Great Migration and through him from a line of Puritan and

Congregationalist ministersrdquo (12) Anson Hemingway was friends with the great

evangelist DL Moody and he closely worked with him (for a while) as the general

secretary at the Chicago YMCA (Dearborn 13 Hemingway-Sanford 18) Ernest idolized

his grandfather Hemingway (Pawley 21) Ernestrsquos mother whom Ernest came to hate

once wrote Ernest ldquoNot for nothing are you the great great grandson of that noble

Christian Rev William Edward Miller and the grandson of the finest purest noblest man

I have ever known Ernest Hallrdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 103-04) In fact

Ernest Miller Hemingway was named after his grandfather and the Miller line of Gracersquos

family Grace wrote to Ernest ldquoYou are born of a race of gentlemen who were clean

mouthed chivalrous to all women grateful and generous You were named for the two

finest and noblest gentleman I have ever known See to it that you do not disgrace their

memoriesrdquo (qtd in M Reynolds Young Hemingway 138) Ernestrsquos family were such

churchgoers that they had their own pews at the First Congregational Church

(Hemingway-Sanford 147)

32

On the flip side Ernestrsquos father was rigid (Pawley 23) In disciplining his

children Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often forced his ldquochildren on their knees to pray

to God for forgivenessrdquo (Isabelle 4) Sometimes Ernest mockingly referred to his father

as ldquothe Great Physicianrdquo a title that Jesus also holds as a healer of people (Hemingway-

Sanford 127) According to a Hemingway biographer (no name given)

Sin scared the life out of Ernest At night he prayed that he had been a good boy

during the day The trouble was a boy could never be sure if he had been good

he might have done something bad and not known it was bad It was so hard to

obey every rule so hard to please his mother his father his teachers his minister

his God so hard that sometimes it wasnrsquot worth trying and a boy felt like giving

up (qtd in Pawley 23)

Ernest grew up then with a great spiritual legacy and upbringing that he found at times

challenging and problematic

On Easter in 1911 at the Third Congregational Church Ernest and his sister

Marcelline were confirmed and they received their First Communionrdquo (Dearborn 33) It

was at this church that Ernestrsquos mother was the choir director she even had Ernestmdasha

sopranomdashand Marcelline sing in the choir (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 108 L

Hemingway 28) In his youth Ernest Hemingway and Marcelline joined a contest put on

by the adult advisor of the Christian Endeavor Society Mr Sweeney to see who could

read the entire King James Bible first (Dearborn 37 Hemingway-Sanford 135) It was

Mr Sweeneyrsquos idea and he offered a prize (Hemingway-Sanford 135) Although Ernest

did not win he and Marcelline did complete the reading of the whole Bible (Dearborn

33

37) In addition Ernest and Marcelline passed a comprehensive test on what they had

read (Pawley 24) Additionally as a youth Ernest was given ldquoan allowance of one penny

per year of age each weekrdquo out of which he gave a tithe to the Sunday school (24) At

the age of fourteen Ernest starred in a Sunday school play at the Third Congregational

Church (24) After his parents transferred their membership to the First Congregational

Church Hemingway and Marcelline joined the Plymouth League where Ernest often led

Sunday afternoon services (Dearborn 33 Isabelle 7-8 Pawley 24 Hemingway-Sanford

147) Marcelline notes that ldquothe refreshments served after the meetings were quite an

attraction for the high school membersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 147) For the Plymouth

League Ernest took turns at being the treasurer the program chairman and sometimes

the speaker at the meetings At church Ernest and Marcelline also played in the church

orchestra Once Ernest and his four brothers and sisters dressed as Chinese and Japanese

citizens in order to phonetically sing the Japanese national anthem (147-48) Yet when

Hemingway went to Italy for World War I he saw and experienced the horrors of war

Perhaps because of this and through his teenage years Hemingway went astray from

his religious upbringing While in Italy Ernest met and fell in love with a nurse Agnes

von Kurowsky He loved her and wanted to start a new life with her in America

Hemingway wrote to William D Horne Jr about this on March 30 1919 ldquoBut Bill Irsquove

loved Ag Shersquos been my ideal and Bill I forgot all about religion and everything else-

because I had Ag to worship All I wanted was Ag and happinessrdquo (Hemingway in

Katakis XXV) This letter shows Hemingway distancing himself from religion in Italy

and replacing it with the woman he loved This is similar to how Catherine Barkley

34

made her lover Frederic Henry her religion in A Farewell to Arms (452) Unfortunately

for his parents Hemingway became a prodigal son and he never returned to the faith of

his youth (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 139)

Despite having turned away from his faith Hemingway could never entirely get

away from his upbringing and Oak Park mores For instance in his first marriage to

Hadley Richardson Hemingway was sometimes shocked by Hadleyrsquos language In fact

despite the fact that Hemingway used those very same words he didnrsquot think it proper for

a woman to use them (163) Hemingway still prayed ldquowhen he was courting Hadley

[he] asked her if she would pray with him in the Milan cathedral as Agnes would notrdquo

(Stoneback 110-11) Hadley responded that she would ldquoI am doing the best thing a

woman can do for a man Bringing you back to religionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 125-26)

Stoneback asserts that there is abundant evidence that Hemingway ldquoliked to pray in

Catholic churches and cathedrals years before he met Paulinerdquo (113)

Before going to World War I Hemingway worked for the Kansas City Star

While there Hemingwayrsquos mother learned that Ernest ldquohad stopped going to churchrdquo and

she sent off an angry letter to him (Reef 24) In one of his letters to his mother

Hemingway wrote ldquoYou know I donrsquot rave about religion but am as sincere a Christian

as I can be I believe in God and Jesus Christ have hopes for a hereafter and creeds

donrsquot matterrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) In addition prior to going to the Great War Ernestrsquos

father encouraged Ernest to associate with strong Christian YMCA men (M Reynolds

Young Hemingway 128) In his letters to Ernest Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often

sounded like a minister (171)

35

Upon his return to Oak Park after the war Hemingway wore his war uniform

around for four months and gave talks of his war experience Marcelline Hemingway

says that this was because Ernestrsquos long boots helped support his injured and weakened

legs Yet Hemingway lied and embellished his wartime experience This behavior is

just like that of Harold Krebs in Hemingwayrsquos short story ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

would lie and attribute ldquoto himself things other men had seen done or heard of and

stating as facts certain apocryphal incidents familiar to all soldiersrdquo (Short Stories 111-

12) In an essay in Ernest Hemingway Artifacts from Life Tom Putnam surmises that

Krebs in embellishing his war record to impress those around him ldquogrows more

disillusionedmdashfinding himself becoming a fraudrdquo (Putnam 184) Hemingway may have

disillusioned himself with his lies too In one instance Hemingway once gave a version

of his fictitious war stories in a talk to an audience at the First Baptist Church (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 56) So Hemingway lied in front of a church Proverbs

1222 reads ldquoLying lips are an abomination to the Lord but those who act faithfully are

his delightrdquo (English Standard Version)

Back in Oak Park Hemingway turned to alcohol for his comfort He stayed in

bed day after day and hid the liquor from his parents (Pawley 25) Staying in bed

helped his aching legs But he didnrsquot stay in bed more than half the day (Hemingway-

Sanford 178) According to Marcelline there were also times when Ernest had ldquoalmost

depressed intervals when he retired to his room away from the well-wishers and curiosity

seekersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 183) Hemingway used the alcohol to cope with the pain

of his war wounds (Pawley 25) One day Marcelline was upset about something and

36

when she came to Ernestrsquos room he noticed this and asked her what was wrong

(Hemingway-Sanford 183) Then he offered her a drink She tasted it Then he said to

her

Donrsquot be afraid Drink it up Sis it canrsquot hurt you Therersquos great comfort in

that little bottle not just for itself But it relaxes you when the pain gets bad

Mazaween donrsquot be afraid to taste all the other things in life that arenrsquot here in

Oak Park Taste everything Sis Donrsquot be afraid to try new things just

because they are new (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 184)

Ernest later wrote of an experience of drinking ldquoand the rhum (sic) enters into us like the

Holy Spiritrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 17) God was not Hemingwayrsquos comfort alcohol

was After that night Marcelline wondered to herself whether Ernest would ever be

happy again at home (Hemingway-Sanford 184) She noted a difference in him upon his

return to Oak Park Marcelline writes ldquoBut Ernest wasnrsquot the same old friend and

playmate I had knownrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178) adding that ldquoa lifetime of new

experiences war death agony new people a new language and love had crowded into

Ernestrsquos liferdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178)

After recovering from his wounds Ernest still didnrsquot get a job or show any

interest in college He had no plans at all Instead he went to Michigan to enjoy life with

his friends (Hemingway-Sanford 198) In Michigan according to Marcelline ldquoThough

Mother implored Ernestrsquos help and tried to talk to him about the family situation he

blithely ignored her appeals and managed to leave immediately after meals with his

friends or go fishing when something needed to be done he promised vaguely to help

37

lsquosome other timerdquo (205) His parents were very worried about his ldquolack of adult

responsibilityrdquo and ldquohis rudeness and his willingness to let both Mrs Charles Bill

Smithrsquos aunt and our family go on providing for him [led Mother to decide that]

something drastic had to be done to wake him uprdquo (205) Leicester Hemingway says that

ldquoOur parents had harbored definite hopes that this fling at soldiering had taught him

[Ernest] a lesson that now he would suddenly show a keen interest in some lsquosensiblersquo

way of liferdquo (L Hemingway 56)

The entire situation is similar to that of Harold Krebs in ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

returns from World War I with his Methodist faith shattered (Pawley 25) Krebs is

unemployed but his mother encourages him ldquorsquoGod has some work for everyone to do

There can be no idle hands in His Kingdomrsquordquo (Short Stories 115) Krebsrsquo mother adds

his fatherrsquos opinion ldquoAll work is honorable as he says But yoursquove got to make a start at

somethingrdquo (115) When Krebsrsquo mother asks Harold if he would kneel and pray with her

Krebs says that he canrsquot Krebsrsquo mother encourages him to try then she asks him if he

wants her to pray for him Krebs consents (116)

Of Ernestrsquos free-loading loafing time Leicester Hemingway writes ldquoAbout the

only thing I really understood of that first summer after the war was that Ernest was in an

agitated state and being around the family did not calm him at allrdquo (59) In the end

Ernestrsquos mother wrote Ernest a letter in which she said that Ernest had overdrawn his

account with her and that he was not welcome back at the family vacation home of

Windemere in Michigan (Dearborn 90) This action got Ernest out of the house looking

for a job on his own It also added to his resentment towards his mother In ldquoSoldierrsquos

38

Homerdquo Krebs tells his mother that he doesnrsquot love her Putnam suggests that Krebs has

forgotten how to love (Putnam 184) In Ernestrsquos case it is quite possible that he didnrsquot

love his mother It is known for sure that he didnrsquot like his mother When married to his

fourth wife Mary Welsh Ernest would sometimes rant about his mother blaming her for

making life hell for his father contributing to his fatherrsquos suicide and referring to his

mother as ldquothat bitchrdquo (qtd in Di Robilant 55) Perhaps his motherrsquos ultimatum pushed

him further away from his Protestant upbringing Although Hemingway didnrsquot like his

mother Hawkins argues that he inherited his volatile temper from her as she held grudges

against people Hawkins writes of Grace Hemingway ldquoGrace had a tendency to store up

injustices done to her so that on occasion even the smallest thing triggered a litany of

perceived wrongsrdquo (34) In addition to his motherrsquos ultimatum Ernestrsquos parents didnrsquot

seem to accept writing as a viable career for Ernest (M Reynolds My Brother 63) No

matter like Harold Krebs Hemingway did abandon his childhood faith after World War

I

Hemingway became interested in Catholicism during his service in Italy during

World War I There he served in the Red Cross Ambulance Corps of Unit 4 as driver for

the Italian Army (Hemingway-Sanford 157) After a few days in Italy Ernest and Bill

Horne found the place dull So hearing of the chance to volunteer ldquofor a special branch

the Red Cross Rolling Canteen Servicerdquo they applied and were accepted (160) This

Service operated all the way up to front linesmdashwhich was right where Hemingway

wanted to be in the midst of the action He ldquohad volunteered to be one of the bicycle

riders who distributed mail chocolate and tobacco to the soldiers in the trenches at the

39

frontrdquo (160) At that time the attack on the Piave River had started and the Austrians

were shelling around only fifty yards away on the other side of the river There making

his rounds in Fossalta Hemingway was wounded by an Austrian Trench Mortar as he

handed an Italian soldier a cigarette and chocolate (161) People thought that

Hemingway was going to die During this time Hemingway later claimed that he was

baptized by a priest ldquoAt Fornaci Ernest and the other wounded soldiers were

administered extreme unction by a chaplain with the Italian army Don Giuseppe

Bianchirdquo (Dearborn 59-60)

Michael Reynolds claims that the priestrsquos absolution of sins and anointment of oil

was an epiphanic moment for Hemingway (M Reynolds The Paris Years 346)

However it is unknown if Hemingway was really absolved of his sins by a Catholic

priest HR Stoneback notes that battlefield baptism and extreme unction did not

produce a ldquoformal process of reconciliation or conversionrdquo (109) On March 10 1927

Hemingway divorced Hadley Richardson to marry his new flame the Catholic Pauline

Pfeiffer This divorce devastated Hemingwayrsquos parents In fact Leicester Hemingway

overheard his dad say of Ernestrsquos divorce ldquoNo Itrsquos the disgrace Id rather see him in his

graverdquo (L Hemingway 103) Leicester Hemingway recalls that one morning while

digging for worms with Dr Hemingway the doctor says ldquoYou know of course that

your brother has brought great shame on our family by divorcing Hadley dont yourdquo

(103) Dr Hemingway laments the fact that there hadnrsquot been a divorce in the

Hemingway family for seventy years While in the process of trying to marry Pauline

Ernest returned to Italy searching for this priest Don Giuseppe Bianchi in order to

40

ascertain if this priest had actually performed an emergency baptism on him thus making

him Catholic (Dearborn 236) According to Hawkins Ernest found and visited with

Bianchi (71) Hawkins notes that as a rule priests during the First World War did not

ldquohand out baptismal certificates as they moved through hospital wards to anoint the

woundedrdquo (71) Despite the fact that there is ldquono evidence that Ernest returned with a

baptismal certificaterdquo he did swear to it (236) With this baptism he was allowed to

marry Pauline (M Reynolds American Homecoming 121) According to some scholars

death-bed baptism led Hemingway to become interested in Catholicism In addition

some scholars go so far as to say that this event marks the point when Hemingway started

to be Catholic Perhaps Ernestrsquos near-death experience infused a seed of Catholicism in

his heart

Michael Reynolds notes that ldquowhen an eighteen-year-old kid thinks hes dying a

Catholic priest can make a lasting impressionrdquo (The Paris Years 346) Reynolds claims

that long before Pauline the ceremony the ritual and the mystery of the Catholic Church

were a strong attraction to Hemingway Even if Pauline had not entered his life

Hemingway would have eventually turned Catholic Pauline simply accelerated this

process Later some found Hemingwayrsquos Catholic conversion to be suspect specious

and very convenient (345-46) Yet ldquonone of these doubters seriously thought of

Hemingway as a Protestant and he himself never looked back on his Congregational

training which he associated with Oak Park hypocrisy his fatherrsquos unbearable piety and

his motherrsquos church politics of who would rule the choir loftrdquo (346)

41

Hemingwayrsquos second wife Pauline Pfeiffer converted him to Catholicism In

fact Pfeiffer was such a serious Catholic that she caused Hemingway ldquo to take seriously

doctrine especially of sin and observance especially of prayerrdquo (Berman 33) Before

their marriage Pfeiffer had misgivings about marrying a married man and cutting him off

from his wife and child (Dearborn 229) For Pauline ldquoTo do so would be not only to

invite the damnation of her soul but also the unforgiving wrath of her Catholic parentsrdquo

(M Reynolds The Paris Years 318) If Pauline committed adultery she believed that

she would have been ldquosinning so mortally their souls were in jeopardyrdquo (318) Reynolds

wryly observes that ldquo[o]ne could not remain a devout Catholic and an ardent adulteressrdquo

(318)

For his part Ernest considered ldquoconverting to Catholicism in order to marry

Pauline in the Churchrdquo (Dearborn 221) Dearborn adds ldquoNo doubt Pauline was

researching the Churchrsquos requirements for marriage to a divorced manrdquo (221) In order to

marry Pauline Hemingway had to provide proof that his first marriage to Hadley was

outside the Church and so unofficial null and void (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 114) So since Hemingway ldquotestified that he had been baptized during the

war in Italy and that his first marriage was outside the Church [he] received on April

25 the necessary dispensation from the Archbishop of Paris which removed the last

obstacle to the ceremonyrdquo (121) Yet Hemingwayrsquos friend Ada MacLeish did not

attend Ernestrsquos and Paulinersquos wedding because she was disgusted by the Catholic

Churchrsquos solemnization of the new couplersquos bond and thought it a farce (Dearborn 237)

Ada

42

was completely disgusted with Ernestrsquos efforts to persuade the Catholic Church

that he had been baptized by a priest who walked between aisles of wounded men

in an Italian hospitalmdashtherefore Ernest was a Catholic and Hadley never had been

his wife and Bumby was a bastard To see this farce solemnized by the Catholic

Church was more than we [Archie and Ada] could take (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 124)

In his quest to marry Pauline Hemingway openly and formally embraced

Catholicism Hemingway wrote to Ernest Walsh about his rediscovered Catholicity

If I am anything I am a Catholic Had extreme unction administered to me as such

in July 1918 and recovered So guess I am a super-catholic It is most

certainly the most comfortable religion for anyone soldiering Am not what is

called a ldquogoodrdquo catholic But cannot imagine taking any other religion

seriously (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 345)

It is unknown whether Ernest ever mailed this letter

Ruth A Hawkins suggests that Hemingway ardently became a true Catholic

believer after he was cured of his temporary sexual problems after his marriage to

Pauline Hemingway told AE Hotchner that he and Pauline had had a good sex life

during their affair yet after they got married Hemingway experienced problems with

impotence (Hawkins 86) To try to alleviate this problem Hemingway saw doctors and a

mystic Nothing worked Pauline was patient and understanding Ernest was

discouraged so she encouraged him to go to the church a few blocks away and pray

Ernest recounts ldquoI went there and said a short prayer Then I went back to our room

43

Pauline was in bed waiting I undressed and got in bed and we made love like we

invented it We never had any trouble again Thatrsquos when I became a Catholicrdquo (qtd in

Hawkins 86)

Throughout his literary career Hemingway writes a number of stories involving

Catholics His short story ldquoThe Wine of Wyomingrdquo is about a French Catholic

bootlegging couple and is based upon a real-life Catholic couple that he met in Sheridan

Wyoming (Dearborn 263) Hemingway also writes about Catholicism in The Sun Also

Rises However Hemingway doesnrsquot write so much about Catholicism but rather of

Catholics themselves in their day-to-day lives (Hertzel 78) In The Sun Also Rises Jake

Barnes is nominally Catholic He basically lives the way that he wants to prays and

goes to church occasionally This is kind of like Hemingway who although not a

nominal Catholic lived the way that he wanted to while still claiming to be Catholic and

following some rituals In The Sun Also Rises Jake talks of going to church ldquoa couple of

times once with Brettrdquo (Sun 154) Although Jake prays regularly including for his

friends he also prays for mundane things like the upcoming bullfights and the Festival of

San Fermiacuten ldquoI wondered if there was anything else I might pray for and I thought I

would like to have some money so I prayed that I would make a lot of moneyrdquo (103)

While praying Jake gets distracted and he begins to think about other things ldquoas

all the time I was kneeling with my forehead on the wood in front of me and was

thinking of myself as praying I was a little ashamed and regretted that I was such a rotten

Catholicrdquo (103) Of his bad example as a Catholic Jake realizes that ldquothere was nothing I

could do about it at least for a while and maybe never but that anyway it was a grand

44

religion and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next timerdquo (103) One

critic asserts that The Sun Also Rises ldquois a novel about spiritual bankruptcyrdquo (Djos) Jake

is spiritually bankrupt but he tries to go about things in another way He drinks in order

escape the pain of the war and his impotency So alcohol might be said to be Jakersquos

primary spiritual comfort like it was a comfort for Hemingway Carlos Baker

categorizes The Sun Also Rises as a tale of Wastelanders (Berman 44) Moreover Jake

once thinks ldquoTo hell with people The Catholic Church had an awfully good way of

handling all thatrdquo (Sun 39) Jake believes that the Catholic Church has a good way of

sending people to hell purgatory or heaven to whatever fate the individual deserves

In addition Catholicism is referenced in Hemingwayrsquos A Farewell to Arms with

its protagonist Frederic Henry Unlike the nominally Catholic Jake Barnes Frederic has

no religion whatsoever (Farewell 279) However there is a priest in Fredericrsquos Italian

army unit that Frederic likes a lot Yet Frederic thinks the priest dull (33) According to

Frederic he and the priest share many of the same tastes yet there is a difference

between them (12) Frederic is a man of the world who does not believe in religion per

se and he loves women The priest is a man of God he loves God above all he doesnrsquot

pursue women When Frederic is recovering from his war wound in the hospital the

priest comes to visit him Frederic tells the priest that he does not love God (62) He

adds that he is ldquoafraid of Him in the night sometimesrdquo (62) Gary Sloan argues that

Fredericrsquos girlfriend Catherine ldquowill be his [Fredericrsquos] religion even as he she says is

hersrdquo (452) Michael Reynolds points out that ldquoCatherine sounded a lot like [Ernestrsquos

second wife] Pauline who had made Ernest her religion risking her soul on the promise

45

of his loverdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 216) This is also the case when

Ernest made his first girlfriend Agnes von Kurowsky his religion over organized

religion

Although Frederic is not religious in desperate times he seems to temporarily

become religious When he first receives his war injury he cries out to God ldquoget me out

of hererdquo (48) When his and Catherine Barkleyrsquos baby dies Frederic thinks of the baby

and thinks that it should have been baptized (279) Faced with the possibility of

Catherine dying Frederic prays ldquoEverything was gone inside of me I did not think I

could not think I knew she was going to die and I prayed that she would not Donrsquot let

her die Oh God please donrsquot let her die Irsquoll do anything for you if you wonrsquot let her

dierdquo (282) Hertzel points out that some of Hemingwayrsquos characters pray frequently

However it is also important to note that the prayers never get answered (79) For

example in Hemingwayrsquos posthumously published Islands in the Stream Thomas

Hudsonrsquos son David makes this comment about prayer ldquoYou canrsquot tell Audrey You

never know when it [prayer] may [do good] I donrsquot mean that Mr Davis needs to be

prayed for I just mean about prayer technicallyrdquo (186) In Frederick Henryrsquos case both

his baby and Catherine die Apparently in Hemingwayrsquos mind there was no

supernatural realm and prayers go nowhere Frederick asks Catherine on her death bed

ldquoDo you want me to get a priest or anyone to come and see yourdquo (Farewell 282)

Catherine just wants Frederic to stay with her Frederic says that his only religious feeling

comes at night (227) So the spiritual connection of sex is a religious experience to

Frederic

46

Hemingway does not present a supernatural dimension to Catholicism (Hertzel

78) In The Sun Also Rises as Jake and Brett leave a chapel in Pamplona he thinks that

ldquo[t]he praying had not been much of a successrdquo (212) Brett also portrays religion as

being uselessmdashat least for her saying ldquoDonrsquot know why I get so nervy in church

Never does me any goodrdquo (212) Brett says that praying never does her any good and

that she has never gotten anything that she prayed for (213) Jake does say that he has

gotten things that he has prayed for Brett replies of prayer ldquoMaybe it works for some

peoplerdquo (213) Jake considers himself ldquopretty religiousrdquo (213) Hemingway himself

prayed but apparently after the Spanish Civil War his view on prayer changed In The

Dangerous Summer he says ldquo[I] never [prayed] for myself during the Spanish Civil

War when I saw the terrible things that happened to other people and I felt that to pray for

oneself was selfish and egotisticalrdquo (142) In a June 19 1945 letter to Thomas Welsh

Hemingway expounded

In first war really scared after wounded and very devout at the end Fear of

death Belief in personal salvation or maybe just preservation through prayers for

intercession of Our Lady and various saints that prayed to with almost tribal faith

Spanish war seemed so selfish to pray for self when such things being done to all

people by people sponsored by Church that never prayed for self But missed

Ghostly comfort This war [Spanish Civil War] got through without praying

once Times a little bad sometimes too But felt that having forfeited any right to

ask for these intercessions would be absolutely crooked to ask for same no matter

how scared (qtd in Stoneback 128)

47

Consequently Hemingway only prayed for others after the Spanish Civil War In The

Dangerous Summer Hemingway writes of praying for others in Spain ldquoI prayed for all

those I had in hock to Fortune for all friends with cancer for all girls living and dead

and that Antonio would have good bulls that afternoonrdquo (69) Yet it is unknown if any

of Hemingwayrsquos prayers were ever answered In fact Hemingway wondered if his

prayers ever got anywhere

In case my prayers were invalid as they well might have been and to make sure

someone competent was doing it I took out a membership in the Jesuit Seminary

Fund Association at New Orleans for Carmen and Antonio [Ordoacutentildeez bullfighter]

There was a class graduating who when they were ordained would pray for them

each day (142)

So Hemingway got others to pray for his friends family and others in case that his

prayers were going nowhere In Hemingwayrsquos works instead of offering a supernatural

element to the Catholic Church he presents the Church as a solely human institution

Hertzel writes that Hemingway treats the Catholic Church as ldquoa colorful institution with

richness tradition ritual and discipline but it provides no convenient miraclesrdquo (78-79)

Consequently Hemingway uses Catholicism as a literary motif to add texture to his

writings (79)

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway seems to make fun of the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit that according to Christians is the method by which the Bible was

written Hemingwayrsquos example is silly Hemingway mockingly describes the writing

process of Waldo Frank the author of Virgin Spain He ldquolay naked in his bed in the night

48

and God sent him things to write how he lsquowas in touch ecstatically with the plunging and

immobile allrdquo (53) Moreover

After God sent it he wrote it The result was that unavoidable mysticism of a

man who writes a language so badly he cannot make a clear statement

complicated by whatever pseudo-scientific jargon is in style at the moment God

sent him some wonderful stuff about Spain during his short stay there

preparatory to writing of the soul of the country but it is often nonsense (53)

Hemingway wrote more generally of the religion of the Lost Generation again

with a touch of mockery

There will be many new salvations brought forward My generation in France for

example in two years sought salvation in first the Catholic Church 2nd DaDaism

third the movies fourth Royalism fifth the Catholic Church again There may be

another and better war But none of it will matter particularly to this generation

because to them the things that are given to people to happen have already

happened (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 327)

In his books Hemingway also seems to make fun of religion in order to try to be

comedic In his ficto-biography True at First Light Hemingway asks the interpreter

ldquoDid you not like the Mission School Remember God is listening He hears your every

wordrdquo (182) Later Hemingway asks GC ldquoAnd will you carry these principles into

Life sonrdquo (204) GC responds ldquoDrink your beer Billy Grahamrdquo (204) Ironically

years later Billy Graham would use Ernest Hemingway as a sermon illustration More

comedy follows in True at First Light when Hemingway talks about a new religion that

49

he created for the Africans He said that his African helpers Ngui and Mthuka and

himself ldquocould decide what was a sin and what was notrdquo (281) Hemingway also talks

about the ldquoHappy Hunting Groundsrdquo as if it were some sort of heaven

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway is comedic through the character of Bill

Gorton Walking down a boulevard with Jake Bill spots a taxidermistrsquos shop and

jokingly tries to get Jake to buy a stuffed dog Jake knows that it is a joke and just tries

to keep Bill moving down the boulevard After Jake promises to get a stuffed dog on the

way back Bill Gorton says ldquoAll right Have it your own way Road to hell paved with

unbought stuffed dogs Not my faultrdquo (78) Hemingway also does this with the priest in

A Farewell to Arms in order to try to infuse comedy into this novel when the captain at

the soldiersrsquo mess keep joking with the priest as the butt of the joke ldquoPriest to-day with

girlsrdquo (7) The captain adds ldquoPriest every night five against onerdquo (7)

On the train to Bayonne Bill Gorton says of some pilgrims on the train with

them ldquoGoddam Puritansrdquo (Sun 91) In the train compartment with Jake and Bill is a man

from Montana with his wife and son The man says to Jake and Bill of getting a meal

while pretending to be pilgrims ldquoThey thought we were snappers all right It

certainly shows you the power of the Catholic Church Itrsquos a pity you boys ainrsquot

Catholics You could get a meal then all rightrdquo (93) Frustrated by the situation Jake

assures him that he is Catholic When Bill Gorton corners a priest returning from a meal

with the pilgrims Bill asks him when the Protestants will get a chance to eat The priest

says that he doesnrsquot know and Gorton replies ldquoItrsquos enough to make a man join the Klanrdquo

(93)

50

After fishing along the Irati River Jake and Bill meet to have lunch After talking

about William Jennings Bryan and which came first the chicken or the egg Bill mocks

religion and the question of whether the chicken or the egg comes first ldquoOh how

should we know We should not question Our stay on earth is not for long Let us

rejoice and believe and give thanksrdquo (126) Holding a drumstick perhaps like a mock

scepter and a bottle of wine Bill tries to be mockingly funny ldquoLet us rejoice in our

blessings Let us utilize the fowls of the air Let us utilize the product of the vine Will

you utilize a little brotherrdquo (126) Handing Jake the bottle Bill says ldquoUtilize a little

brother Let us not doubt brother Let us not pry into the holy mysteries of the

hencoop with simian fingers Let us accept on faithrdquo (127) Then pointing at a

drumstick Bill says ldquoLet me tell you We will say and I for one am proud to saymdashand I

want you to say with me on your knees brother Let no man be ashamed to kneel here in

the great out-of-doors Remember the woods were Godrsquos first templesrdquo (127) They

uncork another bottle Before they take a nap Bill asks Jake if he is really a Catholic

(128) Jake replies that he is technically a Catholic When asked what that means Jake

says that he doesnrsquot know (129) Even though the Eucharist is mocked Jake and Bill are

seemingly reborn as they fish in nature So nature provides a chance at rest and

regeneration

Just like Hemingway in most of his life some of his characters are not religious

although they have religious influences Robert Jordan is one example His father was

religious But his fatherrsquos religion turned Robert off In one instance as a younger man

when Robert is about to leave on a train his father gets emotional and says a prayer over

51

him In response ldquoRobert Jordan had been so embarrassed by all of it [his fatherrsquos

emotionalism] the damp religious sound of the prayer and by his father kissing him

good-by that he had felt suddenly so much older than his father and sorry for him that he

could hardly bear itrdquo (For Whom Bell Tolls 405-406) This would seem similar to

Ernestrsquos leaving home for the first time en route to Kansas City (Hemingway-Sanford

154) In this instance Hemingwayrsquos father bought him the ticket and saw him off (154)

Maybe Dr Hemingway did cry when he saw Ernest off for he really loved his son

While Ernest was in Italy Marcelline notes that her ldquoDad had always loved Ernest

especially dearly and he missed him and prayed for him dailyrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford

160) To compound all this like Hemingwayrsquos father Robertrsquos religious father later

ldquoshot himselfrdquo in a suicide in the same manner as Robert Jordanrsquos father (For Whom Bell

Tolls 66) Robert ldquounderstood his father and he forgave him everything and he pitied him

but he was ashamed of himrdquo (340) Perhaps Hemingway was ashamed of his father after

his fatherrsquos sad suicide This shame and embarrassment of his late father and his

perceived cowardice may have pushed Robert away from religion (338) In addition it is

quite probable that the suicide of Hemingways father additionally pushed him away from

the Protestant tradition of his father as his father had been a deacon and a very upright

and religious man (Reynolds M American Homecoming 211) Yet Daniel Pawley notes

that Hemingway loved his father more than anyone else in the world At one point in For

Whom the Bell Tolls Robert says ldquoI do not believe in ogres nor soothsayers nor in the

supernatural thingsrdquo (250) When Pilar tells Robert that she cares about him Robert tells

52

Pilar that he doesnrsquot want her love He qualifies ldquoNi tu ni Diosrdquo (Neither yours nor

Godrsquos) (387) Robert doesnrsquot want Godrsquos love either

48

CHAPTER 4

HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY

According to Michael Reynolds Hemingway liked all things ancient and

medieval and that included the Catholic Church In fact Hemingway liked visiting

medieval cathedrals among them Chartres He ldquoliked the ritual the mystery the odors of

age and incense He liked its permanence in stonerdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 325)

Hadley Richardson liked to refer to the chivalric Hemingway as her ldquogentil parfit

knightrdquo an allusion to Chaucerrsquos description of the knight in The Canterbury Tales (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 223) and he liked to wear a scapular This scapular has

ldquogot an image of Christ on it suspended from a brown shoestring-like loop At home in

Key West friends have observed him with the scapular and how hersquoll make the sign of

the cross before he goes in swimmingrdquo (Hendrickson 28)

Hemingway would come back to the Bible in his later years in his search for

literary titles Hemingway alludes to Ecclesiastes 14-7 in his title of The Sun Also Rises

The Scriptural passage was used to signify that basically the Lost Generation would

pass away but that the earth would abide forever Moreover Hemingway gave the Bible

credit for teaching him how to write (Blume 213)

In his youth Hemingway idolized his missionary uncle to China Willoughby (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 110) Willoughby had a medical mission there In fact

Ernestrsquos father Dr Clarence Hemingway inspired by his brother had wanted to be a

medical missionary to Guam but his wife had dissuaded him from it (Pawley 24) Dr

49

Hemingway also had an offer for a medical mission in Greenland (L Hemingway 21)

Grace refused to go Ernest Hemingwayrsquos life might have had a much different outcome

if his mother would have supported his father in becoming a medical missionary to Guam

or even Greenland Years later when Hemingway was living in Cuba Hemingwayrsquos

sister Ursala visited and she and Ernest reminisced about their Uncle Willoughby

recalling his visits and together they sang ldquolsquoJesus Loves Mersquo in Chinese until the tears

rolled down their cheeksrdquo (25) Upon the death of his father Ernest returned home to

Oak Park where he openly displayed his new-found Catholic faith Marcelline says that

upon his arrival Ernest ldquotold us that he had had a Mass saidrdquo for their dad (Dearborn 268

M Reynolds American Homecoming 211 Hemingway-Sanford 233) With Dr

Hemingwayrsquos body lying in repose in the music room Ernest now leader of his family

led his family in the Lordrsquos Prayer This echoes back to the time in Ernestrsquos youth when

his Grandfather Hall would lead his family in the Lordrsquos prayer ldquohis eyes directed

heavenwardrdquo (Dearborn 268) However during this time of mourning Ernestrsquos

Catholicism angered some peoplemdashespecially Marcelline

Relying on Catholic teaching Ernest believed that his father had gone to

purgatory since suicide was a mortal sin (M Reynolds American Homecoming 211) In

addition Ernest mentioned that since his family was a Heathen Family ldquoit was

impossible to offer enough prayers to get his [Dr Hemingwayrsquos] soul into heavenrdquo

(Dearborn 268) Marcelline thought that Ernestrsquos idea of praying their father out of

purgatory was disgusting Ernest told his kid brother Leicester Hemingway to ldquopray as

hard as he could for his fatherrsquos soul to be released from purgatoryrdquo as ldquothings go right on

50

from hererdquo (Dearborn 268 My Brother 111) Despite the waves that Ernest made with

his family he showed genuine care concern and distress in his belief that his late father

was in purgatory (Dearborn 268) In this instance Hemingway definitely took Catholic

doctrine seriously

Dearborn paints Ernest Hemingway as a practicing Catholic one who would go to

Mass and fast on Good Friday She suggests that during this trying time Hemingway

turned to his faith in order to anchor himself through his grief She further suggests that

Ernestrsquos claim that his father was in purgatory was a way for him to assert his patriarchal

dominance over the family and to show that he was in charge Marcelline as the eldest

had tried to claim this role but in her struggle with Ernest she had lost (269)

In Chicago a Dominican priest wrote to Hemingway to thank him for saving his

friend Don Stewart in the bull ring at Pamplona (M Reynolds American Homecoming

156) This priest had heard of Hemingwayrsquos conversion to Catholicism within that year

1927 and he urged Hemingway to become a writer for the Dominican cause in order to

defend the Church and its ldquocause of Truthrdquo (156) In response Hemingway wrote

I have been a Catholic for many years although I feel very badly and did not go to

communion for over 8 years However I have gone regularly to mass for the last

two years and absolutely set my house in order within the year However I have

always had more faith than intelligence or knowledge and I have never wanted to

be known as a Catholic writer because I know the importance of setting an

examplemdashand I have never set a good example Also I am a dumb Catholic

and I have so much faith that I hate to examine itmdashbut I am trying to lead a good

51

life and to write well and truly and it is easier to do the first than the second (qtd

in M Reynolds American Homecoming 156)

In a 1940 Valentinersquos Day letter to his editor Maxwell Perkins Hemingway wrote ldquoI am

not a Catholic writer nor a party writer nor even an American writer but just a writer

meant to rise above injusticerdquo (qtd in Isabelle 51)

Despite his Catholicism Hemingwayrsquos faith didnrsquot help him to change into a

better man Although he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not

transform him nor even make him Christ-like Hemingway did not have a salvation

experience Nor was his faith life-altering Stoneback agrees that ldquoHemingway did not

turn to the church for instant deliverancerdquo (Stoneback 122) As a Catholic

Hemingway continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Ernestrsquos

Catholicism did not translate into his personal life Hemingwayrsquos religious life was one

solely of Catholic rituals He did not change his behavior or his vices He did not

overcome his problems Unfortunately in the end Hemingwayrsquos problems overcame

him

Despite his personal shortcomings Hemingway did at times take Catholicism

seriously After one of his African safaris he returned to Paris and saw his friend Ned

Calmer Calmer was a reporter and an aspiring novelist There Hemingway learned that

Calmerrsquos daughter had not been baptized (Hendrickson 44) This was unconscionable to

Hemingway Years later Calmer wrote that ldquoErnest seemed genuinely concerned

The attitude was this will never do He came along to the church of St Sulpice in Paris

52

as sponsor at the ceremonyrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 44) where Calmerrsquos daughter was

baptized

Hemingwayrsquos faith affected him in other ways too During the Spanish Civil

War his Catholicism would give him ldquosympathy with the conservative traditionalist side

in Spain at least in the early days of this unrestrdquo (Dearborn 303) Later Hemingway

would switch his allegiance to the anti-Franco anti-fascist communist-supported side of

the conflict Unfortunately this shift caused many family disputes with his wife Pauline

(Isabelle 25) However it was Hemingwayrsquos belief that politics and religion should not

mix (Stoneback 117) After the Spanish Civil War and in Cuba Hemingway used to

worry that the FBI were Roman Catholics and thus consequently Franco sympathizers

(N Reynolds 127) In fact Hemingway liked to refer to the FBI as ldquolsquoFrancorsquos Bastard

Irishrsquo and lsquoFrancorsquos Iron Cavalryrsquordquo (127) Nicholas Reynolds suggests that Hemingway

was paranoid about the FBI because he had signed on to be a spy with the Russian

Narodny Kommisariat Vnutrennikh Del (Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs)

better known as the NKVD Yet Hemingway never actually did anything for them His

code name was ldquoArgordquo Dearborn notes that ldquo[d]espite his professed Catholicism Ernest

was impatient with religion over philosophizing and what we would call today self-

helprdquo (320) Dorothy Parker makes a different claim about Hemingway ldquoThere is no

more than a thin line of moss to stamp the spot where Robert Benchley and Ernest

Hemingway had that big philosophical discussion about the meaning of liferdquo (qtd in M

Reynolds American Homecoming 106) Philosopher Ralph Withington Church ldquorecalls

his conversations with Hemingway about the lsquoproblem of redemptionrsquo and

53

Malebranchersquos lsquotheory of gracersquordquo (Stoneback 121) Ernest also had his own privately-

held opinions about Catholicism For example Hemingway told one of his daughters-in-

law that unlike the Catholic Churchrsquos teaching that animals donrsquot have souls he believed

that animals did (Dearborn 516) Secondly Ernest seems to have taken on or been

influenced by his motherrsquos mystic spiritualist bent Ernest believed in superstitions and

in some types of psychic phenomena (518)

Later in his life Ernest seems to have some misgivings about Catholicism He

consistently said when Paulinersquos name surfaced that ldquoher Catholic faith had wrecked the

marriagerdquo (Dearborn 406) Pauline had been advised by her doctor not to have any more

children The fear was that Pauline would get pregnant and die from the pregnancy

(Hawkins 141) Since Catholicism only permitted the birth control method of

withdrawal Ernestrsquos pleasure was significantly diminished by this technique and

consequently doomed their marriage Hemingway had also wanted to have a daughter

but this dream was never realized Paulinersquos second son Gregory who became a doctor

contends that all that his father would have had to have done to retain his pleasure would

have been to abstain from intercourse on Paulinersquos fertile days According to Gregrsquos

reasoning this ldquowould have been obvious to lsquoany foolrsquordquo (qtd in Dearborn 406)

According to Leicester Hemingway Ernest wanted nothing to do with the Catholic

church after Pauline and he asked for ldquothe address of an uncle William E Miller who

had written many hymns in the Episcopalian hymnalrdquo (Isabelle 58-59) Moreover Ernest

was concerned about his sons Patrick and Gregory attending a Catholic school Ernest

feared that this school Canterbury was affecting Patrick gradually and insidiously

54

(Dearborn 480) In fact Ernest hated this school and he referred to it as ldquoone of lsquothose

snot schoolsrsquordquo (480)

Paulinersquos and Hemingwayrsquos second son Gregory had a troubled life Over time

he came to like to dress up as a woman In Los Angeles this caught up with him when

he tried to enter the womenrsquos restroom of a theater in drag (Hendrickson 297) Pauline

cabled Hemingway that Gregory was in trouble Hemingway called back Pauline was in

a lot of pain but went to the phone anyway to tell Hemingway about the problem On the

phone Hemingway said ldquoItrsquos all your fault see how yoursquove brought him up yoursquore

corrupt and hersquos corruptrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 297) Hemingway intimated that perhaps

Gregoryrsquos Catholic upbringing had pushed Gregory into transgenderism Gregory had

served as an altar-boy at Saint Mary Star of the Sea (386)

That night Pauline went to bed in tears Unfortunately the heated accusative

argument with Ernest had set Pauline off At the time Pauline had been staying at her

sisterrsquos Virginia residence in Los Angeles In the early morning Virginia and her

friend Laura awakened to what they described as a ldquohorrendous screamrdquo from Paulinersquos

room Pauline was taken to the hospital where her blood pressure skyrocketed dropped

to zero and caused ldquoher to die of shock on the operating tablerdquo (Hawkins 271) Later

Hemingway blamed Paulinersquos death on Gregory Yet Gregory became a doctor and

researched his motherrsquos death more thoroughly Through an autopsy report Gregory

learned that his mother had died of a ldquorare tumor of the adrenal glandrdquo also known as

pheochromocytoma (275) This type of tumor secretes large quantities of adrenaline

causing blood pressure to spikemdasheven to the point where arteries can rupture Pauline

55

had had only an intermittent tumor that would secrete during times of stress Gregory

informed his father of his findings in a letter in the summer of 1960 Gregory wrote that

Hemingwayrsquos argument with Pauline had set Pauline off ldquocausing a blood vessel to

rupturerdquo after which her blood pressure dropped to zero with the resulting shock killing

her on the operating table (275) So Gregory blamed Hemingway for Paulinersquos early

death from shock due to the ruptured blood vessel and the drop of her blood pressure to

zero

In 1947 Hemingwayrsquos son Patrick had a spiritual crisis of his own Due to his

Catholic mother Patrick had been schooled in Catholic schools In 1947 Patrick had

been studying for the College Board exams at Hemingwayrsquos home the Finca in Cuba

However when Gregory had a spring vacation Patrick decided to join him in Key West

In 1945 Pauline had bought herself a sports car (Dearborn 497) In 1947 in Key West

Patrick was newly licensed and Patrick let Gregory drive the sports car Gregory drove

off the road and hit a tree near Casa Marina

In the process Patrick and Gregory seemed to suffer only minor injuries

Gregory ldquoreceived a minor knee injuryrdquo while Patrick ldquosuffered a cut on his chin and

slight headacherdquo (Hawkins 251) Yet Patrick had suffered a severe concussion (Di

Robilant 7) At first the boys didnrsquot seem to have any ill effects from the accident and

they arrived back at the Finca However shortly after his arrival Patrick started acting

strangely (Dearborn 497) At the Finca Patrick asked ldquofor a pot of hot water and some

teardquo (497) When Reneacute Villarreal brought the hot water and tea to the little house

ldquoPatrick complained that the water was dirtyrdquo (497) Then Patrick commenced shouting

56

loudly at the cook Ramoacuten who wasnrsquot even there Next at the main house Ernest

placed Patrick ldquoon a wicker chaise and stroked his headrdquo (497) In Havana the next day

Patrick was able to take the College Board exams but as the day progressed he grew

increasingly agitated So Ernest called for a doctor The doctor ldquosedated Patrick but the

next day he was delirious and soon became violent and it was necessary to restrain himrdquo

(497) Andrea Di Robilant believes that Patrick had a complete breakdown (7) His loss

of normalcy became a terrible ordeal for the Hemingway family in which his future his

sanity and his life hung in the balance (Dearborn 497)

In response Ernest placed Patrick in his own bed at the Finca and slept on a straw

mat in the living room just outside the door of his bedroom taking care of Patrick around

the clock (Dearborn 497-98 Hawkins 251) Ernest did this for the next three months

(Dearborn 498) It was hoped that Patrick would recover and be well within a couple of

weeks Yet it didnrsquot turn out this way Doctors from all over Cuba were called in Dr

Herrera deemed Patrick to be ldquopredementialrdquo a condition either set off from the exams or

by a crisis of his Catholic faith (498) Religion was a big portion of Patrickrsquos delirium

the other subject being putas whores A local priest named Don Andreacutes became one of

Patrickrsquos chief caretakers Surprisingly due to the spiritual nature of Patrickrsquos condition

this priest was unable to enter Patrickrsquos room without being accused of being the devil

incarnate Consequently this priest became known as the Black Priest

Patrick was so delusional that Ernest and his doctors were concerned about being

near Patrick because they were afraid that they would be scratched or bitten Patrick

remained bedridden for weeks and ldquohe moved in and out of consciousnessrdquo (Di Robilant

57

7) However Patrickrsquos condition did not improve he only worsened and became more

violentmdashhaving to be constantly restrained (Dearborn 498) At first the doctors wanted

Ernest to put Patrick in a hospital but Ernest was determined to keep Patrick at home

Patrick was so delirious that he wouldnrsquot eat When Patrick did eat he stuffed the food in

his mouth like a hamster to spit out at his caretakers Patrick even couldnrsquot swallow his

own saliva Considering that Patrick would probably rip out feeding tubes it was

decided to feed him rectally under restraint and under heavy sedation Patrick had not

eaten since his illness had begun five days prior It would take a full hour and a half to

feed Patrick rectally Despite this procedure Patrick dropped to eighty-eight pounds by

the start of August He had become psychotic

Given the limited means and the early days of psychiatric diagnoses in that time

and age it seemed like Patrick was schizophrenic perhaps even needing a lifetime of

institutionalized care (499) In July a new physician suggested that Patrick undergo

shock treatments In those days the only options were lobotomy and electroshock

therapy (499-500) So seeing no other viable option Patrickrsquos parents relented to the

electroshock therapy (500) In the outbuilding of the Finca Patrick received his first

shock treatment After only around ten minutes Patrick was reported as being ldquolucidrdquo

Fortunately Patrickrsquos electroshock therapy brought him back

The Hemingways remembered how the shock treatments had brought Patrick

back from the brink of hopelessness However when electroshock treatments were tried

years later on Ernest himself because of his traumatic brain injuries and compounding

depression they had the opposite effect For Ernest Hemingway electroshock treatments

58

wiped out his memory and he could no longer write take pride in himself and support

himself financially by the only means he knew how The shock treatments pushed

Hemingway further into depression

After his marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer Hemingway had misgivings about his

Catholic faith However HR Stoneback asserts that Hemingway never entirely gave up

his Catholicism and that he continued to go to Mass pray support the church and regard

himself as Catholic (114) Despite all this Hemingway had some bitterness toward the

Catholic Church Yet it still played an influence in his life Lloyd Arnold says of

Hemingwayrsquos last twenty years of life ldquoI did not know Papa as a man without Godrdquo (qtd

in Stoneback 105-06) Even after his marriage to Pauline Hemingway did put some

stock in Catholicism His divorce from Pauline made him excommunicated from the

Catholic Churchmdashhe could not receive communionmdashbut he still did visit Catholic

churches and pray inside During his marriage to Pauline Hemingway had faithfully and

regularly attended Mass Of his post-Pauline years Hemingway friend and biographer

AE Hotchner noted that in 1954 Hemingway on his way to Madrid stopped into the

cathedral at Burgos where he kneeled and prayed (Stoneback 106) According to

Hotchner in 1958 Hemingway paid for a new roof for the Catholic Church in Hailey

Idaho Then he gave an address to that parishrsquos young people admonishing them not to

work on Sunday as it was ldquovery back luckrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106)

Actor Gary Cooper who had played the role of Robert Jordan in the 1943 film

version of For Whom the Bell Tolls converted to Catholicism himself in 1958 In

response Hemingway ldquotalked sympathetically with Gary Cooper aboutrdquo it (Stoneback

59

106) In 1959 Hemingway was pickpocketed in Spain so in response he put an ad in

the newspaper asking the Spanish pickpocket to return his billfold as he cared mostly for

ldquogetting back the ldquoimage of St Christopher in itrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106) Throughout

his lifetime Hemingway named a son after a pope ldquodisplayed great pride in Patrickrsquos

confirmation mastery of the catechism gave money and support to the churchrdquo (110)

Ernest even taught his oldest son Bumby how to pray (L Hemingway 99) When

Hemingway received his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 he gave the medal to the

Virgen of Cobra Shrine in Cuba (Isabelle 52)

In a conversation with his fourth and final wife Mary Welsh Hemingway says to

her ldquoReligion is superstition and I believe in superstitionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 118)

Ernest adds that it is his ldquoTribal heritagerdquo (118) Mary wrote to Stoneback of Ernest that

when they would visit cathedrals in France Italy or Spain Hemingway would light

candles in honor of the memory of his friends Stoneback writes that with Ernest Mary

Hemingway had to live through a Catholic prism With Ernest Mary had to eat fish on

Fridays observe Lent do the Christmas traditions celebrate Ernestrsquos saintrsquos day have

masses and prayers said for family and friends observe holy days and Catholic feasts

drive miles off course to visit and revisit cathedrals and churches and to attend religious

processions (119) Mary Hemingway would later say that Hemingway ldquoadmiredrdquo the

Catholic church and that he ldquothought of himself always as Catholicrdquo (qtd in 119) Mary

Hemingway said of Ernestrsquos friend the Black Priest Don Andreacutes that he and

Hemingway would talk alone and that Ernest regarded him ldquoas his lsquopersonal priest and

confessorrsquo that they prayed together and for each otherrdquo (120) According to Toby

60

Bruce Hemingway and the Black Priest were very good friends they talked quite a lot

and that when Don Andreacutes died in 1955 Hemingway had masses said for him (132)

Mary said of Ernest ldquoWhen he said he was Catholic he meant itrdquo (qtd in 120)

Mary added that Ernest tried very hard at being Catholic Allen Tate said that

Hemingway was ldquovery Catholicrdquo and that his attitude towards sports was ldquorooted in

religious sensibilityrdquo (120) Tate added that it was the ritual of sport that Hemingway

liked RW Church says that Hemingwayrsquos ldquotalk during these late hours at Lips made

evident his conviction that Sport and bull-fighting in particular afforded a major way to

the redemption of manrdquo (135) Stoneback argues that for Hemingway sport is a

redemptive ritual that is central to his life and work (136) The renowned sportsman

George Leonard Herter said that although Hemingway was a strong Catholic

his ldquoreligion came mainly from the Apparitions of the Virgin Maryrdquo (121) Herter said

that Hemingway was almost obsessed with the apparitions and talked about them often

(134) Hemingway thought that they were important Hemingway did not understand

why the Catholic church did not publicize the apparitions Hemingway was amazed that

most brothers nuns and priests were ignorant of the apparitions and seemed to care even

less Herter said that he had heard Hemingway speak of the apparitions including

Lourdes Fatima and others ldquoat one time or anotherrdquo (qtd in 134) Herter says that

Hemingway believed that if there was no Bible ldquono man-made church lawsrdquo then the

apparitions conclusively proved that the Catholic church was the true church (134-35)

Herter adds that ldquoHemingway knew all the apparitions The ones at Pontmain

61

Pellivoisin Allyrod greatly impressed himrdquo (134-35) In addition Hemingway basically

believed that the Virgin Mary was earthrsquos listening post for Jesus and God (135)

Reynolds Price suggested that ldquoHemingwayrsquos lsquolifelong subjectrsquo was

lsquosaintlinessrsquordquo (121) Stoneback asserts a spiritual order to Hemingwayrsquos works in which

Hemingway examines the conscience through a Catholic lens (122) Stoneback

summarizes an October 18 1933 letter to Pauline Hemingway

tells Pauline that the proofs of Winner Take Nothing have arrived and though it is

a ldquodamned goodrdquo book itrsquos too much to expect the church will stand for it As he

sees it considering his writing the church would have two choices either kick

him out or prove he has no right to be in Either one would be bad because he

couldnrsquot tell them to ldquogo to the devilrdquo because of the ldquoItalian complicationsrdquo At

least hersquoll be able to say his prayers participate in the Mass support and

contribute to the church and wherever they donrsquot know him he can go to

confession He does not want to seem to be seeking ldquoappuirdquo as a ldquoCatholic

writerrdquo He says that he has no right to write the way he does and be ldquolsquoofficially

of the Churchrsquordquo Everything is fine with his conscience however he adds that

therersquos nothing wrong with the church (Stoneback 129-30)

Stoneback summarizes an interview with Fraser Drew As Stoneback

summarizes Hemingway told Drew

I [Hemingway] like to think that Irsquom a Catholic as far as I can be I can still go to

Mass although many things have happenedmdashthe divorces the marriages He

spoke with admiration of Catholicism and then of his friend the Basque priest

62

whom he had known in Spain [Don Andreacutes] and who now lived in San Francisco

de Paula He comes here a great deal said EH He prays for me every day as I

do for him I canrsquot pray for myself any more Perhaps itrsquos because in some way I

have become hardened Or perhaps it is because the self becomes less important

and others become more important But that Time article was bad He referred to

a recent article in Time which had commented that he had been born a

Congregationalist had become a Roman Catholic and now no longer went to

church This conversation with EH confirms my earlier feeling that he is a

religious man with respect for the religions of others (Stoneback 131)

Toby Bruce said of Hemingway and religion ldquoIrsquod say he was very religious Always

went to Mass especially when he was here still with Pauline And afterwards toordquo (qtd

in 132) Bruce added ldquoHe was a real Catholic and I think he tried very hard to be a good

Catholic Who knows for sure Yes he was he planned to donate a considerable sum

toward the restoration of the Mary Immaculate Convent Donrsquot know if he did I guess

Irsquod say he was a good Catholic Donrsquot know what the church would say about itrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 132-33)

Hemingway would cross himselfmdasheven after the 1930s (133) George Herter

wrote ldquoHemingway was a Catholic in those days when the Catholic Church was a church

instead of a mass of confusion The fact that he had been a steady marrying and divorce

type didnrsquot bother Ernest at all in his views on Catholicism I knew Ernest only had

his religion in his very shaky worldrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) George Herter responded

to HR Stoneback in a letter about Hemingway ldquoI repeat he was a very strong Catholic

63

He had complete faith in God Jesus the Virgin Holy Ghost guardian angels Much

more so than nearly all Catholics I have known He was a traditional Catholic as we

all were at the timerdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) In another letter from Herter to Stoneback

dated February 23 1978 Herter writes ldquoHemingway was a strong Catholic He had a

very good knowledge of early Christianity He did not attend Mass regularly He

believed the churchrsquos stand on divorce was right although he was divorced many times

He often stated that he was a poor example of a Catholic but offered no excusesrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 134-35) Stoneback asked a Key West resident what he thought of

Hemingwayrsquos religion The man responded ldquoHemingway was very religious went to

Mass early in the morning with Pauline You could tell he was religious when he fed

the cats the way he looked at the skyrdquo (136)

Yet in his last years of life Hemingway said some very anti-Catholic and anti-

Christian things For instance married to his last wife Mary Ernest said in an interview

to Lillian Ross of the possibility of an afterlife ldquoOnly suckers worry about saving their

soulsrdquo (qtd in Ross 50) Hemingway continued ldquoWho the hell should care about saving

his soul when it is a manrsquos duty to lose it intelligently the way you would sell a position

you were not defending if you could not hold it as expensively as possible trying to

make it the most expensive position that was ever soldrdquo (50) Gregory Hemingway

recounted something similar Gregory said that his father didnrsquot genuinely believe in

organized religion and that his father ldquomade it clear he didnrsquot believe in an afterlife He

did finally believe in a superior beingrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 186) Although Hemingway

didnrsquot believe that it was necessary to save onersquos soul he did contemplate the soul As a

64

boy Hemingway had thought that his soul had blown out of him once and it had returned

to his body (First Light 172) Hemingway claimed ignorance of the soul and he didnrsquot

know if it existed nor if anyone he knew anything about it Hemingway ponders the

soul ldquoProbably a spring of clear fresh water that never diminished in drought and never

froze in the winter was closest to what we had instead of the soul they all talked aboutrdquo

(172) As a boy Hemingway assumed that he had a soul but as he grew older and jaded

he wasnrsquot sure anymore Hemingway thinks that death ends things Yet he ponders that

perhaps only really religious people have souls (172-173) Of a belief in an afterlife for

the soul as heaven or hell Hemingway had his own opinions of that On July 1 1925

Hemingway creatively wrote to F Scott Fitzgerald of his vision of heaven

To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a

trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in and two lovely

houses in the town one where I would have my wife and children and be

monogamous and love them truly and well and the other where I would have my

nine beautiful mistresses on 9 different floors Then there would be a fine

church like in Pamplona where I could go and be confessed on the way from one

house to the other and I would get on my horse and ride out with my son to my

bull ranch named Hacienda Hadley and toss coins to all my illegitimate children

that lined the road I would write out at the Hacienda and send my son in to lock

the chastity belts onto my mistresses because someone had just galloped up with

the news that a notorious monogamist named Fitzgerald had been seen riding

65

toward the town at the head of a company of strolling drinkers (Hemingway in

Katakis 37)

However after his World War I injury Ernest wrote his family

You know they say there isnrsquot anything funny about this war and there isnrsquot I

wouldnrsquot say that it was hell because thatrsquos been a bit overworked since General

Shermanrsquos time but there have been about eight times when I would have

welcomed hell just on a chance it couldnrsquot come up to the phase of war I was

experiencing (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 166-67)

So if there was a hell Hemingway didnrsquot believe that it was worse than the horrors of

war Of his past Hemingway did have regrets He wrote ldquoThis past was never my past

life which truly bores me to think about and is often very distasteful due to the mistakes

that I have made and the casualties to various human beings involvedrdquo (Hemingway in

White 466)

The question of the soul comes up continually in the works of Hemingway In

ldquoNow I Lay Merdquo Nick Adams tries not to go to sleep at night because he is afraid like

Hemingway was that his soul is going to leave his body in the dark This all stems from

a battlefield injury and experience that Nick had when his soul temporarily left his body

Nick relates ldquoI had been that way [not sleeping at night] for a long time ever since I had

been blown up at night and felt it [his soul] go out of me and go off and then come back

I tried never to think about it but it had started to go since in the nights just at the

moment of going off to sleep and I could only stop it by a very great effortrdquo (Short

Stories 276)

66

Yet Nick doesnrsquot fear his soul leaving him during the day time Hemingway also

had a similar experience with his wounding at Fossalta According to Leicester

Hemingway Ernest once told Guy Hickok of this near-death experience ldquoI felt my soul

or something coming right out of my body like yoursquod pull a silk handkerchief out of a

pocket by one corner It flew around and then came back and went in again and I wasnrsquot

dead any morerdquo (56) Hemingway gives Frederic Henry the same experience in A

Farewell to Arms After the explosion that caused his wounding Henry says that

I tried to breathe but my breath would not come and I felt myself rush bodily out

of myself and out and out and out and all the time bodily in the wind I went out

swiftly all of myself and I knew I was dead and that it had all been a mistake to

think you just died Then I floated and instead of going on I felt myself slide

back I breathed and I was back (47)

Hemingway later referred to his Christian upbringing as ldquothat ton of shit we are

all fed when we are youngrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) Michael Reynolds makes the claim that

in Ernestrsquos youth fishing was his religion (118) However Archie MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoActually he was one of the most profoundly and spiritually powerful

creatures I have ever knownrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 158)

In The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway paints the old man Santiago as a

Christ figure There is so much Christian symbolism in this tale that the story can be

thought of as a parable The name Santiago literally means Saint James in Spanish

(Baker 293) In the Bible James was one of Jesusrsquo brothers Baker says of Santiago that

he ldquoshows in his own right certain qualities of mind and heart which are clearly

67

associated with the character and personality of Jesus Christ in the Gospel storiesrdquo (299)

Like Christ Santiago is able to ldquoignore physical painrdquo while focusing on the larger

objective goal to be gained in the end (299) There is an allusion to Christ on the cross

when Santiago in fighting for his prize ldquosettled comfortably against the wood and took

his suffering as it camerdquo (Old Man Sea 64) Like a horizontal cross-beam across Christrsquos

back Santiago has the cord tightened taught across his back (Backman 10 Old Man Sea

67) Santiago carries the burdensome weight of the fish on his back and he is even

burned by the cord because of it (Old Man Sea 82) The wood the suffering and

Santiagorsquos gentleness according to Melvin Backman blends ldquomagically into an image of

Christ on the crossrdquo (10) Three other Christ-like qualities that Santiago has are his

compassion his humility and his natural piety (Baker 299-300) Santiago has

compassion on certain animals that he encounters and of some fish that he catchesmdashlike

the giant marlin In his struggle with the marlin Santiago says ldquoI love you and respect

you very much But I will kill you dead before this day endsrdquo (Old Man Sea 54) After

he has killed the fish Santiago thinks ldquoYou loved him when he was alive and you loved

him after If you love him it is not a sin to kill himrdquo (105) Before killing the fish

Santiago ponders ldquoI wish I could feed the fish He is my brother But I must kill him

and keep strong to do itrdquo (59) Santiago thinks of his humility ldquoHe was too simple to

wonder when he had attained humility But he knew he had attained it and he knew it

was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true priderdquo (13-14) Santiago demonstrates

his pride when his disciple Manolo touts him as the best fisherman and he plays it down

by saying that he knows of better ones (23) Manolo claims ldquoQueacute va [No way] But

68

there is only yourdquo (23) Santiagorsquos piety is observed in that he prays when he feels and

senses the need and that his prayers are never oaths For example in trying to catch the

giant marlin Santiago says aloud ldquoNow that I have him coming so beautifully God help

me endure Irsquoll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys But I cannot say

them nowrdquo (87) Santiagorsquos prayers are never careless nor does he make them profane

He is reverent

As Christ had disciples so Santiago has his disciple Manolo Like Christ

Santiago is a teacher in that he was taught Manolo how to fish Christ was a fisher of

men Santiago is a traditional fisherman Manolo loves Santiago because of his teaching

Manolo how to fish and he admires and looks up to Santiago as a second father figure

Before Santiago goes out on his big marlin hunt Manolo says to him ldquoIf I cannot fish

with you I would like to serve in some wayrdquo (12) Manolo wants to be loyal to Santiago

Before his big marlin catch Santiago had had two previous eighty-seven day periods

where he went without a fish After the first period Santiago and Manolo had caught big

fish every day for three weeks GR Wilson Jr likens these three weeks to Christrsquos three

years of ministry where he fished for men and taught his disciples to fish for men (370)

At the start of Old Man Santiago had not caught a fish for eighty-four days The Old

Man and the Sea takes place over three days so this makes the second eighty-seven day

period In the Bible Christ demonstrated his divine authority by performing miracles

Wilson notes that Manolo has faith in the old man stemming from the miracle of the

three weeksrsquo bounty that he and Santiago had caught In addition according to Isabelle

Santiago ldquohooks the fish at noon and at noon of third day he kills itrdquo (77) This is just

69

like Christ who died and in three days rose again Isabelle adds that the marlin was

ldquolanded on the seventh attemptrdquo and that ldquoseven sharks were killedrdquo in the fishrsquos defense

(78) The number seven is a sacred and significant number recurring in the Bible After

the seventh day of creation God rested there are seven days in a week et cetera

(Easton) The number seven is also seen as symbolizing perfection and rest

Another similarity of Santiago with Christ are the wounds that he receives on his

hands On the cross Christ was pierced in each hand to help keep him pinned to the

cross In his battle with the fish Santiago receives bad cutsmdashstigmatamdashon his hands

Santiago sees his hands as brothers and he often talks to them Carlos Baker explains that

Santiago ldquospeaks to them [his hands] as to fellow-sufferers wills them to do the work

they must do and makes due allowances for them as if they were what he once calls

them lsquomy brothersrsquordquo (313) Once he says aloud ldquoHersquos [the fish] coming up Come

on hand Please come onrdquo (Old Man Sea 62) The hands also represent good and bad

The right hand is good and the left hand is bad Santiagorsquos hands are compared to the

criminals on the crosses to the left and right of Jesus who was on his own cross in the

center Santiagorsquos right hand is his good one Santiago thought that his left hand ldquohad

always been a traitor and would not do what he called on it to do and he did not trust itrdquo

(71) Luke 2339 reads ldquoOne of the criminals who were hanged railed at him [Jesus]

saying lsquoAre you not the Christ Save yourself and usrsquordquo (English Standard Version) So

Santiagorsquos left hand is untrustworthy Santiagorsquos right hand is so reliable that he quit

arm-wrestling despite being ldquoEl Campeoacutenrdquo in order to keep his right hand in good

condition as a tool of his trade fishing (70-71) The thief on Jesusrsquo right rebukes the

70

other criminal Then in Luke 2342 the thief on the right of Jesus asks Jesus ldquoJesus

remember me when you come into your kingdomrdquo (English Standard Version) Jesus

assures this repentant thief that that day the thief will be with him in paradise

Santiagorsquos right hand is like the penitent thief on the cross to Jesusrsquo right This analogy

can also be applied to the Last Judgment At the Last Judgment the saved will be on the

right hand of the Savior while those who are rejected and damned will be on his left

(Baker 314)

When Santiago sees two sharks approaching he says ldquoAyrdquo (Old Man Sea 107)

Hemingway explains of this exclamation that ldquoThere is no translation for this word and

perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make involuntarily feeling the nail go

through his hands and into the woodrdquo (107) Given his affinity and brotherhood with the

marlin when Santiago sees his prize catch eaten by the sharks it is a mortifying terrible

and crucifying experience for him Through Santiagorsquos crucifixion experience he is

transfigured Baker says that Santiagorsquos experience is also a form of martyrdom

although Santiago doesnrsquot see himself as a martyr (315) Baker also suggests that

Santiagorsquos experience also renders to him a form of apotheosis (316) Backman suggests

that Santiago triumphs (11) On his return voyage to Cuba Santiago ldquocould hardly

breathe now and he felt a strange taste in his mouth It was coppery and sweet and he

was afraid of it for a moment But there was not much of itrdquo (Old Man Sea 119) This

can be likened to Christ when he receives and drinks the ldquosponge filled with vinegarrdquo or

sour wine in Matthew 2748 (Baker 319) When Santiago returns to Cuba he has dried

blood on his face reminiscent of the blood on Christrsquos face because of the crown of

71

thorns Having arrived back everybody is asleep and nobody is there to greet or help

him He only sees a meandering cat Like Christ on the cross when God forsook him

because of the load of sin that he was carrying Santiago is alone in his suffering ldquoThere

was no one to help him so he pulled the boat up as far as he couldrdquo (Old Man Sea 120)

Removing the mast and sail Santiago ldquoshouldered the mast and started to climbrdquo (121)

This is like Christ carrying the heavy cross (Backman 11) Santiago ldquostarted to climb

again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder He

tried to get up But it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder and

looked at the roadrdquo (Old Man Sea 121) This is similar to Christ stumbling and falling as

he carried his cross on the Via Dolorosa on the way to his crucifixion at Golgotha Like

Christ Santiago falls under the burden he is bearing

Back at his shack Santiago lays down to sleep ldquoHe pulled the blanket over his

shoulders and then over his back and legs and he slept face down on the newspapers with

his arms out straight and the palms of his hands uprdquo (121-22) Baker notes that Santiago

sleeps in a cruciform position that sums up ldquothe symbolic position naturally assumed all

the suffering through which he has passedrdquo (320) In his return Santiago also brings

evidence of his epic battlegood work to increase the faith of his disciple Manolo

(Wilson 371) Wilson asserts that Santiago is on his death-bed when Manolo finds him

(372) The eighty-seventh day of this second period ends on Ascension Day as it began

on Ash Wednesday and ldquoconstitutes all but the last ten days of the Easter Cycle from

Lent through Paschal tiderdquo (369-70) As Mary cried over Christ at the tomb Manolo

returns to Santiagorsquos shanty sees the old manrsquos hands and starts to cry (Old Man Sea

72

122) Wilson also asserts that Santiago matches up with Joseph Campbellrsquos archetypal

model for a ldquohero with a thousand facesrdquo (372) For example Santiago starts out on his

journey or calling with the aid of the helper Manolo Santiago ldquocrosses the threshold of

adventure and meets a trial that can take many forms including the brother-battle

dragon-battle crucifixion and a night-sea journey all of which can be seen as applying

in some way to the old fishermanrdquo (372) The mythic-like story culminates in a ldquosacred

marriagerdquo between Santiago and his prize marlin (372) Fellow writer William Although

Hemingway was not a good nor a professing Christian and for most of his life claimed to

be Catholic he was not a reformed believer Hemingway still continued to be

Hemingway Despite all this according to Carlos Baker ldquoThe consciousness of God is

in his booksrdquo (328)

73

74

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

Hemingway wanted to be a good man and a great writer but unfortunately he

did not turn out to be a good manmdashalthough he had his moments of goodness Although

he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not transform him He did not

have a salvation experience nor was his faith life-altering As a Catholic Hemingway

continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Hemingwayrsquos religious

life was one solely of Catholic rituals He did not overcome his problems In the end his

problems overcame him Hemingway himself said of his heart ldquoActually in regard to the

innermost contents of my heart probably a most foul place I would rather have a good

cardiograph reportrdquo (Hemingway in White 459) Hemingway added ldquoNo one of us lives

by as rigid standards nor has a good ethics as we planned but an attempt is maderdquo (461)

Hemingway was vindictive against his critics Hemingway viewed most fellow

writers as enemies if they were not officially his enemy he eventually went about to

convert them into his enemies Hemingway wanted to be the top dog of everythingmdash

especially the writing scenemdashand he didnrsquot want to share the spotlight with anyone else

Ernest felt ldquothat anyone elsersquos success diminished his ownrdquo (Hawkins 61) Hemingwayrsquos

writer friend Sherwood Anderson was the one in Chicago to suggest that Hemingway

and his newly-married first wife Hadley Richardson go to Paris instead of their planned

destination of Italy Anderson told the young Hemingway that Paris was where the

literary world was at that time and that it was also the place to get published This advice

75

was instrumental into turning Hemingway into the famed writer that he became Had it

not been for Anderson and his encouragement and faith in Hemingway Hemingway may

have never became a Nobel Prize winning writer Anderson gave Hemingway letters of

introduction to Gertrude Stein Sylvia Beach Ezra Pound and F Scott Fitzgerald Like

Harold Loeb Anderson also helped in getting Hemingwayrsquos In Our Time published

stressing its importance to Boni amp Liveright (Dearborn 177) Since Anderson pushed In

Our Time Boni amp Liveright did not want to upset itrsquos star writer so they agreed to

publish it (Hawkins 39)

However after all was said and done Hemingway wrote his satire Torrents of

Spring mocking Andersonrsquos writing style in order to try to get laughs and in order to get

out of his contract with his publisher Boni amp Liveright It worked Torrents of Spring

was rejected by Boni amp Liveright because Anderson was the companyrsquos star writer So

in lieu of this Hemingway was able to sign with Max Perkins and the publisher

Scribnerrsquos and Sons Yet in the process Hemingway had burned his bridge of friendship

with Anderson who had been so generous and helpful with the young budding writer

Others who knew of Andersonrsquos graciousness and kindness to Hemingway were appalled

by Torrents of Spring (Hawkins 44)

Hemingway was anti-Semitic mean and demeaning to people he berated them

and belittled them He thought that all guys should be macho Hemingway was not pure

evil but the evil produced by his unpredictable and uncontrollable temper pushed a lot of

peoplemdasheven one-time friendsmdashaway from him Archibald MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoHe was wonderful irreplaceable but an impossible friend a man you

76

couldnt get along with a man you couldnt get along withoutrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 167)

Robert Capa once told Leicester Hemingway ldquoPapa can be more severe than God on

a rough day when the whole human race is misbehavingrdquo (192) Hemingway was his

own worst enemy

Hemingway was not a good Catholic He was married four times and even

divorced a Catholic woman whom he later called his best wife (L Hemingway 271) It

is speculated that Hemingway had affairs with multiple women Hemingway would have

affairs before marrying his last two or three wives Hemingwayrsquos son Jack ldquoBumbyrdquo

Hemingway surmised that Hemingway had an affair with the beautiful blond Jane

Mason in 1933 (Hawkins 152) According to Jack ldquoErnest bragged to him that Jane

liked climbing through the transom to his [Hemingwayrsquos] room at the Ambos Mundos

Hotelrdquo (153) Moreover a prostitute was known to have visited the Finca Vigiacutea

Although Hemingway was Catholic he didnrsquot really change his behavior to live

in sync with the Bible or all Catholic teachings He followed the rituals of the Church

not so much a personal transformative side Yet claiming to be Catholic Hemingway

lived by his own code In the end although Hemingway was not a good person he had

some good memories of a childhood growing up and some good experiences as an adult

Even with his bad experiences Hemingway was able to incorporate them into his

literature Hemingwayrsquos keen insight his precise powers of observation his absorption

of the knowledge gained from others and the Protestant work ethic of his youth paid off

as Hemingway put all of his being into trying to be an honest writer writing one true

sentence at a time and helping his audience to see the world through open and honest

77

eyes to help his readers see feel and almost literally experience first-hand what he was

writing aboutmdashthe good the bad and the ugly Though a flawed human being

Hemingway was a brilliant writer and his brilliance lives on through his works of

literature

WORKS CITED

75

WORKS CITED

Backman Melvin ldquoHemingway The Matador and the Crucifiedrdquo Modern Fiction

Studies 13 (1955) 2-11

Baker Carlos Hemingway the Writer as Artist Princeton Princeton University Press

1963 Print

Berman Ron ldquoProtestant Catholic Jew The Sun Also Risesrdquo The Hemingway

Review 181 (1998) 33 Web

Blume Lesley MM Everybody Behaves Badly the True Story Behind Hemingwayrsquos

Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises Boston Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016

Print

Cohn-Sherbok Dan Anti-Semitism Brimscombe Port Stroud The History Press 2002

Print

Dearborn Mary V Ernest Hemingway a Biography New York Alfred A Knopf

2017 Print

Di Robilant Andrea Autumn in Venice Ernest Hemingway and his Last Muse New

York Alfred A Knopf 2018 Print

Djos Matts ldquoAlcoholism in Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises A Wine and Roses

Perspective on the Lost Generationrdquo The Hemingway Review 142 (1995) 64

Easton MG Illustrated Bible Dictionary 3rd ed Thomas Nelson 1897 Bible Study

Toolscom Web 1 Dec 2018

ESV Study Bible English Standard Version Wheaton Crossway Bibles 2008 Print

Copyright by

Jeremiah Ewing

2019

All Rights Reserved

This work is dedicated to my father Larry Eugene Ewing who finished his Masterrsquos in

Liberal Arts in 2004 from California State University Sacramento and encouraged me to

pursue my own

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks to Dr Lyle Smith who helped and guided me through the process

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

COPYRIGHT PAGE ii

DEDICATION

CHAPTER

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

TABLE OF CONTENTSv

ABSTRACT vi

1 INTRODUCTION 1

New Historicism 1The Cultural Context and Overview of the Chapters to Follow 4

2 HEMINGWAY AND JUDAISM6

Historical Overview of Judaism6Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in his Novels 15

3 HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY 28

4 HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY 48

5 CONCLUSION71

WORKS CITED 74

v

ABSTRACT

Despite having been raised a Congregational Protestant Ernest Hemingway

abandoned the faith of his youth after he left homemdashespecially after he experienced

destruction and death in the Italian theater during World War I In the following years

Hemingway converted to Catholicism when he married his second wife Pauline Pfeifer

Hemingway also had an anti-Semitic streak often using racial slurs and even making the

villain in his first novel The Sun Also Rises to be a rich Jew This thesis uses new

historicism as the critical lens through which to view Hemingwayrsquos attitude towards

Judaism and Christianity It includes an investigation of his biography and some of his

novels Though he practiced Catholicism he sometimes had negative things to say about

it Yet his later novels show an increased level of spirituality culminating in The Old

Man and the Sea

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

This thesis utilizes new historicism as a lens through which to view Hemingwayrsquos

attitude towards religion and spirituality It involves first a brief explanation of this

perspective and then an investigation of Hemingwayrsquos life and several of his novels

New Historicism

Stephen Greenblatt gets the credit for coining the term ldquonew historicismrdquo in a

1982 issue of Genre (Harpham 363) Greenblatt saw new historicism as a practice not a

doctrine Greenblatt preferred the term ldquocultural poeticsrdquo in lieu of the term new

historicism New historicism is cultural interpretation New historicism searches the real

and the raw and claims to give a new approach to history Brook Thomas sees new

historicism as linking a bridge to the literary past (Thomas 182) It claims to give a new

approach to history providing a new angle from which to view the past According to

Thomas ldquoNew historicism suggests the newness of the pastrdquo (25) According to Joel

Fineman new historicism ldquoproposes to introduce a novelty or an innovation something

lsquo[n]ewrsquo into the closed and closing historiography of successive innovationrdquo (qtd in

Harpham 362) New historicism suggests that through an understanding of the past the

reader will see the past through new eyes and as it was seen in the past itself (Thomas

187) Plus new historicism seeks to represent those who were not represented in the

past New historicism is categorized as ldquoAgainst Theoryrdquo (187) Yet it is a theory in its

own respect New historicism questions whether dominant cultural forces predominate or

2

if cultural power is potentially undermined by other underlying destabilizing forces

(Harpham 360)

New historicism incorporates the reading of ldquoboth literary and non-literary textsrdquo

in order to understand the past from the point of view of the past (Kerridge 10)

Literature is defined as a cultural construct being unique to its own era and it is ldquoshaped

by the many peoples and discourses of that erardquo (10) New historicists believe that texts

should be viewed from their original setting and from the cultural context of that

particular period (10) Jane Tompkins in writing from the new historicist perspective

tries to sympathetically recreate the context in which literary works were produced and

the specific problems to which these literary works were devoted (185) Put simply new

historicism seeks to understand writers via their own historical terms (Veeser 186) New

historicists hope that by ldquoReconstructing an era from the materials it produced the

historian could sympathetically reinhabit the pastrdquo (89) Using the new historicist model

texts can reveal insights about the people that created them their discourses and their

ideology (Kerridge 10-11) In new historicism ldquoliterary and non-literary textsrdquo are given

equal scrutiny and regard (11) Consequently literature is a unique by-product of the

culture from which it originated and sheds unique insight into that culture

Despite Greenblattrsquos preference for his own term ldquocultural poeticsrdquo the term

new historicism stuck Whereas Greenblatt coined the term some scholars see Michel

Foucault as the power behind the method (Harpham 369) Foucault encouraged a group

of young scholars at Berkeley to promote new historicism in their journal

3

Representations In addition Foucault seemed to learn from this group Foucaultrsquos

ldquomost identifiable legacy in American literary studiesrdquo was new historicism (370)

New historicism claims to represent the real by defining the real as the textual

(360) According to Harpham ldquoLiterature is traditionally said to produce an lsquoethicalrsquo

effect through its ability to transcend its historical momentrdquo (374) Harpham says that the

real is defined as the local the material and the specific He also notes that ldquoA lsquonewrsquo

historicism promises knowledge of the past that really is knowledge that discloses the

object as in itself it really was that is not simply a reflex or internal mirroring of

contemporary self-awarenessrdquo (362) It is the goal of the new historicist to be objective

instead of subjective For instance the subjective seeks to define history through

personal tastes feelings and opinions New historicism is the opposed to this New

historicism seeks to present the past as it really was without the modern biases and

prejudices of those currently researching it New historicism tries to see through the eyes

and minds of the people who actually lived through and experienced history It tries to

understand the mindset and the feelings of the people of the time period in question

What people thought and how people thought is important Todayrsquos current beliefs

should be left out of the mix Past beliefs are essential to understanding the thinking

processes of the past

4

The Cultural Context and Overview of the Chapters To Follow

Ernest Hemingway was a man of his times Like many of his Lost Generation

after the Great War (in particular) he abandoned the faith of his youth although he quite

possibly did earlier World War I cemented this rejection In Hemingwayrsquos twenties he

married and then committed adultery According to Hemingway biographer Mary V

Dearborn he liked to marry those with whom he slept Hemingway started attending

religious services again after his second marriage to the rich Catholic Pauline Pfeiffer

Hemingway lived as an expat in Paris during the Roaring 20s Hemingwayrsquos friends

were newspapermen artists and writers Paris was hedonistic in those days After the

carnage and terror of World War I the returning Lost Generation just wanted to live life

to the utmost and the fullest In early-twentieth-century Paris Hemingway lived in an

atmosphere of lax morals Anything went In consequence he conformed to the culture

around him Some of Hemingwayrsquos literary friends were anti-Semitic Perhaps they

influenced him but Hemingway eventually showed signs of anti-Semitism too

Moreover some of the authors that Hemingway read especially as he was trying to

become a better writer were anti-Semitic themselves Living in predominantly Catholic

France converting to Catholicism at the insistence of his second wife was an easy task

for Hemingway Many of his friends were CatholicmdashJames Joyce being one At the

time Hemingway was just a conforming product of the culture and attitudes of those

around him He wanted to fit it inmdashhe wanted to be one of the boysmdashyet throughout his

life and his writing he was haunted by death and he wanted to find a spiritual solution to

his many struggles

5

Chapter 2 investigates Hemingway and Judaism and Chapter 3 centers on

Hemingway and Christianity In Chapter 4 the author argues that although he didnrsquot turn

out to be a good person and was vindictive against fellow writers critics and others

Hemingway was a good writer and used all his experiences good and bad to bring across

the truth and reality of life in his works of literature Hemingwayrsquos last novel Old Man

and the Sea provides the clearest statement of his spiritual and religious perspective

6

CHAPTER 2

HEMINGWAY AND JUDIASM

Historical Overview of Judaism

Anti-Semitism or hatred of Jews has been around since the rise of Judaism In

the Old Testament Pharaoh was the first political leader known to persecute the Jews

Pharaoh was concerned with the growing Jewish population and their loyalty Among

many other things he tried to kill Jewish ldquofirst-born sonsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 13) Next in

the Old Testament Haman tried to have the Jews killed off under Queen Esther

However most scholars agree that anti-Semitism came into its own in the years after

Christ left this earth For example Dan Cohn-Sherbok argues that ldquoit was only when

Christianity emerged in the first century CE that Jews came to be viewed as contemptible

and demonicrdquo (17)

Unfortunately the intensity of anti-Semitism in Christianity was mainly due to

misinterpretation In earlier centuries AD people could not read Scripture for themselves

and they were consequently misled In those days people had faith in and trusted the

Catholic Church seeing the pope as infallible Some misinterpreted Scripture to say that

the Jews were responsible for Christrsquos death However Scripture emphasizes that Christ

died for all so consequently he died for everyone If one looks at it from that point of

view then everyone past present and future were are and will be responsible for

Christrsquos death Yet some didnrsquot look at it that way In fact the Apostle Paul went out of

his way to preach and try to reach Jews first

7

Paul wrote in Romans 116 ldquoFor I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the

power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the

Greekrdquo (English Standard Version) John 422 reads ldquoYou worship what you do not

know we [Jews] worship what we know for salvation is from the Jewsrdquo In Romans

1117-18 Paul suggests that Gentile believers are just grafted into the Jewish promise ldquoIf

some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive were grafted in

among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree [then] do

not be arrogant toward the branches but if you are arrogant remember that it is not you

who supports the root but the root supports yourdquo Unfortunately some uninformed

early Christians did not put two and two together For some it was believed that the

Christian Church took the place of Israel which isnrsquot accurate Some believed that ldquothe

Church was the true inheritor of Godrsquos promisesrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 45) It was

believed that Jews no longer had a covenant with God and that Christians had completely

overshadowed and replaced Israel in that covenant This is not true

Acts 1346 reads of preaching to the Jews first ldquoIt was necessary that the word of

God be spoken to you firstrdquo Jesus also a Jew promoted preaching to the Jews first In

Matthew 125-6 Jesus says to the twelve disciples ldquoGo nowhere among the Gentiles and

enter no town of the Samaritans but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israelrdquo

(English Standard Version) In Matthew 1524 Jesus says ldquoI was sent only to the lost

sheep of the house of Israelrdquo (English Standard Version) The first Christians were a

group of Jews Jews were different so eventually urban legends sprang up without

accurate facts and the knowledge of Judaismrsquos teachings some people latched onto these

8

false assumptions and believed the lies that others were propagating about the Jews For

instance Jews were accused of murdering Christian children and then using their blood

for ritual practices It was believed that Jews used the blood of murdered Christian

children ldquoin the preparation of unleavened bread for Passoverrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 54) The

ritual murder charge was a misunderstanding (81) In fact in the fourteenth century

Jews were accused of bringing about the Black Death by poisoning the wells and springs

(60 67) This assertion first gained credence in southern France (81) Yet Jews suffered

and died under the Black Death as well This is an example of the Jews being blamed as

scapegoats

In the early Church the Bishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom accused the

early Hebrews of sacrificing ldquotheir sons and daughters to demons andrdquo eating their own

children (37 47) Chrysostom said of synagogues ldquoto go there was no better than

visiting a brothel a robberrsquos den or any indecent place [it is] a theatre a house of

prostitution and domicile of the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom said that the Jews ldquohave

surpassed the ferocity of wild beasts since they murder their offspring and immolate

them to the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom also accused the Jews of worshipping the devil Yet

Jeremiah 313b reads in reference to Israel ldquoI have loved you with an everlasting love

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to yourdquo (English Standard Version) If so-

called Christians would have accurately read this during this period they would have

seen that God loves his people and his nation Israel But some Christians thought that

the Christian Church entirely replaced Godrsquos Covenant with the Jews Consequently

Chrysostom said that Christians must hate the Jews (Cohn-Sherbok 47) Yet hatred is an

9

anti-Christian doctrine In Matthew 544 Jesus says ldquoBut I say to you Love your

enemies and pray for those who persecute

yourdquo (English Standard Version)

False conceptions of the Jews even seemed to be found among some of the

Church Fathers Some of the Church Fathers were frustrated that the Jews would not

convert to Christianity nor would they renounce their Judaism In some cases the quest

for converts became a competition Cohn-Sherbok writes ldquoDuring the same period

Tertullian the African Church Father called the synagogues of his day lsquofountains of

persecution of Christiansrsquordquo (46) Justin Martyr ldquorelated that Jews laugh curse and insult

Jesusrdquo (46) Jerome referred to Jews as Judases (47) In fact Judas was thought to be

ldquosymbolic of the Jewish peoplerdquo (84) In the New Testament ldquothe figure of Judas

was associated in the public mind with deviousness and treacheryrdquo (83)

Desecration of the communion host became another false charge against the Jews

as the then-Christians believed in the doctrine of transubstantiation In the doctrine of

transubstantiation the communion bread and wine (of the Eucharist) literally becomes

the body and blood of Jesus During this time it was believed that Jews stole the host in

order ldquoto assault it and thereby torture Christrdquo (80) The charge of desecration of the

Host was a hallucinatory fantasy (82) However the Jews did not believe in the Doctrine

of Transubstantiation which was affirmed at Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 (80) Only

Catholics believe this doctrine today Since the Jews did not believe in

transubstantiation they would in all likelihood not have attacked the host because they

10

couldnrsquot believe that they were actually attacking Christ in the process Desecration of

the Host was a wild belief and a total fantasy

In some cases the Talmud was burned because it was believed to be anti-

Christian Agobard Archbishop of Lyons believed that Jews stole Christian children

and sold them to Arabs (64) He also believed that Jews seduced Christian women All

sorts of wild beliefs developed about Jews many without factual basis It was all

conjecture and imagination In Germany ldquoa French monk Radulph went about preaching

that Jews were enemies of God and should be persecutedrdquo (65) As previously

mentioned the Jews were scapegoats they were blamed for everything During the

witch-hunting crazed days of the fifteenth century Jews were seen as being in cahoots

with witches and the devil (71) During this time it was believed that the Jews were born

misshapen hemorrhoidal and both sexes afflicted with menstruation In Trnava

Slovakia it was believed that Christian blood was an excellent means by which ldquoto cure

the wound produced by circumcisionrdquo (71)

For the duration of the Middle Ages ldquoChristians viewed Jews as sorcerers able to

cast spells against their enemiesrdquo (72) It was believed consequently that the Jews were

capable of working magic against Christians During the Black Death it was also

believed that Jews wanted to poison Christians In fact ldquoJews were accused of using

Christian blood for magical purposesrdquo (73) The little contact that these early Christians

had with Jews also led to their paranoia viewing the Jews as an alien mysterious and

strange people (74) Urban legends seemed to sprout up due to the lack of knowledge

Ignorance of Jews reigned

11

Jewish medicine too became suspect It was claimed that high rulers were killed

off through Jewish medicine During the Middle Ages the Vienna Faculty of Medicine

thought that ldquothe private code of Jewish doctors required them to murder one patient in

tenrdquo (77) Jews were eventually thought to possess attributes of the devil The Jews

ldquowere perceived as having horns tails and the beard of a goat and could be recognized

by their noxious smell the foetor judaiumlcusrdquo (79) Consequently the Jews were seen as

sub-human It was believed that Jews lacked morality anything went with them Jews

were so despised that they were exiled from countries At different times Spain France

and England expelled their Jewish populations In some instances they were invited

back

The charges against Jews were grotesque fantasies Tracts were written against

the Jews One such read of the Jews ldquolsquoDemons from hell race of the Jews detestable

men more accursed than Lucifer and more wicked than all the devils cruel tigers be

gone unworthy as you are to live among us when you thirst so for bloodrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 86)

Martin Luther at first favored the Jews writing a pamphlet That Christ was Born

a Jew However after he was unable to convert the Jews to his Protestant Reformed

Christian faith he became anti-Semitic So ldquoLuther stressed that they [the Jews] are the

most contemptible of all peoplesrdquo (90) Luther wrote ldquorsquomake no mistake that aside from

the Devil you have no enemy more venomous more desperate more bitter than a true

Jew who truly seeks to be a Jewrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90) Moreover ldquoMartin Luther

speculated that if the Jews could kill Christians they would gladly do sordquo (73)

12

Of the Jews Luther believed that ldquoThose who tolerate them [the Jews] will incur

great loss lsquoWhoever wishes to accept venomous serpents desperate enemies of the Lord

and to honour them to let himself be robbed pillaged corrupted and cursed by them

need only turn to the Jewsrsquordquo (90) Luther suggested of the Jews ldquoTheir synagogues

should be set on fire and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over

with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of itrdquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 90) Luther wrote ldquoTheir [Jewsrsquo] homes should likewise be broken down and

destroyed For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues

they should be deprived of their prayerbooks [sic] and Talmud in which idolatry lies

cursing and blasphemy are taught their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death

to teach any morerdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther also wrote ldquoPassport and travelling privileges should be absolutely

forbidden to the Jews They ought to be stopped from usury Let the young and

strong Jews and Jewesses be given the flail the axe the hoe the spade the distaff and

spindle and let them earn their bread by the sweat of their browrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok

90) Luther called the Jews an ldquoinsufferable devilish burdenrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther said that Jews were ldquochildren of the Devil condemned to the flames of hellrdquo (qtd

in Cohn-Sherbok 91) Luther believed that the Jews should be despised Luther even

thought that ldquothe Jews are worse than the devilsrdquo (91) Luther saw the Jews as

ldquoinstigators of social and economic corruptionrdquo (94) Luther thought that the Jews

wanted to ldquodestroy Christian civilizationrdquo (95)

13

Luther saw himself in a fight against Satan in the Jews Despite Lutherrsquos anti-

Semitism a good thing did emerge out of the Protestant Reformation Scripture was

translated into the common vernacular so that literate people could see what the Bible

said for themselves instead taking a priestrsquos or a popersquos word for it This led to literate

Christians seeing the Jews through the lens of Scripture instead of through anti-Jewish

sermons and hear-say from church leaders

In Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century the Jews were seen as favoring political

revolution and as having played a role in the revolutionary activities of the era (231)

This viewpoint started after the revolutions of 1848 (244) and it is not entirely off the

mark For example Karl Marx was a Jew Although not all Jews were revolutionaries

Nicholas Reynolds says that ldquoMore than a few Russian revolutionaries were Jewish one

reaction to the state-sanctioned anti-Semitism and the resulting pogroms that occurred

with frightening regularityrdquo (Writer Sailor Solider Spy 72) Capitalism also came to be

associated with the Jewsmdashparticularly its vices (Cohn-Sherbok 248) In the United

States the Jews were blamed for the Russian Revolution (231) There was fear of the

Jews or Judaeophobia A writer that Hemingway read was the anti-Semitic Fyodor

Dostoyevsky Perhaps this helped to influence Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

Dostoyevsky wrote ldquoLike a vast tightening net the power of assimilated Jewry stretches

over the whole world and no matter where we set foot we are caught in it We must

struggle to our last drop of blood against the insidious Judaization of Europe and

especially of Germanismrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 232)

14

In 1912 the Marconi Affair hit Great Britain Two leading Jewish politicians

Rufus Isaacs and Herbert Samuels were implicated in this corruption scandal

Eyewitness reported ldquoIsaacsrsquo brother is the president of the Marconi Company Isaacs

and Samuels have privately arranged to have the British people pay the Marconi

Company a considerable sum of money through the intermediary of Samuels and for

Isaacsrsquo benefitrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 236) In wake of the Marconi Affair one of

Hemingwayrsquos early favorite writers Rudyard Kipling ldquodedicated a hymn of hate to the

affairrdquo (236) Like the biblical greedy and crafty servant (of the prophet Elisha) Gehazi

who is punished with leprosy for his sins Kiplingrsquos poem ldquowas intended to illustrate the

cunning of these Jewish [Marconi] politiciansrdquo (236)

Once America made its foray into World War I ldquoJews were seen as participants

in international conspiracyrdquo (240) Americans thought that the Jews might be part of the

Russian Revolution In the literary world ldquoa number of writers commented on the evil

influence of Jewryrdquo (241) Hemingwayrsquos one-time-friend and literary mentor F Scott

Fitzgerald was one such example In fact Fitzgerald negatively portrayed New York

Jewish merchants in his novel The Beautiful and the Damned

Down in a tall busy street he read a dozen Jewish names on a line of stores In

the door of each stood a dark little man [Jew] watching the passersby with intent

eyes eyes gleaming with suspicion with pride with clarity with cupidity with

comprehension New Yorkmdashhe could not dissociate it now from the slow

upward creep of this people The little stores growing expanding consolidating

15

moving watched over with hawkrsquos eyes and a beersquos attention to detail (qtd in

Cohn-Sherbok 241)

This anti-Semitic view of Jews could have influenced Hemingway whether he read the

book or if Fitzgerald made his anti-Semitic views known to Hemingway The same

could be said of Ezra Pound Ezra Pound was a big anti-Semite and one of Hemingwayrsquos

friends It could be questioned if Ezra Pound influenced Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

In July of 1943 Pound was indicted for treason due to his anti-Semitic pro-Fascist radio

broadcasts from Italy (Dearborn 491) Poundrsquos radio broadcasts ldquowere shocking even

vilemdashhe recommended The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf he spoke of

the lsquo60 kikes who started this warrsquo and asserted lsquoThe Jew is a savagersquordquo (491) Later

due to Hemingwayrsquos suggestion Pound pleaded insanity and spent several years in an

Institution Hemingwayrsquos one-time friend Donald Ogden Stewart who was present for

the Pamplona bull fights in 1925 ldquotook the blame for having been the probable inspiration

for Bill Gortonrsquos [a character in The Sun Also Rises] anti-Semitic remarks and

exclamationsrdquo (Blume 123) Stewart wrote that ldquoI have no doubt that I was really

basically anti-Semitic in those days as probably also was Hemingwayrdquo (123) Lesley

Blume stresses that Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism ldquowas not a deep-rooted hatred like

the variety that gave rise to Nazismrdquo (123) Stewart referred to Hemingwayrsquos anti-

Semitism as ldquoa form of social snobbishness something that people simply took for

granted [during that time]rdquo (Blume 123) One would think that after the Holocaust

Hemingway would cease his anti-Semitic comments but he still continued In

16

Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century ldquoAmerican literature repeatedly described Jews in the

most unsavoury (sic) termsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 249)

The French also saw the Jews as having played a part in the Russian Revolution

(241) In France where Hemingway lived part of his literary life Alphonse Toussenel

wrote ldquoThe Jews King of the Epoch [in which] he blamed the Jews for the ills afflicting

societyrdquo (248) In France ldquoAccording to Edouard-Adolphe Drumont in La France Juive

the [French] Revolution had benefited only the Jewsrdquo (248) Edouard-Adolphe Drumont

caricatured the Jews as being hook-nosed possessing ldquohuge ears soft hands and arms of

unequal lengthrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 248) In France the Dreyfus Affair of the

nineteenth century had ratcheted up the prominence and appeal of French anti-Semitism

Yet the logical consequence of anti-Semitism took place years later during World War II

when Hitler instituted the Holocaust Of course Hemingway knew of this deadly result

of anti-Semitism but it is unknown how much it changed his view of Jews as later he

did show some more anti-Semitic behavior Perhaps old habits die hard

Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in His Novels

Unfortunately Hemingway was an anti-Semite To what degree is unknown

Some say that Hemingway was mildly or casually anti-Semitic (Hendrickson 32)

However in fits of anger Hemingway would hurl anti-Semitic slurs at those he knew to

be Jews Yet ironically ldquoHemingway knew admired and imitated Jewsrdquo like his friend

and literary mentor Gertrude Stein (Berman 39) Hemingway was also friends with

Harold Loeb a Jewish man (Dearborn 192) Hemingway and Loeb had played tennis

17

boxed and wrestled together In The Sun Also Rises the character of Robert Cohn is

based upon Harold Loeb Hemingway once had good things to say of Loeb On March

4 1925 Hemingway wrote to William B Smith of Loeb ldquoA hell of a good guy

Loeb is a male you can wrestle wit He aint been throwed since he learned in Princeton-

only weighs 150 about Heavy weights cant throw him Hersquos never wrestled pros or of

course hersquos have got throwed Still he aint been throwed I tried to throw him and he

throwed me in no timerdquo (sic throughout Hemingway in Katakis 28) In The Sun Also

Rises the Loeb Robert Cohn character is also Jake Barnesrsquo tennis partner (13) Despite

all his anti-Semitism later Hemingway married the half-Jewish reporter and writer

Martha Gellhorn as his third wife (Stoneback 136) Unfortunately it is exactly unknown

why Hemingway was anti-Semitic It would seem that the times in which he lived played

a role

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway has a stereo-typical Jewish character Robert

Cohn that he portrays as a proud rich weak self-pitying self-doubting awkward

sniveling whining misbehaving mannerless undesirable unremarkable and

dysfunctional killjoy who is an outsider and a drag on everyonersquos spirits Cohn is

supposed to represent all Jews (Berman 39) In fact Hemingway goes so far as to write

that Jews are inferior Hemingway writes of Cohn ldquoHe cared nothing for boxing in fact

he disliked it but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of

inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princetonrdquo (Sun 11) Loeb

had also gone to Princeton

18

Hemingway based almost the entire book of The Sun Also Rises on a real life

event that happened when Loeb Lady Duff Twysden and Pat Guthrie (Lady Duffrsquos

cousin and boyfriend) joined him Hemingwayrsquos first wife Hadley Richardson Don

Stewart and Bill Smith in Pamplona for the Festival of San Fermiacuten in July of 1925

(Dearborn 188) In the novel this group goes to Pamplona to have fun They join in the

Spanish Festival of San Fermiacuten where they drink excessively party and watch

professional bullfights All this time the Harold Loeb character Robert Cohn follows

his former lover Lady Brett Ashely around like a lap-dog and from the perspective of

the other festival-goers makes everyone else miserable

Hemingwayrsquos publication of this event into fiction hurt many of the real-life

players in the memorable drama The real Lady Brett Ashley Lady Duff Twysden later

referred to the book as nothing more than ldquocheap reportingrdquo (qtd in Blume 206) Former

Hemingway friend Donald Ogden Stewart felt the same way In his 1975 memoir By a

Stroke of Luck Stewart still refused to give The Sun Also Rises ldquothe artistic stature that

others accorded itrdquo (Blume 230) Stewartrsquos son recalls that his dad would say ldquoThatrsquos

exactly what happened it was like a photographrdquo (qtd in Blume 230) So for Stewart

the novel was just a retelling of events it is did not utilize artistic narrative originality

Just as Robert Cohn had had an affair with Lady Brett Ashley so Loeb had had an

intimate relationship with Lady Duff Twysden Scholars are unsure as to whether

Hemingway had any serious relationship with Lady Duff however he was jealous He

liked her In his reasoning he had met Lady Duff first (Dearborn 188) ldquoEven though

[Hemingway] had no plans to sleep with Duff himself that didnrsquot mean according to his

19

logic that she was fair game for Harold [Loeb]rdquo (188) Hemingway was protective of

Lady Duff and Hemingway saw Loeb as a snake (189) Perhaps Loebrsquos success with

Lady Duff finally pushed Hemingway against him

Mary V Dearborn notes that Hemingway was also jealous that Loebrsquos book

Doodab was coming out before his ownmdashLoebrsquos in May Hemingwayrsquos in October

(191) Hemingway was very competitive in his writing career In fact before

Hemingway made it as a fiction writer Harold Loeb had gone so far as to help

Hemingway get his first book of short stories In Our Time published (204) It is noted

that ldquoHarold [Loeb] rescued In Our Time from the returns pile at [Boni amp] Liveright [the

publishing company] he fought for the book and he was instrumental in getting it

publishedrdquo (192) Loeb had pleaded with Boni amp Liveright ldquoHold it Give it [In Our

Time] another reading I know what Irsquom talking aboutrdquo (Hawkins 39) In fact if it

were not for the persistence of his well-connected friends Hemingway may have quite

possibly never been published at all since his manuscripts had been repeatedly rejected

Unfortunately Hemingway did not like to give credit to others for helping him to rise in

his profession He wanted to take all the credit and the glory for himself He wanted to

be self-sufficient In addition having not gone to college Hemingway was leery of

college-educated men He felt inferior to them and he would try to compete with them in

order to make himself look and feel better Since Harold Loeb was a Princeton graduate

Hemingway was possibly disdainful of this and in all likelihood held it against Loeb

In trying to get In Our Time published Loeb took Hemingway to former Boni amp

Liveright vice president Leon Fleischmanrsquos Paris apartment (Blume 71) Previously

20

ldquoKitty Cannell [the Frances character in Sun] heard him [Hemingway] unthinkably use

lsquokikersquo with such casualness and scorn that she warned her Jewish lover Harold Loeb to

be careful with Hemingwayrdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 242) Kitty Cannell worried

that Hemingway ldquomight create a terrible scene in front of Fleischman and his wife

Helen She said as much to Loeb He brushed her offrdquo (Blume 71) After this meeting

with Fleischman Harold Loeb heard Hemingway malign Jews in his speech

Hemingway had a way of maligning making fun of and satirizing his friends and his

perceived enemies In the process he lost many friends and unnecessarily caused the

creation of many enemies In fact the release of The Sun Also Rises shocked Loeb as he

had thought that he and Hemingway were good friends (Dearborn 191-92)

Hemingway also turned on his former Jewish mentor Gertrude Stein

Hemingway got mad at Stein when she would not write a review for his new book In

Our Time Stein wanted to wait and see if Hemingway was going to be a success first

On November 8 1925 Hemingway commented to Ezra Pound of Stein ldquoWhat a lot of

safe playing kikesrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 38) Later in life after they broke with each

other Hemingway and Stein would arguemdashthrough writingmdashand trade barbs with one

another Hemingway would mock Stein In his article for Esquire in the April 1934

issue ldquoAD in Africa A Tanganyika Letterrdquo Hemingway wonders ldquohow much Buddha

at that age would resemble Gertrude Steinrdquo (Hemingway in White 159)

Hemingway was also against the troubled literary critic Dorothy Parker

(Dearborn 247) The half-Jewess Dorothy Parker was tough in her literary criticism yet

she gave Hemingway great reviews She adored Hemingway but Hemingway didnrsquot

21

return the feelings (Blume 155) Parker and Hemingway had met in New York In

Hemingway Parker thought that she had found a kindred spirit (156) During

Hemingwayrsquos New York visit Parker ldquobecame so engrossed in his tales of the Left Bank

that she shunted aside her skepticism and decided on the spot to move abroadrdquo (156)

Parker became for Hemingway a strong ally among literary critics Blume notes of

Parker ldquoIn years to come she would also pen several adoring Hemingway profiles and

book reviewsrdquo (156) Hemingway and Parker became so familiar that eventually

Hemingway started calling Parker ldquoDottyrdquo (156) Parker was so taken with Hemingway

that her ldquodevotion to him bordered on idolatryrdquo (158) But Parkerrsquos love for Hemingway

was a useful tool in Hemingwayrsquos arsenal

Unfortunately Parker was probably not stable She had tried to kill herself twice

within three years She confided in Hemingway ldquoabout a late-stage abortion she had

recently undergone about attempting suicide and about some other recent bad luck in

her liferdquo (qtd in Dearborn 247) During their conversation Hemingway discovered that

Parker did not like Spain For Parker ldquoPretty much everything about the countrymdashfrom

its treatment of animals to the rump-pinching habits of Spanish menmdashhad appalled herrdquo

(Blume 193) Moreover ldquoIn Barcelona she had walked out of a bullfight after a bull

gored a horse and declared that she found matadors disgustingrdquo (193) Back in Paris with

Hemingway ldquoParker had imparted these impressions to Hemingway for whom such

views amounted to sacrilegerdquo (193) Hemingway was offended by this and like other

things Hemingway took this personally to heart as he was an ardent Hispanophile loving

the Spanish country its people the slow pace of life and its culture (Dearborn 247)

22

Finally Hemingway ldquohad little sympathy for the self-inflicted wounds of a caustic and

comparatively pampered urbaniterdquo (Blume 194)

Later ldquoErnest wrote a long cruel poem about Parker not published until both

were dead called lsquoTo a Tragic Poetessrsquo revealing the personal details she had evidently

related during their most recent meetingrdquo (Dearborn 247-48) In the poem Hemingway

ldquoreferred to the dead fetus noted that she had all too conveniently failed in her suicide

attempts and mocked her failures with men He was pointedly mean about her being

Jewish referring to lsquothe Jewish cheeks of your plump assrsquordquo (248) The second half of

Hemingwayrsquos poem ldquoconsists of insults piled on Parker and others who out of ignorance

about it do not appreciate Spain (inevitably bullfighting comes up)rdquo (248) Pauline

Pfeiffer didnrsquot like this poem and referred to it as ldquoabout twelve tents [tenths] out of water

mayberdquo (Hawkins 59) Pauline thought the poem shrill In 1926 at the home of Archie

and Ada McLeish Ernest read this poem ldquoTo a Tragic Poetessrdquo to the assembled

gathering to try to get some laughs (Dearborn 248) No laughs came Donald Ogden

Stewart called the poem ldquoviciously unfair and unfunnyrdquo (qtd in Blume 194) Because of

the reading of the poem the Stewarts kept their distance from Hemingway from there on

out and Don Stewart was never close to Hemingway again (Dearborn 248) Ironically

since the poem was never published until after Parkerrsquos death ldquoParker never learned

about the existence of the poem [and] unaware of its existence she continued to write

wildly enthusiastic reviews of Hemingwayrsquos work in The New Yorker and called him one

of her favorite writersrdquo (Blume 194) Parker also called Hemingway ldquothe greatest living

American short story writerrdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 164)

23

There is also other evidence of Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism In his early years at

Lake Walloon the Point where the young people always liked to fish was sold ldquoto two

Jews who wanted to build a club houserdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 114) Bill

Smith later recalled that he and Ernest had planned to throw rotten fish down the Jewsrsquo

chimney at the lake (M Reynolds Paris Years 252) In the mid-1920s Hemingway

wrote Ezra Pound calling the aspiring poet Dave OrsquoNeil a ldquorsquoCelto-Kikersquordquo (Dearborn

134) Hemingway also wrote of his friend Nathan Asch ldquoYou couldnrsquot tell [of Asch

being a talented writer] Jews go bad quicklyrdquo (163) Later in Key West Hemingway

referred to the town as a ldquoJew administered phony of a townrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 154)

At the time that Hemingway wrote this Key West was for all intents and purposes

bankrupt ldquounable to collect enough taxes to pay its billsrdquo (N Reynolds 7) Under the

New Deal the town of Key West had ldquopetitioned the governor to take over the cityrdquo

(Hendrickson 154) As such ldquoThe Florida branch of Franklin Delano Rooseveltrsquos

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) stepped in and took overrdquo (N

Reynolds 7) Plus under the New Deal the plan was to turn Key West into a tourist

destination making Hemingwayrsquos home on Whitehead Street one of the attractions (8)

This would interfere with Hemingwayrsquos deeply coveted privacy (8) Moreover

Hemingway was disillusioned with the government after some World War I veterans

were killed during a hurricane that hit some of the Florida Keys

Later In Cuba in May 1955 The Old Man and the Sea film version of the novel

was to be filmed Hemingwayrsquos Jewish friend Peter Viertel who was writing the

screenplay joked with Hemingway in order to try to break up the tension between Ernest

24

and the film producer kidding ldquoabout Santiago going out on the eighty-fifth day and not

catching a fishrdquo (Dearborn 573) This made Hemingway mad Narrowing his eyes and

gritting his teeth he said ldquoThe Jews have always had a superior attitude toward fishingmdash

probably because fish has never been part of their dietrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573) This

Jewish comment in turn made Viertel mad and he said that ldquohe thought Ernest had

gotten beyond his anti-Semitism with The Sun Also Risesrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573)

Hemingway felt contrite that he had lashed out against his friend Viertel and he

ldquoassured Peter he had never been anti-Semitic and matters were smoothed overrdquo (573-

74)

Some Jews have the last name Stein Especially in his youth Hemingway like to

refer to himself as Hemingstein or Stein According to Dearborn Hemingway was

referring to a stein of beer in this case (39) Other nicknames he used were Hymenstein

or the Great Steinway (Hendrickson 266) Catherine Reef thinks that these nicknames

sound Jewish She writes

The last one [nickname] amused him [Ernest] most because it sounded like a

Jewish name Like many young people in narrow-minded Oak Park Ernest grew

up thinking it was all right to make fun of people of different faiths and

backgrounds and he never fully let go of this attitude As an adult he

occasionally called himself Hemingstein or just Stein and although he had

Jewish friends he sometimes mocked them behind their backs (14)

25

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway refers to himself as the great psychiatrist Dr

Hemingstein (53) In real life Hemingwayrsquos son Gregory ldquoGigirdquo for short was known

as the Irish Jew (Hendrickson 245)

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway gives Cohn boxing as his only strength

ldquoThere was a certain inner comfort in knowing he could knock down anybody who was

snooty to himrdquo (11) Because of boxing Hemingway goes so far as to portray Cohn with

the stereotypical Jewish nose In the novel Cohn gets his nose broken during a boxing

bout The narrator Jake Barnes says of Cohnrsquos reworked nose ldquoit certainly improved

his noserdquo (11) Ironically Hemingway threatened a similar situation later in his life In

Spain at the Hotel Florida after a serious shelling during the Spanish Civil War some of

the guests including the movie producer Herb Klein wanted to switch their rooms to the

safer rooms in the back of the hotel At this point in his life Hemingway would hold

people to a higher standard of bravery than his own (Dearborn 387) So Hemingway

intimidated and bullied those Hotel Florida guests into keeping their rooms in lieu of

switching them saying they ldquowould be running away from the enemy capitulating to the

Fascistsrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 387) However in fact Hemingway had his own room in one

of the safer back parts of the hotel Then ldquoaccording to one observer he rode up with

[Herb] Klein in the elevator called him a coward and lsquojostledrsquo him saying lsquoIrsquod like to

flatten your big Jewish nosersquordquo (388)

In The Sun Also Rises nobody wants to be around Cohn He is trying to be an all-

round guy and a Protestant gentleman (Berman 44) However Ron Berman refers to him

as a fake gentleman Melvin Backman argues that Cohn lacks any real identity (4)

26

Although Cohn tries to assimilate and be chivalrous nobody accepts his behavior as

authentic Hemingway portrays Cohn as still ldquotoo different to acceptrdquo (38) Cohn is also

a show-off and he likes to brag For example in winning a ldquoseveral hundred dollarsrdquo in

bridge ldquoIt made him rather vain of his bridge game and he talked several times of how a

man could always make a living at bridge if he were ever forced tordquo (17) In another

instance Cohn likes to brag about his relationship with Brett ldquoHe was being confidential

now and it was giving him pleasure to be able to talk with the understanding that I knew

there was something between him and Brettrdquo (106) Moreover Cohnrsquos believed and

perceived superiority is offensive to Jakersquos friend Bill Gorton One time Bill Gorton

says of the approaching Cohn ldquoWell let him not get superior and Jewishrdquo (Sun 102)

This perceived superiority makes Jake extremely dislike Cohn

Why I felt that impulse to devil him I do not know Of course I do know I was

blind unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to him The fact that I took it

as a matter of course did not alter that any I certainly did hate him I do not

think I ever really hated him until he had that little spell of superiority at lunchmdash

that and when he went through all that barbering (105)

According to Dearborn the character of Bill Gorton is a combination of Bill

Smith and Don Ogden Stewart In the novel Bill really doesnrsquot like Jews Bill says of

his Jewish friends adding of Cohn ldquoOh yes Irsquove got some darbs But not alongside of

this Robert Cohn But hersquos just so awfulrdquo (107) Bill is blatantly anti-Semitic He

asks Jake of Brett and Cohn ldquoWhy didnrsquot she go off with some of her own peoplerdquo

(107) Mike adds to this criticism later when he comments ldquoBrettrsquos gone off with men

27

But they werenrsquot ever Jews and they didnrsquot come and hang around afterwardrdquo (148) Bill

Gorton makes a number of anti-Semitic slurs Before their fishing trip Bill says to Jake

ldquoAnd as for this Robert Cohn he makes me sick and he can go to hell and Irsquom damn

glad hersquos staying here so we wonrsquot have him fishing with usrdquo to which Jake agrees (108)

In another case Hemingway likens Cohn to an animal a steer Cohn likes to tag-

along with Brett (141) After a bull fight Cohn says ldquoItrsquos no life being a steerrdquo (145)

Mike sarcastically replies ldquoDonrsquot you think so I would have thought yoursquod loved

being a steer Robertrdquo (146) Being likened to a steer makes Cohn mad Mike partially

drunk says ldquoIs Robert Cohn going to follow Brett around like a steer all the timerdquo

(146) These demeaning remarks imply that Jews are sub-human

At one point Mike intimates that Cohnrsquos Jewishness disqualifies him from being

a part of the group ldquoDo you think you amount to something Cohn Do you think you

belong here among usrdquo (181) Mike says to Cohn ldquoIrsquom not one of your literary chaps

Irsquom not clever But I do know when Irsquom not wanted Why donrsquot you see when

yoursquore not wanted Cohn Go away Go away for Godrsquos sake Take that sad Jewish

face away Donrsquot you think Irsquom rightrdquo (181) In another instance when Cohn tells Brett

that he will stay with her Brett replies ldquoOh donrsquot For Godrsquos sake go off

somewhererdquo (184) Cohn is portrayed as leech-like a clinger similar to Jews accused of

usury bleeding people dry With the eternal theme of Jewish suffering Brett says of

Cohn ldquoI hate him too I hate his damned sufferingrdquo (186)

In his short story ldquoGod Rest You Merry Gentlemenrdquo published in 1933

Hemingway takes a less anti-Semitic approach to Jews In this story there are two

28

doctors Dr Wilcox and Dr Fischer Dr Wilcox is Christian while Dr Fischer is Jewish

A sixteen-year-old boy comes into the hospital and says that he wants to be castrated

because he is struggling with lust The boy is religious and to him lust is a problem Dr

Fischer is compassionate with the boy and genuinely seems interested in his predicament

Dr Fischer converses with the boy and finally tells him ldquoTherersquos nothing wrong with

you Thatrsquos the way yoursquore supposed to be Therersquos nothing wrong with thatrdquo (Short

Stories 299) The boy still sees himself as sinning Dr Fischer tells the boy that what he

is going through is natural and that later he will think himself fortunate (300) The boy

is adamant that he is wrong He doesnrsquot want to listen to Dr Fischerrsquos explanations

Logically Dr Fischer explains to the boy that there is nothing wrong with his body that

he has a good body and that if he is religious then in the future his body can help him

consummate the sacrament of matrimony (300)

Dr Wilcox takes a different approach He calls the boy a fool (300) Then the

boy leaves when he finds out that nobody will castrate him Dr Wilcox rudely says to

the boy ldquoOh go andmdashrdquo (300) Horst Kruse interprets the absence as meaning ldquojack-

offrdquo (62) The boy leaves and later he does try to castrate himself amputating himself

in the process When the boy returns to the hospital with life-threatening injuries Dr

Wilcox ironically isnrsquot in a hurry to try to save the boy as he doesnrsquot see the condition as

an emergency In the story it is Dr Fischer who has shown mercy on the boy not Dr

Wilcox Kruse sees Doc Fischer as the moral center of the story and suggests that

Hemingwayrsquos portrayal of Dr Fischerrsquos knowledgeable insight and humanity might be an

attempt to try to ldquoatone for his former anti-Semitismrdquo (72) Kruse argues that Dr Fischer

29

might even be seen as a Christ-figure a fisher of men (65) Other scholars speculate that

this story might have been an attempt for Hemingway to apologize for the way he treated

Harold Loebrsquos alter-ego Robert Cohn (Kruse 73) But this interpretation is problematic

AE Hotchner once asked Hemingway if he had remorse about the way he had portrayed

Loeb and the others in The Sun Also Rises (Blume 237) Hotchner asked Hemingway

ldquoso if you had it to do over would you have been softerrdquo (237) Hemingway replied to

Hotchner ldquoOh hell nordquo (237) Despite this possible attempt at atonement Hemingway

continued to make anti-Semitic statements after this story first came out

30

CHAPTER 3

HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY

Ernest Hemingway was a born on July 21 1899 in Oak Park Illinois then a

Protestant conservative bastion There in his earliest years Hemingwayrsquos maternal

grandfather Ernest Hall led his family and their servants after breakfast on their knees

in morning prayer (Dearborn 11 Hemingway-Sanford 14) Unlike the others

Grandfather Hall did not pray with his eyes closed nor his head bowed (Pawley 22)

Instead he prayed with his head upraised and ldquowith his arms stretched upward as if

locked in a face-to-face with Godrdquo (Dearborn 11) He also prayed in a thundering voice

(Pawley 22) Ernestrsquos older sister Marcelline Hemingway-Sanford noted that she liked

to peak out at Grandfather Hall through her fingers ldquobecause he seemed so surely to be

talking right to his friend Godrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 15) Marcelline suggested that

Grandfather Hall knew God intimately (14) In addition Grandfather Hall led daily

devotions for the household with the book Daily Strength for Daily Needs (Isabelle 2

Hemingway-Sanford 14) Even the cook and the maid were present at these family

gatherings Grandfather Hall also led grace at the table (Isabelle 2) and he would lead

the family in worship (Hemingway-Sanford 15) He was Episcopalian and he liked to be

referred to in the biblical term ldquoAbbardquo which refers to God as in ldquoAbba fatherrdquo (Isabelle

2 Mark 1436) Marcelline referred to Grandfather Hall as being a very religious man

(Hemingway-Sanford 14) Every Sunday he would go to Grace Episcopal Church

where kneeling on the Brussels carpet he would lead the church in evening prayer

31

(Pawley 21) He once said of his grandson Ernest to his mother Grace ldquothis boy is

going to be heard from someday If he uses his imagination for good purposes hersquoll be

famous but if he starts the wrong way with all his energy hersquoll end in jail and its up to

you which way he goesrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 12)

Ernestrsquos paternal grandfather Anson Hemingway converted to Christianity in

1859 (Dearborn 13) Anson was a descendent of Ralph Hemingway ldquowho came to

America with the Great Migration and through him from a line of Puritan and

Congregationalist ministersrdquo (12) Anson Hemingway was friends with the great

evangelist DL Moody and he closely worked with him (for a while) as the general

secretary at the Chicago YMCA (Dearborn 13 Hemingway-Sanford 18) Ernest idolized

his grandfather Hemingway (Pawley 21) Ernestrsquos mother whom Ernest came to hate

once wrote Ernest ldquoNot for nothing are you the great great grandson of that noble

Christian Rev William Edward Miller and the grandson of the finest purest noblest man

I have ever known Ernest Hallrdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 103-04) In fact

Ernest Miller Hemingway was named after his grandfather and the Miller line of Gracersquos

family Grace wrote to Ernest ldquoYou are born of a race of gentlemen who were clean

mouthed chivalrous to all women grateful and generous You were named for the two

finest and noblest gentleman I have ever known See to it that you do not disgrace their

memoriesrdquo (qtd in M Reynolds Young Hemingway 138) Ernestrsquos family were such

churchgoers that they had their own pews at the First Congregational Church

(Hemingway-Sanford 147)

32

On the flip side Ernestrsquos father was rigid (Pawley 23) In disciplining his

children Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often forced his ldquochildren on their knees to pray

to God for forgivenessrdquo (Isabelle 4) Sometimes Ernest mockingly referred to his father

as ldquothe Great Physicianrdquo a title that Jesus also holds as a healer of people (Hemingway-

Sanford 127) According to a Hemingway biographer (no name given)

Sin scared the life out of Ernest At night he prayed that he had been a good boy

during the day The trouble was a boy could never be sure if he had been good

he might have done something bad and not known it was bad It was so hard to

obey every rule so hard to please his mother his father his teachers his minister

his God so hard that sometimes it wasnrsquot worth trying and a boy felt like giving

up (qtd in Pawley 23)

Ernest grew up then with a great spiritual legacy and upbringing that he found at times

challenging and problematic

On Easter in 1911 at the Third Congregational Church Ernest and his sister

Marcelline were confirmed and they received their First Communionrdquo (Dearborn 33) It

was at this church that Ernestrsquos mother was the choir director she even had Ernestmdasha

sopranomdashand Marcelline sing in the choir (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 108 L

Hemingway 28) In his youth Ernest Hemingway and Marcelline joined a contest put on

by the adult advisor of the Christian Endeavor Society Mr Sweeney to see who could

read the entire King James Bible first (Dearborn 37 Hemingway-Sanford 135) It was

Mr Sweeneyrsquos idea and he offered a prize (Hemingway-Sanford 135) Although Ernest

did not win he and Marcelline did complete the reading of the whole Bible (Dearborn

33

37) In addition Ernest and Marcelline passed a comprehensive test on what they had

read (Pawley 24) Additionally as a youth Ernest was given ldquoan allowance of one penny

per year of age each weekrdquo out of which he gave a tithe to the Sunday school (24) At

the age of fourteen Ernest starred in a Sunday school play at the Third Congregational

Church (24) After his parents transferred their membership to the First Congregational

Church Hemingway and Marcelline joined the Plymouth League where Ernest often led

Sunday afternoon services (Dearborn 33 Isabelle 7-8 Pawley 24 Hemingway-Sanford

147) Marcelline notes that ldquothe refreshments served after the meetings were quite an

attraction for the high school membersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 147) For the Plymouth

League Ernest took turns at being the treasurer the program chairman and sometimes

the speaker at the meetings At church Ernest and Marcelline also played in the church

orchestra Once Ernest and his four brothers and sisters dressed as Chinese and Japanese

citizens in order to phonetically sing the Japanese national anthem (147-48) Yet when

Hemingway went to Italy for World War I he saw and experienced the horrors of war

Perhaps because of this and through his teenage years Hemingway went astray from

his religious upbringing While in Italy Ernest met and fell in love with a nurse Agnes

von Kurowsky He loved her and wanted to start a new life with her in America

Hemingway wrote to William D Horne Jr about this on March 30 1919 ldquoBut Bill Irsquove

loved Ag Shersquos been my ideal and Bill I forgot all about religion and everything else-

because I had Ag to worship All I wanted was Ag and happinessrdquo (Hemingway in

Katakis XXV) This letter shows Hemingway distancing himself from religion in Italy

and replacing it with the woman he loved This is similar to how Catherine Barkley

34

made her lover Frederic Henry her religion in A Farewell to Arms (452) Unfortunately

for his parents Hemingway became a prodigal son and he never returned to the faith of

his youth (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 139)

Despite having turned away from his faith Hemingway could never entirely get

away from his upbringing and Oak Park mores For instance in his first marriage to

Hadley Richardson Hemingway was sometimes shocked by Hadleyrsquos language In fact

despite the fact that Hemingway used those very same words he didnrsquot think it proper for

a woman to use them (163) Hemingway still prayed ldquowhen he was courting Hadley

[he] asked her if she would pray with him in the Milan cathedral as Agnes would notrdquo

(Stoneback 110-11) Hadley responded that she would ldquoI am doing the best thing a

woman can do for a man Bringing you back to religionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 125-26)

Stoneback asserts that there is abundant evidence that Hemingway ldquoliked to pray in

Catholic churches and cathedrals years before he met Paulinerdquo (113)

Before going to World War I Hemingway worked for the Kansas City Star

While there Hemingwayrsquos mother learned that Ernest ldquohad stopped going to churchrdquo and

she sent off an angry letter to him (Reef 24) In one of his letters to his mother

Hemingway wrote ldquoYou know I donrsquot rave about religion but am as sincere a Christian

as I can be I believe in God and Jesus Christ have hopes for a hereafter and creeds

donrsquot matterrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) In addition prior to going to the Great War Ernestrsquos

father encouraged Ernest to associate with strong Christian YMCA men (M Reynolds

Young Hemingway 128) In his letters to Ernest Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often

sounded like a minister (171)

35

Upon his return to Oak Park after the war Hemingway wore his war uniform

around for four months and gave talks of his war experience Marcelline Hemingway

says that this was because Ernestrsquos long boots helped support his injured and weakened

legs Yet Hemingway lied and embellished his wartime experience This behavior is

just like that of Harold Krebs in Hemingwayrsquos short story ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

would lie and attribute ldquoto himself things other men had seen done or heard of and

stating as facts certain apocryphal incidents familiar to all soldiersrdquo (Short Stories 111-

12) In an essay in Ernest Hemingway Artifacts from Life Tom Putnam surmises that

Krebs in embellishing his war record to impress those around him ldquogrows more

disillusionedmdashfinding himself becoming a fraudrdquo (Putnam 184) Hemingway may have

disillusioned himself with his lies too In one instance Hemingway once gave a version

of his fictitious war stories in a talk to an audience at the First Baptist Church (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 56) So Hemingway lied in front of a church Proverbs

1222 reads ldquoLying lips are an abomination to the Lord but those who act faithfully are

his delightrdquo (English Standard Version)

Back in Oak Park Hemingway turned to alcohol for his comfort He stayed in

bed day after day and hid the liquor from his parents (Pawley 25) Staying in bed

helped his aching legs But he didnrsquot stay in bed more than half the day (Hemingway-

Sanford 178) According to Marcelline there were also times when Ernest had ldquoalmost

depressed intervals when he retired to his room away from the well-wishers and curiosity

seekersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 183) Hemingway used the alcohol to cope with the pain

of his war wounds (Pawley 25) One day Marcelline was upset about something and

36

when she came to Ernestrsquos room he noticed this and asked her what was wrong

(Hemingway-Sanford 183) Then he offered her a drink She tasted it Then he said to

her

Donrsquot be afraid Drink it up Sis it canrsquot hurt you Therersquos great comfort in

that little bottle not just for itself But it relaxes you when the pain gets bad

Mazaween donrsquot be afraid to taste all the other things in life that arenrsquot here in

Oak Park Taste everything Sis Donrsquot be afraid to try new things just

because they are new (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 184)

Ernest later wrote of an experience of drinking ldquoand the rhum (sic) enters into us like the

Holy Spiritrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 17) God was not Hemingwayrsquos comfort alcohol

was After that night Marcelline wondered to herself whether Ernest would ever be

happy again at home (Hemingway-Sanford 184) She noted a difference in him upon his

return to Oak Park Marcelline writes ldquoBut Ernest wasnrsquot the same old friend and

playmate I had knownrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178) adding that ldquoa lifetime of new

experiences war death agony new people a new language and love had crowded into

Ernestrsquos liferdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178)

After recovering from his wounds Ernest still didnrsquot get a job or show any

interest in college He had no plans at all Instead he went to Michigan to enjoy life with

his friends (Hemingway-Sanford 198) In Michigan according to Marcelline ldquoThough

Mother implored Ernestrsquos help and tried to talk to him about the family situation he

blithely ignored her appeals and managed to leave immediately after meals with his

friends or go fishing when something needed to be done he promised vaguely to help

37

lsquosome other timerdquo (205) His parents were very worried about his ldquolack of adult

responsibilityrdquo and ldquohis rudeness and his willingness to let both Mrs Charles Bill

Smithrsquos aunt and our family go on providing for him [led Mother to decide that]

something drastic had to be done to wake him uprdquo (205) Leicester Hemingway says that

ldquoOur parents had harbored definite hopes that this fling at soldiering had taught him

[Ernest] a lesson that now he would suddenly show a keen interest in some lsquosensiblersquo

way of liferdquo (L Hemingway 56)

The entire situation is similar to that of Harold Krebs in ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

returns from World War I with his Methodist faith shattered (Pawley 25) Krebs is

unemployed but his mother encourages him ldquorsquoGod has some work for everyone to do

There can be no idle hands in His Kingdomrsquordquo (Short Stories 115) Krebsrsquo mother adds

his fatherrsquos opinion ldquoAll work is honorable as he says But yoursquove got to make a start at

somethingrdquo (115) When Krebsrsquo mother asks Harold if he would kneel and pray with her

Krebs says that he canrsquot Krebsrsquo mother encourages him to try then she asks him if he

wants her to pray for him Krebs consents (116)

Of Ernestrsquos free-loading loafing time Leicester Hemingway writes ldquoAbout the

only thing I really understood of that first summer after the war was that Ernest was in an

agitated state and being around the family did not calm him at allrdquo (59) In the end

Ernestrsquos mother wrote Ernest a letter in which she said that Ernest had overdrawn his

account with her and that he was not welcome back at the family vacation home of

Windemere in Michigan (Dearborn 90) This action got Ernest out of the house looking

for a job on his own It also added to his resentment towards his mother In ldquoSoldierrsquos

38

Homerdquo Krebs tells his mother that he doesnrsquot love her Putnam suggests that Krebs has

forgotten how to love (Putnam 184) In Ernestrsquos case it is quite possible that he didnrsquot

love his mother It is known for sure that he didnrsquot like his mother When married to his

fourth wife Mary Welsh Ernest would sometimes rant about his mother blaming her for

making life hell for his father contributing to his fatherrsquos suicide and referring to his

mother as ldquothat bitchrdquo (qtd in Di Robilant 55) Perhaps his motherrsquos ultimatum pushed

him further away from his Protestant upbringing Although Hemingway didnrsquot like his

mother Hawkins argues that he inherited his volatile temper from her as she held grudges

against people Hawkins writes of Grace Hemingway ldquoGrace had a tendency to store up

injustices done to her so that on occasion even the smallest thing triggered a litany of

perceived wrongsrdquo (34) In addition to his motherrsquos ultimatum Ernestrsquos parents didnrsquot

seem to accept writing as a viable career for Ernest (M Reynolds My Brother 63) No

matter like Harold Krebs Hemingway did abandon his childhood faith after World War

I

Hemingway became interested in Catholicism during his service in Italy during

World War I There he served in the Red Cross Ambulance Corps of Unit 4 as driver for

the Italian Army (Hemingway-Sanford 157) After a few days in Italy Ernest and Bill

Horne found the place dull So hearing of the chance to volunteer ldquofor a special branch

the Red Cross Rolling Canteen Servicerdquo they applied and were accepted (160) This

Service operated all the way up to front linesmdashwhich was right where Hemingway

wanted to be in the midst of the action He ldquohad volunteered to be one of the bicycle

riders who distributed mail chocolate and tobacco to the soldiers in the trenches at the

39

frontrdquo (160) At that time the attack on the Piave River had started and the Austrians

were shelling around only fifty yards away on the other side of the river There making

his rounds in Fossalta Hemingway was wounded by an Austrian Trench Mortar as he

handed an Italian soldier a cigarette and chocolate (161) People thought that

Hemingway was going to die During this time Hemingway later claimed that he was

baptized by a priest ldquoAt Fornaci Ernest and the other wounded soldiers were

administered extreme unction by a chaplain with the Italian army Don Giuseppe

Bianchirdquo (Dearborn 59-60)

Michael Reynolds claims that the priestrsquos absolution of sins and anointment of oil

was an epiphanic moment for Hemingway (M Reynolds The Paris Years 346)

However it is unknown if Hemingway was really absolved of his sins by a Catholic

priest HR Stoneback notes that battlefield baptism and extreme unction did not

produce a ldquoformal process of reconciliation or conversionrdquo (109) On March 10 1927

Hemingway divorced Hadley Richardson to marry his new flame the Catholic Pauline

Pfeiffer This divorce devastated Hemingwayrsquos parents In fact Leicester Hemingway

overheard his dad say of Ernestrsquos divorce ldquoNo Itrsquos the disgrace Id rather see him in his

graverdquo (L Hemingway 103) Leicester Hemingway recalls that one morning while

digging for worms with Dr Hemingway the doctor says ldquoYou know of course that

your brother has brought great shame on our family by divorcing Hadley dont yourdquo

(103) Dr Hemingway laments the fact that there hadnrsquot been a divorce in the

Hemingway family for seventy years While in the process of trying to marry Pauline

Ernest returned to Italy searching for this priest Don Giuseppe Bianchi in order to

40

ascertain if this priest had actually performed an emergency baptism on him thus making

him Catholic (Dearborn 236) According to Hawkins Ernest found and visited with

Bianchi (71) Hawkins notes that as a rule priests during the First World War did not

ldquohand out baptismal certificates as they moved through hospital wards to anoint the

woundedrdquo (71) Despite the fact that there is ldquono evidence that Ernest returned with a

baptismal certificaterdquo he did swear to it (236) With this baptism he was allowed to

marry Pauline (M Reynolds American Homecoming 121) According to some scholars

death-bed baptism led Hemingway to become interested in Catholicism In addition

some scholars go so far as to say that this event marks the point when Hemingway started

to be Catholic Perhaps Ernestrsquos near-death experience infused a seed of Catholicism in

his heart

Michael Reynolds notes that ldquowhen an eighteen-year-old kid thinks hes dying a

Catholic priest can make a lasting impressionrdquo (The Paris Years 346) Reynolds claims

that long before Pauline the ceremony the ritual and the mystery of the Catholic Church

were a strong attraction to Hemingway Even if Pauline had not entered his life

Hemingway would have eventually turned Catholic Pauline simply accelerated this

process Later some found Hemingwayrsquos Catholic conversion to be suspect specious

and very convenient (345-46) Yet ldquonone of these doubters seriously thought of

Hemingway as a Protestant and he himself never looked back on his Congregational

training which he associated with Oak Park hypocrisy his fatherrsquos unbearable piety and

his motherrsquos church politics of who would rule the choir loftrdquo (346)

41

Hemingwayrsquos second wife Pauline Pfeiffer converted him to Catholicism In

fact Pfeiffer was such a serious Catholic that she caused Hemingway ldquo to take seriously

doctrine especially of sin and observance especially of prayerrdquo (Berman 33) Before

their marriage Pfeiffer had misgivings about marrying a married man and cutting him off

from his wife and child (Dearborn 229) For Pauline ldquoTo do so would be not only to

invite the damnation of her soul but also the unforgiving wrath of her Catholic parentsrdquo

(M Reynolds The Paris Years 318) If Pauline committed adultery she believed that

she would have been ldquosinning so mortally their souls were in jeopardyrdquo (318) Reynolds

wryly observes that ldquo[o]ne could not remain a devout Catholic and an ardent adulteressrdquo

(318)

For his part Ernest considered ldquoconverting to Catholicism in order to marry

Pauline in the Churchrdquo (Dearborn 221) Dearborn adds ldquoNo doubt Pauline was

researching the Churchrsquos requirements for marriage to a divorced manrdquo (221) In order to

marry Pauline Hemingway had to provide proof that his first marriage to Hadley was

outside the Church and so unofficial null and void (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 114) So since Hemingway ldquotestified that he had been baptized during the

war in Italy and that his first marriage was outside the Church [he] received on April

25 the necessary dispensation from the Archbishop of Paris which removed the last

obstacle to the ceremonyrdquo (121) Yet Hemingwayrsquos friend Ada MacLeish did not

attend Ernestrsquos and Paulinersquos wedding because she was disgusted by the Catholic

Churchrsquos solemnization of the new couplersquos bond and thought it a farce (Dearborn 237)

Ada

42

was completely disgusted with Ernestrsquos efforts to persuade the Catholic Church

that he had been baptized by a priest who walked between aisles of wounded men

in an Italian hospitalmdashtherefore Ernest was a Catholic and Hadley never had been

his wife and Bumby was a bastard To see this farce solemnized by the Catholic

Church was more than we [Archie and Ada] could take (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 124)

In his quest to marry Pauline Hemingway openly and formally embraced

Catholicism Hemingway wrote to Ernest Walsh about his rediscovered Catholicity

If I am anything I am a Catholic Had extreme unction administered to me as such

in July 1918 and recovered So guess I am a super-catholic It is most

certainly the most comfortable religion for anyone soldiering Am not what is

called a ldquogoodrdquo catholic But cannot imagine taking any other religion

seriously (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 345)

It is unknown whether Ernest ever mailed this letter

Ruth A Hawkins suggests that Hemingway ardently became a true Catholic

believer after he was cured of his temporary sexual problems after his marriage to

Pauline Hemingway told AE Hotchner that he and Pauline had had a good sex life

during their affair yet after they got married Hemingway experienced problems with

impotence (Hawkins 86) To try to alleviate this problem Hemingway saw doctors and a

mystic Nothing worked Pauline was patient and understanding Ernest was

discouraged so she encouraged him to go to the church a few blocks away and pray

Ernest recounts ldquoI went there and said a short prayer Then I went back to our room

43

Pauline was in bed waiting I undressed and got in bed and we made love like we

invented it We never had any trouble again Thatrsquos when I became a Catholicrdquo (qtd in

Hawkins 86)

Throughout his literary career Hemingway writes a number of stories involving

Catholics His short story ldquoThe Wine of Wyomingrdquo is about a French Catholic

bootlegging couple and is based upon a real-life Catholic couple that he met in Sheridan

Wyoming (Dearborn 263) Hemingway also writes about Catholicism in The Sun Also

Rises However Hemingway doesnrsquot write so much about Catholicism but rather of

Catholics themselves in their day-to-day lives (Hertzel 78) In The Sun Also Rises Jake

Barnes is nominally Catholic He basically lives the way that he wants to prays and

goes to church occasionally This is kind of like Hemingway who although not a

nominal Catholic lived the way that he wanted to while still claiming to be Catholic and

following some rituals In The Sun Also Rises Jake talks of going to church ldquoa couple of

times once with Brettrdquo (Sun 154) Although Jake prays regularly including for his

friends he also prays for mundane things like the upcoming bullfights and the Festival of

San Fermiacuten ldquoI wondered if there was anything else I might pray for and I thought I

would like to have some money so I prayed that I would make a lot of moneyrdquo (103)

While praying Jake gets distracted and he begins to think about other things ldquoas

all the time I was kneeling with my forehead on the wood in front of me and was

thinking of myself as praying I was a little ashamed and regretted that I was such a rotten

Catholicrdquo (103) Of his bad example as a Catholic Jake realizes that ldquothere was nothing I

could do about it at least for a while and maybe never but that anyway it was a grand

44

religion and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next timerdquo (103) One

critic asserts that The Sun Also Rises ldquois a novel about spiritual bankruptcyrdquo (Djos) Jake

is spiritually bankrupt but he tries to go about things in another way He drinks in order

escape the pain of the war and his impotency So alcohol might be said to be Jakersquos

primary spiritual comfort like it was a comfort for Hemingway Carlos Baker

categorizes The Sun Also Rises as a tale of Wastelanders (Berman 44) Moreover Jake

once thinks ldquoTo hell with people The Catholic Church had an awfully good way of

handling all thatrdquo (Sun 39) Jake believes that the Catholic Church has a good way of

sending people to hell purgatory or heaven to whatever fate the individual deserves

In addition Catholicism is referenced in Hemingwayrsquos A Farewell to Arms with

its protagonist Frederic Henry Unlike the nominally Catholic Jake Barnes Frederic has

no religion whatsoever (Farewell 279) However there is a priest in Fredericrsquos Italian

army unit that Frederic likes a lot Yet Frederic thinks the priest dull (33) According to

Frederic he and the priest share many of the same tastes yet there is a difference

between them (12) Frederic is a man of the world who does not believe in religion per

se and he loves women The priest is a man of God he loves God above all he doesnrsquot

pursue women When Frederic is recovering from his war wound in the hospital the

priest comes to visit him Frederic tells the priest that he does not love God (62) He

adds that he is ldquoafraid of Him in the night sometimesrdquo (62) Gary Sloan argues that

Fredericrsquos girlfriend Catherine ldquowill be his [Fredericrsquos] religion even as he she says is

hersrdquo (452) Michael Reynolds points out that ldquoCatherine sounded a lot like [Ernestrsquos

second wife] Pauline who had made Ernest her religion risking her soul on the promise

45

of his loverdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 216) This is also the case when

Ernest made his first girlfriend Agnes von Kurowsky his religion over organized

religion

Although Frederic is not religious in desperate times he seems to temporarily

become religious When he first receives his war injury he cries out to God ldquoget me out

of hererdquo (48) When his and Catherine Barkleyrsquos baby dies Frederic thinks of the baby

and thinks that it should have been baptized (279) Faced with the possibility of

Catherine dying Frederic prays ldquoEverything was gone inside of me I did not think I

could not think I knew she was going to die and I prayed that she would not Donrsquot let

her die Oh God please donrsquot let her die Irsquoll do anything for you if you wonrsquot let her

dierdquo (282) Hertzel points out that some of Hemingwayrsquos characters pray frequently

However it is also important to note that the prayers never get answered (79) For

example in Hemingwayrsquos posthumously published Islands in the Stream Thomas

Hudsonrsquos son David makes this comment about prayer ldquoYou canrsquot tell Audrey You

never know when it [prayer] may [do good] I donrsquot mean that Mr Davis needs to be

prayed for I just mean about prayer technicallyrdquo (186) In Frederick Henryrsquos case both

his baby and Catherine die Apparently in Hemingwayrsquos mind there was no

supernatural realm and prayers go nowhere Frederick asks Catherine on her death bed

ldquoDo you want me to get a priest or anyone to come and see yourdquo (Farewell 282)

Catherine just wants Frederic to stay with her Frederic says that his only religious feeling

comes at night (227) So the spiritual connection of sex is a religious experience to

Frederic

46

Hemingway does not present a supernatural dimension to Catholicism (Hertzel

78) In The Sun Also Rises as Jake and Brett leave a chapel in Pamplona he thinks that

ldquo[t]he praying had not been much of a successrdquo (212) Brett also portrays religion as

being uselessmdashat least for her saying ldquoDonrsquot know why I get so nervy in church

Never does me any goodrdquo (212) Brett says that praying never does her any good and

that she has never gotten anything that she prayed for (213) Jake does say that he has

gotten things that he has prayed for Brett replies of prayer ldquoMaybe it works for some

peoplerdquo (213) Jake considers himself ldquopretty religiousrdquo (213) Hemingway himself

prayed but apparently after the Spanish Civil War his view on prayer changed In The

Dangerous Summer he says ldquo[I] never [prayed] for myself during the Spanish Civil

War when I saw the terrible things that happened to other people and I felt that to pray for

oneself was selfish and egotisticalrdquo (142) In a June 19 1945 letter to Thomas Welsh

Hemingway expounded

In first war really scared after wounded and very devout at the end Fear of

death Belief in personal salvation or maybe just preservation through prayers for

intercession of Our Lady and various saints that prayed to with almost tribal faith

Spanish war seemed so selfish to pray for self when such things being done to all

people by people sponsored by Church that never prayed for self But missed

Ghostly comfort This war [Spanish Civil War] got through without praying

once Times a little bad sometimes too But felt that having forfeited any right to

ask for these intercessions would be absolutely crooked to ask for same no matter

how scared (qtd in Stoneback 128)

47

Consequently Hemingway only prayed for others after the Spanish Civil War In The

Dangerous Summer Hemingway writes of praying for others in Spain ldquoI prayed for all

those I had in hock to Fortune for all friends with cancer for all girls living and dead

and that Antonio would have good bulls that afternoonrdquo (69) Yet it is unknown if any

of Hemingwayrsquos prayers were ever answered In fact Hemingway wondered if his

prayers ever got anywhere

In case my prayers were invalid as they well might have been and to make sure

someone competent was doing it I took out a membership in the Jesuit Seminary

Fund Association at New Orleans for Carmen and Antonio [Ordoacutentildeez bullfighter]

There was a class graduating who when they were ordained would pray for them

each day (142)

So Hemingway got others to pray for his friends family and others in case that his

prayers were going nowhere In Hemingwayrsquos works instead of offering a supernatural

element to the Catholic Church he presents the Church as a solely human institution

Hertzel writes that Hemingway treats the Catholic Church as ldquoa colorful institution with

richness tradition ritual and discipline but it provides no convenient miraclesrdquo (78-79)

Consequently Hemingway uses Catholicism as a literary motif to add texture to his

writings (79)

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway seems to make fun of the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit that according to Christians is the method by which the Bible was

written Hemingwayrsquos example is silly Hemingway mockingly describes the writing

process of Waldo Frank the author of Virgin Spain He ldquolay naked in his bed in the night

48

and God sent him things to write how he lsquowas in touch ecstatically with the plunging and

immobile allrdquo (53) Moreover

After God sent it he wrote it The result was that unavoidable mysticism of a

man who writes a language so badly he cannot make a clear statement

complicated by whatever pseudo-scientific jargon is in style at the moment God

sent him some wonderful stuff about Spain during his short stay there

preparatory to writing of the soul of the country but it is often nonsense (53)

Hemingway wrote more generally of the religion of the Lost Generation again

with a touch of mockery

There will be many new salvations brought forward My generation in France for

example in two years sought salvation in first the Catholic Church 2nd DaDaism

third the movies fourth Royalism fifth the Catholic Church again There may be

another and better war But none of it will matter particularly to this generation

because to them the things that are given to people to happen have already

happened (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 327)

In his books Hemingway also seems to make fun of religion in order to try to be

comedic In his ficto-biography True at First Light Hemingway asks the interpreter

ldquoDid you not like the Mission School Remember God is listening He hears your every

wordrdquo (182) Later Hemingway asks GC ldquoAnd will you carry these principles into

Life sonrdquo (204) GC responds ldquoDrink your beer Billy Grahamrdquo (204) Ironically

years later Billy Graham would use Ernest Hemingway as a sermon illustration More

comedy follows in True at First Light when Hemingway talks about a new religion that

49

he created for the Africans He said that his African helpers Ngui and Mthuka and

himself ldquocould decide what was a sin and what was notrdquo (281) Hemingway also talks

about the ldquoHappy Hunting Groundsrdquo as if it were some sort of heaven

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway is comedic through the character of Bill

Gorton Walking down a boulevard with Jake Bill spots a taxidermistrsquos shop and

jokingly tries to get Jake to buy a stuffed dog Jake knows that it is a joke and just tries

to keep Bill moving down the boulevard After Jake promises to get a stuffed dog on the

way back Bill Gorton says ldquoAll right Have it your own way Road to hell paved with

unbought stuffed dogs Not my faultrdquo (78) Hemingway also does this with the priest in

A Farewell to Arms in order to try to infuse comedy into this novel when the captain at

the soldiersrsquo mess keep joking with the priest as the butt of the joke ldquoPriest to-day with

girlsrdquo (7) The captain adds ldquoPriest every night five against onerdquo (7)

On the train to Bayonne Bill Gorton says of some pilgrims on the train with

them ldquoGoddam Puritansrdquo (Sun 91) In the train compartment with Jake and Bill is a man

from Montana with his wife and son The man says to Jake and Bill of getting a meal

while pretending to be pilgrims ldquoThey thought we were snappers all right It

certainly shows you the power of the Catholic Church Itrsquos a pity you boys ainrsquot

Catholics You could get a meal then all rightrdquo (93) Frustrated by the situation Jake

assures him that he is Catholic When Bill Gorton corners a priest returning from a meal

with the pilgrims Bill asks him when the Protestants will get a chance to eat The priest

says that he doesnrsquot know and Gorton replies ldquoItrsquos enough to make a man join the Klanrdquo

(93)

50

After fishing along the Irati River Jake and Bill meet to have lunch After talking

about William Jennings Bryan and which came first the chicken or the egg Bill mocks

religion and the question of whether the chicken or the egg comes first ldquoOh how

should we know We should not question Our stay on earth is not for long Let us

rejoice and believe and give thanksrdquo (126) Holding a drumstick perhaps like a mock

scepter and a bottle of wine Bill tries to be mockingly funny ldquoLet us rejoice in our

blessings Let us utilize the fowls of the air Let us utilize the product of the vine Will

you utilize a little brotherrdquo (126) Handing Jake the bottle Bill says ldquoUtilize a little

brother Let us not doubt brother Let us not pry into the holy mysteries of the

hencoop with simian fingers Let us accept on faithrdquo (127) Then pointing at a

drumstick Bill says ldquoLet me tell you We will say and I for one am proud to saymdashand I

want you to say with me on your knees brother Let no man be ashamed to kneel here in

the great out-of-doors Remember the woods were Godrsquos first templesrdquo (127) They

uncork another bottle Before they take a nap Bill asks Jake if he is really a Catholic

(128) Jake replies that he is technically a Catholic When asked what that means Jake

says that he doesnrsquot know (129) Even though the Eucharist is mocked Jake and Bill are

seemingly reborn as they fish in nature So nature provides a chance at rest and

regeneration

Just like Hemingway in most of his life some of his characters are not religious

although they have religious influences Robert Jordan is one example His father was

religious But his fatherrsquos religion turned Robert off In one instance as a younger man

when Robert is about to leave on a train his father gets emotional and says a prayer over

51

him In response ldquoRobert Jordan had been so embarrassed by all of it [his fatherrsquos

emotionalism] the damp religious sound of the prayer and by his father kissing him

good-by that he had felt suddenly so much older than his father and sorry for him that he

could hardly bear itrdquo (For Whom Bell Tolls 405-406) This would seem similar to

Ernestrsquos leaving home for the first time en route to Kansas City (Hemingway-Sanford

154) In this instance Hemingwayrsquos father bought him the ticket and saw him off (154)

Maybe Dr Hemingway did cry when he saw Ernest off for he really loved his son

While Ernest was in Italy Marcelline notes that her ldquoDad had always loved Ernest

especially dearly and he missed him and prayed for him dailyrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford

160) To compound all this like Hemingwayrsquos father Robertrsquos religious father later

ldquoshot himselfrdquo in a suicide in the same manner as Robert Jordanrsquos father (For Whom Bell

Tolls 66) Robert ldquounderstood his father and he forgave him everything and he pitied him

but he was ashamed of himrdquo (340) Perhaps Hemingway was ashamed of his father after

his fatherrsquos sad suicide This shame and embarrassment of his late father and his

perceived cowardice may have pushed Robert away from religion (338) In addition it is

quite probable that the suicide of Hemingways father additionally pushed him away from

the Protestant tradition of his father as his father had been a deacon and a very upright

and religious man (Reynolds M American Homecoming 211) Yet Daniel Pawley notes

that Hemingway loved his father more than anyone else in the world At one point in For

Whom the Bell Tolls Robert says ldquoI do not believe in ogres nor soothsayers nor in the

supernatural thingsrdquo (250) When Pilar tells Robert that she cares about him Robert tells

52

Pilar that he doesnrsquot want her love He qualifies ldquoNi tu ni Diosrdquo (Neither yours nor

Godrsquos) (387) Robert doesnrsquot want Godrsquos love either

48

CHAPTER 4

HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY

According to Michael Reynolds Hemingway liked all things ancient and

medieval and that included the Catholic Church In fact Hemingway liked visiting

medieval cathedrals among them Chartres He ldquoliked the ritual the mystery the odors of

age and incense He liked its permanence in stonerdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 325)

Hadley Richardson liked to refer to the chivalric Hemingway as her ldquogentil parfit

knightrdquo an allusion to Chaucerrsquos description of the knight in The Canterbury Tales (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 223) and he liked to wear a scapular This scapular has

ldquogot an image of Christ on it suspended from a brown shoestring-like loop At home in

Key West friends have observed him with the scapular and how hersquoll make the sign of

the cross before he goes in swimmingrdquo (Hendrickson 28)

Hemingway would come back to the Bible in his later years in his search for

literary titles Hemingway alludes to Ecclesiastes 14-7 in his title of The Sun Also Rises

The Scriptural passage was used to signify that basically the Lost Generation would

pass away but that the earth would abide forever Moreover Hemingway gave the Bible

credit for teaching him how to write (Blume 213)

In his youth Hemingway idolized his missionary uncle to China Willoughby (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 110) Willoughby had a medical mission there In fact

Ernestrsquos father Dr Clarence Hemingway inspired by his brother had wanted to be a

medical missionary to Guam but his wife had dissuaded him from it (Pawley 24) Dr

49

Hemingway also had an offer for a medical mission in Greenland (L Hemingway 21)

Grace refused to go Ernest Hemingwayrsquos life might have had a much different outcome

if his mother would have supported his father in becoming a medical missionary to Guam

or even Greenland Years later when Hemingway was living in Cuba Hemingwayrsquos

sister Ursala visited and she and Ernest reminisced about their Uncle Willoughby

recalling his visits and together they sang ldquolsquoJesus Loves Mersquo in Chinese until the tears

rolled down their cheeksrdquo (25) Upon the death of his father Ernest returned home to

Oak Park where he openly displayed his new-found Catholic faith Marcelline says that

upon his arrival Ernest ldquotold us that he had had a Mass saidrdquo for their dad (Dearborn 268

M Reynolds American Homecoming 211 Hemingway-Sanford 233) With Dr

Hemingwayrsquos body lying in repose in the music room Ernest now leader of his family

led his family in the Lordrsquos Prayer This echoes back to the time in Ernestrsquos youth when

his Grandfather Hall would lead his family in the Lordrsquos prayer ldquohis eyes directed

heavenwardrdquo (Dearborn 268) However during this time of mourning Ernestrsquos

Catholicism angered some peoplemdashespecially Marcelline

Relying on Catholic teaching Ernest believed that his father had gone to

purgatory since suicide was a mortal sin (M Reynolds American Homecoming 211) In

addition Ernest mentioned that since his family was a Heathen Family ldquoit was

impossible to offer enough prayers to get his [Dr Hemingwayrsquos] soul into heavenrdquo

(Dearborn 268) Marcelline thought that Ernestrsquos idea of praying their father out of

purgatory was disgusting Ernest told his kid brother Leicester Hemingway to ldquopray as

hard as he could for his fatherrsquos soul to be released from purgatoryrdquo as ldquothings go right on

50

from hererdquo (Dearborn 268 My Brother 111) Despite the waves that Ernest made with

his family he showed genuine care concern and distress in his belief that his late father

was in purgatory (Dearborn 268) In this instance Hemingway definitely took Catholic

doctrine seriously

Dearborn paints Ernest Hemingway as a practicing Catholic one who would go to

Mass and fast on Good Friday She suggests that during this trying time Hemingway

turned to his faith in order to anchor himself through his grief She further suggests that

Ernestrsquos claim that his father was in purgatory was a way for him to assert his patriarchal

dominance over the family and to show that he was in charge Marcelline as the eldest

had tried to claim this role but in her struggle with Ernest she had lost (269)

In Chicago a Dominican priest wrote to Hemingway to thank him for saving his

friend Don Stewart in the bull ring at Pamplona (M Reynolds American Homecoming

156) This priest had heard of Hemingwayrsquos conversion to Catholicism within that year

1927 and he urged Hemingway to become a writer for the Dominican cause in order to

defend the Church and its ldquocause of Truthrdquo (156) In response Hemingway wrote

I have been a Catholic for many years although I feel very badly and did not go to

communion for over 8 years However I have gone regularly to mass for the last

two years and absolutely set my house in order within the year However I have

always had more faith than intelligence or knowledge and I have never wanted to

be known as a Catholic writer because I know the importance of setting an

examplemdashand I have never set a good example Also I am a dumb Catholic

and I have so much faith that I hate to examine itmdashbut I am trying to lead a good

51

life and to write well and truly and it is easier to do the first than the second (qtd

in M Reynolds American Homecoming 156)

In a 1940 Valentinersquos Day letter to his editor Maxwell Perkins Hemingway wrote ldquoI am

not a Catholic writer nor a party writer nor even an American writer but just a writer

meant to rise above injusticerdquo (qtd in Isabelle 51)

Despite his Catholicism Hemingwayrsquos faith didnrsquot help him to change into a

better man Although he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not

transform him nor even make him Christ-like Hemingway did not have a salvation

experience Nor was his faith life-altering Stoneback agrees that ldquoHemingway did not

turn to the church for instant deliverancerdquo (Stoneback 122) As a Catholic

Hemingway continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Ernestrsquos

Catholicism did not translate into his personal life Hemingwayrsquos religious life was one

solely of Catholic rituals He did not change his behavior or his vices He did not

overcome his problems Unfortunately in the end Hemingwayrsquos problems overcame

him

Despite his personal shortcomings Hemingway did at times take Catholicism

seriously After one of his African safaris he returned to Paris and saw his friend Ned

Calmer Calmer was a reporter and an aspiring novelist There Hemingway learned that

Calmerrsquos daughter had not been baptized (Hendrickson 44) This was unconscionable to

Hemingway Years later Calmer wrote that ldquoErnest seemed genuinely concerned

The attitude was this will never do He came along to the church of St Sulpice in Paris

52

as sponsor at the ceremonyrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 44) where Calmerrsquos daughter was

baptized

Hemingwayrsquos faith affected him in other ways too During the Spanish Civil

War his Catholicism would give him ldquosympathy with the conservative traditionalist side

in Spain at least in the early days of this unrestrdquo (Dearborn 303) Later Hemingway

would switch his allegiance to the anti-Franco anti-fascist communist-supported side of

the conflict Unfortunately this shift caused many family disputes with his wife Pauline

(Isabelle 25) However it was Hemingwayrsquos belief that politics and religion should not

mix (Stoneback 117) After the Spanish Civil War and in Cuba Hemingway used to

worry that the FBI were Roman Catholics and thus consequently Franco sympathizers

(N Reynolds 127) In fact Hemingway liked to refer to the FBI as ldquolsquoFrancorsquos Bastard

Irishrsquo and lsquoFrancorsquos Iron Cavalryrsquordquo (127) Nicholas Reynolds suggests that Hemingway

was paranoid about the FBI because he had signed on to be a spy with the Russian

Narodny Kommisariat Vnutrennikh Del (Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs)

better known as the NKVD Yet Hemingway never actually did anything for them His

code name was ldquoArgordquo Dearborn notes that ldquo[d]espite his professed Catholicism Ernest

was impatient with religion over philosophizing and what we would call today self-

helprdquo (320) Dorothy Parker makes a different claim about Hemingway ldquoThere is no

more than a thin line of moss to stamp the spot where Robert Benchley and Ernest

Hemingway had that big philosophical discussion about the meaning of liferdquo (qtd in M

Reynolds American Homecoming 106) Philosopher Ralph Withington Church ldquorecalls

his conversations with Hemingway about the lsquoproblem of redemptionrsquo and

53

Malebranchersquos lsquotheory of gracersquordquo (Stoneback 121) Ernest also had his own privately-

held opinions about Catholicism For example Hemingway told one of his daughters-in-

law that unlike the Catholic Churchrsquos teaching that animals donrsquot have souls he believed

that animals did (Dearborn 516) Secondly Ernest seems to have taken on or been

influenced by his motherrsquos mystic spiritualist bent Ernest believed in superstitions and

in some types of psychic phenomena (518)

Later in his life Ernest seems to have some misgivings about Catholicism He

consistently said when Paulinersquos name surfaced that ldquoher Catholic faith had wrecked the

marriagerdquo (Dearborn 406) Pauline had been advised by her doctor not to have any more

children The fear was that Pauline would get pregnant and die from the pregnancy

(Hawkins 141) Since Catholicism only permitted the birth control method of

withdrawal Ernestrsquos pleasure was significantly diminished by this technique and

consequently doomed their marriage Hemingway had also wanted to have a daughter

but this dream was never realized Paulinersquos second son Gregory who became a doctor

contends that all that his father would have had to have done to retain his pleasure would

have been to abstain from intercourse on Paulinersquos fertile days According to Gregrsquos

reasoning this ldquowould have been obvious to lsquoany foolrsquordquo (qtd in Dearborn 406)

According to Leicester Hemingway Ernest wanted nothing to do with the Catholic

church after Pauline and he asked for ldquothe address of an uncle William E Miller who

had written many hymns in the Episcopalian hymnalrdquo (Isabelle 58-59) Moreover Ernest

was concerned about his sons Patrick and Gregory attending a Catholic school Ernest

feared that this school Canterbury was affecting Patrick gradually and insidiously

54

(Dearborn 480) In fact Ernest hated this school and he referred to it as ldquoone of lsquothose

snot schoolsrsquordquo (480)

Paulinersquos and Hemingwayrsquos second son Gregory had a troubled life Over time

he came to like to dress up as a woman In Los Angeles this caught up with him when

he tried to enter the womenrsquos restroom of a theater in drag (Hendrickson 297) Pauline

cabled Hemingway that Gregory was in trouble Hemingway called back Pauline was in

a lot of pain but went to the phone anyway to tell Hemingway about the problem On the

phone Hemingway said ldquoItrsquos all your fault see how yoursquove brought him up yoursquore

corrupt and hersquos corruptrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 297) Hemingway intimated that perhaps

Gregoryrsquos Catholic upbringing had pushed Gregory into transgenderism Gregory had

served as an altar-boy at Saint Mary Star of the Sea (386)

That night Pauline went to bed in tears Unfortunately the heated accusative

argument with Ernest had set Pauline off At the time Pauline had been staying at her

sisterrsquos Virginia residence in Los Angeles In the early morning Virginia and her

friend Laura awakened to what they described as a ldquohorrendous screamrdquo from Paulinersquos

room Pauline was taken to the hospital where her blood pressure skyrocketed dropped

to zero and caused ldquoher to die of shock on the operating tablerdquo (Hawkins 271) Later

Hemingway blamed Paulinersquos death on Gregory Yet Gregory became a doctor and

researched his motherrsquos death more thoroughly Through an autopsy report Gregory

learned that his mother had died of a ldquorare tumor of the adrenal glandrdquo also known as

pheochromocytoma (275) This type of tumor secretes large quantities of adrenaline

causing blood pressure to spikemdasheven to the point where arteries can rupture Pauline

55

had had only an intermittent tumor that would secrete during times of stress Gregory

informed his father of his findings in a letter in the summer of 1960 Gregory wrote that

Hemingwayrsquos argument with Pauline had set Pauline off ldquocausing a blood vessel to

rupturerdquo after which her blood pressure dropped to zero with the resulting shock killing

her on the operating table (275) So Gregory blamed Hemingway for Paulinersquos early

death from shock due to the ruptured blood vessel and the drop of her blood pressure to

zero

In 1947 Hemingwayrsquos son Patrick had a spiritual crisis of his own Due to his

Catholic mother Patrick had been schooled in Catholic schools In 1947 Patrick had

been studying for the College Board exams at Hemingwayrsquos home the Finca in Cuba

However when Gregory had a spring vacation Patrick decided to join him in Key West

In 1945 Pauline had bought herself a sports car (Dearborn 497) In 1947 in Key West

Patrick was newly licensed and Patrick let Gregory drive the sports car Gregory drove

off the road and hit a tree near Casa Marina

In the process Patrick and Gregory seemed to suffer only minor injuries

Gregory ldquoreceived a minor knee injuryrdquo while Patrick ldquosuffered a cut on his chin and

slight headacherdquo (Hawkins 251) Yet Patrick had suffered a severe concussion (Di

Robilant 7) At first the boys didnrsquot seem to have any ill effects from the accident and

they arrived back at the Finca However shortly after his arrival Patrick started acting

strangely (Dearborn 497) At the Finca Patrick asked ldquofor a pot of hot water and some

teardquo (497) When Reneacute Villarreal brought the hot water and tea to the little house

ldquoPatrick complained that the water was dirtyrdquo (497) Then Patrick commenced shouting

56

loudly at the cook Ramoacuten who wasnrsquot even there Next at the main house Ernest

placed Patrick ldquoon a wicker chaise and stroked his headrdquo (497) In Havana the next day

Patrick was able to take the College Board exams but as the day progressed he grew

increasingly agitated So Ernest called for a doctor The doctor ldquosedated Patrick but the

next day he was delirious and soon became violent and it was necessary to restrain himrdquo

(497) Andrea Di Robilant believes that Patrick had a complete breakdown (7) His loss

of normalcy became a terrible ordeal for the Hemingway family in which his future his

sanity and his life hung in the balance (Dearborn 497)

In response Ernest placed Patrick in his own bed at the Finca and slept on a straw

mat in the living room just outside the door of his bedroom taking care of Patrick around

the clock (Dearborn 497-98 Hawkins 251) Ernest did this for the next three months

(Dearborn 498) It was hoped that Patrick would recover and be well within a couple of

weeks Yet it didnrsquot turn out this way Doctors from all over Cuba were called in Dr

Herrera deemed Patrick to be ldquopredementialrdquo a condition either set off from the exams or

by a crisis of his Catholic faith (498) Religion was a big portion of Patrickrsquos delirium

the other subject being putas whores A local priest named Don Andreacutes became one of

Patrickrsquos chief caretakers Surprisingly due to the spiritual nature of Patrickrsquos condition

this priest was unable to enter Patrickrsquos room without being accused of being the devil

incarnate Consequently this priest became known as the Black Priest

Patrick was so delusional that Ernest and his doctors were concerned about being

near Patrick because they were afraid that they would be scratched or bitten Patrick

remained bedridden for weeks and ldquohe moved in and out of consciousnessrdquo (Di Robilant

57

7) However Patrickrsquos condition did not improve he only worsened and became more

violentmdashhaving to be constantly restrained (Dearborn 498) At first the doctors wanted

Ernest to put Patrick in a hospital but Ernest was determined to keep Patrick at home

Patrick was so delirious that he wouldnrsquot eat When Patrick did eat he stuffed the food in

his mouth like a hamster to spit out at his caretakers Patrick even couldnrsquot swallow his

own saliva Considering that Patrick would probably rip out feeding tubes it was

decided to feed him rectally under restraint and under heavy sedation Patrick had not

eaten since his illness had begun five days prior It would take a full hour and a half to

feed Patrick rectally Despite this procedure Patrick dropped to eighty-eight pounds by

the start of August He had become psychotic

Given the limited means and the early days of psychiatric diagnoses in that time

and age it seemed like Patrick was schizophrenic perhaps even needing a lifetime of

institutionalized care (499) In July a new physician suggested that Patrick undergo

shock treatments In those days the only options were lobotomy and electroshock

therapy (499-500) So seeing no other viable option Patrickrsquos parents relented to the

electroshock therapy (500) In the outbuilding of the Finca Patrick received his first

shock treatment After only around ten minutes Patrick was reported as being ldquolucidrdquo

Fortunately Patrickrsquos electroshock therapy brought him back

The Hemingways remembered how the shock treatments had brought Patrick

back from the brink of hopelessness However when electroshock treatments were tried

years later on Ernest himself because of his traumatic brain injuries and compounding

depression they had the opposite effect For Ernest Hemingway electroshock treatments

58

wiped out his memory and he could no longer write take pride in himself and support

himself financially by the only means he knew how The shock treatments pushed

Hemingway further into depression

After his marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer Hemingway had misgivings about his

Catholic faith However HR Stoneback asserts that Hemingway never entirely gave up

his Catholicism and that he continued to go to Mass pray support the church and regard

himself as Catholic (114) Despite all this Hemingway had some bitterness toward the

Catholic Church Yet it still played an influence in his life Lloyd Arnold says of

Hemingwayrsquos last twenty years of life ldquoI did not know Papa as a man without Godrdquo (qtd

in Stoneback 105-06) Even after his marriage to Pauline Hemingway did put some

stock in Catholicism His divorce from Pauline made him excommunicated from the

Catholic Churchmdashhe could not receive communionmdashbut he still did visit Catholic

churches and pray inside During his marriage to Pauline Hemingway had faithfully and

regularly attended Mass Of his post-Pauline years Hemingway friend and biographer

AE Hotchner noted that in 1954 Hemingway on his way to Madrid stopped into the

cathedral at Burgos where he kneeled and prayed (Stoneback 106) According to

Hotchner in 1958 Hemingway paid for a new roof for the Catholic Church in Hailey

Idaho Then he gave an address to that parishrsquos young people admonishing them not to

work on Sunday as it was ldquovery back luckrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106)

Actor Gary Cooper who had played the role of Robert Jordan in the 1943 film

version of For Whom the Bell Tolls converted to Catholicism himself in 1958 In

response Hemingway ldquotalked sympathetically with Gary Cooper aboutrdquo it (Stoneback

59

106) In 1959 Hemingway was pickpocketed in Spain so in response he put an ad in

the newspaper asking the Spanish pickpocket to return his billfold as he cared mostly for

ldquogetting back the ldquoimage of St Christopher in itrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106) Throughout

his lifetime Hemingway named a son after a pope ldquodisplayed great pride in Patrickrsquos

confirmation mastery of the catechism gave money and support to the churchrdquo (110)

Ernest even taught his oldest son Bumby how to pray (L Hemingway 99) When

Hemingway received his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 he gave the medal to the

Virgen of Cobra Shrine in Cuba (Isabelle 52)

In a conversation with his fourth and final wife Mary Welsh Hemingway says to

her ldquoReligion is superstition and I believe in superstitionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 118)

Ernest adds that it is his ldquoTribal heritagerdquo (118) Mary wrote to Stoneback of Ernest that

when they would visit cathedrals in France Italy or Spain Hemingway would light

candles in honor of the memory of his friends Stoneback writes that with Ernest Mary

Hemingway had to live through a Catholic prism With Ernest Mary had to eat fish on

Fridays observe Lent do the Christmas traditions celebrate Ernestrsquos saintrsquos day have

masses and prayers said for family and friends observe holy days and Catholic feasts

drive miles off course to visit and revisit cathedrals and churches and to attend religious

processions (119) Mary Hemingway would later say that Hemingway ldquoadmiredrdquo the

Catholic church and that he ldquothought of himself always as Catholicrdquo (qtd in 119) Mary

Hemingway said of Ernestrsquos friend the Black Priest Don Andreacutes that he and

Hemingway would talk alone and that Ernest regarded him ldquoas his lsquopersonal priest and

confessorrsquo that they prayed together and for each otherrdquo (120) According to Toby

60

Bruce Hemingway and the Black Priest were very good friends they talked quite a lot

and that when Don Andreacutes died in 1955 Hemingway had masses said for him (132)

Mary said of Ernest ldquoWhen he said he was Catholic he meant itrdquo (qtd in 120)

Mary added that Ernest tried very hard at being Catholic Allen Tate said that

Hemingway was ldquovery Catholicrdquo and that his attitude towards sports was ldquorooted in

religious sensibilityrdquo (120) Tate added that it was the ritual of sport that Hemingway

liked RW Church says that Hemingwayrsquos ldquotalk during these late hours at Lips made

evident his conviction that Sport and bull-fighting in particular afforded a major way to

the redemption of manrdquo (135) Stoneback argues that for Hemingway sport is a

redemptive ritual that is central to his life and work (136) The renowned sportsman

George Leonard Herter said that although Hemingway was a strong Catholic

his ldquoreligion came mainly from the Apparitions of the Virgin Maryrdquo (121) Herter said

that Hemingway was almost obsessed with the apparitions and talked about them often

(134) Hemingway thought that they were important Hemingway did not understand

why the Catholic church did not publicize the apparitions Hemingway was amazed that

most brothers nuns and priests were ignorant of the apparitions and seemed to care even

less Herter said that he had heard Hemingway speak of the apparitions including

Lourdes Fatima and others ldquoat one time or anotherrdquo (qtd in 134) Herter says that

Hemingway believed that if there was no Bible ldquono man-made church lawsrdquo then the

apparitions conclusively proved that the Catholic church was the true church (134-35)

Herter adds that ldquoHemingway knew all the apparitions The ones at Pontmain

61

Pellivoisin Allyrod greatly impressed himrdquo (134-35) In addition Hemingway basically

believed that the Virgin Mary was earthrsquos listening post for Jesus and God (135)

Reynolds Price suggested that ldquoHemingwayrsquos lsquolifelong subjectrsquo was

lsquosaintlinessrsquordquo (121) Stoneback asserts a spiritual order to Hemingwayrsquos works in which

Hemingway examines the conscience through a Catholic lens (122) Stoneback

summarizes an October 18 1933 letter to Pauline Hemingway

tells Pauline that the proofs of Winner Take Nothing have arrived and though it is

a ldquodamned goodrdquo book itrsquos too much to expect the church will stand for it As he

sees it considering his writing the church would have two choices either kick

him out or prove he has no right to be in Either one would be bad because he

couldnrsquot tell them to ldquogo to the devilrdquo because of the ldquoItalian complicationsrdquo At

least hersquoll be able to say his prayers participate in the Mass support and

contribute to the church and wherever they donrsquot know him he can go to

confession He does not want to seem to be seeking ldquoappuirdquo as a ldquoCatholic

writerrdquo He says that he has no right to write the way he does and be ldquolsquoofficially

of the Churchrsquordquo Everything is fine with his conscience however he adds that

therersquos nothing wrong with the church (Stoneback 129-30)

Stoneback summarizes an interview with Fraser Drew As Stoneback

summarizes Hemingway told Drew

I [Hemingway] like to think that Irsquom a Catholic as far as I can be I can still go to

Mass although many things have happenedmdashthe divorces the marriages He

spoke with admiration of Catholicism and then of his friend the Basque priest

62

whom he had known in Spain [Don Andreacutes] and who now lived in San Francisco

de Paula He comes here a great deal said EH He prays for me every day as I

do for him I canrsquot pray for myself any more Perhaps itrsquos because in some way I

have become hardened Or perhaps it is because the self becomes less important

and others become more important But that Time article was bad He referred to

a recent article in Time which had commented that he had been born a

Congregationalist had become a Roman Catholic and now no longer went to

church This conversation with EH confirms my earlier feeling that he is a

religious man with respect for the religions of others (Stoneback 131)

Toby Bruce said of Hemingway and religion ldquoIrsquod say he was very religious Always

went to Mass especially when he was here still with Pauline And afterwards toordquo (qtd

in 132) Bruce added ldquoHe was a real Catholic and I think he tried very hard to be a good

Catholic Who knows for sure Yes he was he planned to donate a considerable sum

toward the restoration of the Mary Immaculate Convent Donrsquot know if he did I guess

Irsquod say he was a good Catholic Donrsquot know what the church would say about itrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 132-33)

Hemingway would cross himselfmdasheven after the 1930s (133) George Herter

wrote ldquoHemingway was a Catholic in those days when the Catholic Church was a church

instead of a mass of confusion The fact that he had been a steady marrying and divorce

type didnrsquot bother Ernest at all in his views on Catholicism I knew Ernest only had

his religion in his very shaky worldrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) George Herter responded

to HR Stoneback in a letter about Hemingway ldquoI repeat he was a very strong Catholic

63

He had complete faith in God Jesus the Virgin Holy Ghost guardian angels Much

more so than nearly all Catholics I have known He was a traditional Catholic as we

all were at the timerdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) In another letter from Herter to Stoneback

dated February 23 1978 Herter writes ldquoHemingway was a strong Catholic He had a

very good knowledge of early Christianity He did not attend Mass regularly He

believed the churchrsquos stand on divorce was right although he was divorced many times

He often stated that he was a poor example of a Catholic but offered no excusesrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 134-35) Stoneback asked a Key West resident what he thought of

Hemingwayrsquos religion The man responded ldquoHemingway was very religious went to

Mass early in the morning with Pauline You could tell he was religious when he fed

the cats the way he looked at the skyrdquo (136)

Yet in his last years of life Hemingway said some very anti-Catholic and anti-

Christian things For instance married to his last wife Mary Ernest said in an interview

to Lillian Ross of the possibility of an afterlife ldquoOnly suckers worry about saving their

soulsrdquo (qtd in Ross 50) Hemingway continued ldquoWho the hell should care about saving

his soul when it is a manrsquos duty to lose it intelligently the way you would sell a position

you were not defending if you could not hold it as expensively as possible trying to

make it the most expensive position that was ever soldrdquo (50) Gregory Hemingway

recounted something similar Gregory said that his father didnrsquot genuinely believe in

organized religion and that his father ldquomade it clear he didnrsquot believe in an afterlife He

did finally believe in a superior beingrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 186) Although Hemingway

didnrsquot believe that it was necessary to save onersquos soul he did contemplate the soul As a

64

boy Hemingway had thought that his soul had blown out of him once and it had returned

to his body (First Light 172) Hemingway claimed ignorance of the soul and he didnrsquot

know if it existed nor if anyone he knew anything about it Hemingway ponders the

soul ldquoProbably a spring of clear fresh water that never diminished in drought and never

froze in the winter was closest to what we had instead of the soul they all talked aboutrdquo

(172) As a boy Hemingway assumed that he had a soul but as he grew older and jaded

he wasnrsquot sure anymore Hemingway thinks that death ends things Yet he ponders that

perhaps only really religious people have souls (172-173) Of a belief in an afterlife for

the soul as heaven or hell Hemingway had his own opinions of that On July 1 1925

Hemingway creatively wrote to F Scott Fitzgerald of his vision of heaven

To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a

trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in and two lovely

houses in the town one where I would have my wife and children and be

monogamous and love them truly and well and the other where I would have my

nine beautiful mistresses on 9 different floors Then there would be a fine

church like in Pamplona where I could go and be confessed on the way from one

house to the other and I would get on my horse and ride out with my son to my

bull ranch named Hacienda Hadley and toss coins to all my illegitimate children

that lined the road I would write out at the Hacienda and send my son in to lock

the chastity belts onto my mistresses because someone had just galloped up with

the news that a notorious monogamist named Fitzgerald had been seen riding

65

toward the town at the head of a company of strolling drinkers (Hemingway in

Katakis 37)

However after his World War I injury Ernest wrote his family

You know they say there isnrsquot anything funny about this war and there isnrsquot I

wouldnrsquot say that it was hell because thatrsquos been a bit overworked since General

Shermanrsquos time but there have been about eight times when I would have

welcomed hell just on a chance it couldnrsquot come up to the phase of war I was

experiencing (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 166-67)

So if there was a hell Hemingway didnrsquot believe that it was worse than the horrors of

war Of his past Hemingway did have regrets He wrote ldquoThis past was never my past

life which truly bores me to think about and is often very distasteful due to the mistakes

that I have made and the casualties to various human beings involvedrdquo (Hemingway in

White 466)

The question of the soul comes up continually in the works of Hemingway In

ldquoNow I Lay Merdquo Nick Adams tries not to go to sleep at night because he is afraid like

Hemingway was that his soul is going to leave his body in the dark This all stems from

a battlefield injury and experience that Nick had when his soul temporarily left his body

Nick relates ldquoI had been that way [not sleeping at night] for a long time ever since I had

been blown up at night and felt it [his soul] go out of me and go off and then come back

I tried never to think about it but it had started to go since in the nights just at the

moment of going off to sleep and I could only stop it by a very great effortrdquo (Short

Stories 276)

66

Yet Nick doesnrsquot fear his soul leaving him during the day time Hemingway also

had a similar experience with his wounding at Fossalta According to Leicester

Hemingway Ernest once told Guy Hickok of this near-death experience ldquoI felt my soul

or something coming right out of my body like yoursquod pull a silk handkerchief out of a

pocket by one corner It flew around and then came back and went in again and I wasnrsquot

dead any morerdquo (56) Hemingway gives Frederic Henry the same experience in A

Farewell to Arms After the explosion that caused his wounding Henry says that

I tried to breathe but my breath would not come and I felt myself rush bodily out

of myself and out and out and out and all the time bodily in the wind I went out

swiftly all of myself and I knew I was dead and that it had all been a mistake to

think you just died Then I floated and instead of going on I felt myself slide

back I breathed and I was back (47)

Hemingway later referred to his Christian upbringing as ldquothat ton of shit we are

all fed when we are youngrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) Michael Reynolds makes the claim that

in Ernestrsquos youth fishing was his religion (118) However Archie MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoActually he was one of the most profoundly and spiritually powerful

creatures I have ever knownrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 158)

In The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway paints the old man Santiago as a

Christ figure There is so much Christian symbolism in this tale that the story can be

thought of as a parable The name Santiago literally means Saint James in Spanish

(Baker 293) In the Bible James was one of Jesusrsquo brothers Baker says of Santiago that

he ldquoshows in his own right certain qualities of mind and heart which are clearly

67

associated with the character and personality of Jesus Christ in the Gospel storiesrdquo (299)

Like Christ Santiago is able to ldquoignore physical painrdquo while focusing on the larger

objective goal to be gained in the end (299) There is an allusion to Christ on the cross

when Santiago in fighting for his prize ldquosettled comfortably against the wood and took

his suffering as it camerdquo (Old Man Sea 64) Like a horizontal cross-beam across Christrsquos

back Santiago has the cord tightened taught across his back (Backman 10 Old Man Sea

67) Santiago carries the burdensome weight of the fish on his back and he is even

burned by the cord because of it (Old Man Sea 82) The wood the suffering and

Santiagorsquos gentleness according to Melvin Backman blends ldquomagically into an image of

Christ on the crossrdquo (10) Three other Christ-like qualities that Santiago has are his

compassion his humility and his natural piety (Baker 299-300) Santiago has

compassion on certain animals that he encounters and of some fish that he catchesmdashlike

the giant marlin In his struggle with the marlin Santiago says ldquoI love you and respect

you very much But I will kill you dead before this day endsrdquo (Old Man Sea 54) After

he has killed the fish Santiago thinks ldquoYou loved him when he was alive and you loved

him after If you love him it is not a sin to kill himrdquo (105) Before killing the fish

Santiago ponders ldquoI wish I could feed the fish He is my brother But I must kill him

and keep strong to do itrdquo (59) Santiago thinks of his humility ldquoHe was too simple to

wonder when he had attained humility But he knew he had attained it and he knew it

was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true priderdquo (13-14) Santiago demonstrates

his pride when his disciple Manolo touts him as the best fisherman and he plays it down

by saying that he knows of better ones (23) Manolo claims ldquoQueacute va [No way] But

68

there is only yourdquo (23) Santiagorsquos piety is observed in that he prays when he feels and

senses the need and that his prayers are never oaths For example in trying to catch the

giant marlin Santiago says aloud ldquoNow that I have him coming so beautifully God help

me endure Irsquoll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys But I cannot say

them nowrdquo (87) Santiagorsquos prayers are never careless nor does he make them profane

He is reverent

As Christ had disciples so Santiago has his disciple Manolo Like Christ

Santiago is a teacher in that he was taught Manolo how to fish Christ was a fisher of

men Santiago is a traditional fisherman Manolo loves Santiago because of his teaching

Manolo how to fish and he admires and looks up to Santiago as a second father figure

Before Santiago goes out on his big marlin hunt Manolo says to him ldquoIf I cannot fish

with you I would like to serve in some wayrdquo (12) Manolo wants to be loyal to Santiago

Before his big marlin catch Santiago had had two previous eighty-seven day periods

where he went without a fish After the first period Santiago and Manolo had caught big

fish every day for three weeks GR Wilson Jr likens these three weeks to Christrsquos three

years of ministry where he fished for men and taught his disciples to fish for men (370)

At the start of Old Man Santiago had not caught a fish for eighty-four days The Old

Man and the Sea takes place over three days so this makes the second eighty-seven day

period In the Bible Christ demonstrated his divine authority by performing miracles

Wilson notes that Manolo has faith in the old man stemming from the miracle of the

three weeksrsquo bounty that he and Santiago had caught In addition according to Isabelle

Santiago ldquohooks the fish at noon and at noon of third day he kills itrdquo (77) This is just

69

like Christ who died and in three days rose again Isabelle adds that the marlin was

ldquolanded on the seventh attemptrdquo and that ldquoseven sharks were killedrdquo in the fishrsquos defense

(78) The number seven is a sacred and significant number recurring in the Bible After

the seventh day of creation God rested there are seven days in a week et cetera

(Easton) The number seven is also seen as symbolizing perfection and rest

Another similarity of Santiago with Christ are the wounds that he receives on his

hands On the cross Christ was pierced in each hand to help keep him pinned to the

cross In his battle with the fish Santiago receives bad cutsmdashstigmatamdashon his hands

Santiago sees his hands as brothers and he often talks to them Carlos Baker explains that

Santiago ldquospeaks to them [his hands] as to fellow-sufferers wills them to do the work

they must do and makes due allowances for them as if they were what he once calls

them lsquomy brothersrsquordquo (313) Once he says aloud ldquoHersquos [the fish] coming up Come

on hand Please come onrdquo (Old Man Sea 62) The hands also represent good and bad

The right hand is good and the left hand is bad Santiagorsquos hands are compared to the

criminals on the crosses to the left and right of Jesus who was on his own cross in the

center Santiagorsquos right hand is his good one Santiago thought that his left hand ldquohad

always been a traitor and would not do what he called on it to do and he did not trust itrdquo

(71) Luke 2339 reads ldquoOne of the criminals who were hanged railed at him [Jesus]

saying lsquoAre you not the Christ Save yourself and usrsquordquo (English Standard Version) So

Santiagorsquos left hand is untrustworthy Santiagorsquos right hand is so reliable that he quit

arm-wrestling despite being ldquoEl Campeoacutenrdquo in order to keep his right hand in good

condition as a tool of his trade fishing (70-71) The thief on Jesusrsquo right rebukes the

70

other criminal Then in Luke 2342 the thief on the right of Jesus asks Jesus ldquoJesus

remember me when you come into your kingdomrdquo (English Standard Version) Jesus

assures this repentant thief that that day the thief will be with him in paradise

Santiagorsquos right hand is like the penitent thief on the cross to Jesusrsquo right This analogy

can also be applied to the Last Judgment At the Last Judgment the saved will be on the

right hand of the Savior while those who are rejected and damned will be on his left

(Baker 314)

When Santiago sees two sharks approaching he says ldquoAyrdquo (Old Man Sea 107)

Hemingway explains of this exclamation that ldquoThere is no translation for this word and

perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make involuntarily feeling the nail go

through his hands and into the woodrdquo (107) Given his affinity and brotherhood with the

marlin when Santiago sees his prize catch eaten by the sharks it is a mortifying terrible

and crucifying experience for him Through Santiagorsquos crucifixion experience he is

transfigured Baker says that Santiagorsquos experience is also a form of martyrdom

although Santiago doesnrsquot see himself as a martyr (315) Baker also suggests that

Santiagorsquos experience also renders to him a form of apotheosis (316) Backman suggests

that Santiago triumphs (11) On his return voyage to Cuba Santiago ldquocould hardly

breathe now and he felt a strange taste in his mouth It was coppery and sweet and he

was afraid of it for a moment But there was not much of itrdquo (Old Man Sea 119) This

can be likened to Christ when he receives and drinks the ldquosponge filled with vinegarrdquo or

sour wine in Matthew 2748 (Baker 319) When Santiago returns to Cuba he has dried

blood on his face reminiscent of the blood on Christrsquos face because of the crown of

71

thorns Having arrived back everybody is asleep and nobody is there to greet or help

him He only sees a meandering cat Like Christ on the cross when God forsook him

because of the load of sin that he was carrying Santiago is alone in his suffering ldquoThere

was no one to help him so he pulled the boat up as far as he couldrdquo (Old Man Sea 120)

Removing the mast and sail Santiago ldquoshouldered the mast and started to climbrdquo (121)

This is like Christ carrying the heavy cross (Backman 11) Santiago ldquostarted to climb

again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder He

tried to get up But it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder and

looked at the roadrdquo (Old Man Sea 121) This is similar to Christ stumbling and falling as

he carried his cross on the Via Dolorosa on the way to his crucifixion at Golgotha Like

Christ Santiago falls under the burden he is bearing

Back at his shack Santiago lays down to sleep ldquoHe pulled the blanket over his

shoulders and then over his back and legs and he slept face down on the newspapers with

his arms out straight and the palms of his hands uprdquo (121-22) Baker notes that Santiago

sleeps in a cruciform position that sums up ldquothe symbolic position naturally assumed all

the suffering through which he has passedrdquo (320) In his return Santiago also brings

evidence of his epic battlegood work to increase the faith of his disciple Manolo

(Wilson 371) Wilson asserts that Santiago is on his death-bed when Manolo finds him

(372) The eighty-seventh day of this second period ends on Ascension Day as it began

on Ash Wednesday and ldquoconstitutes all but the last ten days of the Easter Cycle from

Lent through Paschal tiderdquo (369-70) As Mary cried over Christ at the tomb Manolo

returns to Santiagorsquos shanty sees the old manrsquos hands and starts to cry (Old Man Sea

72

122) Wilson also asserts that Santiago matches up with Joseph Campbellrsquos archetypal

model for a ldquohero with a thousand facesrdquo (372) For example Santiago starts out on his

journey or calling with the aid of the helper Manolo Santiago ldquocrosses the threshold of

adventure and meets a trial that can take many forms including the brother-battle

dragon-battle crucifixion and a night-sea journey all of which can be seen as applying

in some way to the old fishermanrdquo (372) The mythic-like story culminates in a ldquosacred

marriagerdquo between Santiago and his prize marlin (372) Fellow writer William Although

Hemingway was not a good nor a professing Christian and for most of his life claimed to

be Catholic he was not a reformed believer Hemingway still continued to be

Hemingway Despite all this according to Carlos Baker ldquoThe consciousness of God is

in his booksrdquo (328)

73

74

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

Hemingway wanted to be a good man and a great writer but unfortunately he

did not turn out to be a good manmdashalthough he had his moments of goodness Although

he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not transform him He did not

have a salvation experience nor was his faith life-altering As a Catholic Hemingway

continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Hemingwayrsquos religious

life was one solely of Catholic rituals He did not overcome his problems In the end his

problems overcame him Hemingway himself said of his heart ldquoActually in regard to the

innermost contents of my heart probably a most foul place I would rather have a good

cardiograph reportrdquo (Hemingway in White 459) Hemingway added ldquoNo one of us lives

by as rigid standards nor has a good ethics as we planned but an attempt is maderdquo (461)

Hemingway was vindictive against his critics Hemingway viewed most fellow

writers as enemies if they were not officially his enemy he eventually went about to

convert them into his enemies Hemingway wanted to be the top dog of everythingmdash

especially the writing scenemdashand he didnrsquot want to share the spotlight with anyone else

Ernest felt ldquothat anyone elsersquos success diminished his ownrdquo (Hawkins 61) Hemingwayrsquos

writer friend Sherwood Anderson was the one in Chicago to suggest that Hemingway

and his newly-married first wife Hadley Richardson go to Paris instead of their planned

destination of Italy Anderson told the young Hemingway that Paris was where the

literary world was at that time and that it was also the place to get published This advice

75

was instrumental into turning Hemingway into the famed writer that he became Had it

not been for Anderson and his encouragement and faith in Hemingway Hemingway may

have never became a Nobel Prize winning writer Anderson gave Hemingway letters of

introduction to Gertrude Stein Sylvia Beach Ezra Pound and F Scott Fitzgerald Like

Harold Loeb Anderson also helped in getting Hemingwayrsquos In Our Time published

stressing its importance to Boni amp Liveright (Dearborn 177) Since Anderson pushed In

Our Time Boni amp Liveright did not want to upset itrsquos star writer so they agreed to

publish it (Hawkins 39)

However after all was said and done Hemingway wrote his satire Torrents of

Spring mocking Andersonrsquos writing style in order to try to get laughs and in order to get

out of his contract with his publisher Boni amp Liveright It worked Torrents of Spring

was rejected by Boni amp Liveright because Anderson was the companyrsquos star writer So

in lieu of this Hemingway was able to sign with Max Perkins and the publisher

Scribnerrsquos and Sons Yet in the process Hemingway had burned his bridge of friendship

with Anderson who had been so generous and helpful with the young budding writer

Others who knew of Andersonrsquos graciousness and kindness to Hemingway were appalled

by Torrents of Spring (Hawkins 44)

Hemingway was anti-Semitic mean and demeaning to people he berated them

and belittled them He thought that all guys should be macho Hemingway was not pure

evil but the evil produced by his unpredictable and uncontrollable temper pushed a lot of

peoplemdasheven one-time friendsmdashaway from him Archibald MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoHe was wonderful irreplaceable but an impossible friend a man you

76

couldnt get along with a man you couldnt get along withoutrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 167)

Robert Capa once told Leicester Hemingway ldquoPapa can be more severe than God on

a rough day when the whole human race is misbehavingrdquo (192) Hemingway was his

own worst enemy

Hemingway was not a good Catholic He was married four times and even

divorced a Catholic woman whom he later called his best wife (L Hemingway 271) It

is speculated that Hemingway had affairs with multiple women Hemingway would have

affairs before marrying his last two or three wives Hemingwayrsquos son Jack ldquoBumbyrdquo

Hemingway surmised that Hemingway had an affair with the beautiful blond Jane

Mason in 1933 (Hawkins 152) According to Jack ldquoErnest bragged to him that Jane

liked climbing through the transom to his [Hemingwayrsquos] room at the Ambos Mundos

Hotelrdquo (153) Moreover a prostitute was known to have visited the Finca Vigiacutea

Although Hemingway was Catholic he didnrsquot really change his behavior to live

in sync with the Bible or all Catholic teachings He followed the rituals of the Church

not so much a personal transformative side Yet claiming to be Catholic Hemingway

lived by his own code In the end although Hemingway was not a good person he had

some good memories of a childhood growing up and some good experiences as an adult

Even with his bad experiences Hemingway was able to incorporate them into his

literature Hemingwayrsquos keen insight his precise powers of observation his absorption

of the knowledge gained from others and the Protestant work ethic of his youth paid off

as Hemingway put all of his being into trying to be an honest writer writing one true

sentence at a time and helping his audience to see the world through open and honest

77

eyes to help his readers see feel and almost literally experience first-hand what he was

writing aboutmdashthe good the bad and the ugly Though a flawed human being

Hemingway was a brilliant writer and his brilliance lives on through his works of

literature

WORKS CITED

75

WORKS CITED

Backman Melvin ldquoHemingway The Matador and the Crucifiedrdquo Modern Fiction

Studies 13 (1955) 2-11

Baker Carlos Hemingway the Writer as Artist Princeton Princeton University Press

1963 Print

Berman Ron ldquoProtestant Catholic Jew The Sun Also Risesrdquo The Hemingway

Review 181 (1998) 33 Web

Blume Lesley MM Everybody Behaves Badly the True Story Behind Hemingwayrsquos

Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises Boston Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016

Print

Cohn-Sherbok Dan Anti-Semitism Brimscombe Port Stroud The History Press 2002

Print

Dearborn Mary V Ernest Hemingway a Biography New York Alfred A Knopf

2017 Print

Di Robilant Andrea Autumn in Venice Ernest Hemingway and his Last Muse New

York Alfred A Knopf 2018 Print

Djos Matts ldquoAlcoholism in Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises A Wine and Roses

Perspective on the Lost Generationrdquo The Hemingway Review 142 (1995) 64

Easton MG Illustrated Bible Dictionary 3rd ed Thomas Nelson 1897 Bible Study

Toolscom Web 1 Dec 2018

ESV Study Bible English Standard Version Wheaton Crossway Bibles 2008 Print

This work is dedicated to my father Larry Eugene Ewing who finished his Masterrsquos in

Liberal Arts in 2004 from California State University Sacramento and encouraged me to

pursue my own

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks to Dr Lyle Smith who helped and guided me through the process

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

COPYRIGHT PAGE ii

DEDICATION

CHAPTER

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

TABLE OF CONTENTSv

ABSTRACT vi

1 INTRODUCTION 1

New Historicism 1The Cultural Context and Overview of the Chapters to Follow 4

2 HEMINGWAY AND JUDAISM6

Historical Overview of Judaism6Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in his Novels 15

3 HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY 28

4 HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY 48

5 CONCLUSION71

WORKS CITED 74

v

ABSTRACT

Despite having been raised a Congregational Protestant Ernest Hemingway

abandoned the faith of his youth after he left homemdashespecially after he experienced

destruction and death in the Italian theater during World War I In the following years

Hemingway converted to Catholicism when he married his second wife Pauline Pfeifer

Hemingway also had an anti-Semitic streak often using racial slurs and even making the

villain in his first novel The Sun Also Rises to be a rich Jew This thesis uses new

historicism as the critical lens through which to view Hemingwayrsquos attitude towards

Judaism and Christianity It includes an investigation of his biography and some of his

novels Though he practiced Catholicism he sometimes had negative things to say about

it Yet his later novels show an increased level of spirituality culminating in The Old

Man and the Sea

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

This thesis utilizes new historicism as a lens through which to view Hemingwayrsquos

attitude towards religion and spirituality It involves first a brief explanation of this

perspective and then an investigation of Hemingwayrsquos life and several of his novels

New Historicism

Stephen Greenblatt gets the credit for coining the term ldquonew historicismrdquo in a

1982 issue of Genre (Harpham 363) Greenblatt saw new historicism as a practice not a

doctrine Greenblatt preferred the term ldquocultural poeticsrdquo in lieu of the term new

historicism New historicism is cultural interpretation New historicism searches the real

and the raw and claims to give a new approach to history Brook Thomas sees new

historicism as linking a bridge to the literary past (Thomas 182) It claims to give a new

approach to history providing a new angle from which to view the past According to

Thomas ldquoNew historicism suggests the newness of the pastrdquo (25) According to Joel

Fineman new historicism ldquoproposes to introduce a novelty or an innovation something

lsquo[n]ewrsquo into the closed and closing historiography of successive innovationrdquo (qtd in

Harpham 362) New historicism suggests that through an understanding of the past the

reader will see the past through new eyes and as it was seen in the past itself (Thomas

187) Plus new historicism seeks to represent those who were not represented in the

past New historicism is categorized as ldquoAgainst Theoryrdquo (187) Yet it is a theory in its

own respect New historicism questions whether dominant cultural forces predominate or

2

if cultural power is potentially undermined by other underlying destabilizing forces

(Harpham 360)

New historicism incorporates the reading of ldquoboth literary and non-literary textsrdquo

in order to understand the past from the point of view of the past (Kerridge 10)

Literature is defined as a cultural construct being unique to its own era and it is ldquoshaped

by the many peoples and discourses of that erardquo (10) New historicists believe that texts

should be viewed from their original setting and from the cultural context of that

particular period (10) Jane Tompkins in writing from the new historicist perspective

tries to sympathetically recreate the context in which literary works were produced and

the specific problems to which these literary works were devoted (185) Put simply new

historicism seeks to understand writers via their own historical terms (Veeser 186) New

historicists hope that by ldquoReconstructing an era from the materials it produced the

historian could sympathetically reinhabit the pastrdquo (89) Using the new historicist model

texts can reveal insights about the people that created them their discourses and their

ideology (Kerridge 10-11) In new historicism ldquoliterary and non-literary textsrdquo are given

equal scrutiny and regard (11) Consequently literature is a unique by-product of the

culture from which it originated and sheds unique insight into that culture

Despite Greenblattrsquos preference for his own term ldquocultural poeticsrdquo the term

new historicism stuck Whereas Greenblatt coined the term some scholars see Michel

Foucault as the power behind the method (Harpham 369) Foucault encouraged a group

of young scholars at Berkeley to promote new historicism in their journal

3

Representations In addition Foucault seemed to learn from this group Foucaultrsquos

ldquomost identifiable legacy in American literary studiesrdquo was new historicism (370)

New historicism claims to represent the real by defining the real as the textual

(360) According to Harpham ldquoLiterature is traditionally said to produce an lsquoethicalrsquo

effect through its ability to transcend its historical momentrdquo (374) Harpham says that the

real is defined as the local the material and the specific He also notes that ldquoA lsquonewrsquo

historicism promises knowledge of the past that really is knowledge that discloses the

object as in itself it really was that is not simply a reflex or internal mirroring of

contemporary self-awarenessrdquo (362) It is the goal of the new historicist to be objective

instead of subjective For instance the subjective seeks to define history through

personal tastes feelings and opinions New historicism is the opposed to this New

historicism seeks to present the past as it really was without the modern biases and

prejudices of those currently researching it New historicism tries to see through the eyes

and minds of the people who actually lived through and experienced history It tries to

understand the mindset and the feelings of the people of the time period in question

What people thought and how people thought is important Todayrsquos current beliefs

should be left out of the mix Past beliefs are essential to understanding the thinking

processes of the past

4

The Cultural Context and Overview of the Chapters To Follow

Ernest Hemingway was a man of his times Like many of his Lost Generation

after the Great War (in particular) he abandoned the faith of his youth although he quite

possibly did earlier World War I cemented this rejection In Hemingwayrsquos twenties he

married and then committed adultery According to Hemingway biographer Mary V

Dearborn he liked to marry those with whom he slept Hemingway started attending

religious services again after his second marriage to the rich Catholic Pauline Pfeiffer

Hemingway lived as an expat in Paris during the Roaring 20s Hemingwayrsquos friends

were newspapermen artists and writers Paris was hedonistic in those days After the

carnage and terror of World War I the returning Lost Generation just wanted to live life

to the utmost and the fullest In early-twentieth-century Paris Hemingway lived in an

atmosphere of lax morals Anything went In consequence he conformed to the culture

around him Some of Hemingwayrsquos literary friends were anti-Semitic Perhaps they

influenced him but Hemingway eventually showed signs of anti-Semitism too

Moreover some of the authors that Hemingway read especially as he was trying to

become a better writer were anti-Semitic themselves Living in predominantly Catholic

France converting to Catholicism at the insistence of his second wife was an easy task

for Hemingway Many of his friends were CatholicmdashJames Joyce being one At the

time Hemingway was just a conforming product of the culture and attitudes of those

around him He wanted to fit it inmdashhe wanted to be one of the boysmdashyet throughout his

life and his writing he was haunted by death and he wanted to find a spiritual solution to

his many struggles

5

Chapter 2 investigates Hemingway and Judaism and Chapter 3 centers on

Hemingway and Christianity In Chapter 4 the author argues that although he didnrsquot turn

out to be a good person and was vindictive against fellow writers critics and others

Hemingway was a good writer and used all his experiences good and bad to bring across

the truth and reality of life in his works of literature Hemingwayrsquos last novel Old Man

and the Sea provides the clearest statement of his spiritual and religious perspective

6

CHAPTER 2

HEMINGWAY AND JUDIASM

Historical Overview of Judaism

Anti-Semitism or hatred of Jews has been around since the rise of Judaism In

the Old Testament Pharaoh was the first political leader known to persecute the Jews

Pharaoh was concerned with the growing Jewish population and their loyalty Among

many other things he tried to kill Jewish ldquofirst-born sonsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 13) Next in

the Old Testament Haman tried to have the Jews killed off under Queen Esther

However most scholars agree that anti-Semitism came into its own in the years after

Christ left this earth For example Dan Cohn-Sherbok argues that ldquoit was only when

Christianity emerged in the first century CE that Jews came to be viewed as contemptible

and demonicrdquo (17)

Unfortunately the intensity of anti-Semitism in Christianity was mainly due to

misinterpretation In earlier centuries AD people could not read Scripture for themselves

and they were consequently misled In those days people had faith in and trusted the

Catholic Church seeing the pope as infallible Some misinterpreted Scripture to say that

the Jews were responsible for Christrsquos death However Scripture emphasizes that Christ

died for all so consequently he died for everyone If one looks at it from that point of

view then everyone past present and future were are and will be responsible for

Christrsquos death Yet some didnrsquot look at it that way In fact the Apostle Paul went out of

his way to preach and try to reach Jews first

7

Paul wrote in Romans 116 ldquoFor I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the

power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the

Greekrdquo (English Standard Version) John 422 reads ldquoYou worship what you do not

know we [Jews] worship what we know for salvation is from the Jewsrdquo In Romans

1117-18 Paul suggests that Gentile believers are just grafted into the Jewish promise ldquoIf

some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive were grafted in

among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree [then] do

not be arrogant toward the branches but if you are arrogant remember that it is not you

who supports the root but the root supports yourdquo Unfortunately some uninformed

early Christians did not put two and two together For some it was believed that the

Christian Church took the place of Israel which isnrsquot accurate Some believed that ldquothe

Church was the true inheritor of Godrsquos promisesrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 45) It was

believed that Jews no longer had a covenant with God and that Christians had completely

overshadowed and replaced Israel in that covenant This is not true

Acts 1346 reads of preaching to the Jews first ldquoIt was necessary that the word of

God be spoken to you firstrdquo Jesus also a Jew promoted preaching to the Jews first In

Matthew 125-6 Jesus says to the twelve disciples ldquoGo nowhere among the Gentiles and

enter no town of the Samaritans but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israelrdquo

(English Standard Version) In Matthew 1524 Jesus says ldquoI was sent only to the lost

sheep of the house of Israelrdquo (English Standard Version) The first Christians were a

group of Jews Jews were different so eventually urban legends sprang up without

accurate facts and the knowledge of Judaismrsquos teachings some people latched onto these

8

false assumptions and believed the lies that others were propagating about the Jews For

instance Jews were accused of murdering Christian children and then using their blood

for ritual practices It was believed that Jews used the blood of murdered Christian

children ldquoin the preparation of unleavened bread for Passoverrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 54) The

ritual murder charge was a misunderstanding (81) In fact in the fourteenth century

Jews were accused of bringing about the Black Death by poisoning the wells and springs

(60 67) This assertion first gained credence in southern France (81) Yet Jews suffered

and died under the Black Death as well This is an example of the Jews being blamed as

scapegoats

In the early Church the Bishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom accused the

early Hebrews of sacrificing ldquotheir sons and daughters to demons andrdquo eating their own

children (37 47) Chrysostom said of synagogues ldquoto go there was no better than

visiting a brothel a robberrsquos den or any indecent place [it is] a theatre a house of

prostitution and domicile of the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom said that the Jews ldquohave

surpassed the ferocity of wild beasts since they murder their offspring and immolate

them to the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom also accused the Jews of worshipping the devil Yet

Jeremiah 313b reads in reference to Israel ldquoI have loved you with an everlasting love

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to yourdquo (English Standard Version) If so-

called Christians would have accurately read this during this period they would have

seen that God loves his people and his nation Israel But some Christians thought that

the Christian Church entirely replaced Godrsquos Covenant with the Jews Consequently

Chrysostom said that Christians must hate the Jews (Cohn-Sherbok 47) Yet hatred is an

9

anti-Christian doctrine In Matthew 544 Jesus says ldquoBut I say to you Love your

enemies and pray for those who persecute

yourdquo (English Standard Version)

False conceptions of the Jews even seemed to be found among some of the

Church Fathers Some of the Church Fathers were frustrated that the Jews would not

convert to Christianity nor would they renounce their Judaism In some cases the quest

for converts became a competition Cohn-Sherbok writes ldquoDuring the same period

Tertullian the African Church Father called the synagogues of his day lsquofountains of

persecution of Christiansrsquordquo (46) Justin Martyr ldquorelated that Jews laugh curse and insult

Jesusrdquo (46) Jerome referred to Jews as Judases (47) In fact Judas was thought to be

ldquosymbolic of the Jewish peoplerdquo (84) In the New Testament ldquothe figure of Judas

was associated in the public mind with deviousness and treacheryrdquo (83)

Desecration of the communion host became another false charge against the Jews

as the then-Christians believed in the doctrine of transubstantiation In the doctrine of

transubstantiation the communion bread and wine (of the Eucharist) literally becomes

the body and blood of Jesus During this time it was believed that Jews stole the host in

order ldquoto assault it and thereby torture Christrdquo (80) The charge of desecration of the

Host was a hallucinatory fantasy (82) However the Jews did not believe in the Doctrine

of Transubstantiation which was affirmed at Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 (80) Only

Catholics believe this doctrine today Since the Jews did not believe in

transubstantiation they would in all likelihood not have attacked the host because they

10

couldnrsquot believe that they were actually attacking Christ in the process Desecration of

the Host was a wild belief and a total fantasy

In some cases the Talmud was burned because it was believed to be anti-

Christian Agobard Archbishop of Lyons believed that Jews stole Christian children

and sold them to Arabs (64) He also believed that Jews seduced Christian women All

sorts of wild beliefs developed about Jews many without factual basis It was all

conjecture and imagination In Germany ldquoa French monk Radulph went about preaching

that Jews were enemies of God and should be persecutedrdquo (65) As previously

mentioned the Jews were scapegoats they were blamed for everything During the

witch-hunting crazed days of the fifteenth century Jews were seen as being in cahoots

with witches and the devil (71) During this time it was believed that the Jews were born

misshapen hemorrhoidal and both sexes afflicted with menstruation In Trnava

Slovakia it was believed that Christian blood was an excellent means by which ldquoto cure

the wound produced by circumcisionrdquo (71)

For the duration of the Middle Ages ldquoChristians viewed Jews as sorcerers able to

cast spells against their enemiesrdquo (72) It was believed consequently that the Jews were

capable of working magic against Christians During the Black Death it was also

believed that Jews wanted to poison Christians In fact ldquoJews were accused of using

Christian blood for magical purposesrdquo (73) The little contact that these early Christians

had with Jews also led to their paranoia viewing the Jews as an alien mysterious and

strange people (74) Urban legends seemed to sprout up due to the lack of knowledge

Ignorance of Jews reigned

11

Jewish medicine too became suspect It was claimed that high rulers were killed

off through Jewish medicine During the Middle Ages the Vienna Faculty of Medicine

thought that ldquothe private code of Jewish doctors required them to murder one patient in

tenrdquo (77) Jews were eventually thought to possess attributes of the devil The Jews

ldquowere perceived as having horns tails and the beard of a goat and could be recognized

by their noxious smell the foetor judaiumlcusrdquo (79) Consequently the Jews were seen as

sub-human It was believed that Jews lacked morality anything went with them Jews

were so despised that they were exiled from countries At different times Spain France

and England expelled their Jewish populations In some instances they were invited

back

The charges against Jews were grotesque fantasies Tracts were written against

the Jews One such read of the Jews ldquolsquoDemons from hell race of the Jews detestable

men more accursed than Lucifer and more wicked than all the devils cruel tigers be

gone unworthy as you are to live among us when you thirst so for bloodrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 86)

Martin Luther at first favored the Jews writing a pamphlet That Christ was Born

a Jew However after he was unable to convert the Jews to his Protestant Reformed

Christian faith he became anti-Semitic So ldquoLuther stressed that they [the Jews] are the

most contemptible of all peoplesrdquo (90) Luther wrote ldquorsquomake no mistake that aside from

the Devil you have no enemy more venomous more desperate more bitter than a true

Jew who truly seeks to be a Jewrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90) Moreover ldquoMartin Luther

speculated that if the Jews could kill Christians they would gladly do sordquo (73)

12

Of the Jews Luther believed that ldquoThose who tolerate them [the Jews] will incur

great loss lsquoWhoever wishes to accept venomous serpents desperate enemies of the Lord

and to honour them to let himself be robbed pillaged corrupted and cursed by them

need only turn to the Jewsrsquordquo (90) Luther suggested of the Jews ldquoTheir synagogues

should be set on fire and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over

with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of itrdquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 90) Luther wrote ldquoTheir [Jewsrsquo] homes should likewise be broken down and

destroyed For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues

they should be deprived of their prayerbooks [sic] and Talmud in which idolatry lies

cursing and blasphemy are taught their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death

to teach any morerdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther also wrote ldquoPassport and travelling privileges should be absolutely

forbidden to the Jews They ought to be stopped from usury Let the young and

strong Jews and Jewesses be given the flail the axe the hoe the spade the distaff and

spindle and let them earn their bread by the sweat of their browrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok

90) Luther called the Jews an ldquoinsufferable devilish burdenrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther said that Jews were ldquochildren of the Devil condemned to the flames of hellrdquo (qtd

in Cohn-Sherbok 91) Luther believed that the Jews should be despised Luther even

thought that ldquothe Jews are worse than the devilsrdquo (91) Luther saw the Jews as

ldquoinstigators of social and economic corruptionrdquo (94) Luther thought that the Jews

wanted to ldquodestroy Christian civilizationrdquo (95)

13

Luther saw himself in a fight against Satan in the Jews Despite Lutherrsquos anti-

Semitism a good thing did emerge out of the Protestant Reformation Scripture was

translated into the common vernacular so that literate people could see what the Bible

said for themselves instead taking a priestrsquos or a popersquos word for it This led to literate

Christians seeing the Jews through the lens of Scripture instead of through anti-Jewish

sermons and hear-say from church leaders

In Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century the Jews were seen as favoring political

revolution and as having played a role in the revolutionary activities of the era (231)

This viewpoint started after the revolutions of 1848 (244) and it is not entirely off the

mark For example Karl Marx was a Jew Although not all Jews were revolutionaries

Nicholas Reynolds says that ldquoMore than a few Russian revolutionaries were Jewish one

reaction to the state-sanctioned anti-Semitism and the resulting pogroms that occurred

with frightening regularityrdquo (Writer Sailor Solider Spy 72) Capitalism also came to be

associated with the Jewsmdashparticularly its vices (Cohn-Sherbok 248) In the United

States the Jews were blamed for the Russian Revolution (231) There was fear of the

Jews or Judaeophobia A writer that Hemingway read was the anti-Semitic Fyodor

Dostoyevsky Perhaps this helped to influence Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

Dostoyevsky wrote ldquoLike a vast tightening net the power of assimilated Jewry stretches

over the whole world and no matter where we set foot we are caught in it We must

struggle to our last drop of blood against the insidious Judaization of Europe and

especially of Germanismrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 232)

14

In 1912 the Marconi Affair hit Great Britain Two leading Jewish politicians

Rufus Isaacs and Herbert Samuels were implicated in this corruption scandal

Eyewitness reported ldquoIsaacsrsquo brother is the president of the Marconi Company Isaacs

and Samuels have privately arranged to have the British people pay the Marconi

Company a considerable sum of money through the intermediary of Samuels and for

Isaacsrsquo benefitrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 236) In wake of the Marconi Affair one of

Hemingwayrsquos early favorite writers Rudyard Kipling ldquodedicated a hymn of hate to the

affairrdquo (236) Like the biblical greedy and crafty servant (of the prophet Elisha) Gehazi

who is punished with leprosy for his sins Kiplingrsquos poem ldquowas intended to illustrate the

cunning of these Jewish [Marconi] politiciansrdquo (236)

Once America made its foray into World War I ldquoJews were seen as participants

in international conspiracyrdquo (240) Americans thought that the Jews might be part of the

Russian Revolution In the literary world ldquoa number of writers commented on the evil

influence of Jewryrdquo (241) Hemingwayrsquos one-time-friend and literary mentor F Scott

Fitzgerald was one such example In fact Fitzgerald negatively portrayed New York

Jewish merchants in his novel The Beautiful and the Damned

Down in a tall busy street he read a dozen Jewish names on a line of stores In

the door of each stood a dark little man [Jew] watching the passersby with intent

eyes eyes gleaming with suspicion with pride with clarity with cupidity with

comprehension New Yorkmdashhe could not dissociate it now from the slow

upward creep of this people The little stores growing expanding consolidating

15

moving watched over with hawkrsquos eyes and a beersquos attention to detail (qtd in

Cohn-Sherbok 241)

This anti-Semitic view of Jews could have influenced Hemingway whether he read the

book or if Fitzgerald made his anti-Semitic views known to Hemingway The same

could be said of Ezra Pound Ezra Pound was a big anti-Semite and one of Hemingwayrsquos

friends It could be questioned if Ezra Pound influenced Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

In July of 1943 Pound was indicted for treason due to his anti-Semitic pro-Fascist radio

broadcasts from Italy (Dearborn 491) Poundrsquos radio broadcasts ldquowere shocking even

vilemdashhe recommended The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf he spoke of

the lsquo60 kikes who started this warrsquo and asserted lsquoThe Jew is a savagersquordquo (491) Later

due to Hemingwayrsquos suggestion Pound pleaded insanity and spent several years in an

Institution Hemingwayrsquos one-time friend Donald Ogden Stewart who was present for

the Pamplona bull fights in 1925 ldquotook the blame for having been the probable inspiration

for Bill Gortonrsquos [a character in The Sun Also Rises] anti-Semitic remarks and

exclamationsrdquo (Blume 123) Stewart wrote that ldquoI have no doubt that I was really

basically anti-Semitic in those days as probably also was Hemingwayrdquo (123) Lesley

Blume stresses that Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism ldquowas not a deep-rooted hatred like

the variety that gave rise to Nazismrdquo (123) Stewart referred to Hemingwayrsquos anti-

Semitism as ldquoa form of social snobbishness something that people simply took for

granted [during that time]rdquo (Blume 123) One would think that after the Holocaust

Hemingway would cease his anti-Semitic comments but he still continued In

16

Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century ldquoAmerican literature repeatedly described Jews in the

most unsavoury (sic) termsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 249)

The French also saw the Jews as having played a part in the Russian Revolution

(241) In France where Hemingway lived part of his literary life Alphonse Toussenel

wrote ldquoThe Jews King of the Epoch [in which] he blamed the Jews for the ills afflicting

societyrdquo (248) In France ldquoAccording to Edouard-Adolphe Drumont in La France Juive

the [French] Revolution had benefited only the Jewsrdquo (248) Edouard-Adolphe Drumont

caricatured the Jews as being hook-nosed possessing ldquohuge ears soft hands and arms of

unequal lengthrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 248) In France the Dreyfus Affair of the

nineteenth century had ratcheted up the prominence and appeal of French anti-Semitism

Yet the logical consequence of anti-Semitism took place years later during World War II

when Hitler instituted the Holocaust Of course Hemingway knew of this deadly result

of anti-Semitism but it is unknown how much it changed his view of Jews as later he

did show some more anti-Semitic behavior Perhaps old habits die hard

Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in His Novels

Unfortunately Hemingway was an anti-Semite To what degree is unknown

Some say that Hemingway was mildly or casually anti-Semitic (Hendrickson 32)

However in fits of anger Hemingway would hurl anti-Semitic slurs at those he knew to

be Jews Yet ironically ldquoHemingway knew admired and imitated Jewsrdquo like his friend

and literary mentor Gertrude Stein (Berman 39) Hemingway was also friends with

Harold Loeb a Jewish man (Dearborn 192) Hemingway and Loeb had played tennis

17

boxed and wrestled together In The Sun Also Rises the character of Robert Cohn is

based upon Harold Loeb Hemingway once had good things to say of Loeb On March

4 1925 Hemingway wrote to William B Smith of Loeb ldquoA hell of a good guy

Loeb is a male you can wrestle wit He aint been throwed since he learned in Princeton-

only weighs 150 about Heavy weights cant throw him Hersquos never wrestled pros or of

course hersquos have got throwed Still he aint been throwed I tried to throw him and he

throwed me in no timerdquo (sic throughout Hemingway in Katakis 28) In The Sun Also

Rises the Loeb Robert Cohn character is also Jake Barnesrsquo tennis partner (13) Despite

all his anti-Semitism later Hemingway married the half-Jewish reporter and writer

Martha Gellhorn as his third wife (Stoneback 136) Unfortunately it is exactly unknown

why Hemingway was anti-Semitic It would seem that the times in which he lived played

a role

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway has a stereo-typical Jewish character Robert

Cohn that he portrays as a proud rich weak self-pitying self-doubting awkward

sniveling whining misbehaving mannerless undesirable unremarkable and

dysfunctional killjoy who is an outsider and a drag on everyonersquos spirits Cohn is

supposed to represent all Jews (Berman 39) In fact Hemingway goes so far as to write

that Jews are inferior Hemingway writes of Cohn ldquoHe cared nothing for boxing in fact

he disliked it but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of

inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princetonrdquo (Sun 11) Loeb

had also gone to Princeton

18

Hemingway based almost the entire book of The Sun Also Rises on a real life

event that happened when Loeb Lady Duff Twysden and Pat Guthrie (Lady Duffrsquos

cousin and boyfriend) joined him Hemingwayrsquos first wife Hadley Richardson Don

Stewart and Bill Smith in Pamplona for the Festival of San Fermiacuten in July of 1925

(Dearborn 188) In the novel this group goes to Pamplona to have fun They join in the

Spanish Festival of San Fermiacuten where they drink excessively party and watch

professional bullfights All this time the Harold Loeb character Robert Cohn follows

his former lover Lady Brett Ashely around like a lap-dog and from the perspective of

the other festival-goers makes everyone else miserable

Hemingwayrsquos publication of this event into fiction hurt many of the real-life

players in the memorable drama The real Lady Brett Ashley Lady Duff Twysden later

referred to the book as nothing more than ldquocheap reportingrdquo (qtd in Blume 206) Former

Hemingway friend Donald Ogden Stewart felt the same way In his 1975 memoir By a

Stroke of Luck Stewart still refused to give The Sun Also Rises ldquothe artistic stature that

others accorded itrdquo (Blume 230) Stewartrsquos son recalls that his dad would say ldquoThatrsquos

exactly what happened it was like a photographrdquo (qtd in Blume 230) So for Stewart

the novel was just a retelling of events it is did not utilize artistic narrative originality

Just as Robert Cohn had had an affair with Lady Brett Ashley so Loeb had had an

intimate relationship with Lady Duff Twysden Scholars are unsure as to whether

Hemingway had any serious relationship with Lady Duff however he was jealous He

liked her In his reasoning he had met Lady Duff first (Dearborn 188) ldquoEven though

[Hemingway] had no plans to sleep with Duff himself that didnrsquot mean according to his

19

logic that she was fair game for Harold [Loeb]rdquo (188) Hemingway was protective of

Lady Duff and Hemingway saw Loeb as a snake (189) Perhaps Loebrsquos success with

Lady Duff finally pushed Hemingway against him

Mary V Dearborn notes that Hemingway was also jealous that Loebrsquos book

Doodab was coming out before his ownmdashLoebrsquos in May Hemingwayrsquos in October

(191) Hemingway was very competitive in his writing career In fact before

Hemingway made it as a fiction writer Harold Loeb had gone so far as to help

Hemingway get his first book of short stories In Our Time published (204) It is noted

that ldquoHarold [Loeb] rescued In Our Time from the returns pile at [Boni amp] Liveright [the

publishing company] he fought for the book and he was instrumental in getting it

publishedrdquo (192) Loeb had pleaded with Boni amp Liveright ldquoHold it Give it [In Our

Time] another reading I know what Irsquom talking aboutrdquo (Hawkins 39) In fact if it

were not for the persistence of his well-connected friends Hemingway may have quite

possibly never been published at all since his manuscripts had been repeatedly rejected

Unfortunately Hemingway did not like to give credit to others for helping him to rise in

his profession He wanted to take all the credit and the glory for himself He wanted to

be self-sufficient In addition having not gone to college Hemingway was leery of

college-educated men He felt inferior to them and he would try to compete with them in

order to make himself look and feel better Since Harold Loeb was a Princeton graduate

Hemingway was possibly disdainful of this and in all likelihood held it against Loeb

In trying to get In Our Time published Loeb took Hemingway to former Boni amp

Liveright vice president Leon Fleischmanrsquos Paris apartment (Blume 71) Previously

20

ldquoKitty Cannell [the Frances character in Sun] heard him [Hemingway] unthinkably use

lsquokikersquo with such casualness and scorn that she warned her Jewish lover Harold Loeb to

be careful with Hemingwayrdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 242) Kitty Cannell worried

that Hemingway ldquomight create a terrible scene in front of Fleischman and his wife

Helen She said as much to Loeb He brushed her offrdquo (Blume 71) After this meeting

with Fleischman Harold Loeb heard Hemingway malign Jews in his speech

Hemingway had a way of maligning making fun of and satirizing his friends and his

perceived enemies In the process he lost many friends and unnecessarily caused the

creation of many enemies In fact the release of The Sun Also Rises shocked Loeb as he

had thought that he and Hemingway were good friends (Dearborn 191-92)

Hemingway also turned on his former Jewish mentor Gertrude Stein

Hemingway got mad at Stein when she would not write a review for his new book In

Our Time Stein wanted to wait and see if Hemingway was going to be a success first

On November 8 1925 Hemingway commented to Ezra Pound of Stein ldquoWhat a lot of

safe playing kikesrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 38) Later in life after they broke with each

other Hemingway and Stein would arguemdashthrough writingmdashand trade barbs with one

another Hemingway would mock Stein In his article for Esquire in the April 1934

issue ldquoAD in Africa A Tanganyika Letterrdquo Hemingway wonders ldquohow much Buddha

at that age would resemble Gertrude Steinrdquo (Hemingway in White 159)

Hemingway was also against the troubled literary critic Dorothy Parker

(Dearborn 247) The half-Jewess Dorothy Parker was tough in her literary criticism yet

she gave Hemingway great reviews She adored Hemingway but Hemingway didnrsquot

21

return the feelings (Blume 155) Parker and Hemingway had met in New York In

Hemingway Parker thought that she had found a kindred spirit (156) During

Hemingwayrsquos New York visit Parker ldquobecame so engrossed in his tales of the Left Bank

that she shunted aside her skepticism and decided on the spot to move abroadrdquo (156)

Parker became for Hemingway a strong ally among literary critics Blume notes of

Parker ldquoIn years to come she would also pen several adoring Hemingway profiles and

book reviewsrdquo (156) Hemingway and Parker became so familiar that eventually

Hemingway started calling Parker ldquoDottyrdquo (156) Parker was so taken with Hemingway

that her ldquodevotion to him bordered on idolatryrdquo (158) But Parkerrsquos love for Hemingway

was a useful tool in Hemingwayrsquos arsenal

Unfortunately Parker was probably not stable She had tried to kill herself twice

within three years She confided in Hemingway ldquoabout a late-stage abortion she had

recently undergone about attempting suicide and about some other recent bad luck in

her liferdquo (qtd in Dearborn 247) During their conversation Hemingway discovered that

Parker did not like Spain For Parker ldquoPretty much everything about the countrymdashfrom

its treatment of animals to the rump-pinching habits of Spanish menmdashhad appalled herrdquo

(Blume 193) Moreover ldquoIn Barcelona she had walked out of a bullfight after a bull

gored a horse and declared that she found matadors disgustingrdquo (193) Back in Paris with

Hemingway ldquoParker had imparted these impressions to Hemingway for whom such

views amounted to sacrilegerdquo (193) Hemingway was offended by this and like other

things Hemingway took this personally to heart as he was an ardent Hispanophile loving

the Spanish country its people the slow pace of life and its culture (Dearborn 247)

22

Finally Hemingway ldquohad little sympathy for the self-inflicted wounds of a caustic and

comparatively pampered urbaniterdquo (Blume 194)

Later ldquoErnest wrote a long cruel poem about Parker not published until both

were dead called lsquoTo a Tragic Poetessrsquo revealing the personal details she had evidently

related during their most recent meetingrdquo (Dearborn 247-48) In the poem Hemingway

ldquoreferred to the dead fetus noted that she had all too conveniently failed in her suicide

attempts and mocked her failures with men He was pointedly mean about her being

Jewish referring to lsquothe Jewish cheeks of your plump assrsquordquo (248) The second half of

Hemingwayrsquos poem ldquoconsists of insults piled on Parker and others who out of ignorance

about it do not appreciate Spain (inevitably bullfighting comes up)rdquo (248) Pauline

Pfeiffer didnrsquot like this poem and referred to it as ldquoabout twelve tents [tenths] out of water

mayberdquo (Hawkins 59) Pauline thought the poem shrill In 1926 at the home of Archie

and Ada McLeish Ernest read this poem ldquoTo a Tragic Poetessrdquo to the assembled

gathering to try to get some laughs (Dearborn 248) No laughs came Donald Ogden

Stewart called the poem ldquoviciously unfair and unfunnyrdquo (qtd in Blume 194) Because of

the reading of the poem the Stewarts kept their distance from Hemingway from there on

out and Don Stewart was never close to Hemingway again (Dearborn 248) Ironically

since the poem was never published until after Parkerrsquos death ldquoParker never learned

about the existence of the poem [and] unaware of its existence she continued to write

wildly enthusiastic reviews of Hemingwayrsquos work in The New Yorker and called him one

of her favorite writersrdquo (Blume 194) Parker also called Hemingway ldquothe greatest living

American short story writerrdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 164)

23

There is also other evidence of Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism In his early years at

Lake Walloon the Point where the young people always liked to fish was sold ldquoto two

Jews who wanted to build a club houserdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 114) Bill

Smith later recalled that he and Ernest had planned to throw rotten fish down the Jewsrsquo

chimney at the lake (M Reynolds Paris Years 252) In the mid-1920s Hemingway

wrote Ezra Pound calling the aspiring poet Dave OrsquoNeil a ldquorsquoCelto-Kikersquordquo (Dearborn

134) Hemingway also wrote of his friend Nathan Asch ldquoYou couldnrsquot tell [of Asch

being a talented writer] Jews go bad quicklyrdquo (163) Later in Key West Hemingway

referred to the town as a ldquoJew administered phony of a townrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 154)

At the time that Hemingway wrote this Key West was for all intents and purposes

bankrupt ldquounable to collect enough taxes to pay its billsrdquo (N Reynolds 7) Under the

New Deal the town of Key West had ldquopetitioned the governor to take over the cityrdquo

(Hendrickson 154) As such ldquoThe Florida branch of Franklin Delano Rooseveltrsquos

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) stepped in and took overrdquo (N

Reynolds 7) Plus under the New Deal the plan was to turn Key West into a tourist

destination making Hemingwayrsquos home on Whitehead Street one of the attractions (8)

This would interfere with Hemingwayrsquos deeply coveted privacy (8) Moreover

Hemingway was disillusioned with the government after some World War I veterans

were killed during a hurricane that hit some of the Florida Keys

Later In Cuba in May 1955 The Old Man and the Sea film version of the novel

was to be filmed Hemingwayrsquos Jewish friend Peter Viertel who was writing the

screenplay joked with Hemingway in order to try to break up the tension between Ernest

24

and the film producer kidding ldquoabout Santiago going out on the eighty-fifth day and not

catching a fishrdquo (Dearborn 573) This made Hemingway mad Narrowing his eyes and

gritting his teeth he said ldquoThe Jews have always had a superior attitude toward fishingmdash

probably because fish has never been part of their dietrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573) This

Jewish comment in turn made Viertel mad and he said that ldquohe thought Ernest had

gotten beyond his anti-Semitism with The Sun Also Risesrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573)

Hemingway felt contrite that he had lashed out against his friend Viertel and he

ldquoassured Peter he had never been anti-Semitic and matters were smoothed overrdquo (573-

74)

Some Jews have the last name Stein Especially in his youth Hemingway like to

refer to himself as Hemingstein or Stein According to Dearborn Hemingway was

referring to a stein of beer in this case (39) Other nicknames he used were Hymenstein

or the Great Steinway (Hendrickson 266) Catherine Reef thinks that these nicknames

sound Jewish She writes

The last one [nickname] amused him [Ernest] most because it sounded like a

Jewish name Like many young people in narrow-minded Oak Park Ernest grew

up thinking it was all right to make fun of people of different faiths and

backgrounds and he never fully let go of this attitude As an adult he

occasionally called himself Hemingstein or just Stein and although he had

Jewish friends he sometimes mocked them behind their backs (14)

25

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway refers to himself as the great psychiatrist Dr

Hemingstein (53) In real life Hemingwayrsquos son Gregory ldquoGigirdquo for short was known

as the Irish Jew (Hendrickson 245)

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway gives Cohn boxing as his only strength

ldquoThere was a certain inner comfort in knowing he could knock down anybody who was

snooty to himrdquo (11) Because of boxing Hemingway goes so far as to portray Cohn with

the stereotypical Jewish nose In the novel Cohn gets his nose broken during a boxing

bout The narrator Jake Barnes says of Cohnrsquos reworked nose ldquoit certainly improved

his noserdquo (11) Ironically Hemingway threatened a similar situation later in his life In

Spain at the Hotel Florida after a serious shelling during the Spanish Civil War some of

the guests including the movie producer Herb Klein wanted to switch their rooms to the

safer rooms in the back of the hotel At this point in his life Hemingway would hold

people to a higher standard of bravery than his own (Dearborn 387) So Hemingway

intimidated and bullied those Hotel Florida guests into keeping their rooms in lieu of

switching them saying they ldquowould be running away from the enemy capitulating to the

Fascistsrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 387) However in fact Hemingway had his own room in one

of the safer back parts of the hotel Then ldquoaccording to one observer he rode up with

[Herb] Klein in the elevator called him a coward and lsquojostledrsquo him saying lsquoIrsquod like to

flatten your big Jewish nosersquordquo (388)

In The Sun Also Rises nobody wants to be around Cohn He is trying to be an all-

round guy and a Protestant gentleman (Berman 44) However Ron Berman refers to him

as a fake gentleman Melvin Backman argues that Cohn lacks any real identity (4)

26

Although Cohn tries to assimilate and be chivalrous nobody accepts his behavior as

authentic Hemingway portrays Cohn as still ldquotoo different to acceptrdquo (38) Cohn is also

a show-off and he likes to brag For example in winning a ldquoseveral hundred dollarsrdquo in

bridge ldquoIt made him rather vain of his bridge game and he talked several times of how a

man could always make a living at bridge if he were ever forced tordquo (17) In another

instance Cohn likes to brag about his relationship with Brett ldquoHe was being confidential

now and it was giving him pleasure to be able to talk with the understanding that I knew

there was something between him and Brettrdquo (106) Moreover Cohnrsquos believed and

perceived superiority is offensive to Jakersquos friend Bill Gorton One time Bill Gorton

says of the approaching Cohn ldquoWell let him not get superior and Jewishrdquo (Sun 102)

This perceived superiority makes Jake extremely dislike Cohn

Why I felt that impulse to devil him I do not know Of course I do know I was

blind unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to him The fact that I took it

as a matter of course did not alter that any I certainly did hate him I do not

think I ever really hated him until he had that little spell of superiority at lunchmdash

that and when he went through all that barbering (105)

According to Dearborn the character of Bill Gorton is a combination of Bill

Smith and Don Ogden Stewart In the novel Bill really doesnrsquot like Jews Bill says of

his Jewish friends adding of Cohn ldquoOh yes Irsquove got some darbs But not alongside of

this Robert Cohn But hersquos just so awfulrdquo (107) Bill is blatantly anti-Semitic He

asks Jake of Brett and Cohn ldquoWhy didnrsquot she go off with some of her own peoplerdquo

(107) Mike adds to this criticism later when he comments ldquoBrettrsquos gone off with men

27

But they werenrsquot ever Jews and they didnrsquot come and hang around afterwardrdquo (148) Bill

Gorton makes a number of anti-Semitic slurs Before their fishing trip Bill says to Jake

ldquoAnd as for this Robert Cohn he makes me sick and he can go to hell and Irsquom damn

glad hersquos staying here so we wonrsquot have him fishing with usrdquo to which Jake agrees (108)

In another case Hemingway likens Cohn to an animal a steer Cohn likes to tag-

along with Brett (141) After a bull fight Cohn says ldquoItrsquos no life being a steerrdquo (145)

Mike sarcastically replies ldquoDonrsquot you think so I would have thought yoursquod loved

being a steer Robertrdquo (146) Being likened to a steer makes Cohn mad Mike partially

drunk says ldquoIs Robert Cohn going to follow Brett around like a steer all the timerdquo

(146) These demeaning remarks imply that Jews are sub-human

At one point Mike intimates that Cohnrsquos Jewishness disqualifies him from being

a part of the group ldquoDo you think you amount to something Cohn Do you think you

belong here among usrdquo (181) Mike says to Cohn ldquoIrsquom not one of your literary chaps

Irsquom not clever But I do know when Irsquom not wanted Why donrsquot you see when

yoursquore not wanted Cohn Go away Go away for Godrsquos sake Take that sad Jewish

face away Donrsquot you think Irsquom rightrdquo (181) In another instance when Cohn tells Brett

that he will stay with her Brett replies ldquoOh donrsquot For Godrsquos sake go off

somewhererdquo (184) Cohn is portrayed as leech-like a clinger similar to Jews accused of

usury bleeding people dry With the eternal theme of Jewish suffering Brett says of

Cohn ldquoI hate him too I hate his damned sufferingrdquo (186)

In his short story ldquoGod Rest You Merry Gentlemenrdquo published in 1933

Hemingway takes a less anti-Semitic approach to Jews In this story there are two

28

doctors Dr Wilcox and Dr Fischer Dr Wilcox is Christian while Dr Fischer is Jewish

A sixteen-year-old boy comes into the hospital and says that he wants to be castrated

because he is struggling with lust The boy is religious and to him lust is a problem Dr

Fischer is compassionate with the boy and genuinely seems interested in his predicament

Dr Fischer converses with the boy and finally tells him ldquoTherersquos nothing wrong with

you Thatrsquos the way yoursquore supposed to be Therersquos nothing wrong with thatrdquo (Short

Stories 299) The boy still sees himself as sinning Dr Fischer tells the boy that what he

is going through is natural and that later he will think himself fortunate (300) The boy

is adamant that he is wrong He doesnrsquot want to listen to Dr Fischerrsquos explanations

Logically Dr Fischer explains to the boy that there is nothing wrong with his body that

he has a good body and that if he is religious then in the future his body can help him

consummate the sacrament of matrimony (300)

Dr Wilcox takes a different approach He calls the boy a fool (300) Then the

boy leaves when he finds out that nobody will castrate him Dr Wilcox rudely says to

the boy ldquoOh go andmdashrdquo (300) Horst Kruse interprets the absence as meaning ldquojack-

offrdquo (62) The boy leaves and later he does try to castrate himself amputating himself

in the process When the boy returns to the hospital with life-threatening injuries Dr

Wilcox ironically isnrsquot in a hurry to try to save the boy as he doesnrsquot see the condition as

an emergency In the story it is Dr Fischer who has shown mercy on the boy not Dr

Wilcox Kruse sees Doc Fischer as the moral center of the story and suggests that

Hemingwayrsquos portrayal of Dr Fischerrsquos knowledgeable insight and humanity might be an

attempt to try to ldquoatone for his former anti-Semitismrdquo (72) Kruse argues that Dr Fischer

29

might even be seen as a Christ-figure a fisher of men (65) Other scholars speculate that

this story might have been an attempt for Hemingway to apologize for the way he treated

Harold Loebrsquos alter-ego Robert Cohn (Kruse 73) But this interpretation is problematic

AE Hotchner once asked Hemingway if he had remorse about the way he had portrayed

Loeb and the others in The Sun Also Rises (Blume 237) Hotchner asked Hemingway

ldquoso if you had it to do over would you have been softerrdquo (237) Hemingway replied to

Hotchner ldquoOh hell nordquo (237) Despite this possible attempt at atonement Hemingway

continued to make anti-Semitic statements after this story first came out

30

CHAPTER 3

HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY

Ernest Hemingway was a born on July 21 1899 in Oak Park Illinois then a

Protestant conservative bastion There in his earliest years Hemingwayrsquos maternal

grandfather Ernest Hall led his family and their servants after breakfast on their knees

in morning prayer (Dearborn 11 Hemingway-Sanford 14) Unlike the others

Grandfather Hall did not pray with his eyes closed nor his head bowed (Pawley 22)

Instead he prayed with his head upraised and ldquowith his arms stretched upward as if

locked in a face-to-face with Godrdquo (Dearborn 11) He also prayed in a thundering voice

(Pawley 22) Ernestrsquos older sister Marcelline Hemingway-Sanford noted that she liked

to peak out at Grandfather Hall through her fingers ldquobecause he seemed so surely to be

talking right to his friend Godrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 15) Marcelline suggested that

Grandfather Hall knew God intimately (14) In addition Grandfather Hall led daily

devotions for the household with the book Daily Strength for Daily Needs (Isabelle 2

Hemingway-Sanford 14) Even the cook and the maid were present at these family

gatherings Grandfather Hall also led grace at the table (Isabelle 2) and he would lead

the family in worship (Hemingway-Sanford 15) He was Episcopalian and he liked to be

referred to in the biblical term ldquoAbbardquo which refers to God as in ldquoAbba fatherrdquo (Isabelle

2 Mark 1436) Marcelline referred to Grandfather Hall as being a very religious man

(Hemingway-Sanford 14) Every Sunday he would go to Grace Episcopal Church

where kneeling on the Brussels carpet he would lead the church in evening prayer

31

(Pawley 21) He once said of his grandson Ernest to his mother Grace ldquothis boy is

going to be heard from someday If he uses his imagination for good purposes hersquoll be

famous but if he starts the wrong way with all his energy hersquoll end in jail and its up to

you which way he goesrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 12)

Ernestrsquos paternal grandfather Anson Hemingway converted to Christianity in

1859 (Dearborn 13) Anson was a descendent of Ralph Hemingway ldquowho came to

America with the Great Migration and through him from a line of Puritan and

Congregationalist ministersrdquo (12) Anson Hemingway was friends with the great

evangelist DL Moody and he closely worked with him (for a while) as the general

secretary at the Chicago YMCA (Dearborn 13 Hemingway-Sanford 18) Ernest idolized

his grandfather Hemingway (Pawley 21) Ernestrsquos mother whom Ernest came to hate

once wrote Ernest ldquoNot for nothing are you the great great grandson of that noble

Christian Rev William Edward Miller and the grandson of the finest purest noblest man

I have ever known Ernest Hallrdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 103-04) In fact

Ernest Miller Hemingway was named after his grandfather and the Miller line of Gracersquos

family Grace wrote to Ernest ldquoYou are born of a race of gentlemen who were clean

mouthed chivalrous to all women grateful and generous You were named for the two

finest and noblest gentleman I have ever known See to it that you do not disgrace their

memoriesrdquo (qtd in M Reynolds Young Hemingway 138) Ernestrsquos family were such

churchgoers that they had their own pews at the First Congregational Church

(Hemingway-Sanford 147)

32

On the flip side Ernestrsquos father was rigid (Pawley 23) In disciplining his

children Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often forced his ldquochildren on their knees to pray

to God for forgivenessrdquo (Isabelle 4) Sometimes Ernest mockingly referred to his father

as ldquothe Great Physicianrdquo a title that Jesus also holds as a healer of people (Hemingway-

Sanford 127) According to a Hemingway biographer (no name given)

Sin scared the life out of Ernest At night he prayed that he had been a good boy

during the day The trouble was a boy could never be sure if he had been good

he might have done something bad and not known it was bad It was so hard to

obey every rule so hard to please his mother his father his teachers his minister

his God so hard that sometimes it wasnrsquot worth trying and a boy felt like giving

up (qtd in Pawley 23)

Ernest grew up then with a great spiritual legacy and upbringing that he found at times

challenging and problematic

On Easter in 1911 at the Third Congregational Church Ernest and his sister

Marcelline were confirmed and they received their First Communionrdquo (Dearborn 33) It

was at this church that Ernestrsquos mother was the choir director she even had Ernestmdasha

sopranomdashand Marcelline sing in the choir (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 108 L

Hemingway 28) In his youth Ernest Hemingway and Marcelline joined a contest put on

by the adult advisor of the Christian Endeavor Society Mr Sweeney to see who could

read the entire King James Bible first (Dearborn 37 Hemingway-Sanford 135) It was

Mr Sweeneyrsquos idea and he offered a prize (Hemingway-Sanford 135) Although Ernest

did not win he and Marcelline did complete the reading of the whole Bible (Dearborn

33

37) In addition Ernest and Marcelline passed a comprehensive test on what they had

read (Pawley 24) Additionally as a youth Ernest was given ldquoan allowance of one penny

per year of age each weekrdquo out of which he gave a tithe to the Sunday school (24) At

the age of fourteen Ernest starred in a Sunday school play at the Third Congregational

Church (24) After his parents transferred their membership to the First Congregational

Church Hemingway and Marcelline joined the Plymouth League where Ernest often led

Sunday afternoon services (Dearborn 33 Isabelle 7-8 Pawley 24 Hemingway-Sanford

147) Marcelline notes that ldquothe refreshments served after the meetings were quite an

attraction for the high school membersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 147) For the Plymouth

League Ernest took turns at being the treasurer the program chairman and sometimes

the speaker at the meetings At church Ernest and Marcelline also played in the church

orchestra Once Ernest and his four brothers and sisters dressed as Chinese and Japanese

citizens in order to phonetically sing the Japanese national anthem (147-48) Yet when

Hemingway went to Italy for World War I he saw and experienced the horrors of war

Perhaps because of this and through his teenage years Hemingway went astray from

his religious upbringing While in Italy Ernest met and fell in love with a nurse Agnes

von Kurowsky He loved her and wanted to start a new life with her in America

Hemingway wrote to William D Horne Jr about this on March 30 1919 ldquoBut Bill Irsquove

loved Ag Shersquos been my ideal and Bill I forgot all about religion and everything else-

because I had Ag to worship All I wanted was Ag and happinessrdquo (Hemingway in

Katakis XXV) This letter shows Hemingway distancing himself from religion in Italy

and replacing it with the woman he loved This is similar to how Catherine Barkley

34

made her lover Frederic Henry her religion in A Farewell to Arms (452) Unfortunately

for his parents Hemingway became a prodigal son and he never returned to the faith of

his youth (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 139)

Despite having turned away from his faith Hemingway could never entirely get

away from his upbringing and Oak Park mores For instance in his first marriage to

Hadley Richardson Hemingway was sometimes shocked by Hadleyrsquos language In fact

despite the fact that Hemingway used those very same words he didnrsquot think it proper for

a woman to use them (163) Hemingway still prayed ldquowhen he was courting Hadley

[he] asked her if she would pray with him in the Milan cathedral as Agnes would notrdquo

(Stoneback 110-11) Hadley responded that she would ldquoI am doing the best thing a

woman can do for a man Bringing you back to religionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 125-26)

Stoneback asserts that there is abundant evidence that Hemingway ldquoliked to pray in

Catholic churches and cathedrals years before he met Paulinerdquo (113)

Before going to World War I Hemingway worked for the Kansas City Star

While there Hemingwayrsquos mother learned that Ernest ldquohad stopped going to churchrdquo and

she sent off an angry letter to him (Reef 24) In one of his letters to his mother

Hemingway wrote ldquoYou know I donrsquot rave about religion but am as sincere a Christian

as I can be I believe in God and Jesus Christ have hopes for a hereafter and creeds

donrsquot matterrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) In addition prior to going to the Great War Ernestrsquos

father encouraged Ernest to associate with strong Christian YMCA men (M Reynolds

Young Hemingway 128) In his letters to Ernest Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often

sounded like a minister (171)

35

Upon his return to Oak Park after the war Hemingway wore his war uniform

around for four months and gave talks of his war experience Marcelline Hemingway

says that this was because Ernestrsquos long boots helped support his injured and weakened

legs Yet Hemingway lied and embellished his wartime experience This behavior is

just like that of Harold Krebs in Hemingwayrsquos short story ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

would lie and attribute ldquoto himself things other men had seen done or heard of and

stating as facts certain apocryphal incidents familiar to all soldiersrdquo (Short Stories 111-

12) In an essay in Ernest Hemingway Artifacts from Life Tom Putnam surmises that

Krebs in embellishing his war record to impress those around him ldquogrows more

disillusionedmdashfinding himself becoming a fraudrdquo (Putnam 184) Hemingway may have

disillusioned himself with his lies too In one instance Hemingway once gave a version

of his fictitious war stories in a talk to an audience at the First Baptist Church (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 56) So Hemingway lied in front of a church Proverbs

1222 reads ldquoLying lips are an abomination to the Lord but those who act faithfully are

his delightrdquo (English Standard Version)

Back in Oak Park Hemingway turned to alcohol for his comfort He stayed in

bed day after day and hid the liquor from his parents (Pawley 25) Staying in bed

helped his aching legs But he didnrsquot stay in bed more than half the day (Hemingway-

Sanford 178) According to Marcelline there were also times when Ernest had ldquoalmost

depressed intervals when he retired to his room away from the well-wishers and curiosity

seekersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 183) Hemingway used the alcohol to cope with the pain

of his war wounds (Pawley 25) One day Marcelline was upset about something and

36

when she came to Ernestrsquos room he noticed this and asked her what was wrong

(Hemingway-Sanford 183) Then he offered her a drink She tasted it Then he said to

her

Donrsquot be afraid Drink it up Sis it canrsquot hurt you Therersquos great comfort in

that little bottle not just for itself But it relaxes you when the pain gets bad

Mazaween donrsquot be afraid to taste all the other things in life that arenrsquot here in

Oak Park Taste everything Sis Donrsquot be afraid to try new things just

because they are new (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 184)

Ernest later wrote of an experience of drinking ldquoand the rhum (sic) enters into us like the

Holy Spiritrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 17) God was not Hemingwayrsquos comfort alcohol

was After that night Marcelline wondered to herself whether Ernest would ever be

happy again at home (Hemingway-Sanford 184) She noted a difference in him upon his

return to Oak Park Marcelline writes ldquoBut Ernest wasnrsquot the same old friend and

playmate I had knownrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178) adding that ldquoa lifetime of new

experiences war death agony new people a new language and love had crowded into

Ernestrsquos liferdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178)

After recovering from his wounds Ernest still didnrsquot get a job or show any

interest in college He had no plans at all Instead he went to Michigan to enjoy life with

his friends (Hemingway-Sanford 198) In Michigan according to Marcelline ldquoThough

Mother implored Ernestrsquos help and tried to talk to him about the family situation he

blithely ignored her appeals and managed to leave immediately after meals with his

friends or go fishing when something needed to be done he promised vaguely to help

37

lsquosome other timerdquo (205) His parents were very worried about his ldquolack of adult

responsibilityrdquo and ldquohis rudeness and his willingness to let both Mrs Charles Bill

Smithrsquos aunt and our family go on providing for him [led Mother to decide that]

something drastic had to be done to wake him uprdquo (205) Leicester Hemingway says that

ldquoOur parents had harbored definite hopes that this fling at soldiering had taught him

[Ernest] a lesson that now he would suddenly show a keen interest in some lsquosensiblersquo

way of liferdquo (L Hemingway 56)

The entire situation is similar to that of Harold Krebs in ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

returns from World War I with his Methodist faith shattered (Pawley 25) Krebs is

unemployed but his mother encourages him ldquorsquoGod has some work for everyone to do

There can be no idle hands in His Kingdomrsquordquo (Short Stories 115) Krebsrsquo mother adds

his fatherrsquos opinion ldquoAll work is honorable as he says But yoursquove got to make a start at

somethingrdquo (115) When Krebsrsquo mother asks Harold if he would kneel and pray with her

Krebs says that he canrsquot Krebsrsquo mother encourages him to try then she asks him if he

wants her to pray for him Krebs consents (116)

Of Ernestrsquos free-loading loafing time Leicester Hemingway writes ldquoAbout the

only thing I really understood of that first summer after the war was that Ernest was in an

agitated state and being around the family did not calm him at allrdquo (59) In the end

Ernestrsquos mother wrote Ernest a letter in which she said that Ernest had overdrawn his

account with her and that he was not welcome back at the family vacation home of

Windemere in Michigan (Dearborn 90) This action got Ernest out of the house looking

for a job on his own It also added to his resentment towards his mother In ldquoSoldierrsquos

38

Homerdquo Krebs tells his mother that he doesnrsquot love her Putnam suggests that Krebs has

forgotten how to love (Putnam 184) In Ernestrsquos case it is quite possible that he didnrsquot

love his mother It is known for sure that he didnrsquot like his mother When married to his

fourth wife Mary Welsh Ernest would sometimes rant about his mother blaming her for

making life hell for his father contributing to his fatherrsquos suicide and referring to his

mother as ldquothat bitchrdquo (qtd in Di Robilant 55) Perhaps his motherrsquos ultimatum pushed

him further away from his Protestant upbringing Although Hemingway didnrsquot like his

mother Hawkins argues that he inherited his volatile temper from her as she held grudges

against people Hawkins writes of Grace Hemingway ldquoGrace had a tendency to store up

injustices done to her so that on occasion even the smallest thing triggered a litany of

perceived wrongsrdquo (34) In addition to his motherrsquos ultimatum Ernestrsquos parents didnrsquot

seem to accept writing as a viable career for Ernest (M Reynolds My Brother 63) No

matter like Harold Krebs Hemingway did abandon his childhood faith after World War

I

Hemingway became interested in Catholicism during his service in Italy during

World War I There he served in the Red Cross Ambulance Corps of Unit 4 as driver for

the Italian Army (Hemingway-Sanford 157) After a few days in Italy Ernest and Bill

Horne found the place dull So hearing of the chance to volunteer ldquofor a special branch

the Red Cross Rolling Canteen Servicerdquo they applied and were accepted (160) This

Service operated all the way up to front linesmdashwhich was right where Hemingway

wanted to be in the midst of the action He ldquohad volunteered to be one of the bicycle

riders who distributed mail chocolate and tobacco to the soldiers in the trenches at the

39

frontrdquo (160) At that time the attack on the Piave River had started and the Austrians

were shelling around only fifty yards away on the other side of the river There making

his rounds in Fossalta Hemingway was wounded by an Austrian Trench Mortar as he

handed an Italian soldier a cigarette and chocolate (161) People thought that

Hemingway was going to die During this time Hemingway later claimed that he was

baptized by a priest ldquoAt Fornaci Ernest and the other wounded soldiers were

administered extreme unction by a chaplain with the Italian army Don Giuseppe

Bianchirdquo (Dearborn 59-60)

Michael Reynolds claims that the priestrsquos absolution of sins and anointment of oil

was an epiphanic moment for Hemingway (M Reynolds The Paris Years 346)

However it is unknown if Hemingway was really absolved of his sins by a Catholic

priest HR Stoneback notes that battlefield baptism and extreme unction did not

produce a ldquoformal process of reconciliation or conversionrdquo (109) On March 10 1927

Hemingway divorced Hadley Richardson to marry his new flame the Catholic Pauline

Pfeiffer This divorce devastated Hemingwayrsquos parents In fact Leicester Hemingway

overheard his dad say of Ernestrsquos divorce ldquoNo Itrsquos the disgrace Id rather see him in his

graverdquo (L Hemingway 103) Leicester Hemingway recalls that one morning while

digging for worms with Dr Hemingway the doctor says ldquoYou know of course that

your brother has brought great shame on our family by divorcing Hadley dont yourdquo

(103) Dr Hemingway laments the fact that there hadnrsquot been a divorce in the

Hemingway family for seventy years While in the process of trying to marry Pauline

Ernest returned to Italy searching for this priest Don Giuseppe Bianchi in order to

40

ascertain if this priest had actually performed an emergency baptism on him thus making

him Catholic (Dearborn 236) According to Hawkins Ernest found and visited with

Bianchi (71) Hawkins notes that as a rule priests during the First World War did not

ldquohand out baptismal certificates as they moved through hospital wards to anoint the

woundedrdquo (71) Despite the fact that there is ldquono evidence that Ernest returned with a

baptismal certificaterdquo he did swear to it (236) With this baptism he was allowed to

marry Pauline (M Reynolds American Homecoming 121) According to some scholars

death-bed baptism led Hemingway to become interested in Catholicism In addition

some scholars go so far as to say that this event marks the point when Hemingway started

to be Catholic Perhaps Ernestrsquos near-death experience infused a seed of Catholicism in

his heart

Michael Reynolds notes that ldquowhen an eighteen-year-old kid thinks hes dying a

Catholic priest can make a lasting impressionrdquo (The Paris Years 346) Reynolds claims

that long before Pauline the ceremony the ritual and the mystery of the Catholic Church

were a strong attraction to Hemingway Even if Pauline had not entered his life

Hemingway would have eventually turned Catholic Pauline simply accelerated this

process Later some found Hemingwayrsquos Catholic conversion to be suspect specious

and very convenient (345-46) Yet ldquonone of these doubters seriously thought of

Hemingway as a Protestant and he himself never looked back on his Congregational

training which he associated with Oak Park hypocrisy his fatherrsquos unbearable piety and

his motherrsquos church politics of who would rule the choir loftrdquo (346)

41

Hemingwayrsquos second wife Pauline Pfeiffer converted him to Catholicism In

fact Pfeiffer was such a serious Catholic that she caused Hemingway ldquo to take seriously

doctrine especially of sin and observance especially of prayerrdquo (Berman 33) Before

their marriage Pfeiffer had misgivings about marrying a married man and cutting him off

from his wife and child (Dearborn 229) For Pauline ldquoTo do so would be not only to

invite the damnation of her soul but also the unforgiving wrath of her Catholic parentsrdquo

(M Reynolds The Paris Years 318) If Pauline committed adultery she believed that

she would have been ldquosinning so mortally their souls were in jeopardyrdquo (318) Reynolds

wryly observes that ldquo[o]ne could not remain a devout Catholic and an ardent adulteressrdquo

(318)

For his part Ernest considered ldquoconverting to Catholicism in order to marry

Pauline in the Churchrdquo (Dearborn 221) Dearborn adds ldquoNo doubt Pauline was

researching the Churchrsquos requirements for marriage to a divorced manrdquo (221) In order to

marry Pauline Hemingway had to provide proof that his first marriage to Hadley was

outside the Church and so unofficial null and void (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 114) So since Hemingway ldquotestified that he had been baptized during the

war in Italy and that his first marriage was outside the Church [he] received on April

25 the necessary dispensation from the Archbishop of Paris which removed the last

obstacle to the ceremonyrdquo (121) Yet Hemingwayrsquos friend Ada MacLeish did not

attend Ernestrsquos and Paulinersquos wedding because she was disgusted by the Catholic

Churchrsquos solemnization of the new couplersquos bond and thought it a farce (Dearborn 237)

Ada

42

was completely disgusted with Ernestrsquos efforts to persuade the Catholic Church

that he had been baptized by a priest who walked between aisles of wounded men

in an Italian hospitalmdashtherefore Ernest was a Catholic and Hadley never had been

his wife and Bumby was a bastard To see this farce solemnized by the Catholic

Church was more than we [Archie and Ada] could take (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 124)

In his quest to marry Pauline Hemingway openly and formally embraced

Catholicism Hemingway wrote to Ernest Walsh about his rediscovered Catholicity

If I am anything I am a Catholic Had extreme unction administered to me as such

in July 1918 and recovered So guess I am a super-catholic It is most

certainly the most comfortable religion for anyone soldiering Am not what is

called a ldquogoodrdquo catholic But cannot imagine taking any other religion

seriously (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 345)

It is unknown whether Ernest ever mailed this letter

Ruth A Hawkins suggests that Hemingway ardently became a true Catholic

believer after he was cured of his temporary sexual problems after his marriage to

Pauline Hemingway told AE Hotchner that he and Pauline had had a good sex life

during their affair yet after they got married Hemingway experienced problems with

impotence (Hawkins 86) To try to alleviate this problem Hemingway saw doctors and a

mystic Nothing worked Pauline was patient and understanding Ernest was

discouraged so she encouraged him to go to the church a few blocks away and pray

Ernest recounts ldquoI went there and said a short prayer Then I went back to our room

43

Pauline was in bed waiting I undressed and got in bed and we made love like we

invented it We never had any trouble again Thatrsquos when I became a Catholicrdquo (qtd in

Hawkins 86)

Throughout his literary career Hemingway writes a number of stories involving

Catholics His short story ldquoThe Wine of Wyomingrdquo is about a French Catholic

bootlegging couple and is based upon a real-life Catholic couple that he met in Sheridan

Wyoming (Dearborn 263) Hemingway also writes about Catholicism in The Sun Also

Rises However Hemingway doesnrsquot write so much about Catholicism but rather of

Catholics themselves in their day-to-day lives (Hertzel 78) In The Sun Also Rises Jake

Barnes is nominally Catholic He basically lives the way that he wants to prays and

goes to church occasionally This is kind of like Hemingway who although not a

nominal Catholic lived the way that he wanted to while still claiming to be Catholic and

following some rituals In The Sun Also Rises Jake talks of going to church ldquoa couple of

times once with Brettrdquo (Sun 154) Although Jake prays regularly including for his

friends he also prays for mundane things like the upcoming bullfights and the Festival of

San Fermiacuten ldquoI wondered if there was anything else I might pray for and I thought I

would like to have some money so I prayed that I would make a lot of moneyrdquo (103)

While praying Jake gets distracted and he begins to think about other things ldquoas

all the time I was kneeling with my forehead on the wood in front of me and was

thinking of myself as praying I was a little ashamed and regretted that I was such a rotten

Catholicrdquo (103) Of his bad example as a Catholic Jake realizes that ldquothere was nothing I

could do about it at least for a while and maybe never but that anyway it was a grand

44

religion and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next timerdquo (103) One

critic asserts that The Sun Also Rises ldquois a novel about spiritual bankruptcyrdquo (Djos) Jake

is spiritually bankrupt but he tries to go about things in another way He drinks in order

escape the pain of the war and his impotency So alcohol might be said to be Jakersquos

primary spiritual comfort like it was a comfort for Hemingway Carlos Baker

categorizes The Sun Also Rises as a tale of Wastelanders (Berman 44) Moreover Jake

once thinks ldquoTo hell with people The Catholic Church had an awfully good way of

handling all thatrdquo (Sun 39) Jake believes that the Catholic Church has a good way of

sending people to hell purgatory or heaven to whatever fate the individual deserves

In addition Catholicism is referenced in Hemingwayrsquos A Farewell to Arms with

its protagonist Frederic Henry Unlike the nominally Catholic Jake Barnes Frederic has

no religion whatsoever (Farewell 279) However there is a priest in Fredericrsquos Italian

army unit that Frederic likes a lot Yet Frederic thinks the priest dull (33) According to

Frederic he and the priest share many of the same tastes yet there is a difference

between them (12) Frederic is a man of the world who does not believe in religion per

se and he loves women The priest is a man of God he loves God above all he doesnrsquot

pursue women When Frederic is recovering from his war wound in the hospital the

priest comes to visit him Frederic tells the priest that he does not love God (62) He

adds that he is ldquoafraid of Him in the night sometimesrdquo (62) Gary Sloan argues that

Fredericrsquos girlfriend Catherine ldquowill be his [Fredericrsquos] religion even as he she says is

hersrdquo (452) Michael Reynolds points out that ldquoCatherine sounded a lot like [Ernestrsquos

second wife] Pauline who had made Ernest her religion risking her soul on the promise

45

of his loverdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 216) This is also the case when

Ernest made his first girlfriend Agnes von Kurowsky his religion over organized

religion

Although Frederic is not religious in desperate times he seems to temporarily

become religious When he first receives his war injury he cries out to God ldquoget me out

of hererdquo (48) When his and Catherine Barkleyrsquos baby dies Frederic thinks of the baby

and thinks that it should have been baptized (279) Faced with the possibility of

Catherine dying Frederic prays ldquoEverything was gone inside of me I did not think I

could not think I knew she was going to die and I prayed that she would not Donrsquot let

her die Oh God please donrsquot let her die Irsquoll do anything for you if you wonrsquot let her

dierdquo (282) Hertzel points out that some of Hemingwayrsquos characters pray frequently

However it is also important to note that the prayers never get answered (79) For

example in Hemingwayrsquos posthumously published Islands in the Stream Thomas

Hudsonrsquos son David makes this comment about prayer ldquoYou canrsquot tell Audrey You

never know when it [prayer] may [do good] I donrsquot mean that Mr Davis needs to be

prayed for I just mean about prayer technicallyrdquo (186) In Frederick Henryrsquos case both

his baby and Catherine die Apparently in Hemingwayrsquos mind there was no

supernatural realm and prayers go nowhere Frederick asks Catherine on her death bed

ldquoDo you want me to get a priest or anyone to come and see yourdquo (Farewell 282)

Catherine just wants Frederic to stay with her Frederic says that his only religious feeling

comes at night (227) So the spiritual connection of sex is a religious experience to

Frederic

46

Hemingway does not present a supernatural dimension to Catholicism (Hertzel

78) In The Sun Also Rises as Jake and Brett leave a chapel in Pamplona he thinks that

ldquo[t]he praying had not been much of a successrdquo (212) Brett also portrays religion as

being uselessmdashat least for her saying ldquoDonrsquot know why I get so nervy in church

Never does me any goodrdquo (212) Brett says that praying never does her any good and

that she has never gotten anything that she prayed for (213) Jake does say that he has

gotten things that he has prayed for Brett replies of prayer ldquoMaybe it works for some

peoplerdquo (213) Jake considers himself ldquopretty religiousrdquo (213) Hemingway himself

prayed but apparently after the Spanish Civil War his view on prayer changed In The

Dangerous Summer he says ldquo[I] never [prayed] for myself during the Spanish Civil

War when I saw the terrible things that happened to other people and I felt that to pray for

oneself was selfish and egotisticalrdquo (142) In a June 19 1945 letter to Thomas Welsh

Hemingway expounded

In first war really scared after wounded and very devout at the end Fear of

death Belief in personal salvation or maybe just preservation through prayers for

intercession of Our Lady and various saints that prayed to with almost tribal faith

Spanish war seemed so selfish to pray for self when such things being done to all

people by people sponsored by Church that never prayed for self But missed

Ghostly comfort This war [Spanish Civil War] got through without praying

once Times a little bad sometimes too But felt that having forfeited any right to

ask for these intercessions would be absolutely crooked to ask for same no matter

how scared (qtd in Stoneback 128)

47

Consequently Hemingway only prayed for others after the Spanish Civil War In The

Dangerous Summer Hemingway writes of praying for others in Spain ldquoI prayed for all

those I had in hock to Fortune for all friends with cancer for all girls living and dead

and that Antonio would have good bulls that afternoonrdquo (69) Yet it is unknown if any

of Hemingwayrsquos prayers were ever answered In fact Hemingway wondered if his

prayers ever got anywhere

In case my prayers were invalid as they well might have been and to make sure

someone competent was doing it I took out a membership in the Jesuit Seminary

Fund Association at New Orleans for Carmen and Antonio [Ordoacutentildeez bullfighter]

There was a class graduating who when they were ordained would pray for them

each day (142)

So Hemingway got others to pray for his friends family and others in case that his

prayers were going nowhere In Hemingwayrsquos works instead of offering a supernatural

element to the Catholic Church he presents the Church as a solely human institution

Hertzel writes that Hemingway treats the Catholic Church as ldquoa colorful institution with

richness tradition ritual and discipline but it provides no convenient miraclesrdquo (78-79)

Consequently Hemingway uses Catholicism as a literary motif to add texture to his

writings (79)

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway seems to make fun of the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit that according to Christians is the method by which the Bible was

written Hemingwayrsquos example is silly Hemingway mockingly describes the writing

process of Waldo Frank the author of Virgin Spain He ldquolay naked in his bed in the night

48

and God sent him things to write how he lsquowas in touch ecstatically with the plunging and

immobile allrdquo (53) Moreover

After God sent it he wrote it The result was that unavoidable mysticism of a

man who writes a language so badly he cannot make a clear statement

complicated by whatever pseudo-scientific jargon is in style at the moment God

sent him some wonderful stuff about Spain during his short stay there

preparatory to writing of the soul of the country but it is often nonsense (53)

Hemingway wrote more generally of the religion of the Lost Generation again

with a touch of mockery

There will be many new salvations brought forward My generation in France for

example in two years sought salvation in first the Catholic Church 2nd DaDaism

third the movies fourth Royalism fifth the Catholic Church again There may be

another and better war But none of it will matter particularly to this generation

because to them the things that are given to people to happen have already

happened (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 327)

In his books Hemingway also seems to make fun of religion in order to try to be

comedic In his ficto-biography True at First Light Hemingway asks the interpreter

ldquoDid you not like the Mission School Remember God is listening He hears your every

wordrdquo (182) Later Hemingway asks GC ldquoAnd will you carry these principles into

Life sonrdquo (204) GC responds ldquoDrink your beer Billy Grahamrdquo (204) Ironically

years later Billy Graham would use Ernest Hemingway as a sermon illustration More

comedy follows in True at First Light when Hemingway talks about a new religion that

49

he created for the Africans He said that his African helpers Ngui and Mthuka and

himself ldquocould decide what was a sin and what was notrdquo (281) Hemingway also talks

about the ldquoHappy Hunting Groundsrdquo as if it were some sort of heaven

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway is comedic through the character of Bill

Gorton Walking down a boulevard with Jake Bill spots a taxidermistrsquos shop and

jokingly tries to get Jake to buy a stuffed dog Jake knows that it is a joke and just tries

to keep Bill moving down the boulevard After Jake promises to get a stuffed dog on the

way back Bill Gorton says ldquoAll right Have it your own way Road to hell paved with

unbought stuffed dogs Not my faultrdquo (78) Hemingway also does this with the priest in

A Farewell to Arms in order to try to infuse comedy into this novel when the captain at

the soldiersrsquo mess keep joking with the priest as the butt of the joke ldquoPriest to-day with

girlsrdquo (7) The captain adds ldquoPriest every night five against onerdquo (7)

On the train to Bayonne Bill Gorton says of some pilgrims on the train with

them ldquoGoddam Puritansrdquo (Sun 91) In the train compartment with Jake and Bill is a man

from Montana with his wife and son The man says to Jake and Bill of getting a meal

while pretending to be pilgrims ldquoThey thought we were snappers all right It

certainly shows you the power of the Catholic Church Itrsquos a pity you boys ainrsquot

Catholics You could get a meal then all rightrdquo (93) Frustrated by the situation Jake

assures him that he is Catholic When Bill Gorton corners a priest returning from a meal

with the pilgrims Bill asks him when the Protestants will get a chance to eat The priest

says that he doesnrsquot know and Gorton replies ldquoItrsquos enough to make a man join the Klanrdquo

(93)

50

After fishing along the Irati River Jake and Bill meet to have lunch After talking

about William Jennings Bryan and which came first the chicken or the egg Bill mocks

religion and the question of whether the chicken or the egg comes first ldquoOh how

should we know We should not question Our stay on earth is not for long Let us

rejoice and believe and give thanksrdquo (126) Holding a drumstick perhaps like a mock

scepter and a bottle of wine Bill tries to be mockingly funny ldquoLet us rejoice in our

blessings Let us utilize the fowls of the air Let us utilize the product of the vine Will

you utilize a little brotherrdquo (126) Handing Jake the bottle Bill says ldquoUtilize a little

brother Let us not doubt brother Let us not pry into the holy mysteries of the

hencoop with simian fingers Let us accept on faithrdquo (127) Then pointing at a

drumstick Bill says ldquoLet me tell you We will say and I for one am proud to saymdashand I

want you to say with me on your knees brother Let no man be ashamed to kneel here in

the great out-of-doors Remember the woods were Godrsquos first templesrdquo (127) They

uncork another bottle Before they take a nap Bill asks Jake if he is really a Catholic

(128) Jake replies that he is technically a Catholic When asked what that means Jake

says that he doesnrsquot know (129) Even though the Eucharist is mocked Jake and Bill are

seemingly reborn as they fish in nature So nature provides a chance at rest and

regeneration

Just like Hemingway in most of his life some of his characters are not religious

although they have religious influences Robert Jordan is one example His father was

religious But his fatherrsquos religion turned Robert off In one instance as a younger man

when Robert is about to leave on a train his father gets emotional and says a prayer over

51

him In response ldquoRobert Jordan had been so embarrassed by all of it [his fatherrsquos

emotionalism] the damp religious sound of the prayer and by his father kissing him

good-by that he had felt suddenly so much older than his father and sorry for him that he

could hardly bear itrdquo (For Whom Bell Tolls 405-406) This would seem similar to

Ernestrsquos leaving home for the first time en route to Kansas City (Hemingway-Sanford

154) In this instance Hemingwayrsquos father bought him the ticket and saw him off (154)

Maybe Dr Hemingway did cry when he saw Ernest off for he really loved his son

While Ernest was in Italy Marcelline notes that her ldquoDad had always loved Ernest

especially dearly and he missed him and prayed for him dailyrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford

160) To compound all this like Hemingwayrsquos father Robertrsquos religious father later

ldquoshot himselfrdquo in a suicide in the same manner as Robert Jordanrsquos father (For Whom Bell

Tolls 66) Robert ldquounderstood his father and he forgave him everything and he pitied him

but he was ashamed of himrdquo (340) Perhaps Hemingway was ashamed of his father after

his fatherrsquos sad suicide This shame and embarrassment of his late father and his

perceived cowardice may have pushed Robert away from religion (338) In addition it is

quite probable that the suicide of Hemingways father additionally pushed him away from

the Protestant tradition of his father as his father had been a deacon and a very upright

and religious man (Reynolds M American Homecoming 211) Yet Daniel Pawley notes

that Hemingway loved his father more than anyone else in the world At one point in For

Whom the Bell Tolls Robert says ldquoI do not believe in ogres nor soothsayers nor in the

supernatural thingsrdquo (250) When Pilar tells Robert that she cares about him Robert tells

52

Pilar that he doesnrsquot want her love He qualifies ldquoNi tu ni Diosrdquo (Neither yours nor

Godrsquos) (387) Robert doesnrsquot want Godrsquos love either

48

CHAPTER 4

HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY

According to Michael Reynolds Hemingway liked all things ancient and

medieval and that included the Catholic Church In fact Hemingway liked visiting

medieval cathedrals among them Chartres He ldquoliked the ritual the mystery the odors of

age and incense He liked its permanence in stonerdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 325)

Hadley Richardson liked to refer to the chivalric Hemingway as her ldquogentil parfit

knightrdquo an allusion to Chaucerrsquos description of the knight in The Canterbury Tales (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 223) and he liked to wear a scapular This scapular has

ldquogot an image of Christ on it suspended from a brown shoestring-like loop At home in

Key West friends have observed him with the scapular and how hersquoll make the sign of

the cross before he goes in swimmingrdquo (Hendrickson 28)

Hemingway would come back to the Bible in his later years in his search for

literary titles Hemingway alludes to Ecclesiastes 14-7 in his title of The Sun Also Rises

The Scriptural passage was used to signify that basically the Lost Generation would

pass away but that the earth would abide forever Moreover Hemingway gave the Bible

credit for teaching him how to write (Blume 213)

In his youth Hemingway idolized his missionary uncle to China Willoughby (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 110) Willoughby had a medical mission there In fact

Ernestrsquos father Dr Clarence Hemingway inspired by his brother had wanted to be a

medical missionary to Guam but his wife had dissuaded him from it (Pawley 24) Dr

49

Hemingway also had an offer for a medical mission in Greenland (L Hemingway 21)

Grace refused to go Ernest Hemingwayrsquos life might have had a much different outcome

if his mother would have supported his father in becoming a medical missionary to Guam

or even Greenland Years later when Hemingway was living in Cuba Hemingwayrsquos

sister Ursala visited and she and Ernest reminisced about their Uncle Willoughby

recalling his visits and together they sang ldquolsquoJesus Loves Mersquo in Chinese until the tears

rolled down their cheeksrdquo (25) Upon the death of his father Ernest returned home to

Oak Park where he openly displayed his new-found Catholic faith Marcelline says that

upon his arrival Ernest ldquotold us that he had had a Mass saidrdquo for their dad (Dearborn 268

M Reynolds American Homecoming 211 Hemingway-Sanford 233) With Dr

Hemingwayrsquos body lying in repose in the music room Ernest now leader of his family

led his family in the Lordrsquos Prayer This echoes back to the time in Ernestrsquos youth when

his Grandfather Hall would lead his family in the Lordrsquos prayer ldquohis eyes directed

heavenwardrdquo (Dearborn 268) However during this time of mourning Ernestrsquos

Catholicism angered some peoplemdashespecially Marcelline

Relying on Catholic teaching Ernest believed that his father had gone to

purgatory since suicide was a mortal sin (M Reynolds American Homecoming 211) In

addition Ernest mentioned that since his family was a Heathen Family ldquoit was

impossible to offer enough prayers to get his [Dr Hemingwayrsquos] soul into heavenrdquo

(Dearborn 268) Marcelline thought that Ernestrsquos idea of praying their father out of

purgatory was disgusting Ernest told his kid brother Leicester Hemingway to ldquopray as

hard as he could for his fatherrsquos soul to be released from purgatoryrdquo as ldquothings go right on

50

from hererdquo (Dearborn 268 My Brother 111) Despite the waves that Ernest made with

his family he showed genuine care concern and distress in his belief that his late father

was in purgatory (Dearborn 268) In this instance Hemingway definitely took Catholic

doctrine seriously

Dearborn paints Ernest Hemingway as a practicing Catholic one who would go to

Mass and fast on Good Friday She suggests that during this trying time Hemingway

turned to his faith in order to anchor himself through his grief She further suggests that

Ernestrsquos claim that his father was in purgatory was a way for him to assert his patriarchal

dominance over the family and to show that he was in charge Marcelline as the eldest

had tried to claim this role but in her struggle with Ernest she had lost (269)

In Chicago a Dominican priest wrote to Hemingway to thank him for saving his

friend Don Stewart in the bull ring at Pamplona (M Reynolds American Homecoming

156) This priest had heard of Hemingwayrsquos conversion to Catholicism within that year

1927 and he urged Hemingway to become a writer for the Dominican cause in order to

defend the Church and its ldquocause of Truthrdquo (156) In response Hemingway wrote

I have been a Catholic for many years although I feel very badly and did not go to

communion for over 8 years However I have gone regularly to mass for the last

two years and absolutely set my house in order within the year However I have

always had more faith than intelligence or knowledge and I have never wanted to

be known as a Catholic writer because I know the importance of setting an

examplemdashand I have never set a good example Also I am a dumb Catholic

and I have so much faith that I hate to examine itmdashbut I am trying to lead a good

51

life and to write well and truly and it is easier to do the first than the second (qtd

in M Reynolds American Homecoming 156)

In a 1940 Valentinersquos Day letter to his editor Maxwell Perkins Hemingway wrote ldquoI am

not a Catholic writer nor a party writer nor even an American writer but just a writer

meant to rise above injusticerdquo (qtd in Isabelle 51)

Despite his Catholicism Hemingwayrsquos faith didnrsquot help him to change into a

better man Although he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not

transform him nor even make him Christ-like Hemingway did not have a salvation

experience Nor was his faith life-altering Stoneback agrees that ldquoHemingway did not

turn to the church for instant deliverancerdquo (Stoneback 122) As a Catholic

Hemingway continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Ernestrsquos

Catholicism did not translate into his personal life Hemingwayrsquos religious life was one

solely of Catholic rituals He did not change his behavior or his vices He did not

overcome his problems Unfortunately in the end Hemingwayrsquos problems overcame

him

Despite his personal shortcomings Hemingway did at times take Catholicism

seriously After one of his African safaris he returned to Paris and saw his friend Ned

Calmer Calmer was a reporter and an aspiring novelist There Hemingway learned that

Calmerrsquos daughter had not been baptized (Hendrickson 44) This was unconscionable to

Hemingway Years later Calmer wrote that ldquoErnest seemed genuinely concerned

The attitude was this will never do He came along to the church of St Sulpice in Paris

52

as sponsor at the ceremonyrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 44) where Calmerrsquos daughter was

baptized

Hemingwayrsquos faith affected him in other ways too During the Spanish Civil

War his Catholicism would give him ldquosympathy with the conservative traditionalist side

in Spain at least in the early days of this unrestrdquo (Dearborn 303) Later Hemingway

would switch his allegiance to the anti-Franco anti-fascist communist-supported side of

the conflict Unfortunately this shift caused many family disputes with his wife Pauline

(Isabelle 25) However it was Hemingwayrsquos belief that politics and religion should not

mix (Stoneback 117) After the Spanish Civil War and in Cuba Hemingway used to

worry that the FBI were Roman Catholics and thus consequently Franco sympathizers

(N Reynolds 127) In fact Hemingway liked to refer to the FBI as ldquolsquoFrancorsquos Bastard

Irishrsquo and lsquoFrancorsquos Iron Cavalryrsquordquo (127) Nicholas Reynolds suggests that Hemingway

was paranoid about the FBI because he had signed on to be a spy with the Russian

Narodny Kommisariat Vnutrennikh Del (Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs)

better known as the NKVD Yet Hemingway never actually did anything for them His

code name was ldquoArgordquo Dearborn notes that ldquo[d]espite his professed Catholicism Ernest

was impatient with religion over philosophizing and what we would call today self-

helprdquo (320) Dorothy Parker makes a different claim about Hemingway ldquoThere is no

more than a thin line of moss to stamp the spot where Robert Benchley and Ernest

Hemingway had that big philosophical discussion about the meaning of liferdquo (qtd in M

Reynolds American Homecoming 106) Philosopher Ralph Withington Church ldquorecalls

his conversations with Hemingway about the lsquoproblem of redemptionrsquo and

53

Malebranchersquos lsquotheory of gracersquordquo (Stoneback 121) Ernest also had his own privately-

held opinions about Catholicism For example Hemingway told one of his daughters-in-

law that unlike the Catholic Churchrsquos teaching that animals donrsquot have souls he believed

that animals did (Dearborn 516) Secondly Ernest seems to have taken on or been

influenced by his motherrsquos mystic spiritualist bent Ernest believed in superstitions and

in some types of psychic phenomena (518)

Later in his life Ernest seems to have some misgivings about Catholicism He

consistently said when Paulinersquos name surfaced that ldquoher Catholic faith had wrecked the

marriagerdquo (Dearborn 406) Pauline had been advised by her doctor not to have any more

children The fear was that Pauline would get pregnant and die from the pregnancy

(Hawkins 141) Since Catholicism only permitted the birth control method of

withdrawal Ernestrsquos pleasure was significantly diminished by this technique and

consequently doomed their marriage Hemingway had also wanted to have a daughter

but this dream was never realized Paulinersquos second son Gregory who became a doctor

contends that all that his father would have had to have done to retain his pleasure would

have been to abstain from intercourse on Paulinersquos fertile days According to Gregrsquos

reasoning this ldquowould have been obvious to lsquoany foolrsquordquo (qtd in Dearborn 406)

According to Leicester Hemingway Ernest wanted nothing to do with the Catholic

church after Pauline and he asked for ldquothe address of an uncle William E Miller who

had written many hymns in the Episcopalian hymnalrdquo (Isabelle 58-59) Moreover Ernest

was concerned about his sons Patrick and Gregory attending a Catholic school Ernest

feared that this school Canterbury was affecting Patrick gradually and insidiously

54

(Dearborn 480) In fact Ernest hated this school and he referred to it as ldquoone of lsquothose

snot schoolsrsquordquo (480)

Paulinersquos and Hemingwayrsquos second son Gregory had a troubled life Over time

he came to like to dress up as a woman In Los Angeles this caught up with him when

he tried to enter the womenrsquos restroom of a theater in drag (Hendrickson 297) Pauline

cabled Hemingway that Gregory was in trouble Hemingway called back Pauline was in

a lot of pain but went to the phone anyway to tell Hemingway about the problem On the

phone Hemingway said ldquoItrsquos all your fault see how yoursquove brought him up yoursquore

corrupt and hersquos corruptrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 297) Hemingway intimated that perhaps

Gregoryrsquos Catholic upbringing had pushed Gregory into transgenderism Gregory had

served as an altar-boy at Saint Mary Star of the Sea (386)

That night Pauline went to bed in tears Unfortunately the heated accusative

argument with Ernest had set Pauline off At the time Pauline had been staying at her

sisterrsquos Virginia residence in Los Angeles In the early morning Virginia and her

friend Laura awakened to what they described as a ldquohorrendous screamrdquo from Paulinersquos

room Pauline was taken to the hospital where her blood pressure skyrocketed dropped

to zero and caused ldquoher to die of shock on the operating tablerdquo (Hawkins 271) Later

Hemingway blamed Paulinersquos death on Gregory Yet Gregory became a doctor and

researched his motherrsquos death more thoroughly Through an autopsy report Gregory

learned that his mother had died of a ldquorare tumor of the adrenal glandrdquo also known as

pheochromocytoma (275) This type of tumor secretes large quantities of adrenaline

causing blood pressure to spikemdasheven to the point where arteries can rupture Pauline

55

had had only an intermittent tumor that would secrete during times of stress Gregory

informed his father of his findings in a letter in the summer of 1960 Gregory wrote that

Hemingwayrsquos argument with Pauline had set Pauline off ldquocausing a blood vessel to

rupturerdquo after which her blood pressure dropped to zero with the resulting shock killing

her on the operating table (275) So Gregory blamed Hemingway for Paulinersquos early

death from shock due to the ruptured blood vessel and the drop of her blood pressure to

zero

In 1947 Hemingwayrsquos son Patrick had a spiritual crisis of his own Due to his

Catholic mother Patrick had been schooled in Catholic schools In 1947 Patrick had

been studying for the College Board exams at Hemingwayrsquos home the Finca in Cuba

However when Gregory had a spring vacation Patrick decided to join him in Key West

In 1945 Pauline had bought herself a sports car (Dearborn 497) In 1947 in Key West

Patrick was newly licensed and Patrick let Gregory drive the sports car Gregory drove

off the road and hit a tree near Casa Marina

In the process Patrick and Gregory seemed to suffer only minor injuries

Gregory ldquoreceived a minor knee injuryrdquo while Patrick ldquosuffered a cut on his chin and

slight headacherdquo (Hawkins 251) Yet Patrick had suffered a severe concussion (Di

Robilant 7) At first the boys didnrsquot seem to have any ill effects from the accident and

they arrived back at the Finca However shortly after his arrival Patrick started acting

strangely (Dearborn 497) At the Finca Patrick asked ldquofor a pot of hot water and some

teardquo (497) When Reneacute Villarreal brought the hot water and tea to the little house

ldquoPatrick complained that the water was dirtyrdquo (497) Then Patrick commenced shouting

56

loudly at the cook Ramoacuten who wasnrsquot even there Next at the main house Ernest

placed Patrick ldquoon a wicker chaise and stroked his headrdquo (497) In Havana the next day

Patrick was able to take the College Board exams but as the day progressed he grew

increasingly agitated So Ernest called for a doctor The doctor ldquosedated Patrick but the

next day he was delirious and soon became violent and it was necessary to restrain himrdquo

(497) Andrea Di Robilant believes that Patrick had a complete breakdown (7) His loss

of normalcy became a terrible ordeal for the Hemingway family in which his future his

sanity and his life hung in the balance (Dearborn 497)

In response Ernest placed Patrick in his own bed at the Finca and slept on a straw

mat in the living room just outside the door of his bedroom taking care of Patrick around

the clock (Dearborn 497-98 Hawkins 251) Ernest did this for the next three months

(Dearborn 498) It was hoped that Patrick would recover and be well within a couple of

weeks Yet it didnrsquot turn out this way Doctors from all over Cuba were called in Dr

Herrera deemed Patrick to be ldquopredementialrdquo a condition either set off from the exams or

by a crisis of his Catholic faith (498) Religion was a big portion of Patrickrsquos delirium

the other subject being putas whores A local priest named Don Andreacutes became one of

Patrickrsquos chief caretakers Surprisingly due to the spiritual nature of Patrickrsquos condition

this priest was unable to enter Patrickrsquos room without being accused of being the devil

incarnate Consequently this priest became known as the Black Priest

Patrick was so delusional that Ernest and his doctors were concerned about being

near Patrick because they were afraid that they would be scratched or bitten Patrick

remained bedridden for weeks and ldquohe moved in and out of consciousnessrdquo (Di Robilant

57

7) However Patrickrsquos condition did not improve he only worsened and became more

violentmdashhaving to be constantly restrained (Dearborn 498) At first the doctors wanted

Ernest to put Patrick in a hospital but Ernest was determined to keep Patrick at home

Patrick was so delirious that he wouldnrsquot eat When Patrick did eat he stuffed the food in

his mouth like a hamster to spit out at his caretakers Patrick even couldnrsquot swallow his

own saliva Considering that Patrick would probably rip out feeding tubes it was

decided to feed him rectally under restraint and under heavy sedation Patrick had not

eaten since his illness had begun five days prior It would take a full hour and a half to

feed Patrick rectally Despite this procedure Patrick dropped to eighty-eight pounds by

the start of August He had become psychotic

Given the limited means and the early days of psychiatric diagnoses in that time

and age it seemed like Patrick was schizophrenic perhaps even needing a lifetime of

institutionalized care (499) In July a new physician suggested that Patrick undergo

shock treatments In those days the only options were lobotomy and electroshock

therapy (499-500) So seeing no other viable option Patrickrsquos parents relented to the

electroshock therapy (500) In the outbuilding of the Finca Patrick received his first

shock treatment After only around ten minutes Patrick was reported as being ldquolucidrdquo

Fortunately Patrickrsquos electroshock therapy brought him back

The Hemingways remembered how the shock treatments had brought Patrick

back from the brink of hopelessness However when electroshock treatments were tried

years later on Ernest himself because of his traumatic brain injuries and compounding

depression they had the opposite effect For Ernest Hemingway electroshock treatments

58

wiped out his memory and he could no longer write take pride in himself and support

himself financially by the only means he knew how The shock treatments pushed

Hemingway further into depression

After his marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer Hemingway had misgivings about his

Catholic faith However HR Stoneback asserts that Hemingway never entirely gave up

his Catholicism and that he continued to go to Mass pray support the church and regard

himself as Catholic (114) Despite all this Hemingway had some bitterness toward the

Catholic Church Yet it still played an influence in his life Lloyd Arnold says of

Hemingwayrsquos last twenty years of life ldquoI did not know Papa as a man without Godrdquo (qtd

in Stoneback 105-06) Even after his marriage to Pauline Hemingway did put some

stock in Catholicism His divorce from Pauline made him excommunicated from the

Catholic Churchmdashhe could not receive communionmdashbut he still did visit Catholic

churches and pray inside During his marriage to Pauline Hemingway had faithfully and

regularly attended Mass Of his post-Pauline years Hemingway friend and biographer

AE Hotchner noted that in 1954 Hemingway on his way to Madrid stopped into the

cathedral at Burgos where he kneeled and prayed (Stoneback 106) According to

Hotchner in 1958 Hemingway paid for a new roof for the Catholic Church in Hailey

Idaho Then he gave an address to that parishrsquos young people admonishing them not to

work on Sunday as it was ldquovery back luckrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106)

Actor Gary Cooper who had played the role of Robert Jordan in the 1943 film

version of For Whom the Bell Tolls converted to Catholicism himself in 1958 In

response Hemingway ldquotalked sympathetically with Gary Cooper aboutrdquo it (Stoneback

59

106) In 1959 Hemingway was pickpocketed in Spain so in response he put an ad in

the newspaper asking the Spanish pickpocket to return his billfold as he cared mostly for

ldquogetting back the ldquoimage of St Christopher in itrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106) Throughout

his lifetime Hemingway named a son after a pope ldquodisplayed great pride in Patrickrsquos

confirmation mastery of the catechism gave money and support to the churchrdquo (110)

Ernest even taught his oldest son Bumby how to pray (L Hemingway 99) When

Hemingway received his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 he gave the medal to the

Virgen of Cobra Shrine in Cuba (Isabelle 52)

In a conversation with his fourth and final wife Mary Welsh Hemingway says to

her ldquoReligion is superstition and I believe in superstitionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 118)

Ernest adds that it is his ldquoTribal heritagerdquo (118) Mary wrote to Stoneback of Ernest that

when they would visit cathedrals in France Italy or Spain Hemingway would light

candles in honor of the memory of his friends Stoneback writes that with Ernest Mary

Hemingway had to live through a Catholic prism With Ernest Mary had to eat fish on

Fridays observe Lent do the Christmas traditions celebrate Ernestrsquos saintrsquos day have

masses and prayers said for family and friends observe holy days and Catholic feasts

drive miles off course to visit and revisit cathedrals and churches and to attend religious

processions (119) Mary Hemingway would later say that Hemingway ldquoadmiredrdquo the

Catholic church and that he ldquothought of himself always as Catholicrdquo (qtd in 119) Mary

Hemingway said of Ernestrsquos friend the Black Priest Don Andreacutes that he and

Hemingway would talk alone and that Ernest regarded him ldquoas his lsquopersonal priest and

confessorrsquo that they prayed together and for each otherrdquo (120) According to Toby

60

Bruce Hemingway and the Black Priest were very good friends they talked quite a lot

and that when Don Andreacutes died in 1955 Hemingway had masses said for him (132)

Mary said of Ernest ldquoWhen he said he was Catholic he meant itrdquo (qtd in 120)

Mary added that Ernest tried very hard at being Catholic Allen Tate said that

Hemingway was ldquovery Catholicrdquo and that his attitude towards sports was ldquorooted in

religious sensibilityrdquo (120) Tate added that it was the ritual of sport that Hemingway

liked RW Church says that Hemingwayrsquos ldquotalk during these late hours at Lips made

evident his conviction that Sport and bull-fighting in particular afforded a major way to

the redemption of manrdquo (135) Stoneback argues that for Hemingway sport is a

redemptive ritual that is central to his life and work (136) The renowned sportsman

George Leonard Herter said that although Hemingway was a strong Catholic

his ldquoreligion came mainly from the Apparitions of the Virgin Maryrdquo (121) Herter said

that Hemingway was almost obsessed with the apparitions and talked about them often

(134) Hemingway thought that they were important Hemingway did not understand

why the Catholic church did not publicize the apparitions Hemingway was amazed that

most brothers nuns and priests were ignorant of the apparitions and seemed to care even

less Herter said that he had heard Hemingway speak of the apparitions including

Lourdes Fatima and others ldquoat one time or anotherrdquo (qtd in 134) Herter says that

Hemingway believed that if there was no Bible ldquono man-made church lawsrdquo then the

apparitions conclusively proved that the Catholic church was the true church (134-35)

Herter adds that ldquoHemingway knew all the apparitions The ones at Pontmain

61

Pellivoisin Allyrod greatly impressed himrdquo (134-35) In addition Hemingway basically

believed that the Virgin Mary was earthrsquos listening post for Jesus and God (135)

Reynolds Price suggested that ldquoHemingwayrsquos lsquolifelong subjectrsquo was

lsquosaintlinessrsquordquo (121) Stoneback asserts a spiritual order to Hemingwayrsquos works in which

Hemingway examines the conscience through a Catholic lens (122) Stoneback

summarizes an October 18 1933 letter to Pauline Hemingway

tells Pauline that the proofs of Winner Take Nothing have arrived and though it is

a ldquodamned goodrdquo book itrsquos too much to expect the church will stand for it As he

sees it considering his writing the church would have two choices either kick

him out or prove he has no right to be in Either one would be bad because he

couldnrsquot tell them to ldquogo to the devilrdquo because of the ldquoItalian complicationsrdquo At

least hersquoll be able to say his prayers participate in the Mass support and

contribute to the church and wherever they donrsquot know him he can go to

confession He does not want to seem to be seeking ldquoappuirdquo as a ldquoCatholic

writerrdquo He says that he has no right to write the way he does and be ldquolsquoofficially

of the Churchrsquordquo Everything is fine with his conscience however he adds that

therersquos nothing wrong with the church (Stoneback 129-30)

Stoneback summarizes an interview with Fraser Drew As Stoneback

summarizes Hemingway told Drew

I [Hemingway] like to think that Irsquom a Catholic as far as I can be I can still go to

Mass although many things have happenedmdashthe divorces the marriages He

spoke with admiration of Catholicism and then of his friend the Basque priest

62

whom he had known in Spain [Don Andreacutes] and who now lived in San Francisco

de Paula He comes here a great deal said EH He prays for me every day as I

do for him I canrsquot pray for myself any more Perhaps itrsquos because in some way I

have become hardened Or perhaps it is because the self becomes less important

and others become more important But that Time article was bad He referred to

a recent article in Time which had commented that he had been born a

Congregationalist had become a Roman Catholic and now no longer went to

church This conversation with EH confirms my earlier feeling that he is a

religious man with respect for the religions of others (Stoneback 131)

Toby Bruce said of Hemingway and religion ldquoIrsquod say he was very religious Always

went to Mass especially when he was here still with Pauline And afterwards toordquo (qtd

in 132) Bruce added ldquoHe was a real Catholic and I think he tried very hard to be a good

Catholic Who knows for sure Yes he was he planned to donate a considerable sum

toward the restoration of the Mary Immaculate Convent Donrsquot know if he did I guess

Irsquod say he was a good Catholic Donrsquot know what the church would say about itrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 132-33)

Hemingway would cross himselfmdasheven after the 1930s (133) George Herter

wrote ldquoHemingway was a Catholic in those days when the Catholic Church was a church

instead of a mass of confusion The fact that he had been a steady marrying and divorce

type didnrsquot bother Ernest at all in his views on Catholicism I knew Ernest only had

his religion in his very shaky worldrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) George Herter responded

to HR Stoneback in a letter about Hemingway ldquoI repeat he was a very strong Catholic

63

He had complete faith in God Jesus the Virgin Holy Ghost guardian angels Much

more so than nearly all Catholics I have known He was a traditional Catholic as we

all were at the timerdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) In another letter from Herter to Stoneback

dated February 23 1978 Herter writes ldquoHemingway was a strong Catholic He had a

very good knowledge of early Christianity He did not attend Mass regularly He

believed the churchrsquos stand on divorce was right although he was divorced many times

He often stated that he was a poor example of a Catholic but offered no excusesrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 134-35) Stoneback asked a Key West resident what he thought of

Hemingwayrsquos religion The man responded ldquoHemingway was very religious went to

Mass early in the morning with Pauline You could tell he was religious when he fed

the cats the way he looked at the skyrdquo (136)

Yet in his last years of life Hemingway said some very anti-Catholic and anti-

Christian things For instance married to his last wife Mary Ernest said in an interview

to Lillian Ross of the possibility of an afterlife ldquoOnly suckers worry about saving their

soulsrdquo (qtd in Ross 50) Hemingway continued ldquoWho the hell should care about saving

his soul when it is a manrsquos duty to lose it intelligently the way you would sell a position

you were not defending if you could not hold it as expensively as possible trying to

make it the most expensive position that was ever soldrdquo (50) Gregory Hemingway

recounted something similar Gregory said that his father didnrsquot genuinely believe in

organized religion and that his father ldquomade it clear he didnrsquot believe in an afterlife He

did finally believe in a superior beingrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 186) Although Hemingway

didnrsquot believe that it was necessary to save onersquos soul he did contemplate the soul As a

64

boy Hemingway had thought that his soul had blown out of him once and it had returned

to his body (First Light 172) Hemingway claimed ignorance of the soul and he didnrsquot

know if it existed nor if anyone he knew anything about it Hemingway ponders the

soul ldquoProbably a spring of clear fresh water that never diminished in drought and never

froze in the winter was closest to what we had instead of the soul they all talked aboutrdquo

(172) As a boy Hemingway assumed that he had a soul but as he grew older and jaded

he wasnrsquot sure anymore Hemingway thinks that death ends things Yet he ponders that

perhaps only really religious people have souls (172-173) Of a belief in an afterlife for

the soul as heaven or hell Hemingway had his own opinions of that On July 1 1925

Hemingway creatively wrote to F Scott Fitzgerald of his vision of heaven

To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a

trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in and two lovely

houses in the town one where I would have my wife and children and be

monogamous and love them truly and well and the other where I would have my

nine beautiful mistresses on 9 different floors Then there would be a fine

church like in Pamplona where I could go and be confessed on the way from one

house to the other and I would get on my horse and ride out with my son to my

bull ranch named Hacienda Hadley and toss coins to all my illegitimate children

that lined the road I would write out at the Hacienda and send my son in to lock

the chastity belts onto my mistresses because someone had just galloped up with

the news that a notorious monogamist named Fitzgerald had been seen riding

65

toward the town at the head of a company of strolling drinkers (Hemingway in

Katakis 37)

However after his World War I injury Ernest wrote his family

You know they say there isnrsquot anything funny about this war and there isnrsquot I

wouldnrsquot say that it was hell because thatrsquos been a bit overworked since General

Shermanrsquos time but there have been about eight times when I would have

welcomed hell just on a chance it couldnrsquot come up to the phase of war I was

experiencing (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 166-67)

So if there was a hell Hemingway didnrsquot believe that it was worse than the horrors of

war Of his past Hemingway did have regrets He wrote ldquoThis past was never my past

life which truly bores me to think about and is often very distasteful due to the mistakes

that I have made and the casualties to various human beings involvedrdquo (Hemingway in

White 466)

The question of the soul comes up continually in the works of Hemingway In

ldquoNow I Lay Merdquo Nick Adams tries not to go to sleep at night because he is afraid like

Hemingway was that his soul is going to leave his body in the dark This all stems from

a battlefield injury and experience that Nick had when his soul temporarily left his body

Nick relates ldquoI had been that way [not sleeping at night] for a long time ever since I had

been blown up at night and felt it [his soul] go out of me and go off and then come back

I tried never to think about it but it had started to go since in the nights just at the

moment of going off to sleep and I could only stop it by a very great effortrdquo (Short

Stories 276)

66

Yet Nick doesnrsquot fear his soul leaving him during the day time Hemingway also

had a similar experience with his wounding at Fossalta According to Leicester

Hemingway Ernest once told Guy Hickok of this near-death experience ldquoI felt my soul

or something coming right out of my body like yoursquod pull a silk handkerchief out of a

pocket by one corner It flew around and then came back and went in again and I wasnrsquot

dead any morerdquo (56) Hemingway gives Frederic Henry the same experience in A

Farewell to Arms After the explosion that caused his wounding Henry says that

I tried to breathe but my breath would not come and I felt myself rush bodily out

of myself and out and out and out and all the time bodily in the wind I went out

swiftly all of myself and I knew I was dead and that it had all been a mistake to

think you just died Then I floated and instead of going on I felt myself slide

back I breathed and I was back (47)

Hemingway later referred to his Christian upbringing as ldquothat ton of shit we are

all fed when we are youngrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) Michael Reynolds makes the claim that

in Ernestrsquos youth fishing was his religion (118) However Archie MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoActually he was one of the most profoundly and spiritually powerful

creatures I have ever knownrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 158)

In The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway paints the old man Santiago as a

Christ figure There is so much Christian symbolism in this tale that the story can be

thought of as a parable The name Santiago literally means Saint James in Spanish

(Baker 293) In the Bible James was one of Jesusrsquo brothers Baker says of Santiago that

he ldquoshows in his own right certain qualities of mind and heart which are clearly

67

associated with the character and personality of Jesus Christ in the Gospel storiesrdquo (299)

Like Christ Santiago is able to ldquoignore physical painrdquo while focusing on the larger

objective goal to be gained in the end (299) There is an allusion to Christ on the cross

when Santiago in fighting for his prize ldquosettled comfortably against the wood and took

his suffering as it camerdquo (Old Man Sea 64) Like a horizontal cross-beam across Christrsquos

back Santiago has the cord tightened taught across his back (Backman 10 Old Man Sea

67) Santiago carries the burdensome weight of the fish on his back and he is even

burned by the cord because of it (Old Man Sea 82) The wood the suffering and

Santiagorsquos gentleness according to Melvin Backman blends ldquomagically into an image of

Christ on the crossrdquo (10) Three other Christ-like qualities that Santiago has are his

compassion his humility and his natural piety (Baker 299-300) Santiago has

compassion on certain animals that he encounters and of some fish that he catchesmdashlike

the giant marlin In his struggle with the marlin Santiago says ldquoI love you and respect

you very much But I will kill you dead before this day endsrdquo (Old Man Sea 54) After

he has killed the fish Santiago thinks ldquoYou loved him when he was alive and you loved

him after If you love him it is not a sin to kill himrdquo (105) Before killing the fish

Santiago ponders ldquoI wish I could feed the fish He is my brother But I must kill him

and keep strong to do itrdquo (59) Santiago thinks of his humility ldquoHe was too simple to

wonder when he had attained humility But he knew he had attained it and he knew it

was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true priderdquo (13-14) Santiago demonstrates

his pride when his disciple Manolo touts him as the best fisherman and he plays it down

by saying that he knows of better ones (23) Manolo claims ldquoQueacute va [No way] But

68

there is only yourdquo (23) Santiagorsquos piety is observed in that he prays when he feels and

senses the need and that his prayers are never oaths For example in trying to catch the

giant marlin Santiago says aloud ldquoNow that I have him coming so beautifully God help

me endure Irsquoll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys But I cannot say

them nowrdquo (87) Santiagorsquos prayers are never careless nor does he make them profane

He is reverent

As Christ had disciples so Santiago has his disciple Manolo Like Christ

Santiago is a teacher in that he was taught Manolo how to fish Christ was a fisher of

men Santiago is a traditional fisherman Manolo loves Santiago because of his teaching

Manolo how to fish and he admires and looks up to Santiago as a second father figure

Before Santiago goes out on his big marlin hunt Manolo says to him ldquoIf I cannot fish

with you I would like to serve in some wayrdquo (12) Manolo wants to be loyal to Santiago

Before his big marlin catch Santiago had had two previous eighty-seven day periods

where he went without a fish After the first period Santiago and Manolo had caught big

fish every day for three weeks GR Wilson Jr likens these three weeks to Christrsquos three

years of ministry where he fished for men and taught his disciples to fish for men (370)

At the start of Old Man Santiago had not caught a fish for eighty-four days The Old

Man and the Sea takes place over three days so this makes the second eighty-seven day

period In the Bible Christ demonstrated his divine authority by performing miracles

Wilson notes that Manolo has faith in the old man stemming from the miracle of the

three weeksrsquo bounty that he and Santiago had caught In addition according to Isabelle

Santiago ldquohooks the fish at noon and at noon of third day he kills itrdquo (77) This is just

69

like Christ who died and in three days rose again Isabelle adds that the marlin was

ldquolanded on the seventh attemptrdquo and that ldquoseven sharks were killedrdquo in the fishrsquos defense

(78) The number seven is a sacred and significant number recurring in the Bible After

the seventh day of creation God rested there are seven days in a week et cetera

(Easton) The number seven is also seen as symbolizing perfection and rest

Another similarity of Santiago with Christ are the wounds that he receives on his

hands On the cross Christ was pierced in each hand to help keep him pinned to the

cross In his battle with the fish Santiago receives bad cutsmdashstigmatamdashon his hands

Santiago sees his hands as brothers and he often talks to them Carlos Baker explains that

Santiago ldquospeaks to them [his hands] as to fellow-sufferers wills them to do the work

they must do and makes due allowances for them as if they were what he once calls

them lsquomy brothersrsquordquo (313) Once he says aloud ldquoHersquos [the fish] coming up Come

on hand Please come onrdquo (Old Man Sea 62) The hands also represent good and bad

The right hand is good and the left hand is bad Santiagorsquos hands are compared to the

criminals on the crosses to the left and right of Jesus who was on his own cross in the

center Santiagorsquos right hand is his good one Santiago thought that his left hand ldquohad

always been a traitor and would not do what he called on it to do and he did not trust itrdquo

(71) Luke 2339 reads ldquoOne of the criminals who were hanged railed at him [Jesus]

saying lsquoAre you not the Christ Save yourself and usrsquordquo (English Standard Version) So

Santiagorsquos left hand is untrustworthy Santiagorsquos right hand is so reliable that he quit

arm-wrestling despite being ldquoEl Campeoacutenrdquo in order to keep his right hand in good

condition as a tool of his trade fishing (70-71) The thief on Jesusrsquo right rebukes the

70

other criminal Then in Luke 2342 the thief on the right of Jesus asks Jesus ldquoJesus

remember me when you come into your kingdomrdquo (English Standard Version) Jesus

assures this repentant thief that that day the thief will be with him in paradise

Santiagorsquos right hand is like the penitent thief on the cross to Jesusrsquo right This analogy

can also be applied to the Last Judgment At the Last Judgment the saved will be on the

right hand of the Savior while those who are rejected and damned will be on his left

(Baker 314)

When Santiago sees two sharks approaching he says ldquoAyrdquo (Old Man Sea 107)

Hemingway explains of this exclamation that ldquoThere is no translation for this word and

perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make involuntarily feeling the nail go

through his hands and into the woodrdquo (107) Given his affinity and brotherhood with the

marlin when Santiago sees his prize catch eaten by the sharks it is a mortifying terrible

and crucifying experience for him Through Santiagorsquos crucifixion experience he is

transfigured Baker says that Santiagorsquos experience is also a form of martyrdom

although Santiago doesnrsquot see himself as a martyr (315) Baker also suggests that

Santiagorsquos experience also renders to him a form of apotheosis (316) Backman suggests

that Santiago triumphs (11) On his return voyage to Cuba Santiago ldquocould hardly

breathe now and he felt a strange taste in his mouth It was coppery and sweet and he

was afraid of it for a moment But there was not much of itrdquo (Old Man Sea 119) This

can be likened to Christ when he receives and drinks the ldquosponge filled with vinegarrdquo or

sour wine in Matthew 2748 (Baker 319) When Santiago returns to Cuba he has dried

blood on his face reminiscent of the blood on Christrsquos face because of the crown of

71

thorns Having arrived back everybody is asleep and nobody is there to greet or help

him He only sees a meandering cat Like Christ on the cross when God forsook him

because of the load of sin that he was carrying Santiago is alone in his suffering ldquoThere

was no one to help him so he pulled the boat up as far as he couldrdquo (Old Man Sea 120)

Removing the mast and sail Santiago ldquoshouldered the mast and started to climbrdquo (121)

This is like Christ carrying the heavy cross (Backman 11) Santiago ldquostarted to climb

again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder He

tried to get up But it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder and

looked at the roadrdquo (Old Man Sea 121) This is similar to Christ stumbling and falling as

he carried his cross on the Via Dolorosa on the way to his crucifixion at Golgotha Like

Christ Santiago falls under the burden he is bearing

Back at his shack Santiago lays down to sleep ldquoHe pulled the blanket over his

shoulders and then over his back and legs and he slept face down on the newspapers with

his arms out straight and the palms of his hands uprdquo (121-22) Baker notes that Santiago

sleeps in a cruciform position that sums up ldquothe symbolic position naturally assumed all

the suffering through which he has passedrdquo (320) In his return Santiago also brings

evidence of his epic battlegood work to increase the faith of his disciple Manolo

(Wilson 371) Wilson asserts that Santiago is on his death-bed when Manolo finds him

(372) The eighty-seventh day of this second period ends on Ascension Day as it began

on Ash Wednesday and ldquoconstitutes all but the last ten days of the Easter Cycle from

Lent through Paschal tiderdquo (369-70) As Mary cried over Christ at the tomb Manolo

returns to Santiagorsquos shanty sees the old manrsquos hands and starts to cry (Old Man Sea

72

122) Wilson also asserts that Santiago matches up with Joseph Campbellrsquos archetypal

model for a ldquohero with a thousand facesrdquo (372) For example Santiago starts out on his

journey or calling with the aid of the helper Manolo Santiago ldquocrosses the threshold of

adventure and meets a trial that can take many forms including the brother-battle

dragon-battle crucifixion and a night-sea journey all of which can be seen as applying

in some way to the old fishermanrdquo (372) The mythic-like story culminates in a ldquosacred

marriagerdquo between Santiago and his prize marlin (372) Fellow writer William Although

Hemingway was not a good nor a professing Christian and for most of his life claimed to

be Catholic he was not a reformed believer Hemingway still continued to be

Hemingway Despite all this according to Carlos Baker ldquoThe consciousness of God is

in his booksrdquo (328)

73

74

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

Hemingway wanted to be a good man and a great writer but unfortunately he

did not turn out to be a good manmdashalthough he had his moments of goodness Although

he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not transform him He did not

have a salvation experience nor was his faith life-altering As a Catholic Hemingway

continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Hemingwayrsquos religious

life was one solely of Catholic rituals He did not overcome his problems In the end his

problems overcame him Hemingway himself said of his heart ldquoActually in regard to the

innermost contents of my heart probably a most foul place I would rather have a good

cardiograph reportrdquo (Hemingway in White 459) Hemingway added ldquoNo one of us lives

by as rigid standards nor has a good ethics as we planned but an attempt is maderdquo (461)

Hemingway was vindictive against his critics Hemingway viewed most fellow

writers as enemies if they were not officially his enemy he eventually went about to

convert them into his enemies Hemingway wanted to be the top dog of everythingmdash

especially the writing scenemdashand he didnrsquot want to share the spotlight with anyone else

Ernest felt ldquothat anyone elsersquos success diminished his ownrdquo (Hawkins 61) Hemingwayrsquos

writer friend Sherwood Anderson was the one in Chicago to suggest that Hemingway

and his newly-married first wife Hadley Richardson go to Paris instead of their planned

destination of Italy Anderson told the young Hemingway that Paris was where the

literary world was at that time and that it was also the place to get published This advice

75

was instrumental into turning Hemingway into the famed writer that he became Had it

not been for Anderson and his encouragement and faith in Hemingway Hemingway may

have never became a Nobel Prize winning writer Anderson gave Hemingway letters of

introduction to Gertrude Stein Sylvia Beach Ezra Pound and F Scott Fitzgerald Like

Harold Loeb Anderson also helped in getting Hemingwayrsquos In Our Time published

stressing its importance to Boni amp Liveright (Dearborn 177) Since Anderson pushed In

Our Time Boni amp Liveright did not want to upset itrsquos star writer so they agreed to

publish it (Hawkins 39)

However after all was said and done Hemingway wrote his satire Torrents of

Spring mocking Andersonrsquos writing style in order to try to get laughs and in order to get

out of his contract with his publisher Boni amp Liveright It worked Torrents of Spring

was rejected by Boni amp Liveright because Anderson was the companyrsquos star writer So

in lieu of this Hemingway was able to sign with Max Perkins and the publisher

Scribnerrsquos and Sons Yet in the process Hemingway had burned his bridge of friendship

with Anderson who had been so generous and helpful with the young budding writer

Others who knew of Andersonrsquos graciousness and kindness to Hemingway were appalled

by Torrents of Spring (Hawkins 44)

Hemingway was anti-Semitic mean and demeaning to people he berated them

and belittled them He thought that all guys should be macho Hemingway was not pure

evil but the evil produced by his unpredictable and uncontrollable temper pushed a lot of

peoplemdasheven one-time friendsmdashaway from him Archibald MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoHe was wonderful irreplaceable but an impossible friend a man you

76

couldnt get along with a man you couldnt get along withoutrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 167)

Robert Capa once told Leicester Hemingway ldquoPapa can be more severe than God on

a rough day when the whole human race is misbehavingrdquo (192) Hemingway was his

own worst enemy

Hemingway was not a good Catholic He was married four times and even

divorced a Catholic woman whom he later called his best wife (L Hemingway 271) It

is speculated that Hemingway had affairs with multiple women Hemingway would have

affairs before marrying his last two or three wives Hemingwayrsquos son Jack ldquoBumbyrdquo

Hemingway surmised that Hemingway had an affair with the beautiful blond Jane

Mason in 1933 (Hawkins 152) According to Jack ldquoErnest bragged to him that Jane

liked climbing through the transom to his [Hemingwayrsquos] room at the Ambos Mundos

Hotelrdquo (153) Moreover a prostitute was known to have visited the Finca Vigiacutea

Although Hemingway was Catholic he didnrsquot really change his behavior to live

in sync with the Bible or all Catholic teachings He followed the rituals of the Church

not so much a personal transformative side Yet claiming to be Catholic Hemingway

lived by his own code In the end although Hemingway was not a good person he had

some good memories of a childhood growing up and some good experiences as an adult

Even with his bad experiences Hemingway was able to incorporate them into his

literature Hemingwayrsquos keen insight his precise powers of observation his absorption

of the knowledge gained from others and the Protestant work ethic of his youth paid off

as Hemingway put all of his being into trying to be an honest writer writing one true

sentence at a time and helping his audience to see the world through open and honest

77

eyes to help his readers see feel and almost literally experience first-hand what he was

writing aboutmdashthe good the bad and the ugly Though a flawed human being

Hemingway was a brilliant writer and his brilliance lives on through his works of

literature

WORKS CITED

75

WORKS CITED

Backman Melvin ldquoHemingway The Matador and the Crucifiedrdquo Modern Fiction

Studies 13 (1955) 2-11

Baker Carlos Hemingway the Writer as Artist Princeton Princeton University Press

1963 Print

Berman Ron ldquoProtestant Catholic Jew The Sun Also Risesrdquo The Hemingway

Review 181 (1998) 33 Web

Blume Lesley MM Everybody Behaves Badly the True Story Behind Hemingwayrsquos

Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises Boston Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016

Print

Cohn-Sherbok Dan Anti-Semitism Brimscombe Port Stroud The History Press 2002

Print

Dearborn Mary V Ernest Hemingway a Biography New York Alfred A Knopf

2017 Print

Di Robilant Andrea Autumn in Venice Ernest Hemingway and his Last Muse New

York Alfred A Knopf 2018 Print

Djos Matts ldquoAlcoholism in Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises A Wine and Roses

Perspective on the Lost Generationrdquo The Hemingway Review 142 (1995) 64

Easton MG Illustrated Bible Dictionary 3rd ed Thomas Nelson 1897 Bible Study

Toolscom Web 1 Dec 2018

ESV Study Bible English Standard Version Wheaton Crossway Bibles 2008 Print

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks to Dr Lyle Smith who helped and guided me through the process

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

COPYRIGHT PAGE ii

DEDICATION

CHAPTER

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

TABLE OF CONTENTSv

ABSTRACT vi

1 INTRODUCTION 1

New Historicism 1The Cultural Context and Overview of the Chapters to Follow 4

2 HEMINGWAY AND JUDAISM6

Historical Overview of Judaism6Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in his Novels 15

3 HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY 28

4 HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY 48

5 CONCLUSION71

WORKS CITED 74

v

ABSTRACT

Despite having been raised a Congregational Protestant Ernest Hemingway

abandoned the faith of his youth after he left homemdashespecially after he experienced

destruction and death in the Italian theater during World War I In the following years

Hemingway converted to Catholicism when he married his second wife Pauline Pfeifer

Hemingway also had an anti-Semitic streak often using racial slurs and even making the

villain in his first novel The Sun Also Rises to be a rich Jew This thesis uses new

historicism as the critical lens through which to view Hemingwayrsquos attitude towards

Judaism and Christianity It includes an investigation of his biography and some of his

novels Though he practiced Catholicism he sometimes had negative things to say about

it Yet his later novels show an increased level of spirituality culminating in The Old

Man and the Sea

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

This thesis utilizes new historicism as a lens through which to view Hemingwayrsquos

attitude towards religion and spirituality It involves first a brief explanation of this

perspective and then an investigation of Hemingwayrsquos life and several of his novels

New Historicism

Stephen Greenblatt gets the credit for coining the term ldquonew historicismrdquo in a

1982 issue of Genre (Harpham 363) Greenblatt saw new historicism as a practice not a

doctrine Greenblatt preferred the term ldquocultural poeticsrdquo in lieu of the term new

historicism New historicism is cultural interpretation New historicism searches the real

and the raw and claims to give a new approach to history Brook Thomas sees new

historicism as linking a bridge to the literary past (Thomas 182) It claims to give a new

approach to history providing a new angle from which to view the past According to

Thomas ldquoNew historicism suggests the newness of the pastrdquo (25) According to Joel

Fineman new historicism ldquoproposes to introduce a novelty or an innovation something

lsquo[n]ewrsquo into the closed and closing historiography of successive innovationrdquo (qtd in

Harpham 362) New historicism suggests that through an understanding of the past the

reader will see the past through new eyes and as it was seen in the past itself (Thomas

187) Plus new historicism seeks to represent those who were not represented in the

past New historicism is categorized as ldquoAgainst Theoryrdquo (187) Yet it is a theory in its

own respect New historicism questions whether dominant cultural forces predominate or

2

if cultural power is potentially undermined by other underlying destabilizing forces

(Harpham 360)

New historicism incorporates the reading of ldquoboth literary and non-literary textsrdquo

in order to understand the past from the point of view of the past (Kerridge 10)

Literature is defined as a cultural construct being unique to its own era and it is ldquoshaped

by the many peoples and discourses of that erardquo (10) New historicists believe that texts

should be viewed from their original setting and from the cultural context of that

particular period (10) Jane Tompkins in writing from the new historicist perspective

tries to sympathetically recreate the context in which literary works were produced and

the specific problems to which these literary works were devoted (185) Put simply new

historicism seeks to understand writers via their own historical terms (Veeser 186) New

historicists hope that by ldquoReconstructing an era from the materials it produced the

historian could sympathetically reinhabit the pastrdquo (89) Using the new historicist model

texts can reveal insights about the people that created them their discourses and their

ideology (Kerridge 10-11) In new historicism ldquoliterary and non-literary textsrdquo are given

equal scrutiny and regard (11) Consequently literature is a unique by-product of the

culture from which it originated and sheds unique insight into that culture

Despite Greenblattrsquos preference for his own term ldquocultural poeticsrdquo the term

new historicism stuck Whereas Greenblatt coined the term some scholars see Michel

Foucault as the power behind the method (Harpham 369) Foucault encouraged a group

of young scholars at Berkeley to promote new historicism in their journal

3

Representations In addition Foucault seemed to learn from this group Foucaultrsquos

ldquomost identifiable legacy in American literary studiesrdquo was new historicism (370)

New historicism claims to represent the real by defining the real as the textual

(360) According to Harpham ldquoLiterature is traditionally said to produce an lsquoethicalrsquo

effect through its ability to transcend its historical momentrdquo (374) Harpham says that the

real is defined as the local the material and the specific He also notes that ldquoA lsquonewrsquo

historicism promises knowledge of the past that really is knowledge that discloses the

object as in itself it really was that is not simply a reflex or internal mirroring of

contemporary self-awarenessrdquo (362) It is the goal of the new historicist to be objective

instead of subjective For instance the subjective seeks to define history through

personal tastes feelings and opinions New historicism is the opposed to this New

historicism seeks to present the past as it really was without the modern biases and

prejudices of those currently researching it New historicism tries to see through the eyes

and minds of the people who actually lived through and experienced history It tries to

understand the mindset and the feelings of the people of the time period in question

What people thought and how people thought is important Todayrsquos current beliefs

should be left out of the mix Past beliefs are essential to understanding the thinking

processes of the past

4

The Cultural Context and Overview of the Chapters To Follow

Ernest Hemingway was a man of his times Like many of his Lost Generation

after the Great War (in particular) he abandoned the faith of his youth although he quite

possibly did earlier World War I cemented this rejection In Hemingwayrsquos twenties he

married and then committed adultery According to Hemingway biographer Mary V

Dearborn he liked to marry those with whom he slept Hemingway started attending

religious services again after his second marriage to the rich Catholic Pauline Pfeiffer

Hemingway lived as an expat in Paris during the Roaring 20s Hemingwayrsquos friends

were newspapermen artists and writers Paris was hedonistic in those days After the

carnage and terror of World War I the returning Lost Generation just wanted to live life

to the utmost and the fullest In early-twentieth-century Paris Hemingway lived in an

atmosphere of lax morals Anything went In consequence he conformed to the culture

around him Some of Hemingwayrsquos literary friends were anti-Semitic Perhaps they

influenced him but Hemingway eventually showed signs of anti-Semitism too

Moreover some of the authors that Hemingway read especially as he was trying to

become a better writer were anti-Semitic themselves Living in predominantly Catholic

France converting to Catholicism at the insistence of his second wife was an easy task

for Hemingway Many of his friends were CatholicmdashJames Joyce being one At the

time Hemingway was just a conforming product of the culture and attitudes of those

around him He wanted to fit it inmdashhe wanted to be one of the boysmdashyet throughout his

life and his writing he was haunted by death and he wanted to find a spiritual solution to

his many struggles

5

Chapter 2 investigates Hemingway and Judaism and Chapter 3 centers on

Hemingway and Christianity In Chapter 4 the author argues that although he didnrsquot turn

out to be a good person and was vindictive against fellow writers critics and others

Hemingway was a good writer and used all his experiences good and bad to bring across

the truth and reality of life in his works of literature Hemingwayrsquos last novel Old Man

and the Sea provides the clearest statement of his spiritual and religious perspective

6

CHAPTER 2

HEMINGWAY AND JUDIASM

Historical Overview of Judaism

Anti-Semitism or hatred of Jews has been around since the rise of Judaism In

the Old Testament Pharaoh was the first political leader known to persecute the Jews

Pharaoh was concerned with the growing Jewish population and their loyalty Among

many other things he tried to kill Jewish ldquofirst-born sonsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 13) Next in

the Old Testament Haman tried to have the Jews killed off under Queen Esther

However most scholars agree that anti-Semitism came into its own in the years after

Christ left this earth For example Dan Cohn-Sherbok argues that ldquoit was only when

Christianity emerged in the first century CE that Jews came to be viewed as contemptible

and demonicrdquo (17)

Unfortunately the intensity of anti-Semitism in Christianity was mainly due to

misinterpretation In earlier centuries AD people could not read Scripture for themselves

and they were consequently misled In those days people had faith in and trusted the

Catholic Church seeing the pope as infallible Some misinterpreted Scripture to say that

the Jews were responsible for Christrsquos death However Scripture emphasizes that Christ

died for all so consequently he died for everyone If one looks at it from that point of

view then everyone past present and future were are and will be responsible for

Christrsquos death Yet some didnrsquot look at it that way In fact the Apostle Paul went out of

his way to preach and try to reach Jews first

7

Paul wrote in Romans 116 ldquoFor I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the

power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the

Greekrdquo (English Standard Version) John 422 reads ldquoYou worship what you do not

know we [Jews] worship what we know for salvation is from the Jewsrdquo In Romans

1117-18 Paul suggests that Gentile believers are just grafted into the Jewish promise ldquoIf

some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive were grafted in

among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree [then] do

not be arrogant toward the branches but if you are arrogant remember that it is not you

who supports the root but the root supports yourdquo Unfortunately some uninformed

early Christians did not put two and two together For some it was believed that the

Christian Church took the place of Israel which isnrsquot accurate Some believed that ldquothe

Church was the true inheritor of Godrsquos promisesrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 45) It was

believed that Jews no longer had a covenant with God and that Christians had completely

overshadowed and replaced Israel in that covenant This is not true

Acts 1346 reads of preaching to the Jews first ldquoIt was necessary that the word of

God be spoken to you firstrdquo Jesus also a Jew promoted preaching to the Jews first In

Matthew 125-6 Jesus says to the twelve disciples ldquoGo nowhere among the Gentiles and

enter no town of the Samaritans but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israelrdquo

(English Standard Version) In Matthew 1524 Jesus says ldquoI was sent only to the lost

sheep of the house of Israelrdquo (English Standard Version) The first Christians were a

group of Jews Jews were different so eventually urban legends sprang up without

accurate facts and the knowledge of Judaismrsquos teachings some people latched onto these

8

false assumptions and believed the lies that others were propagating about the Jews For

instance Jews were accused of murdering Christian children and then using their blood

for ritual practices It was believed that Jews used the blood of murdered Christian

children ldquoin the preparation of unleavened bread for Passoverrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 54) The

ritual murder charge was a misunderstanding (81) In fact in the fourteenth century

Jews were accused of bringing about the Black Death by poisoning the wells and springs

(60 67) This assertion first gained credence in southern France (81) Yet Jews suffered

and died under the Black Death as well This is an example of the Jews being blamed as

scapegoats

In the early Church the Bishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom accused the

early Hebrews of sacrificing ldquotheir sons and daughters to demons andrdquo eating their own

children (37 47) Chrysostom said of synagogues ldquoto go there was no better than

visiting a brothel a robberrsquos den or any indecent place [it is] a theatre a house of

prostitution and domicile of the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom said that the Jews ldquohave

surpassed the ferocity of wild beasts since they murder their offspring and immolate

them to the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom also accused the Jews of worshipping the devil Yet

Jeremiah 313b reads in reference to Israel ldquoI have loved you with an everlasting love

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to yourdquo (English Standard Version) If so-

called Christians would have accurately read this during this period they would have

seen that God loves his people and his nation Israel But some Christians thought that

the Christian Church entirely replaced Godrsquos Covenant with the Jews Consequently

Chrysostom said that Christians must hate the Jews (Cohn-Sherbok 47) Yet hatred is an

9

anti-Christian doctrine In Matthew 544 Jesus says ldquoBut I say to you Love your

enemies and pray for those who persecute

yourdquo (English Standard Version)

False conceptions of the Jews even seemed to be found among some of the

Church Fathers Some of the Church Fathers were frustrated that the Jews would not

convert to Christianity nor would they renounce their Judaism In some cases the quest

for converts became a competition Cohn-Sherbok writes ldquoDuring the same period

Tertullian the African Church Father called the synagogues of his day lsquofountains of

persecution of Christiansrsquordquo (46) Justin Martyr ldquorelated that Jews laugh curse and insult

Jesusrdquo (46) Jerome referred to Jews as Judases (47) In fact Judas was thought to be

ldquosymbolic of the Jewish peoplerdquo (84) In the New Testament ldquothe figure of Judas

was associated in the public mind with deviousness and treacheryrdquo (83)

Desecration of the communion host became another false charge against the Jews

as the then-Christians believed in the doctrine of transubstantiation In the doctrine of

transubstantiation the communion bread and wine (of the Eucharist) literally becomes

the body and blood of Jesus During this time it was believed that Jews stole the host in

order ldquoto assault it and thereby torture Christrdquo (80) The charge of desecration of the

Host was a hallucinatory fantasy (82) However the Jews did not believe in the Doctrine

of Transubstantiation which was affirmed at Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 (80) Only

Catholics believe this doctrine today Since the Jews did not believe in

transubstantiation they would in all likelihood not have attacked the host because they

10

couldnrsquot believe that they were actually attacking Christ in the process Desecration of

the Host was a wild belief and a total fantasy

In some cases the Talmud was burned because it was believed to be anti-

Christian Agobard Archbishop of Lyons believed that Jews stole Christian children

and sold them to Arabs (64) He also believed that Jews seduced Christian women All

sorts of wild beliefs developed about Jews many without factual basis It was all

conjecture and imagination In Germany ldquoa French monk Radulph went about preaching

that Jews were enemies of God and should be persecutedrdquo (65) As previously

mentioned the Jews were scapegoats they were blamed for everything During the

witch-hunting crazed days of the fifteenth century Jews were seen as being in cahoots

with witches and the devil (71) During this time it was believed that the Jews were born

misshapen hemorrhoidal and both sexes afflicted with menstruation In Trnava

Slovakia it was believed that Christian blood was an excellent means by which ldquoto cure

the wound produced by circumcisionrdquo (71)

For the duration of the Middle Ages ldquoChristians viewed Jews as sorcerers able to

cast spells against their enemiesrdquo (72) It was believed consequently that the Jews were

capable of working magic against Christians During the Black Death it was also

believed that Jews wanted to poison Christians In fact ldquoJews were accused of using

Christian blood for magical purposesrdquo (73) The little contact that these early Christians

had with Jews also led to their paranoia viewing the Jews as an alien mysterious and

strange people (74) Urban legends seemed to sprout up due to the lack of knowledge

Ignorance of Jews reigned

11

Jewish medicine too became suspect It was claimed that high rulers were killed

off through Jewish medicine During the Middle Ages the Vienna Faculty of Medicine

thought that ldquothe private code of Jewish doctors required them to murder one patient in

tenrdquo (77) Jews were eventually thought to possess attributes of the devil The Jews

ldquowere perceived as having horns tails and the beard of a goat and could be recognized

by their noxious smell the foetor judaiumlcusrdquo (79) Consequently the Jews were seen as

sub-human It was believed that Jews lacked morality anything went with them Jews

were so despised that they were exiled from countries At different times Spain France

and England expelled their Jewish populations In some instances they were invited

back

The charges against Jews were grotesque fantasies Tracts were written against

the Jews One such read of the Jews ldquolsquoDemons from hell race of the Jews detestable

men more accursed than Lucifer and more wicked than all the devils cruel tigers be

gone unworthy as you are to live among us when you thirst so for bloodrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 86)

Martin Luther at first favored the Jews writing a pamphlet That Christ was Born

a Jew However after he was unable to convert the Jews to his Protestant Reformed

Christian faith he became anti-Semitic So ldquoLuther stressed that they [the Jews] are the

most contemptible of all peoplesrdquo (90) Luther wrote ldquorsquomake no mistake that aside from

the Devil you have no enemy more venomous more desperate more bitter than a true

Jew who truly seeks to be a Jewrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90) Moreover ldquoMartin Luther

speculated that if the Jews could kill Christians they would gladly do sordquo (73)

12

Of the Jews Luther believed that ldquoThose who tolerate them [the Jews] will incur

great loss lsquoWhoever wishes to accept venomous serpents desperate enemies of the Lord

and to honour them to let himself be robbed pillaged corrupted and cursed by them

need only turn to the Jewsrsquordquo (90) Luther suggested of the Jews ldquoTheir synagogues

should be set on fire and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over

with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of itrdquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 90) Luther wrote ldquoTheir [Jewsrsquo] homes should likewise be broken down and

destroyed For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues

they should be deprived of their prayerbooks [sic] and Talmud in which idolatry lies

cursing and blasphemy are taught their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death

to teach any morerdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther also wrote ldquoPassport and travelling privileges should be absolutely

forbidden to the Jews They ought to be stopped from usury Let the young and

strong Jews and Jewesses be given the flail the axe the hoe the spade the distaff and

spindle and let them earn their bread by the sweat of their browrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok

90) Luther called the Jews an ldquoinsufferable devilish burdenrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther said that Jews were ldquochildren of the Devil condemned to the flames of hellrdquo (qtd

in Cohn-Sherbok 91) Luther believed that the Jews should be despised Luther even

thought that ldquothe Jews are worse than the devilsrdquo (91) Luther saw the Jews as

ldquoinstigators of social and economic corruptionrdquo (94) Luther thought that the Jews

wanted to ldquodestroy Christian civilizationrdquo (95)

13

Luther saw himself in a fight against Satan in the Jews Despite Lutherrsquos anti-

Semitism a good thing did emerge out of the Protestant Reformation Scripture was

translated into the common vernacular so that literate people could see what the Bible

said for themselves instead taking a priestrsquos or a popersquos word for it This led to literate

Christians seeing the Jews through the lens of Scripture instead of through anti-Jewish

sermons and hear-say from church leaders

In Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century the Jews were seen as favoring political

revolution and as having played a role in the revolutionary activities of the era (231)

This viewpoint started after the revolutions of 1848 (244) and it is not entirely off the

mark For example Karl Marx was a Jew Although not all Jews were revolutionaries

Nicholas Reynolds says that ldquoMore than a few Russian revolutionaries were Jewish one

reaction to the state-sanctioned anti-Semitism and the resulting pogroms that occurred

with frightening regularityrdquo (Writer Sailor Solider Spy 72) Capitalism also came to be

associated with the Jewsmdashparticularly its vices (Cohn-Sherbok 248) In the United

States the Jews were blamed for the Russian Revolution (231) There was fear of the

Jews or Judaeophobia A writer that Hemingway read was the anti-Semitic Fyodor

Dostoyevsky Perhaps this helped to influence Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

Dostoyevsky wrote ldquoLike a vast tightening net the power of assimilated Jewry stretches

over the whole world and no matter where we set foot we are caught in it We must

struggle to our last drop of blood against the insidious Judaization of Europe and

especially of Germanismrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 232)

14

In 1912 the Marconi Affair hit Great Britain Two leading Jewish politicians

Rufus Isaacs and Herbert Samuels were implicated in this corruption scandal

Eyewitness reported ldquoIsaacsrsquo brother is the president of the Marconi Company Isaacs

and Samuels have privately arranged to have the British people pay the Marconi

Company a considerable sum of money through the intermediary of Samuels and for

Isaacsrsquo benefitrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 236) In wake of the Marconi Affair one of

Hemingwayrsquos early favorite writers Rudyard Kipling ldquodedicated a hymn of hate to the

affairrdquo (236) Like the biblical greedy and crafty servant (of the prophet Elisha) Gehazi

who is punished with leprosy for his sins Kiplingrsquos poem ldquowas intended to illustrate the

cunning of these Jewish [Marconi] politiciansrdquo (236)

Once America made its foray into World War I ldquoJews were seen as participants

in international conspiracyrdquo (240) Americans thought that the Jews might be part of the

Russian Revolution In the literary world ldquoa number of writers commented on the evil

influence of Jewryrdquo (241) Hemingwayrsquos one-time-friend and literary mentor F Scott

Fitzgerald was one such example In fact Fitzgerald negatively portrayed New York

Jewish merchants in his novel The Beautiful and the Damned

Down in a tall busy street he read a dozen Jewish names on a line of stores In

the door of each stood a dark little man [Jew] watching the passersby with intent

eyes eyes gleaming with suspicion with pride with clarity with cupidity with

comprehension New Yorkmdashhe could not dissociate it now from the slow

upward creep of this people The little stores growing expanding consolidating

15

moving watched over with hawkrsquos eyes and a beersquos attention to detail (qtd in

Cohn-Sherbok 241)

This anti-Semitic view of Jews could have influenced Hemingway whether he read the

book or if Fitzgerald made his anti-Semitic views known to Hemingway The same

could be said of Ezra Pound Ezra Pound was a big anti-Semite and one of Hemingwayrsquos

friends It could be questioned if Ezra Pound influenced Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

In July of 1943 Pound was indicted for treason due to his anti-Semitic pro-Fascist radio

broadcasts from Italy (Dearborn 491) Poundrsquos radio broadcasts ldquowere shocking even

vilemdashhe recommended The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf he spoke of

the lsquo60 kikes who started this warrsquo and asserted lsquoThe Jew is a savagersquordquo (491) Later

due to Hemingwayrsquos suggestion Pound pleaded insanity and spent several years in an

Institution Hemingwayrsquos one-time friend Donald Ogden Stewart who was present for

the Pamplona bull fights in 1925 ldquotook the blame for having been the probable inspiration

for Bill Gortonrsquos [a character in The Sun Also Rises] anti-Semitic remarks and

exclamationsrdquo (Blume 123) Stewart wrote that ldquoI have no doubt that I was really

basically anti-Semitic in those days as probably also was Hemingwayrdquo (123) Lesley

Blume stresses that Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism ldquowas not a deep-rooted hatred like

the variety that gave rise to Nazismrdquo (123) Stewart referred to Hemingwayrsquos anti-

Semitism as ldquoa form of social snobbishness something that people simply took for

granted [during that time]rdquo (Blume 123) One would think that after the Holocaust

Hemingway would cease his anti-Semitic comments but he still continued In

16

Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century ldquoAmerican literature repeatedly described Jews in the

most unsavoury (sic) termsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 249)

The French also saw the Jews as having played a part in the Russian Revolution

(241) In France where Hemingway lived part of his literary life Alphonse Toussenel

wrote ldquoThe Jews King of the Epoch [in which] he blamed the Jews for the ills afflicting

societyrdquo (248) In France ldquoAccording to Edouard-Adolphe Drumont in La France Juive

the [French] Revolution had benefited only the Jewsrdquo (248) Edouard-Adolphe Drumont

caricatured the Jews as being hook-nosed possessing ldquohuge ears soft hands and arms of

unequal lengthrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 248) In France the Dreyfus Affair of the

nineteenth century had ratcheted up the prominence and appeal of French anti-Semitism

Yet the logical consequence of anti-Semitism took place years later during World War II

when Hitler instituted the Holocaust Of course Hemingway knew of this deadly result

of anti-Semitism but it is unknown how much it changed his view of Jews as later he

did show some more anti-Semitic behavior Perhaps old habits die hard

Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in His Novels

Unfortunately Hemingway was an anti-Semite To what degree is unknown

Some say that Hemingway was mildly or casually anti-Semitic (Hendrickson 32)

However in fits of anger Hemingway would hurl anti-Semitic slurs at those he knew to

be Jews Yet ironically ldquoHemingway knew admired and imitated Jewsrdquo like his friend

and literary mentor Gertrude Stein (Berman 39) Hemingway was also friends with

Harold Loeb a Jewish man (Dearborn 192) Hemingway and Loeb had played tennis

17

boxed and wrestled together In The Sun Also Rises the character of Robert Cohn is

based upon Harold Loeb Hemingway once had good things to say of Loeb On March

4 1925 Hemingway wrote to William B Smith of Loeb ldquoA hell of a good guy

Loeb is a male you can wrestle wit He aint been throwed since he learned in Princeton-

only weighs 150 about Heavy weights cant throw him Hersquos never wrestled pros or of

course hersquos have got throwed Still he aint been throwed I tried to throw him and he

throwed me in no timerdquo (sic throughout Hemingway in Katakis 28) In The Sun Also

Rises the Loeb Robert Cohn character is also Jake Barnesrsquo tennis partner (13) Despite

all his anti-Semitism later Hemingway married the half-Jewish reporter and writer

Martha Gellhorn as his third wife (Stoneback 136) Unfortunately it is exactly unknown

why Hemingway was anti-Semitic It would seem that the times in which he lived played

a role

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway has a stereo-typical Jewish character Robert

Cohn that he portrays as a proud rich weak self-pitying self-doubting awkward

sniveling whining misbehaving mannerless undesirable unremarkable and

dysfunctional killjoy who is an outsider and a drag on everyonersquos spirits Cohn is

supposed to represent all Jews (Berman 39) In fact Hemingway goes so far as to write

that Jews are inferior Hemingway writes of Cohn ldquoHe cared nothing for boxing in fact

he disliked it but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of

inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princetonrdquo (Sun 11) Loeb

had also gone to Princeton

18

Hemingway based almost the entire book of The Sun Also Rises on a real life

event that happened when Loeb Lady Duff Twysden and Pat Guthrie (Lady Duffrsquos

cousin and boyfriend) joined him Hemingwayrsquos first wife Hadley Richardson Don

Stewart and Bill Smith in Pamplona for the Festival of San Fermiacuten in July of 1925

(Dearborn 188) In the novel this group goes to Pamplona to have fun They join in the

Spanish Festival of San Fermiacuten where they drink excessively party and watch

professional bullfights All this time the Harold Loeb character Robert Cohn follows

his former lover Lady Brett Ashely around like a lap-dog and from the perspective of

the other festival-goers makes everyone else miserable

Hemingwayrsquos publication of this event into fiction hurt many of the real-life

players in the memorable drama The real Lady Brett Ashley Lady Duff Twysden later

referred to the book as nothing more than ldquocheap reportingrdquo (qtd in Blume 206) Former

Hemingway friend Donald Ogden Stewart felt the same way In his 1975 memoir By a

Stroke of Luck Stewart still refused to give The Sun Also Rises ldquothe artistic stature that

others accorded itrdquo (Blume 230) Stewartrsquos son recalls that his dad would say ldquoThatrsquos

exactly what happened it was like a photographrdquo (qtd in Blume 230) So for Stewart

the novel was just a retelling of events it is did not utilize artistic narrative originality

Just as Robert Cohn had had an affair with Lady Brett Ashley so Loeb had had an

intimate relationship with Lady Duff Twysden Scholars are unsure as to whether

Hemingway had any serious relationship with Lady Duff however he was jealous He

liked her In his reasoning he had met Lady Duff first (Dearborn 188) ldquoEven though

[Hemingway] had no plans to sleep with Duff himself that didnrsquot mean according to his

19

logic that she was fair game for Harold [Loeb]rdquo (188) Hemingway was protective of

Lady Duff and Hemingway saw Loeb as a snake (189) Perhaps Loebrsquos success with

Lady Duff finally pushed Hemingway against him

Mary V Dearborn notes that Hemingway was also jealous that Loebrsquos book

Doodab was coming out before his ownmdashLoebrsquos in May Hemingwayrsquos in October

(191) Hemingway was very competitive in his writing career In fact before

Hemingway made it as a fiction writer Harold Loeb had gone so far as to help

Hemingway get his first book of short stories In Our Time published (204) It is noted

that ldquoHarold [Loeb] rescued In Our Time from the returns pile at [Boni amp] Liveright [the

publishing company] he fought for the book and he was instrumental in getting it

publishedrdquo (192) Loeb had pleaded with Boni amp Liveright ldquoHold it Give it [In Our

Time] another reading I know what Irsquom talking aboutrdquo (Hawkins 39) In fact if it

were not for the persistence of his well-connected friends Hemingway may have quite

possibly never been published at all since his manuscripts had been repeatedly rejected

Unfortunately Hemingway did not like to give credit to others for helping him to rise in

his profession He wanted to take all the credit and the glory for himself He wanted to

be self-sufficient In addition having not gone to college Hemingway was leery of

college-educated men He felt inferior to them and he would try to compete with them in

order to make himself look and feel better Since Harold Loeb was a Princeton graduate

Hemingway was possibly disdainful of this and in all likelihood held it against Loeb

In trying to get In Our Time published Loeb took Hemingway to former Boni amp

Liveright vice president Leon Fleischmanrsquos Paris apartment (Blume 71) Previously

20

ldquoKitty Cannell [the Frances character in Sun] heard him [Hemingway] unthinkably use

lsquokikersquo with such casualness and scorn that she warned her Jewish lover Harold Loeb to

be careful with Hemingwayrdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 242) Kitty Cannell worried

that Hemingway ldquomight create a terrible scene in front of Fleischman and his wife

Helen She said as much to Loeb He brushed her offrdquo (Blume 71) After this meeting

with Fleischman Harold Loeb heard Hemingway malign Jews in his speech

Hemingway had a way of maligning making fun of and satirizing his friends and his

perceived enemies In the process he lost many friends and unnecessarily caused the

creation of many enemies In fact the release of The Sun Also Rises shocked Loeb as he

had thought that he and Hemingway were good friends (Dearborn 191-92)

Hemingway also turned on his former Jewish mentor Gertrude Stein

Hemingway got mad at Stein when she would not write a review for his new book In

Our Time Stein wanted to wait and see if Hemingway was going to be a success first

On November 8 1925 Hemingway commented to Ezra Pound of Stein ldquoWhat a lot of

safe playing kikesrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 38) Later in life after they broke with each

other Hemingway and Stein would arguemdashthrough writingmdashand trade barbs with one

another Hemingway would mock Stein In his article for Esquire in the April 1934

issue ldquoAD in Africa A Tanganyika Letterrdquo Hemingway wonders ldquohow much Buddha

at that age would resemble Gertrude Steinrdquo (Hemingway in White 159)

Hemingway was also against the troubled literary critic Dorothy Parker

(Dearborn 247) The half-Jewess Dorothy Parker was tough in her literary criticism yet

she gave Hemingway great reviews She adored Hemingway but Hemingway didnrsquot

21

return the feelings (Blume 155) Parker and Hemingway had met in New York In

Hemingway Parker thought that she had found a kindred spirit (156) During

Hemingwayrsquos New York visit Parker ldquobecame so engrossed in his tales of the Left Bank

that she shunted aside her skepticism and decided on the spot to move abroadrdquo (156)

Parker became for Hemingway a strong ally among literary critics Blume notes of

Parker ldquoIn years to come she would also pen several adoring Hemingway profiles and

book reviewsrdquo (156) Hemingway and Parker became so familiar that eventually

Hemingway started calling Parker ldquoDottyrdquo (156) Parker was so taken with Hemingway

that her ldquodevotion to him bordered on idolatryrdquo (158) But Parkerrsquos love for Hemingway

was a useful tool in Hemingwayrsquos arsenal

Unfortunately Parker was probably not stable She had tried to kill herself twice

within three years She confided in Hemingway ldquoabout a late-stage abortion she had

recently undergone about attempting suicide and about some other recent bad luck in

her liferdquo (qtd in Dearborn 247) During their conversation Hemingway discovered that

Parker did not like Spain For Parker ldquoPretty much everything about the countrymdashfrom

its treatment of animals to the rump-pinching habits of Spanish menmdashhad appalled herrdquo

(Blume 193) Moreover ldquoIn Barcelona she had walked out of a bullfight after a bull

gored a horse and declared that she found matadors disgustingrdquo (193) Back in Paris with

Hemingway ldquoParker had imparted these impressions to Hemingway for whom such

views amounted to sacrilegerdquo (193) Hemingway was offended by this and like other

things Hemingway took this personally to heart as he was an ardent Hispanophile loving

the Spanish country its people the slow pace of life and its culture (Dearborn 247)

22

Finally Hemingway ldquohad little sympathy for the self-inflicted wounds of a caustic and

comparatively pampered urbaniterdquo (Blume 194)

Later ldquoErnest wrote a long cruel poem about Parker not published until both

were dead called lsquoTo a Tragic Poetessrsquo revealing the personal details she had evidently

related during their most recent meetingrdquo (Dearborn 247-48) In the poem Hemingway

ldquoreferred to the dead fetus noted that she had all too conveniently failed in her suicide

attempts and mocked her failures with men He was pointedly mean about her being

Jewish referring to lsquothe Jewish cheeks of your plump assrsquordquo (248) The second half of

Hemingwayrsquos poem ldquoconsists of insults piled on Parker and others who out of ignorance

about it do not appreciate Spain (inevitably bullfighting comes up)rdquo (248) Pauline

Pfeiffer didnrsquot like this poem and referred to it as ldquoabout twelve tents [tenths] out of water

mayberdquo (Hawkins 59) Pauline thought the poem shrill In 1926 at the home of Archie

and Ada McLeish Ernest read this poem ldquoTo a Tragic Poetessrdquo to the assembled

gathering to try to get some laughs (Dearborn 248) No laughs came Donald Ogden

Stewart called the poem ldquoviciously unfair and unfunnyrdquo (qtd in Blume 194) Because of

the reading of the poem the Stewarts kept their distance from Hemingway from there on

out and Don Stewart was never close to Hemingway again (Dearborn 248) Ironically

since the poem was never published until after Parkerrsquos death ldquoParker never learned

about the existence of the poem [and] unaware of its existence she continued to write

wildly enthusiastic reviews of Hemingwayrsquos work in The New Yorker and called him one

of her favorite writersrdquo (Blume 194) Parker also called Hemingway ldquothe greatest living

American short story writerrdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 164)

23

There is also other evidence of Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism In his early years at

Lake Walloon the Point where the young people always liked to fish was sold ldquoto two

Jews who wanted to build a club houserdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 114) Bill

Smith later recalled that he and Ernest had planned to throw rotten fish down the Jewsrsquo

chimney at the lake (M Reynolds Paris Years 252) In the mid-1920s Hemingway

wrote Ezra Pound calling the aspiring poet Dave OrsquoNeil a ldquorsquoCelto-Kikersquordquo (Dearborn

134) Hemingway also wrote of his friend Nathan Asch ldquoYou couldnrsquot tell [of Asch

being a talented writer] Jews go bad quicklyrdquo (163) Later in Key West Hemingway

referred to the town as a ldquoJew administered phony of a townrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 154)

At the time that Hemingway wrote this Key West was for all intents and purposes

bankrupt ldquounable to collect enough taxes to pay its billsrdquo (N Reynolds 7) Under the

New Deal the town of Key West had ldquopetitioned the governor to take over the cityrdquo

(Hendrickson 154) As such ldquoThe Florida branch of Franklin Delano Rooseveltrsquos

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) stepped in and took overrdquo (N

Reynolds 7) Plus under the New Deal the plan was to turn Key West into a tourist

destination making Hemingwayrsquos home on Whitehead Street one of the attractions (8)

This would interfere with Hemingwayrsquos deeply coveted privacy (8) Moreover

Hemingway was disillusioned with the government after some World War I veterans

were killed during a hurricane that hit some of the Florida Keys

Later In Cuba in May 1955 The Old Man and the Sea film version of the novel

was to be filmed Hemingwayrsquos Jewish friend Peter Viertel who was writing the

screenplay joked with Hemingway in order to try to break up the tension between Ernest

24

and the film producer kidding ldquoabout Santiago going out on the eighty-fifth day and not

catching a fishrdquo (Dearborn 573) This made Hemingway mad Narrowing his eyes and

gritting his teeth he said ldquoThe Jews have always had a superior attitude toward fishingmdash

probably because fish has never been part of their dietrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573) This

Jewish comment in turn made Viertel mad and he said that ldquohe thought Ernest had

gotten beyond his anti-Semitism with The Sun Also Risesrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573)

Hemingway felt contrite that he had lashed out against his friend Viertel and he

ldquoassured Peter he had never been anti-Semitic and matters were smoothed overrdquo (573-

74)

Some Jews have the last name Stein Especially in his youth Hemingway like to

refer to himself as Hemingstein or Stein According to Dearborn Hemingway was

referring to a stein of beer in this case (39) Other nicknames he used were Hymenstein

or the Great Steinway (Hendrickson 266) Catherine Reef thinks that these nicknames

sound Jewish She writes

The last one [nickname] amused him [Ernest] most because it sounded like a

Jewish name Like many young people in narrow-minded Oak Park Ernest grew

up thinking it was all right to make fun of people of different faiths and

backgrounds and he never fully let go of this attitude As an adult he

occasionally called himself Hemingstein or just Stein and although he had

Jewish friends he sometimes mocked them behind their backs (14)

25

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway refers to himself as the great psychiatrist Dr

Hemingstein (53) In real life Hemingwayrsquos son Gregory ldquoGigirdquo for short was known

as the Irish Jew (Hendrickson 245)

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway gives Cohn boxing as his only strength

ldquoThere was a certain inner comfort in knowing he could knock down anybody who was

snooty to himrdquo (11) Because of boxing Hemingway goes so far as to portray Cohn with

the stereotypical Jewish nose In the novel Cohn gets his nose broken during a boxing

bout The narrator Jake Barnes says of Cohnrsquos reworked nose ldquoit certainly improved

his noserdquo (11) Ironically Hemingway threatened a similar situation later in his life In

Spain at the Hotel Florida after a serious shelling during the Spanish Civil War some of

the guests including the movie producer Herb Klein wanted to switch their rooms to the

safer rooms in the back of the hotel At this point in his life Hemingway would hold

people to a higher standard of bravery than his own (Dearborn 387) So Hemingway

intimidated and bullied those Hotel Florida guests into keeping their rooms in lieu of

switching them saying they ldquowould be running away from the enemy capitulating to the

Fascistsrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 387) However in fact Hemingway had his own room in one

of the safer back parts of the hotel Then ldquoaccording to one observer he rode up with

[Herb] Klein in the elevator called him a coward and lsquojostledrsquo him saying lsquoIrsquod like to

flatten your big Jewish nosersquordquo (388)

In The Sun Also Rises nobody wants to be around Cohn He is trying to be an all-

round guy and a Protestant gentleman (Berman 44) However Ron Berman refers to him

as a fake gentleman Melvin Backman argues that Cohn lacks any real identity (4)

26

Although Cohn tries to assimilate and be chivalrous nobody accepts his behavior as

authentic Hemingway portrays Cohn as still ldquotoo different to acceptrdquo (38) Cohn is also

a show-off and he likes to brag For example in winning a ldquoseveral hundred dollarsrdquo in

bridge ldquoIt made him rather vain of his bridge game and he talked several times of how a

man could always make a living at bridge if he were ever forced tordquo (17) In another

instance Cohn likes to brag about his relationship with Brett ldquoHe was being confidential

now and it was giving him pleasure to be able to talk with the understanding that I knew

there was something between him and Brettrdquo (106) Moreover Cohnrsquos believed and

perceived superiority is offensive to Jakersquos friend Bill Gorton One time Bill Gorton

says of the approaching Cohn ldquoWell let him not get superior and Jewishrdquo (Sun 102)

This perceived superiority makes Jake extremely dislike Cohn

Why I felt that impulse to devil him I do not know Of course I do know I was

blind unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to him The fact that I took it

as a matter of course did not alter that any I certainly did hate him I do not

think I ever really hated him until he had that little spell of superiority at lunchmdash

that and when he went through all that barbering (105)

According to Dearborn the character of Bill Gorton is a combination of Bill

Smith and Don Ogden Stewart In the novel Bill really doesnrsquot like Jews Bill says of

his Jewish friends adding of Cohn ldquoOh yes Irsquove got some darbs But not alongside of

this Robert Cohn But hersquos just so awfulrdquo (107) Bill is blatantly anti-Semitic He

asks Jake of Brett and Cohn ldquoWhy didnrsquot she go off with some of her own peoplerdquo

(107) Mike adds to this criticism later when he comments ldquoBrettrsquos gone off with men

27

But they werenrsquot ever Jews and they didnrsquot come and hang around afterwardrdquo (148) Bill

Gorton makes a number of anti-Semitic slurs Before their fishing trip Bill says to Jake

ldquoAnd as for this Robert Cohn he makes me sick and he can go to hell and Irsquom damn

glad hersquos staying here so we wonrsquot have him fishing with usrdquo to which Jake agrees (108)

In another case Hemingway likens Cohn to an animal a steer Cohn likes to tag-

along with Brett (141) After a bull fight Cohn says ldquoItrsquos no life being a steerrdquo (145)

Mike sarcastically replies ldquoDonrsquot you think so I would have thought yoursquod loved

being a steer Robertrdquo (146) Being likened to a steer makes Cohn mad Mike partially

drunk says ldquoIs Robert Cohn going to follow Brett around like a steer all the timerdquo

(146) These demeaning remarks imply that Jews are sub-human

At one point Mike intimates that Cohnrsquos Jewishness disqualifies him from being

a part of the group ldquoDo you think you amount to something Cohn Do you think you

belong here among usrdquo (181) Mike says to Cohn ldquoIrsquom not one of your literary chaps

Irsquom not clever But I do know when Irsquom not wanted Why donrsquot you see when

yoursquore not wanted Cohn Go away Go away for Godrsquos sake Take that sad Jewish

face away Donrsquot you think Irsquom rightrdquo (181) In another instance when Cohn tells Brett

that he will stay with her Brett replies ldquoOh donrsquot For Godrsquos sake go off

somewhererdquo (184) Cohn is portrayed as leech-like a clinger similar to Jews accused of

usury bleeding people dry With the eternal theme of Jewish suffering Brett says of

Cohn ldquoI hate him too I hate his damned sufferingrdquo (186)

In his short story ldquoGod Rest You Merry Gentlemenrdquo published in 1933

Hemingway takes a less anti-Semitic approach to Jews In this story there are two

28

doctors Dr Wilcox and Dr Fischer Dr Wilcox is Christian while Dr Fischer is Jewish

A sixteen-year-old boy comes into the hospital and says that he wants to be castrated

because he is struggling with lust The boy is religious and to him lust is a problem Dr

Fischer is compassionate with the boy and genuinely seems interested in his predicament

Dr Fischer converses with the boy and finally tells him ldquoTherersquos nothing wrong with

you Thatrsquos the way yoursquore supposed to be Therersquos nothing wrong with thatrdquo (Short

Stories 299) The boy still sees himself as sinning Dr Fischer tells the boy that what he

is going through is natural and that later he will think himself fortunate (300) The boy

is adamant that he is wrong He doesnrsquot want to listen to Dr Fischerrsquos explanations

Logically Dr Fischer explains to the boy that there is nothing wrong with his body that

he has a good body and that if he is religious then in the future his body can help him

consummate the sacrament of matrimony (300)

Dr Wilcox takes a different approach He calls the boy a fool (300) Then the

boy leaves when he finds out that nobody will castrate him Dr Wilcox rudely says to

the boy ldquoOh go andmdashrdquo (300) Horst Kruse interprets the absence as meaning ldquojack-

offrdquo (62) The boy leaves and later he does try to castrate himself amputating himself

in the process When the boy returns to the hospital with life-threatening injuries Dr

Wilcox ironically isnrsquot in a hurry to try to save the boy as he doesnrsquot see the condition as

an emergency In the story it is Dr Fischer who has shown mercy on the boy not Dr

Wilcox Kruse sees Doc Fischer as the moral center of the story and suggests that

Hemingwayrsquos portrayal of Dr Fischerrsquos knowledgeable insight and humanity might be an

attempt to try to ldquoatone for his former anti-Semitismrdquo (72) Kruse argues that Dr Fischer

29

might even be seen as a Christ-figure a fisher of men (65) Other scholars speculate that

this story might have been an attempt for Hemingway to apologize for the way he treated

Harold Loebrsquos alter-ego Robert Cohn (Kruse 73) But this interpretation is problematic

AE Hotchner once asked Hemingway if he had remorse about the way he had portrayed

Loeb and the others in The Sun Also Rises (Blume 237) Hotchner asked Hemingway

ldquoso if you had it to do over would you have been softerrdquo (237) Hemingway replied to

Hotchner ldquoOh hell nordquo (237) Despite this possible attempt at atonement Hemingway

continued to make anti-Semitic statements after this story first came out

30

CHAPTER 3

HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY

Ernest Hemingway was a born on July 21 1899 in Oak Park Illinois then a

Protestant conservative bastion There in his earliest years Hemingwayrsquos maternal

grandfather Ernest Hall led his family and their servants after breakfast on their knees

in morning prayer (Dearborn 11 Hemingway-Sanford 14) Unlike the others

Grandfather Hall did not pray with his eyes closed nor his head bowed (Pawley 22)

Instead he prayed with his head upraised and ldquowith his arms stretched upward as if

locked in a face-to-face with Godrdquo (Dearborn 11) He also prayed in a thundering voice

(Pawley 22) Ernestrsquos older sister Marcelline Hemingway-Sanford noted that she liked

to peak out at Grandfather Hall through her fingers ldquobecause he seemed so surely to be

talking right to his friend Godrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 15) Marcelline suggested that

Grandfather Hall knew God intimately (14) In addition Grandfather Hall led daily

devotions for the household with the book Daily Strength for Daily Needs (Isabelle 2

Hemingway-Sanford 14) Even the cook and the maid were present at these family

gatherings Grandfather Hall also led grace at the table (Isabelle 2) and he would lead

the family in worship (Hemingway-Sanford 15) He was Episcopalian and he liked to be

referred to in the biblical term ldquoAbbardquo which refers to God as in ldquoAbba fatherrdquo (Isabelle

2 Mark 1436) Marcelline referred to Grandfather Hall as being a very religious man

(Hemingway-Sanford 14) Every Sunday he would go to Grace Episcopal Church

where kneeling on the Brussels carpet he would lead the church in evening prayer

31

(Pawley 21) He once said of his grandson Ernest to his mother Grace ldquothis boy is

going to be heard from someday If he uses his imagination for good purposes hersquoll be

famous but if he starts the wrong way with all his energy hersquoll end in jail and its up to

you which way he goesrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 12)

Ernestrsquos paternal grandfather Anson Hemingway converted to Christianity in

1859 (Dearborn 13) Anson was a descendent of Ralph Hemingway ldquowho came to

America with the Great Migration and through him from a line of Puritan and

Congregationalist ministersrdquo (12) Anson Hemingway was friends with the great

evangelist DL Moody and he closely worked with him (for a while) as the general

secretary at the Chicago YMCA (Dearborn 13 Hemingway-Sanford 18) Ernest idolized

his grandfather Hemingway (Pawley 21) Ernestrsquos mother whom Ernest came to hate

once wrote Ernest ldquoNot for nothing are you the great great grandson of that noble

Christian Rev William Edward Miller and the grandson of the finest purest noblest man

I have ever known Ernest Hallrdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 103-04) In fact

Ernest Miller Hemingway was named after his grandfather and the Miller line of Gracersquos

family Grace wrote to Ernest ldquoYou are born of a race of gentlemen who were clean

mouthed chivalrous to all women grateful and generous You were named for the two

finest and noblest gentleman I have ever known See to it that you do not disgrace their

memoriesrdquo (qtd in M Reynolds Young Hemingway 138) Ernestrsquos family were such

churchgoers that they had their own pews at the First Congregational Church

(Hemingway-Sanford 147)

32

On the flip side Ernestrsquos father was rigid (Pawley 23) In disciplining his

children Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often forced his ldquochildren on their knees to pray

to God for forgivenessrdquo (Isabelle 4) Sometimes Ernest mockingly referred to his father

as ldquothe Great Physicianrdquo a title that Jesus also holds as a healer of people (Hemingway-

Sanford 127) According to a Hemingway biographer (no name given)

Sin scared the life out of Ernest At night he prayed that he had been a good boy

during the day The trouble was a boy could never be sure if he had been good

he might have done something bad and not known it was bad It was so hard to

obey every rule so hard to please his mother his father his teachers his minister

his God so hard that sometimes it wasnrsquot worth trying and a boy felt like giving

up (qtd in Pawley 23)

Ernest grew up then with a great spiritual legacy and upbringing that he found at times

challenging and problematic

On Easter in 1911 at the Third Congregational Church Ernest and his sister

Marcelline were confirmed and they received their First Communionrdquo (Dearborn 33) It

was at this church that Ernestrsquos mother was the choir director she even had Ernestmdasha

sopranomdashand Marcelline sing in the choir (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 108 L

Hemingway 28) In his youth Ernest Hemingway and Marcelline joined a contest put on

by the adult advisor of the Christian Endeavor Society Mr Sweeney to see who could

read the entire King James Bible first (Dearborn 37 Hemingway-Sanford 135) It was

Mr Sweeneyrsquos idea and he offered a prize (Hemingway-Sanford 135) Although Ernest

did not win he and Marcelline did complete the reading of the whole Bible (Dearborn

33

37) In addition Ernest and Marcelline passed a comprehensive test on what they had

read (Pawley 24) Additionally as a youth Ernest was given ldquoan allowance of one penny

per year of age each weekrdquo out of which he gave a tithe to the Sunday school (24) At

the age of fourteen Ernest starred in a Sunday school play at the Third Congregational

Church (24) After his parents transferred their membership to the First Congregational

Church Hemingway and Marcelline joined the Plymouth League where Ernest often led

Sunday afternoon services (Dearborn 33 Isabelle 7-8 Pawley 24 Hemingway-Sanford

147) Marcelline notes that ldquothe refreshments served after the meetings were quite an

attraction for the high school membersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 147) For the Plymouth

League Ernest took turns at being the treasurer the program chairman and sometimes

the speaker at the meetings At church Ernest and Marcelline also played in the church

orchestra Once Ernest and his four brothers and sisters dressed as Chinese and Japanese

citizens in order to phonetically sing the Japanese national anthem (147-48) Yet when

Hemingway went to Italy for World War I he saw and experienced the horrors of war

Perhaps because of this and through his teenage years Hemingway went astray from

his religious upbringing While in Italy Ernest met and fell in love with a nurse Agnes

von Kurowsky He loved her and wanted to start a new life with her in America

Hemingway wrote to William D Horne Jr about this on March 30 1919 ldquoBut Bill Irsquove

loved Ag Shersquos been my ideal and Bill I forgot all about religion and everything else-

because I had Ag to worship All I wanted was Ag and happinessrdquo (Hemingway in

Katakis XXV) This letter shows Hemingway distancing himself from religion in Italy

and replacing it with the woman he loved This is similar to how Catherine Barkley

34

made her lover Frederic Henry her religion in A Farewell to Arms (452) Unfortunately

for his parents Hemingway became a prodigal son and he never returned to the faith of

his youth (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 139)

Despite having turned away from his faith Hemingway could never entirely get

away from his upbringing and Oak Park mores For instance in his first marriage to

Hadley Richardson Hemingway was sometimes shocked by Hadleyrsquos language In fact

despite the fact that Hemingway used those very same words he didnrsquot think it proper for

a woman to use them (163) Hemingway still prayed ldquowhen he was courting Hadley

[he] asked her if she would pray with him in the Milan cathedral as Agnes would notrdquo

(Stoneback 110-11) Hadley responded that she would ldquoI am doing the best thing a

woman can do for a man Bringing you back to religionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 125-26)

Stoneback asserts that there is abundant evidence that Hemingway ldquoliked to pray in

Catholic churches and cathedrals years before he met Paulinerdquo (113)

Before going to World War I Hemingway worked for the Kansas City Star

While there Hemingwayrsquos mother learned that Ernest ldquohad stopped going to churchrdquo and

she sent off an angry letter to him (Reef 24) In one of his letters to his mother

Hemingway wrote ldquoYou know I donrsquot rave about religion but am as sincere a Christian

as I can be I believe in God and Jesus Christ have hopes for a hereafter and creeds

donrsquot matterrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) In addition prior to going to the Great War Ernestrsquos

father encouraged Ernest to associate with strong Christian YMCA men (M Reynolds

Young Hemingway 128) In his letters to Ernest Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often

sounded like a minister (171)

35

Upon his return to Oak Park after the war Hemingway wore his war uniform

around for four months and gave talks of his war experience Marcelline Hemingway

says that this was because Ernestrsquos long boots helped support his injured and weakened

legs Yet Hemingway lied and embellished his wartime experience This behavior is

just like that of Harold Krebs in Hemingwayrsquos short story ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

would lie and attribute ldquoto himself things other men had seen done or heard of and

stating as facts certain apocryphal incidents familiar to all soldiersrdquo (Short Stories 111-

12) In an essay in Ernest Hemingway Artifacts from Life Tom Putnam surmises that

Krebs in embellishing his war record to impress those around him ldquogrows more

disillusionedmdashfinding himself becoming a fraudrdquo (Putnam 184) Hemingway may have

disillusioned himself with his lies too In one instance Hemingway once gave a version

of his fictitious war stories in a talk to an audience at the First Baptist Church (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 56) So Hemingway lied in front of a church Proverbs

1222 reads ldquoLying lips are an abomination to the Lord but those who act faithfully are

his delightrdquo (English Standard Version)

Back in Oak Park Hemingway turned to alcohol for his comfort He stayed in

bed day after day and hid the liquor from his parents (Pawley 25) Staying in bed

helped his aching legs But he didnrsquot stay in bed more than half the day (Hemingway-

Sanford 178) According to Marcelline there were also times when Ernest had ldquoalmost

depressed intervals when he retired to his room away from the well-wishers and curiosity

seekersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 183) Hemingway used the alcohol to cope with the pain

of his war wounds (Pawley 25) One day Marcelline was upset about something and

36

when she came to Ernestrsquos room he noticed this and asked her what was wrong

(Hemingway-Sanford 183) Then he offered her a drink She tasted it Then he said to

her

Donrsquot be afraid Drink it up Sis it canrsquot hurt you Therersquos great comfort in

that little bottle not just for itself But it relaxes you when the pain gets bad

Mazaween donrsquot be afraid to taste all the other things in life that arenrsquot here in

Oak Park Taste everything Sis Donrsquot be afraid to try new things just

because they are new (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 184)

Ernest later wrote of an experience of drinking ldquoand the rhum (sic) enters into us like the

Holy Spiritrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 17) God was not Hemingwayrsquos comfort alcohol

was After that night Marcelline wondered to herself whether Ernest would ever be

happy again at home (Hemingway-Sanford 184) She noted a difference in him upon his

return to Oak Park Marcelline writes ldquoBut Ernest wasnrsquot the same old friend and

playmate I had knownrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178) adding that ldquoa lifetime of new

experiences war death agony new people a new language and love had crowded into

Ernestrsquos liferdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178)

After recovering from his wounds Ernest still didnrsquot get a job or show any

interest in college He had no plans at all Instead he went to Michigan to enjoy life with

his friends (Hemingway-Sanford 198) In Michigan according to Marcelline ldquoThough

Mother implored Ernestrsquos help and tried to talk to him about the family situation he

blithely ignored her appeals and managed to leave immediately after meals with his

friends or go fishing when something needed to be done he promised vaguely to help

37

lsquosome other timerdquo (205) His parents were very worried about his ldquolack of adult

responsibilityrdquo and ldquohis rudeness and his willingness to let both Mrs Charles Bill

Smithrsquos aunt and our family go on providing for him [led Mother to decide that]

something drastic had to be done to wake him uprdquo (205) Leicester Hemingway says that

ldquoOur parents had harbored definite hopes that this fling at soldiering had taught him

[Ernest] a lesson that now he would suddenly show a keen interest in some lsquosensiblersquo

way of liferdquo (L Hemingway 56)

The entire situation is similar to that of Harold Krebs in ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

returns from World War I with his Methodist faith shattered (Pawley 25) Krebs is

unemployed but his mother encourages him ldquorsquoGod has some work for everyone to do

There can be no idle hands in His Kingdomrsquordquo (Short Stories 115) Krebsrsquo mother adds

his fatherrsquos opinion ldquoAll work is honorable as he says But yoursquove got to make a start at

somethingrdquo (115) When Krebsrsquo mother asks Harold if he would kneel and pray with her

Krebs says that he canrsquot Krebsrsquo mother encourages him to try then she asks him if he

wants her to pray for him Krebs consents (116)

Of Ernestrsquos free-loading loafing time Leicester Hemingway writes ldquoAbout the

only thing I really understood of that first summer after the war was that Ernest was in an

agitated state and being around the family did not calm him at allrdquo (59) In the end

Ernestrsquos mother wrote Ernest a letter in which she said that Ernest had overdrawn his

account with her and that he was not welcome back at the family vacation home of

Windemere in Michigan (Dearborn 90) This action got Ernest out of the house looking

for a job on his own It also added to his resentment towards his mother In ldquoSoldierrsquos

38

Homerdquo Krebs tells his mother that he doesnrsquot love her Putnam suggests that Krebs has

forgotten how to love (Putnam 184) In Ernestrsquos case it is quite possible that he didnrsquot

love his mother It is known for sure that he didnrsquot like his mother When married to his

fourth wife Mary Welsh Ernest would sometimes rant about his mother blaming her for

making life hell for his father contributing to his fatherrsquos suicide and referring to his

mother as ldquothat bitchrdquo (qtd in Di Robilant 55) Perhaps his motherrsquos ultimatum pushed

him further away from his Protestant upbringing Although Hemingway didnrsquot like his

mother Hawkins argues that he inherited his volatile temper from her as she held grudges

against people Hawkins writes of Grace Hemingway ldquoGrace had a tendency to store up

injustices done to her so that on occasion even the smallest thing triggered a litany of

perceived wrongsrdquo (34) In addition to his motherrsquos ultimatum Ernestrsquos parents didnrsquot

seem to accept writing as a viable career for Ernest (M Reynolds My Brother 63) No

matter like Harold Krebs Hemingway did abandon his childhood faith after World War

I

Hemingway became interested in Catholicism during his service in Italy during

World War I There he served in the Red Cross Ambulance Corps of Unit 4 as driver for

the Italian Army (Hemingway-Sanford 157) After a few days in Italy Ernest and Bill

Horne found the place dull So hearing of the chance to volunteer ldquofor a special branch

the Red Cross Rolling Canteen Servicerdquo they applied and were accepted (160) This

Service operated all the way up to front linesmdashwhich was right where Hemingway

wanted to be in the midst of the action He ldquohad volunteered to be one of the bicycle

riders who distributed mail chocolate and tobacco to the soldiers in the trenches at the

39

frontrdquo (160) At that time the attack on the Piave River had started and the Austrians

were shelling around only fifty yards away on the other side of the river There making

his rounds in Fossalta Hemingway was wounded by an Austrian Trench Mortar as he

handed an Italian soldier a cigarette and chocolate (161) People thought that

Hemingway was going to die During this time Hemingway later claimed that he was

baptized by a priest ldquoAt Fornaci Ernest and the other wounded soldiers were

administered extreme unction by a chaplain with the Italian army Don Giuseppe

Bianchirdquo (Dearborn 59-60)

Michael Reynolds claims that the priestrsquos absolution of sins and anointment of oil

was an epiphanic moment for Hemingway (M Reynolds The Paris Years 346)

However it is unknown if Hemingway was really absolved of his sins by a Catholic

priest HR Stoneback notes that battlefield baptism and extreme unction did not

produce a ldquoformal process of reconciliation or conversionrdquo (109) On March 10 1927

Hemingway divorced Hadley Richardson to marry his new flame the Catholic Pauline

Pfeiffer This divorce devastated Hemingwayrsquos parents In fact Leicester Hemingway

overheard his dad say of Ernestrsquos divorce ldquoNo Itrsquos the disgrace Id rather see him in his

graverdquo (L Hemingway 103) Leicester Hemingway recalls that one morning while

digging for worms with Dr Hemingway the doctor says ldquoYou know of course that

your brother has brought great shame on our family by divorcing Hadley dont yourdquo

(103) Dr Hemingway laments the fact that there hadnrsquot been a divorce in the

Hemingway family for seventy years While in the process of trying to marry Pauline

Ernest returned to Italy searching for this priest Don Giuseppe Bianchi in order to

40

ascertain if this priest had actually performed an emergency baptism on him thus making

him Catholic (Dearborn 236) According to Hawkins Ernest found and visited with

Bianchi (71) Hawkins notes that as a rule priests during the First World War did not

ldquohand out baptismal certificates as they moved through hospital wards to anoint the

woundedrdquo (71) Despite the fact that there is ldquono evidence that Ernest returned with a

baptismal certificaterdquo he did swear to it (236) With this baptism he was allowed to

marry Pauline (M Reynolds American Homecoming 121) According to some scholars

death-bed baptism led Hemingway to become interested in Catholicism In addition

some scholars go so far as to say that this event marks the point when Hemingway started

to be Catholic Perhaps Ernestrsquos near-death experience infused a seed of Catholicism in

his heart

Michael Reynolds notes that ldquowhen an eighteen-year-old kid thinks hes dying a

Catholic priest can make a lasting impressionrdquo (The Paris Years 346) Reynolds claims

that long before Pauline the ceremony the ritual and the mystery of the Catholic Church

were a strong attraction to Hemingway Even if Pauline had not entered his life

Hemingway would have eventually turned Catholic Pauline simply accelerated this

process Later some found Hemingwayrsquos Catholic conversion to be suspect specious

and very convenient (345-46) Yet ldquonone of these doubters seriously thought of

Hemingway as a Protestant and he himself never looked back on his Congregational

training which he associated with Oak Park hypocrisy his fatherrsquos unbearable piety and

his motherrsquos church politics of who would rule the choir loftrdquo (346)

41

Hemingwayrsquos second wife Pauline Pfeiffer converted him to Catholicism In

fact Pfeiffer was such a serious Catholic that she caused Hemingway ldquo to take seriously

doctrine especially of sin and observance especially of prayerrdquo (Berman 33) Before

their marriage Pfeiffer had misgivings about marrying a married man and cutting him off

from his wife and child (Dearborn 229) For Pauline ldquoTo do so would be not only to

invite the damnation of her soul but also the unforgiving wrath of her Catholic parentsrdquo

(M Reynolds The Paris Years 318) If Pauline committed adultery she believed that

she would have been ldquosinning so mortally their souls were in jeopardyrdquo (318) Reynolds

wryly observes that ldquo[o]ne could not remain a devout Catholic and an ardent adulteressrdquo

(318)

For his part Ernest considered ldquoconverting to Catholicism in order to marry

Pauline in the Churchrdquo (Dearborn 221) Dearborn adds ldquoNo doubt Pauline was

researching the Churchrsquos requirements for marriage to a divorced manrdquo (221) In order to

marry Pauline Hemingway had to provide proof that his first marriage to Hadley was

outside the Church and so unofficial null and void (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 114) So since Hemingway ldquotestified that he had been baptized during the

war in Italy and that his first marriage was outside the Church [he] received on April

25 the necessary dispensation from the Archbishop of Paris which removed the last

obstacle to the ceremonyrdquo (121) Yet Hemingwayrsquos friend Ada MacLeish did not

attend Ernestrsquos and Paulinersquos wedding because she was disgusted by the Catholic

Churchrsquos solemnization of the new couplersquos bond and thought it a farce (Dearborn 237)

Ada

42

was completely disgusted with Ernestrsquos efforts to persuade the Catholic Church

that he had been baptized by a priest who walked between aisles of wounded men

in an Italian hospitalmdashtherefore Ernest was a Catholic and Hadley never had been

his wife and Bumby was a bastard To see this farce solemnized by the Catholic

Church was more than we [Archie and Ada] could take (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 124)

In his quest to marry Pauline Hemingway openly and formally embraced

Catholicism Hemingway wrote to Ernest Walsh about his rediscovered Catholicity

If I am anything I am a Catholic Had extreme unction administered to me as such

in July 1918 and recovered So guess I am a super-catholic It is most

certainly the most comfortable religion for anyone soldiering Am not what is

called a ldquogoodrdquo catholic But cannot imagine taking any other religion

seriously (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 345)

It is unknown whether Ernest ever mailed this letter

Ruth A Hawkins suggests that Hemingway ardently became a true Catholic

believer after he was cured of his temporary sexual problems after his marriage to

Pauline Hemingway told AE Hotchner that he and Pauline had had a good sex life

during their affair yet after they got married Hemingway experienced problems with

impotence (Hawkins 86) To try to alleviate this problem Hemingway saw doctors and a

mystic Nothing worked Pauline was patient and understanding Ernest was

discouraged so she encouraged him to go to the church a few blocks away and pray

Ernest recounts ldquoI went there and said a short prayer Then I went back to our room

43

Pauline was in bed waiting I undressed and got in bed and we made love like we

invented it We never had any trouble again Thatrsquos when I became a Catholicrdquo (qtd in

Hawkins 86)

Throughout his literary career Hemingway writes a number of stories involving

Catholics His short story ldquoThe Wine of Wyomingrdquo is about a French Catholic

bootlegging couple and is based upon a real-life Catholic couple that he met in Sheridan

Wyoming (Dearborn 263) Hemingway also writes about Catholicism in The Sun Also

Rises However Hemingway doesnrsquot write so much about Catholicism but rather of

Catholics themselves in their day-to-day lives (Hertzel 78) In The Sun Also Rises Jake

Barnes is nominally Catholic He basically lives the way that he wants to prays and

goes to church occasionally This is kind of like Hemingway who although not a

nominal Catholic lived the way that he wanted to while still claiming to be Catholic and

following some rituals In The Sun Also Rises Jake talks of going to church ldquoa couple of

times once with Brettrdquo (Sun 154) Although Jake prays regularly including for his

friends he also prays for mundane things like the upcoming bullfights and the Festival of

San Fermiacuten ldquoI wondered if there was anything else I might pray for and I thought I

would like to have some money so I prayed that I would make a lot of moneyrdquo (103)

While praying Jake gets distracted and he begins to think about other things ldquoas

all the time I was kneeling with my forehead on the wood in front of me and was

thinking of myself as praying I was a little ashamed and regretted that I was such a rotten

Catholicrdquo (103) Of his bad example as a Catholic Jake realizes that ldquothere was nothing I

could do about it at least for a while and maybe never but that anyway it was a grand

44

religion and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next timerdquo (103) One

critic asserts that The Sun Also Rises ldquois a novel about spiritual bankruptcyrdquo (Djos) Jake

is spiritually bankrupt but he tries to go about things in another way He drinks in order

escape the pain of the war and his impotency So alcohol might be said to be Jakersquos

primary spiritual comfort like it was a comfort for Hemingway Carlos Baker

categorizes The Sun Also Rises as a tale of Wastelanders (Berman 44) Moreover Jake

once thinks ldquoTo hell with people The Catholic Church had an awfully good way of

handling all thatrdquo (Sun 39) Jake believes that the Catholic Church has a good way of

sending people to hell purgatory or heaven to whatever fate the individual deserves

In addition Catholicism is referenced in Hemingwayrsquos A Farewell to Arms with

its protagonist Frederic Henry Unlike the nominally Catholic Jake Barnes Frederic has

no religion whatsoever (Farewell 279) However there is a priest in Fredericrsquos Italian

army unit that Frederic likes a lot Yet Frederic thinks the priest dull (33) According to

Frederic he and the priest share many of the same tastes yet there is a difference

between them (12) Frederic is a man of the world who does not believe in religion per

se and he loves women The priest is a man of God he loves God above all he doesnrsquot

pursue women When Frederic is recovering from his war wound in the hospital the

priest comes to visit him Frederic tells the priest that he does not love God (62) He

adds that he is ldquoafraid of Him in the night sometimesrdquo (62) Gary Sloan argues that

Fredericrsquos girlfriend Catherine ldquowill be his [Fredericrsquos] religion even as he she says is

hersrdquo (452) Michael Reynolds points out that ldquoCatherine sounded a lot like [Ernestrsquos

second wife] Pauline who had made Ernest her religion risking her soul on the promise

45

of his loverdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 216) This is also the case when

Ernest made his first girlfriend Agnes von Kurowsky his religion over organized

religion

Although Frederic is not religious in desperate times he seems to temporarily

become religious When he first receives his war injury he cries out to God ldquoget me out

of hererdquo (48) When his and Catherine Barkleyrsquos baby dies Frederic thinks of the baby

and thinks that it should have been baptized (279) Faced with the possibility of

Catherine dying Frederic prays ldquoEverything was gone inside of me I did not think I

could not think I knew she was going to die and I prayed that she would not Donrsquot let

her die Oh God please donrsquot let her die Irsquoll do anything for you if you wonrsquot let her

dierdquo (282) Hertzel points out that some of Hemingwayrsquos characters pray frequently

However it is also important to note that the prayers never get answered (79) For

example in Hemingwayrsquos posthumously published Islands in the Stream Thomas

Hudsonrsquos son David makes this comment about prayer ldquoYou canrsquot tell Audrey You

never know when it [prayer] may [do good] I donrsquot mean that Mr Davis needs to be

prayed for I just mean about prayer technicallyrdquo (186) In Frederick Henryrsquos case both

his baby and Catherine die Apparently in Hemingwayrsquos mind there was no

supernatural realm and prayers go nowhere Frederick asks Catherine on her death bed

ldquoDo you want me to get a priest or anyone to come and see yourdquo (Farewell 282)

Catherine just wants Frederic to stay with her Frederic says that his only religious feeling

comes at night (227) So the spiritual connection of sex is a religious experience to

Frederic

46

Hemingway does not present a supernatural dimension to Catholicism (Hertzel

78) In The Sun Also Rises as Jake and Brett leave a chapel in Pamplona he thinks that

ldquo[t]he praying had not been much of a successrdquo (212) Brett also portrays religion as

being uselessmdashat least for her saying ldquoDonrsquot know why I get so nervy in church

Never does me any goodrdquo (212) Brett says that praying never does her any good and

that she has never gotten anything that she prayed for (213) Jake does say that he has

gotten things that he has prayed for Brett replies of prayer ldquoMaybe it works for some

peoplerdquo (213) Jake considers himself ldquopretty religiousrdquo (213) Hemingway himself

prayed but apparently after the Spanish Civil War his view on prayer changed In The

Dangerous Summer he says ldquo[I] never [prayed] for myself during the Spanish Civil

War when I saw the terrible things that happened to other people and I felt that to pray for

oneself was selfish and egotisticalrdquo (142) In a June 19 1945 letter to Thomas Welsh

Hemingway expounded

In first war really scared after wounded and very devout at the end Fear of

death Belief in personal salvation or maybe just preservation through prayers for

intercession of Our Lady and various saints that prayed to with almost tribal faith

Spanish war seemed so selfish to pray for self when such things being done to all

people by people sponsored by Church that never prayed for self But missed

Ghostly comfort This war [Spanish Civil War] got through without praying

once Times a little bad sometimes too But felt that having forfeited any right to

ask for these intercessions would be absolutely crooked to ask for same no matter

how scared (qtd in Stoneback 128)

47

Consequently Hemingway only prayed for others after the Spanish Civil War In The

Dangerous Summer Hemingway writes of praying for others in Spain ldquoI prayed for all

those I had in hock to Fortune for all friends with cancer for all girls living and dead

and that Antonio would have good bulls that afternoonrdquo (69) Yet it is unknown if any

of Hemingwayrsquos prayers were ever answered In fact Hemingway wondered if his

prayers ever got anywhere

In case my prayers were invalid as they well might have been and to make sure

someone competent was doing it I took out a membership in the Jesuit Seminary

Fund Association at New Orleans for Carmen and Antonio [Ordoacutentildeez bullfighter]

There was a class graduating who when they were ordained would pray for them

each day (142)

So Hemingway got others to pray for his friends family and others in case that his

prayers were going nowhere In Hemingwayrsquos works instead of offering a supernatural

element to the Catholic Church he presents the Church as a solely human institution

Hertzel writes that Hemingway treats the Catholic Church as ldquoa colorful institution with

richness tradition ritual and discipline but it provides no convenient miraclesrdquo (78-79)

Consequently Hemingway uses Catholicism as a literary motif to add texture to his

writings (79)

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway seems to make fun of the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit that according to Christians is the method by which the Bible was

written Hemingwayrsquos example is silly Hemingway mockingly describes the writing

process of Waldo Frank the author of Virgin Spain He ldquolay naked in his bed in the night

48

and God sent him things to write how he lsquowas in touch ecstatically with the plunging and

immobile allrdquo (53) Moreover

After God sent it he wrote it The result was that unavoidable mysticism of a

man who writes a language so badly he cannot make a clear statement

complicated by whatever pseudo-scientific jargon is in style at the moment God

sent him some wonderful stuff about Spain during his short stay there

preparatory to writing of the soul of the country but it is often nonsense (53)

Hemingway wrote more generally of the religion of the Lost Generation again

with a touch of mockery

There will be many new salvations brought forward My generation in France for

example in two years sought salvation in first the Catholic Church 2nd DaDaism

third the movies fourth Royalism fifth the Catholic Church again There may be

another and better war But none of it will matter particularly to this generation

because to them the things that are given to people to happen have already

happened (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 327)

In his books Hemingway also seems to make fun of religion in order to try to be

comedic In his ficto-biography True at First Light Hemingway asks the interpreter

ldquoDid you not like the Mission School Remember God is listening He hears your every

wordrdquo (182) Later Hemingway asks GC ldquoAnd will you carry these principles into

Life sonrdquo (204) GC responds ldquoDrink your beer Billy Grahamrdquo (204) Ironically

years later Billy Graham would use Ernest Hemingway as a sermon illustration More

comedy follows in True at First Light when Hemingway talks about a new religion that

49

he created for the Africans He said that his African helpers Ngui and Mthuka and

himself ldquocould decide what was a sin and what was notrdquo (281) Hemingway also talks

about the ldquoHappy Hunting Groundsrdquo as if it were some sort of heaven

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway is comedic through the character of Bill

Gorton Walking down a boulevard with Jake Bill spots a taxidermistrsquos shop and

jokingly tries to get Jake to buy a stuffed dog Jake knows that it is a joke and just tries

to keep Bill moving down the boulevard After Jake promises to get a stuffed dog on the

way back Bill Gorton says ldquoAll right Have it your own way Road to hell paved with

unbought stuffed dogs Not my faultrdquo (78) Hemingway also does this with the priest in

A Farewell to Arms in order to try to infuse comedy into this novel when the captain at

the soldiersrsquo mess keep joking with the priest as the butt of the joke ldquoPriest to-day with

girlsrdquo (7) The captain adds ldquoPriest every night five against onerdquo (7)

On the train to Bayonne Bill Gorton says of some pilgrims on the train with

them ldquoGoddam Puritansrdquo (Sun 91) In the train compartment with Jake and Bill is a man

from Montana with his wife and son The man says to Jake and Bill of getting a meal

while pretending to be pilgrims ldquoThey thought we were snappers all right It

certainly shows you the power of the Catholic Church Itrsquos a pity you boys ainrsquot

Catholics You could get a meal then all rightrdquo (93) Frustrated by the situation Jake

assures him that he is Catholic When Bill Gorton corners a priest returning from a meal

with the pilgrims Bill asks him when the Protestants will get a chance to eat The priest

says that he doesnrsquot know and Gorton replies ldquoItrsquos enough to make a man join the Klanrdquo

(93)

50

After fishing along the Irati River Jake and Bill meet to have lunch After talking

about William Jennings Bryan and which came first the chicken or the egg Bill mocks

religion and the question of whether the chicken or the egg comes first ldquoOh how

should we know We should not question Our stay on earth is not for long Let us

rejoice and believe and give thanksrdquo (126) Holding a drumstick perhaps like a mock

scepter and a bottle of wine Bill tries to be mockingly funny ldquoLet us rejoice in our

blessings Let us utilize the fowls of the air Let us utilize the product of the vine Will

you utilize a little brotherrdquo (126) Handing Jake the bottle Bill says ldquoUtilize a little

brother Let us not doubt brother Let us not pry into the holy mysteries of the

hencoop with simian fingers Let us accept on faithrdquo (127) Then pointing at a

drumstick Bill says ldquoLet me tell you We will say and I for one am proud to saymdashand I

want you to say with me on your knees brother Let no man be ashamed to kneel here in

the great out-of-doors Remember the woods were Godrsquos first templesrdquo (127) They

uncork another bottle Before they take a nap Bill asks Jake if he is really a Catholic

(128) Jake replies that he is technically a Catholic When asked what that means Jake

says that he doesnrsquot know (129) Even though the Eucharist is mocked Jake and Bill are

seemingly reborn as they fish in nature So nature provides a chance at rest and

regeneration

Just like Hemingway in most of his life some of his characters are not religious

although they have religious influences Robert Jordan is one example His father was

religious But his fatherrsquos religion turned Robert off In one instance as a younger man

when Robert is about to leave on a train his father gets emotional and says a prayer over

51

him In response ldquoRobert Jordan had been so embarrassed by all of it [his fatherrsquos

emotionalism] the damp religious sound of the prayer and by his father kissing him

good-by that he had felt suddenly so much older than his father and sorry for him that he

could hardly bear itrdquo (For Whom Bell Tolls 405-406) This would seem similar to

Ernestrsquos leaving home for the first time en route to Kansas City (Hemingway-Sanford

154) In this instance Hemingwayrsquos father bought him the ticket and saw him off (154)

Maybe Dr Hemingway did cry when he saw Ernest off for he really loved his son

While Ernest was in Italy Marcelline notes that her ldquoDad had always loved Ernest

especially dearly and he missed him and prayed for him dailyrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford

160) To compound all this like Hemingwayrsquos father Robertrsquos religious father later

ldquoshot himselfrdquo in a suicide in the same manner as Robert Jordanrsquos father (For Whom Bell

Tolls 66) Robert ldquounderstood his father and he forgave him everything and he pitied him

but he was ashamed of himrdquo (340) Perhaps Hemingway was ashamed of his father after

his fatherrsquos sad suicide This shame and embarrassment of his late father and his

perceived cowardice may have pushed Robert away from religion (338) In addition it is

quite probable that the suicide of Hemingways father additionally pushed him away from

the Protestant tradition of his father as his father had been a deacon and a very upright

and religious man (Reynolds M American Homecoming 211) Yet Daniel Pawley notes

that Hemingway loved his father more than anyone else in the world At one point in For

Whom the Bell Tolls Robert says ldquoI do not believe in ogres nor soothsayers nor in the

supernatural thingsrdquo (250) When Pilar tells Robert that she cares about him Robert tells

52

Pilar that he doesnrsquot want her love He qualifies ldquoNi tu ni Diosrdquo (Neither yours nor

Godrsquos) (387) Robert doesnrsquot want Godrsquos love either

48

CHAPTER 4

HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY

According to Michael Reynolds Hemingway liked all things ancient and

medieval and that included the Catholic Church In fact Hemingway liked visiting

medieval cathedrals among them Chartres He ldquoliked the ritual the mystery the odors of

age and incense He liked its permanence in stonerdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 325)

Hadley Richardson liked to refer to the chivalric Hemingway as her ldquogentil parfit

knightrdquo an allusion to Chaucerrsquos description of the knight in The Canterbury Tales (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 223) and he liked to wear a scapular This scapular has

ldquogot an image of Christ on it suspended from a brown shoestring-like loop At home in

Key West friends have observed him with the scapular and how hersquoll make the sign of

the cross before he goes in swimmingrdquo (Hendrickson 28)

Hemingway would come back to the Bible in his later years in his search for

literary titles Hemingway alludes to Ecclesiastes 14-7 in his title of The Sun Also Rises

The Scriptural passage was used to signify that basically the Lost Generation would

pass away but that the earth would abide forever Moreover Hemingway gave the Bible

credit for teaching him how to write (Blume 213)

In his youth Hemingway idolized his missionary uncle to China Willoughby (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 110) Willoughby had a medical mission there In fact

Ernestrsquos father Dr Clarence Hemingway inspired by his brother had wanted to be a

medical missionary to Guam but his wife had dissuaded him from it (Pawley 24) Dr

49

Hemingway also had an offer for a medical mission in Greenland (L Hemingway 21)

Grace refused to go Ernest Hemingwayrsquos life might have had a much different outcome

if his mother would have supported his father in becoming a medical missionary to Guam

or even Greenland Years later when Hemingway was living in Cuba Hemingwayrsquos

sister Ursala visited and she and Ernest reminisced about their Uncle Willoughby

recalling his visits and together they sang ldquolsquoJesus Loves Mersquo in Chinese until the tears

rolled down their cheeksrdquo (25) Upon the death of his father Ernest returned home to

Oak Park where he openly displayed his new-found Catholic faith Marcelline says that

upon his arrival Ernest ldquotold us that he had had a Mass saidrdquo for their dad (Dearborn 268

M Reynolds American Homecoming 211 Hemingway-Sanford 233) With Dr

Hemingwayrsquos body lying in repose in the music room Ernest now leader of his family

led his family in the Lordrsquos Prayer This echoes back to the time in Ernestrsquos youth when

his Grandfather Hall would lead his family in the Lordrsquos prayer ldquohis eyes directed

heavenwardrdquo (Dearborn 268) However during this time of mourning Ernestrsquos

Catholicism angered some peoplemdashespecially Marcelline

Relying on Catholic teaching Ernest believed that his father had gone to

purgatory since suicide was a mortal sin (M Reynolds American Homecoming 211) In

addition Ernest mentioned that since his family was a Heathen Family ldquoit was

impossible to offer enough prayers to get his [Dr Hemingwayrsquos] soul into heavenrdquo

(Dearborn 268) Marcelline thought that Ernestrsquos idea of praying their father out of

purgatory was disgusting Ernest told his kid brother Leicester Hemingway to ldquopray as

hard as he could for his fatherrsquos soul to be released from purgatoryrdquo as ldquothings go right on

50

from hererdquo (Dearborn 268 My Brother 111) Despite the waves that Ernest made with

his family he showed genuine care concern and distress in his belief that his late father

was in purgatory (Dearborn 268) In this instance Hemingway definitely took Catholic

doctrine seriously

Dearborn paints Ernest Hemingway as a practicing Catholic one who would go to

Mass and fast on Good Friday She suggests that during this trying time Hemingway

turned to his faith in order to anchor himself through his grief She further suggests that

Ernestrsquos claim that his father was in purgatory was a way for him to assert his patriarchal

dominance over the family and to show that he was in charge Marcelline as the eldest

had tried to claim this role but in her struggle with Ernest she had lost (269)

In Chicago a Dominican priest wrote to Hemingway to thank him for saving his

friend Don Stewart in the bull ring at Pamplona (M Reynolds American Homecoming

156) This priest had heard of Hemingwayrsquos conversion to Catholicism within that year

1927 and he urged Hemingway to become a writer for the Dominican cause in order to

defend the Church and its ldquocause of Truthrdquo (156) In response Hemingway wrote

I have been a Catholic for many years although I feel very badly and did not go to

communion for over 8 years However I have gone regularly to mass for the last

two years and absolutely set my house in order within the year However I have

always had more faith than intelligence or knowledge and I have never wanted to

be known as a Catholic writer because I know the importance of setting an

examplemdashand I have never set a good example Also I am a dumb Catholic

and I have so much faith that I hate to examine itmdashbut I am trying to lead a good

51

life and to write well and truly and it is easier to do the first than the second (qtd

in M Reynolds American Homecoming 156)

In a 1940 Valentinersquos Day letter to his editor Maxwell Perkins Hemingway wrote ldquoI am

not a Catholic writer nor a party writer nor even an American writer but just a writer

meant to rise above injusticerdquo (qtd in Isabelle 51)

Despite his Catholicism Hemingwayrsquos faith didnrsquot help him to change into a

better man Although he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not

transform him nor even make him Christ-like Hemingway did not have a salvation

experience Nor was his faith life-altering Stoneback agrees that ldquoHemingway did not

turn to the church for instant deliverancerdquo (Stoneback 122) As a Catholic

Hemingway continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Ernestrsquos

Catholicism did not translate into his personal life Hemingwayrsquos religious life was one

solely of Catholic rituals He did not change his behavior or his vices He did not

overcome his problems Unfortunately in the end Hemingwayrsquos problems overcame

him

Despite his personal shortcomings Hemingway did at times take Catholicism

seriously After one of his African safaris he returned to Paris and saw his friend Ned

Calmer Calmer was a reporter and an aspiring novelist There Hemingway learned that

Calmerrsquos daughter had not been baptized (Hendrickson 44) This was unconscionable to

Hemingway Years later Calmer wrote that ldquoErnest seemed genuinely concerned

The attitude was this will never do He came along to the church of St Sulpice in Paris

52

as sponsor at the ceremonyrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 44) where Calmerrsquos daughter was

baptized

Hemingwayrsquos faith affected him in other ways too During the Spanish Civil

War his Catholicism would give him ldquosympathy with the conservative traditionalist side

in Spain at least in the early days of this unrestrdquo (Dearborn 303) Later Hemingway

would switch his allegiance to the anti-Franco anti-fascist communist-supported side of

the conflict Unfortunately this shift caused many family disputes with his wife Pauline

(Isabelle 25) However it was Hemingwayrsquos belief that politics and religion should not

mix (Stoneback 117) After the Spanish Civil War and in Cuba Hemingway used to

worry that the FBI were Roman Catholics and thus consequently Franco sympathizers

(N Reynolds 127) In fact Hemingway liked to refer to the FBI as ldquolsquoFrancorsquos Bastard

Irishrsquo and lsquoFrancorsquos Iron Cavalryrsquordquo (127) Nicholas Reynolds suggests that Hemingway

was paranoid about the FBI because he had signed on to be a spy with the Russian

Narodny Kommisariat Vnutrennikh Del (Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs)

better known as the NKVD Yet Hemingway never actually did anything for them His

code name was ldquoArgordquo Dearborn notes that ldquo[d]espite his professed Catholicism Ernest

was impatient with religion over philosophizing and what we would call today self-

helprdquo (320) Dorothy Parker makes a different claim about Hemingway ldquoThere is no

more than a thin line of moss to stamp the spot where Robert Benchley and Ernest

Hemingway had that big philosophical discussion about the meaning of liferdquo (qtd in M

Reynolds American Homecoming 106) Philosopher Ralph Withington Church ldquorecalls

his conversations with Hemingway about the lsquoproblem of redemptionrsquo and

53

Malebranchersquos lsquotheory of gracersquordquo (Stoneback 121) Ernest also had his own privately-

held opinions about Catholicism For example Hemingway told one of his daughters-in-

law that unlike the Catholic Churchrsquos teaching that animals donrsquot have souls he believed

that animals did (Dearborn 516) Secondly Ernest seems to have taken on or been

influenced by his motherrsquos mystic spiritualist bent Ernest believed in superstitions and

in some types of psychic phenomena (518)

Later in his life Ernest seems to have some misgivings about Catholicism He

consistently said when Paulinersquos name surfaced that ldquoher Catholic faith had wrecked the

marriagerdquo (Dearborn 406) Pauline had been advised by her doctor not to have any more

children The fear was that Pauline would get pregnant and die from the pregnancy

(Hawkins 141) Since Catholicism only permitted the birth control method of

withdrawal Ernestrsquos pleasure was significantly diminished by this technique and

consequently doomed their marriage Hemingway had also wanted to have a daughter

but this dream was never realized Paulinersquos second son Gregory who became a doctor

contends that all that his father would have had to have done to retain his pleasure would

have been to abstain from intercourse on Paulinersquos fertile days According to Gregrsquos

reasoning this ldquowould have been obvious to lsquoany foolrsquordquo (qtd in Dearborn 406)

According to Leicester Hemingway Ernest wanted nothing to do with the Catholic

church after Pauline and he asked for ldquothe address of an uncle William E Miller who

had written many hymns in the Episcopalian hymnalrdquo (Isabelle 58-59) Moreover Ernest

was concerned about his sons Patrick and Gregory attending a Catholic school Ernest

feared that this school Canterbury was affecting Patrick gradually and insidiously

54

(Dearborn 480) In fact Ernest hated this school and he referred to it as ldquoone of lsquothose

snot schoolsrsquordquo (480)

Paulinersquos and Hemingwayrsquos second son Gregory had a troubled life Over time

he came to like to dress up as a woman In Los Angeles this caught up with him when

he tried to enter the womenrsquos restroom of a theater in drag (Hendrickson 297) Pauline

cabled Hemingway that Gregory was in trouble Hemingway called back Pauline was in

a lot of pain but went to the phone anyway to tell Hemingway about the problem On the

phone Hemingway said ldquoItrsquos all your fault see how yoursquove brought him up yoursquore

corrupt and hersquos corruptrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 297) Hemingway intimated that perhaps

Gregoryrsquos Catholic upbringing had pushed Gregory into transgenderism Gregory had

served as an altar-boy at Saint Mary Star of the Sea (386)

That night Pauline went to bed in tears Unfortunately the heated accusative

argument with Ernest had set Pauline off At the time Pauline had been staying at her

sisterrsquos Virginia residence in Los Angeles In the early morning Virginia and her

friend Laura awakened to what they described as a ldquohorrendous screamrdquo from Paulinersquos

room Pauline was taken to the hospital where her blood pressure skyrocketed dropped

to zero and caused ldquoher to die of shock on the operating tablerdquo (Hawkins 271) Later

Hemingway blamed Paulinersquos death on Gregory Yet Gregory became a doctor and

researched his motherrsquos death more thoroughly Through an autopsy report Gregory

learned that his mother had died of a ldquorare tumor of the adrenal glandrdquo also known as

pheochromocytoma (275) This type of tumor secretes large quantities of adrenaline

causing blood pressure to spikemdasheven to the point where arteries can rupture Pauline

55

had had only an intermittent tumor that would secrete during times of stress Gregory

informed his father of his findings in a letter in the summer of 1960 Gregory wrote that

Hemingwayrsquos argument with Pauline had set Pauline off ldquocausing a blood vessel to

rupturerdquo after which her blood pressure dropped to zero with the resulting shock killing

her on the operating table (275) So Gregory blamed Hemingway for Paulinersquos early

death from shock due to the ruptured blood vessel and the drop of her blood pressure to

zero

In 1947 Hemingwayrsquos son Patrick had a spiritual crisis of his own Due to his

Catholic mother Patrick had been schooled in Catholic schools In 1947 Patrick had

been studying for the College Board exams at Hemingwayrsquos home the Finca in Cuba

However when Gregory had a spring vacation Patrick decided to join him in Key West

In 1945 Pauline had bought herself a sports car (Dearborn 497) In 1947 in Key West

Patrick was newly licensed and Patrick let Gregory drive the sports car Gregory drove

off the road and hit a tree near Casa Marina

In the process Patrick and Gregory seemed to suffer only minor injuries

Gregory ldquoreceived a minor knee injuryrdquo while Patrick ldquosuffered a cut on his chin and

slight headacherdquo (Hawkins 251) Yet Patrick had suffered a severe concussion (Di

Robilant 7) At first the boys didnrsquot seem to have any ill effects from the accident and

they arrived back at the Finca However shortly after his arrival Patrick started acting

strangely (Dearborn 497) At the Finca Patrick asked ldquofor a pot of hot water and some

teardquo (497) When Reneacute Villarreal brought the hot water and tea to the little house

ldquoPatrick complained that the water was dirtyrdquo (497) Then Patrick commenced shouting

56

loudly at the cook Ramoacuten who wasnrsquot even there Next at the main house Ernest

placed Patrick ldquoon a wicker chaise and stroked his headrdquo (497) In Havana the next day

Patrick was able to take the College Board exams but as the day progressed he grew

increasingly agitated So Ernest called for a doctor The doctor ldquosedated Patrick but the

next day he was delirious and soon became violent and it was necessary to restrain himrdquo

(497) Andrea Di Robilant believes that Patrick had a complete breakdown (7) His loss

of normalcy became a terrible ordeal for the Hemingway family in which his future his

sanity and his life hung in the balance (Dearborn 497)

In response Ernest placed Patrick in his own bed at the Finca and slept on a straw

mat in the living room just outside the door of his bedroom taking care of Patrick around

the clock (Dearborn 497-98 Hawkins 251) Ernest did this for the next three months

(Dearborn 498) It was hoped that Patrick would recover and be well within a couple of

weeks Yet it didnrsquot turn out this way Doctors from all over Cuba were called in Dr

Herrera deemed Patrick to be ldquopredementialrdquo a condition either set off from the exams or

by a crisis of his Catholic faith (498) Religion was a big portion of Patrickrsquos delirium

the other subject being putas whores A local priest named Don Andreacutes became one of

Patrickrsquos chief caretakers Surprisingly due to the spiritual nature of Patrickrsquos condition

this priest was unable to enter Patrickrsquos room without being accused of being the devil

incarnate Consequently this priest became known as the Black Priest

Patrick was so delusional that Ernest and his doctors were concerned about being

near Patrick because they were afraid that they would be scratched or bitten Patrick

remained bedridden for weeks and ldquohe moved in and out of consciousnessrdquo (Di Robilant

57

7) However Patrickrsquos condition did not improve he only worsened and became more

violentmdashhaving to be constantly restrained (Dearborn 498) At first the doctors wanted

Ernest to put Patrick in a hospital but Ernest was determined to keep Patrick at home

Patrick was so delirious that he wouldnrsquot eat When Patrick did eat he stuffed the food in

his mouth like a hamster to spit out at his caretakers Patrick even couldnrsquot swallow his

own saliva Considering that Patrick would probably rip out feeding tubes it was

decided to feed him rectally under restraint and under heavy sedation Patrick had not

eaten since his illness had begun five days prior It would take a full hour and a half to

feed Patrick rectally Despite this procedure Patrick dropped to eighty-eight pounds by

the start of August He had become psychotic

Given the limited means and the early days of psychiatric diagnoses in that time

and age it seemed like Patrick was schizophrenic perhaps even needing a lifetime of

institutionalized care (499) In July a new physician suggested that Patrick undergo

shock treatments In those days the only options were lobotomy and electroshock

therapy (499-500) So seeing no other viable option Patrickrsquos parents relented to the

electroshock therapy (500) In the outbuilding of the Finca Patrick received his first

shock treatment After only around ten minutes Patrick was reported as being ldquolucidrdquo

Fortunately Patrickrsquos electroshock therapy brought him back

The Hemingways remembered how the shock treatments had brought Patrick

back from the brink of hopelessness However when electroshock treatments were tried

years later on Ernest himself because of his traumatic brain injuries and compounding

depression they had the opposite effect For Ernest Hemingway electroshock treatments

58

wiped out his memory and he could no longer write take pride in himself and support

himself financially by the only means he knew how The shock treatments pushed

Hemingway further into depression

After his marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer Hemingway had misgivings about his

Catholic faith However HR Stoneback asserts that Hemingway never entirely gave up

his Catholicism and that he continued to go to Mass pray support the church and regard

himself as Catholic (114) Despite all this Hemingway had some bitterness toward the

Catholic Church Yet it still played an influence in his life Lloyd Arnold says of

Hemingwayrsquos last twenty years of life ldquoI did not know Papa as a man without Godrdquo (qtd

in Stoneback 105-06) Even after his marriage to Pauline Hemingway did put some

stock in Catholicism His divorce from Pauline made him excommunicated from the

Catholic Churchmdashhe could not receive communionmdashbut he still did visit Catholic

churches and pray inside During his marriage to Pauline Hemingway had faithfully and

regularly attended Mass Of his post-Pauline years Hemingway friend and biographer

AE Hotchner noted that in 1954 Hemingway on his way to Madrid stopped into the

cathedral at Burgos where he kneeled and prayed (Stoneback 106) According to

Hotchner in 1958 Hemingway paid for a new roof for the Catholic Church in Hailey

Idaho Then he gave an address to that parishrsquos young people admonishing them not to

work on Sunday as it was ldquovery back luckrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106)

Actor Gary Cooper who had played the role of Robert Jordan in the 1943 film

version of For Whom the Bell Tolls converted to Catholicism himself in 1958 In

response Hemingway ldquotalked sympathetically with Gary Cooper aboutrdquo it (Stoneback

59

106) In 1959 Hemingway was pickpocketed in Spain so in response he put an ad in

the newspaper asking the Spanish pickpocket to return his billfold as he cared mostly for

ldquogetting back the ldquoimage of St Christopher in itrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106) Throughout

his lifetime Hemingway named a son after a pope ldquodisplayed great pride in Patrickrsquos

confirmation mastery of the catechism gave money and support to the churchrdquo (110)

Ernest even taught his oldest son Bumby how to pray (L Hemingway 99) When

Hemingway received his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 he gave the medal to the

Virgen of Cobra Shrine in Cuba (Isabelle 52)

In a conversation with his fourth and final wife Mary Welsh Hemingway says to

her ldquoReligion is superstition and I believe in superstitionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 118)

Ernest adds that it is his ldquoTribal heritagerdquo (118) Mary wrote to Stoneback of Ernest that

when they would visit cathedrals in France Italy or Spain Hemingway would light

candles in honor of the memory of his friends Stoneback writes that with Ernest Mary

Hemingway had to live through a Catholic prism With Ernest Mary had to eat fish on

Fridays observe Lent do the Christmas traditions celebrate Ernestrsquos saintrsquos day have

masses and prayers said for family and friends observe holy days and Catholic feasts

drive miles off course to visit and revisit cathedrals and churches and to attend religious

processions (119) Mary Hemingway would later say that Hemingway ldquoadmiredrdquo the

Catholic church and that he ldquothought of himself always as Catholicrdquo (qtd in 119) Mary

Hemingway said of Ernestrsquos friend the Black Priest Don Andreacutes that he and

Hemingway would talk alone and that Ernest regarded him ldquoas his lsquopersonal priest and

confessorrsquo that they prayed together and for each otherrdquo (120) According to Toby

60

Bruce Hemingway and the Black Priest were very good friends they talked quite a lot

and that when Don Andreacutes died in 1955 Hemingway had masses said for him (132)

Mary said of Ernest ldquoWhen he said he was Catholic he meant itrdquo (qtd in 120)

Mary added that Ernest tried very hard at being Catholic Allen Tate said that

Hemingway was ldquovery Catholicrdquo and that his attitude towards sports was ldquorooted in

religious sensibilityrdquo (120) Tate added that it was the ritual of sport that Hemingway

liked RW Church says that Hemingwayrsquos ldquotalk during these late hours at Lips made

evident his conviction that Sport and bull-fighting in particular afforded a major way to

the redemption of manrdquo (135) Stoneback argues that for Hemingway sport is a

redemptive ritual that is central to his life and work (136) The renowned sportsman

George Leonard Herter said that although Hemingway was a strong Catholic

his ldquoreligion came mainly from the Apparitions of the Virgin Maryrdquo (121) Herter said

that Hemingway was almost obsessed with the apparitions and talked about them often

(134) Hemingway thought that they were important Hemingway did not understand

why the Catholic church did not publicize the apparitions Hemingway was amazed that

most brothers nuns and priests were ignorant of the apparitions and seemed to care even

less Herter said that he had heard Hemingway speak of the apparitions including

Lourdes Fatima and others ldquoat one time or anotherrdquo (qtd in 134) Herter says that

Hemingway believed that if there was no Bible ldquono man-made church lawsrdquo then the

apparitions conclusively proved that the Catholic church was the true church (134-35)

Herter adds that ldquoHemingway knew all the apparitions The ones at Pontmain

61

Pellivoisin Allyrod greatly impressed himrdquo (134-35) In addition Hemingway basically

believed that the Virgin Mary was earthrsquos listening post for Jesus and God (135)

Reynolds Price suggested that ldquoHemingwayrsquos lsquolifelong subjectrsquo was

lsquosaintlinessrsquordquo (121) Stoneback asserts a spiritual order to Hemingwayrsquos works in which

Hemingway examines the conscience through a Catholic lens (122) Stoneback

summarizes an October 18 1933 letter to Pauline Hemingway

tells Pauline that the proofs of Winner Take Nothing have arrived and though it is

a ldquodamned goodrdquo book itrsquos too much to expect the church will stand for it As he

sees it considering his writing the church would have two choices either kick

him out or prove he has no right to be in Either one would be bad because he

couldnrsquot tell them to ldquogo to the devilrdquo because of the ldquoItalian complicationsrdquo At

least hersquoll be able to say his prayers participate in the Mass support and

contribute to the church and wherever they donrsquot know him he can go to

confession He does not want to seem to be seeking ldquoappuirdquo as a ldquoCatholic

writerrdquo He says that he has no right to write the way he does and be ldquolsquoofficially

of the Churchrsquordquo Everything is fine with his conscience however he adds that

therersquos nothing wrong with the church (Stoneback 129-30)

Stoneback summarizes an interview with Fraser Drew As Stoneback

summarizes Hemingway told Drew

I [Hemingway] like to think that Irsquom a Catholic as far as I can be I can still go to

Mass although many things have happenedmdashthe divorces the marriages He

spoke with admiration of Catholicism and then of his friend the Basque priest

62

whom he had known in Spain [Don Andreacutes] and who now lived in San Francisco

de Paula He comes here a great deal said EH He prays for me every day as I

do for him I canrsquot pray for myself any more Perhaps itrsquos because in some way I

have become hardened Or perhaps it is because the self becomes less important

and others become more important But that Time article was bad He referred to

a recent article in Time which had commented that he had been born a

Congregationalist had become a Roman Catholic and now no longer went to

church This conversation with EH confirms my earlier feeling that he is a

religious man with respect for the religions of others (Stoneback 131)

Toby Bruce said of Hemingway and religion ldquoIrsquod say he was very religious Always

went to Mass especially when he was here still with Pauline And afterwards toordquo (qtd

in 132) Bruce added ldquoHe was a real Catholic and I think he tried very hard to be a good

Catholic Who knows for sure Yes he was he planned to donate a considerable sum

toward the restoration of the Mary Immaculate Convent Donrsquot know if he did I guess

Irsquod say he was a good Catholic Donrsquot know what the church would say about itrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 132-33)

Hemingway would cross himselfmdasheven after the 1930s (133) George Herter

wrote ldquoHemingway was a Catholic in those days when the Catholic Church was a church

instead of a mass of confusion The fact that he had been a steady marrying and divorce

type didnrsquot bother Ernest at all in his views on Catholicism I knew Ernest only had

his religion in his very shaky worldrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) George Herter responded

to HR Stoneback in a letter about Hemingway ldquoI repeat he was a very strong Catholic

63

He had complete faith in God Jesus the Virgin Holy Ghost guardian angels Much

more so than nearly all Catholics I have known He was a traditional Catholic as we

all were at the timerdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) In another letter from Herter to Stoneback

dated February 23 1978 Herter writes ldquoHemingway was a strong Catholic He had a

very good knowledge of early Christianity He did not attend Mass regularly He

believed the churchrsquos stand on divorce was right although he was divorced many times

He often stated that he was a poor example of a Catholic but offered no excusesrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 134-35) Stoneback asked a Key West resident what he thought of

Hemingwayrsquos religion The man responded ldquoHemingway was very religious went to

Mass early in the morning with Pauline You could tell he was religious when he fed

the cats the way he looked at the skyrdquo (136)

Yet in his last years of life Hemingway said some very anti-Catholic and anti-

Christian things For instance married to his last wife Mary Ernest said in an interview

to Lillian Ross of the possibility of an afterlife ldquoOnly suckers worry about saving their

soulsrdquo (qtd in Ross 50) Hemingway continued ldquoWho the hell should care about saving

his soul when it is a manrsquos duty to lose it intelligently the way you would sell a position

you were not defending if you could not hold it as expensively as possible trying to

make it the most expensive position that was ever soldrdquo (50) Gregory Hemingway

recounted something similar Gregory said that his father didnrsquot genuinely believe in

organized religion and that his father ldquomade it clear he didnrsquot believe in an afterlife He

did finally believe in a superior beingrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 186) Although Hemingway

didnrsquot believe that it was necessary to save onersquos soul he did contemplate the soul As a

64

boy Hemingway had thought that his soul had blown out of him once and it had returned

to his body (First Light 172) Hemingway claimed ignorance of the soul and he didnrsquot

know if it existed nor if anyone he knew anything about it Hemingway ponders the

soul ldquoProbably a spring of clear fresh water that never diminished in drought and never

froze in the winter was closest to what we had instead of the soul they all talked aboutrdquo

(172) As a boy Hemingway assumed that he had a soul but as he grew older and jaded

he wasnrsquot sure anymore Hemingway thinks that death ends things Yet he ponders that

perhaps only really religious people have souls (172-173) Of a belief in an afterlife for

the soul as heaven or hell Hemingway had his own opinions of that On July 1 1925

Hemingway creatively wrote to F Scott Fitzgerald of his vision of heaven

To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a

trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in and two lovely

houses in the town one where I would have my wife and children and be

monogamous and love them truly and well and the other where I would have my

nine beautiful mistresses on 9 different floors Then there would be a fine

church like in Pamplona where I could go and be confessed on the way from one

house to the other and I would get on my horse and ride out with my son to my

bull ranch named Hacienda Hadley and toss coins to all my illegitimate children

that lined the road I would write out at the Hacienda and send my son in to lock

the chastity belts onto my mistresses because someone had just galloped up with

the news that a notorious monogamist named Fitzgerald had been seen riding

65

toward the town at the head of a company of strolling drinkers (Hemingway in

Katakis 37)

However after his World War I injury Ernest wrote his family

You know they say there isnrsquot anything funny about this war and there isnrsquot I

wouldnrsquot say that it was hell because thatrsquos been a bit overworked since General

Shermanrsquos time but there have been about eight times when I would have

welcomed hell just on a chance it couldnrsquot come up to the phase of war I was

experiencing (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 166-67)

So if there was a hell Hemingway didnrsquot believe that it was worse than the horrors of

war Of his past Hemingway did have regrets He wrote ldquoThis past was never my past

life which truly bores me to think about and is often very distasteful due to the mistakes

that I have made and the casualties to various human beings involvedrdquo (Hemingway in

White 466)

The question of the soul comes up continually in the works of Hemingway In

ldquoNow I Lay Merdquo Nick Adams tries not to go to sleep at night because he is afraid like

Hemingway was that his soul is going to leave his body in the dark This all stems from

a battlefield injury and experience that Nick had when his soul temporarily left his body

Nick relates ldquoI had been that way [not sleeping at night] for a long time ever since I had

been blown up at night and felt it [his soul] go out of me and go off and then come back

I tried never to think about it but it had started to go since in the nights just at the

moment of going off to sleep and I could only stop it by a very great effortrdquo (Short

Stories 276)

66

Yet Nick doesnrsquot fear his soul leaving him during the day time Hemingway also

had a similar experience with his wounding at Fossalta According to Leicester

Hemingway Ernest once told Guy Hickok of this near-death experience ldquoI felt my soul

or something coming right out of my body like yoursquod pull a silk handkerchief out of a

pocket by one corner It flew around and then came back and went in again and I wasnrsquot

dead any morerdquo (56) Hemingway gives Frederic Henry the same experience in A

Farewell to Arms After the explosion that caused his wounding Henry says that

I tried to breathe but my breath would not come and I felt myself rush bodily out

of myself and out and out and out and all the time bodily in the wind I went out

swiftly all of myself and I knew I was dead and that it had all been a mistake to

think you just died Then I floated and instead of going on I felt myself slide

back I breathed and I was back (47)

Hemingway later referred to his Christian upbringing as ldquothat ton of shit we are

all fed when we are youngrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) Michael Reynolds makes the claim that

in Ernestrsquos youth fishing was his religion (118) However Archie MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoActually he was one of the most profoundly and spiritually powerful

creatures I have ever knownrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 158)

In The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway paints the old man Santiago as a

Christ figure There is so much Christian symbolism in this tale that the story can be

thought of as a parable The name Santiago literally means Saint James in Spanish

(Baker 293) In the Bible James was one of Jesusrsquo brothers Baker says of Santiago that

he ldquoshows in his own right certain qualities of mind and heart which are clearly

67

associated with the character and personality of Jesus Christ in the Gospel storiesrdquo (299)

Like Christ Santiago is able to ldquoignore physical painrdquo while focusing on the larger

objective goal to be gained in the end (299) There is an allusion to Christ on the cross

when Santiago in fighting for his prize ldquosettled comfortably against the wood and took

his suffering as it camerdquo (Old Man Sea 64) Like a horizontal cross-beam across Christrsquos

back Santiago has the cord tightened taught across his back (Backman 10 Old Man Sea

67) Santiago carries the burdensome weight of the fish on his back and he is even

burned by the cord because of it (Old Man Sea 82) The wood the suffering and

Santiagorsquos gentleness according to Melvin Backman blends ldquomagically into an image of

Christ on the crossrdquo (10) Three other Christ-like qualities that Santiago has are his

compassion his humility and his natural piety (Baker 299-300) Santiago has

compassion on certain animals that he encounters and of some fish that he catchesmdashlike

the giant marlin In his struggle with the marlin Santiago says ldquoI love you and respect

you very much But I will kill you dead before this day endsrdquo (Old Man Sea 54) After

he has killed the fish Santiago thinks ldquoYou loved him when he was alive and you loved

him after If you love him it is not a sin to kill himrdquo (105) Before killing the fish

Santiago ponders ldquoI wish I could feed the fish He is my brother But I must kill him

and keep strong to do itrdquo (59) Santiago thinks of his humility ldquoHe was too simple to

wonder when he had attained humility But he knew he had attained it and he knew it

was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true priderdquo (13-14) Santiago demonstrates

his pride when his disciple Manolo touts him as the best fisherman and he plays it down

by saying that he knows of better ones (23) Manolo claims ldquoQueacute va [No way] But

68

there is only yourdquo (23) Santiagorsquos piety is observed in that he prays when he feels and

senses the need and that his prayers are never oaths For example in trying to catch the

giant marlin Santiago says aloud ldquoNow that I have him coming so beautifully God help

me endure Irsquoll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys But I cannot say

them nowrdquo (87) Santiagorsquos prayers are never careless nor does he make them profane

He is reverent

As Christ had disciples so Santiago has his disciple Manolo Like Christ

Santiago is a teacher in that he was taught Manolo how to fish Christ was a fisher of

men Santiago is a traditional fisherman Manolo loves Santiago because of his teaching

Manolo how to fish and he admires and looks up to Santiago as a second father figure

Before Santiago goes out on his big marlin hunt Manolo says to him ldquoIf I cannot fish

with you I would like to serve in some wayrdquo (12) Manolo wants to be loyal to Santiago

Before his big marlin catch Santiago had had two previous eighty-seven day periods

where he went without a fish After the first period Santiago and Manolo had caught big

fish every day for three weeks GR Wilson Jr likens these three weeks to Christrsquos three

years of ministry where he fished for men and taught his disciples to fish for men (370)

At the start of Old Man Santiago had not caught a fish for eighty-four days The Old

Man and the Sea takes place over three days so this makes the second eighty-seven day

period In the Bible Christ demonstrated his divine authority by performing miracles

Wilson notes that Manolo has faith in the old man stemming from the miracle of the

three weeksrsquo bounty that he and Santiago had caught In addition according to Isabelle

Santiago ldquohooks the fish at noon and at noon of third day he kills itrdquo (77) This is just

69

like Christ who died and in three days rose again Isabelle adds that the marlin was

ldquolanded on the seventh attemptrdquo and that ldquoseven sharks were killedrdquo in the fishrsquos defense

(78) The number seven is a sacred and significant number recurring in the Bible After

the seventh day of creation God rested there are seven days in a week et cetera

(Easton) The number seven is also seen as symbolizing perfection and rest

Another similarity of Santiago with Christ are the wounds that he receives on his

hands On the cross Christ was pierced in each hand to help keep him pinned to the

cross In his battle with the fish Santiago receives bad cutsmdashstigmatamdashon his hands

Santiago sees his hands as brothers and he often talks to them Carlos Baker explains that

Santiago ldquospeaks to them [his hands] as to fellow-sufferers wills them to do the work

they must do and makes due allowances for them as if they were what he once calls

them lsquomy brothersrsquordquo (313) Once he says aloud ldquoHersquos [the fish] coming up Come

on hand Please come onrdquo (Old Man Sea 62) The hands also represent good and bad

The right hand is good and the left hand is bad Santiagorsquos hands are compared to the

criminals on the crosses to the left and right of Jesus who was on his own cross in the

center Santiagorsquos right hand is his good one Santiago thought that his left hand ldquohad

always been a traitor and would not do what he called on it to do and he did not trust itrdquo

(71) Luke 2339 reads ldquoOne of the criminals who were hanged railed at him [Jesus]

saying lsquoAre you not the Christ Save yourself and usrsquordquo (English Standard Version) So

Santiagorsquos left hand is untrustworthy Santiagorsquos right hand is so reliable that he quit

arm-wrestling despite being ldquoEl Campeoacutenrdquo in order to keep his right hand in good

condition as a tool of his trade fishing (70-71) The thief on Jesusrsquo right rebukes the

70

other criminal Then in Luke 2342 the thief on the right of Jesus asks Jesus ldquoJesus

remember me when you come into your kingdomrdquo (English Standard Version) Jesus

assures this repentant thief that that day the thief will be with him in paradise

Santiagorsquos right hand is like the penitent thief on the cross to Jesusrsquo right This analogy

can also be applied to the Last Judgment At the Last Judgment the saved will be on the

right hand of the Savior while those who are rejected and damned will be on his left

(Baker 314)

When Santiago sees two sharks approaching he says ldquoAyrdquo (Old Man Sea 107)

Hemingway explains of this exclamation that ldquoThere is no translation for this word and

perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make involuntarily feeling the nail go

through his hands and into the woodrdquo (107) Given his affinity and brotherhood with the

marlin when Santiago sees his prize catch eaten by the sharks it is a mortifying terrible

and crucifying experience for him Through Santiagorsquos crucifixion experience he is

transfigured Baker says that Santiagorsquos experience is also a form of martyrdom

although Santiago doesnrsquot see himself as a martyr (315) Baker also suggests that

Santiagorsquos experience also renders to him a form of apotheosis (316) Backman suggests

that Santiago triumphs (11) On his return voyage to Cuba Santiago ldquocould hardly

breathe now and he felt a strange taste in his mouth It was coppery and sweet and he

was afraid of it for a moment But there was not much of itrdquo (Old Man Sea 119) This

can be likened to Christ when he receives and drinks the ldquosponge filled with vinegarrdquo or

sour wine in Matthew 2748 (Baker 319) When Santiago returns to Cuba he has dried

blood on his face reminiscent of the blood on Christrsquos face because of the crown of

71

thorns Having arrived back everybody is asleep and nobody is there to greet or help

him He only sees a meandering cat Like Christ on the cross when God forsook him

because of the load of sin that he was carrying Santiago is alone in his suffering ldquoThere

was no one to help him so he pulled the boat up as far as he couldrdquo (Old Man Sea 120)

Removing the mast and sail Santiago ldquoshouldered the mast and started to climbrdquo (121)

This is like Christ carrying the heavy cross (Backman 11) Santiago ldquostarted to climb

again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder He

tried to get up But it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder and

looked at the roadrdquo (Old Man Sea 121) This is similar to Christ stumbling and falling as

he carried his cross on the Via Dolorosa on the way to his crucifixion at Golgotha Like

Christ Santiago falls under the burden he is bearing

Back at his shack Santiago lays down to sleep ldquoHe pulled the blanket over his

shoulders and then over his back and legs and he slept face down on the newspapers with

his arms out straight and the palms of his hands uprdquo (121-22) Baker notes that Santiago

sleeps in a cruciform position that sums up ldquothe symbolic position naturally assumed all

the suffering through which he has passedrdquo (320) In his return Santiago also brings

evidence of his epic battlegood work to increase the faith of his disciple Manolo

(Wilson 371) Wilson asserts that Santiago is on his death-bed when Manolo finds him

(372) The eighty-seventh day of this second period ends on Ascension Day as it began

on Ash Wednesday and ldquoconstitutes all but the last ten days of the Easter Cycle from

Lent through Paschal tiderdquo (369-70) As Mary cried over Christ at the tomb Manolo

returns to Santiagorsquos shanty sees the old manrsquos hands and starts to cry (Old Man Sea

72

122) Wilson also asserts that Santiago matches up with Joseph Campbellrsquos archetypal

model for a ldquohero with a thousand facesrdquo (372) For example Santiago starts out on his

journey or calling with the aid of the helper Manolo Santiago ldquocrosses the threshold of

adventure and meets a trial that can take many forms including the brother-battle

dragon-battle crucifixion and a night-sea journey all of which can be seen as applying

in some way to the old fishermanrdquo (372) The mythic-like story culminates in a ldquosacred

marriagerdquo between Santiago and his prize marlin (372) Fellow writer William Although

Hemingway was not a good nor a professing Christian and for most of his life claimed to

be Catholic he was not a reformed believer Hemingway still continued to be

Hemingway Despite all this according to Carlos Baker ldquoThe consciousness of God is

in his booksrdquo (328)

73

74

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

Hemingway wanted to be a good man and a great writer but unfortunately he

did not turn out to be a good manmdashalthough he had his moments of goodness Although

he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not transform him He did not

have a salvation experience nor was his faith life-altering As a Catholic Hemingway

continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Hemingwayrsquos religious

life was one solely of Catholic rituals He did not overcome his problems In the end his

problems overcame him Hemingway himself said of his heart ldquoActually in regard to the

innermost contents of my heart probably a most foul place I would rather have a good

cardiograph reportrdquo (Hemingway in White 459) Hemingway added ldquoNo one of us lives

by as rigid standards nor has a good ethics as we planned but an attempt is maderdquo (461)

Hemingway was vindictive against his critics Hemingway viewed most fellow

writers as enemies if they were not officially his enemy he eventually went about to

convert them into his enemies Hemingway wanted to be the top dog of everythingmdash

especially the writing scenemdashand he didnrsquot want to share the spotlight with anyone else

Ernest felt ldquothat anyone elsersquos success diminished his ownrdquo (Hawkins 61) Hemingwayrsquos

writer friend Sherwood Anderson was the one in Chicago to suggest that Hemingway

and his newly-married first wife Hadley Richardson go to Paris instead of their planned

destination of Italy Anderson told the young Hemingway that Paris was where the

literary world was at that time and that it was also the place to get published This advice

75

was instrumental into turning Hemingway into the famed writer that he became Had it

not been for Anderson and his encouragement and faith in Hemingway Hemingway may

have never became a Nobel Prize winning writer Anderson gave Hemingway letters of

introduction to Gertrude Stein Sylvia Beach Ezra Pound and F Scott Fitzgerald Like

Harold Loeb Anderson also helped in getting Hemingwayrsquos In Our Time published

stressing its importance to Boni amp Liveright (Dearborn 177) Since Anderson pushed In

Our Time Boni amp Liveright did not want to upset itrsquos star writer so they agreed to

publish it (Hawkins 39)

However after all was said and done Hemingway wrote his satire Torrents of

Spring mocking Andersonrsquos writing style in order to try to get laughs and in order to get

out of his contract with his publisher Boni amp Liveright It worked Torrents of Spring

was rejected by Boni amp Liveright because Anderson was the companyrsquos star writer So

in lieu of this Hemingway was able to sign with Max Perkins and the publisher

Scribnerrsquos and Sons Yet in the process Hemingway had burned his bridge of friendship

with Anderson who had been so generous and helpful with the young budding writer

Others who knew of Andersonrsquos graciousness and kindness to Hemingway were appalled

by Torrents of Spring (Hawkins 44)

Hemingway was anti-Semitic mean and demeaning to people he berated them

and belittled them He thought that all guys should be macho Hemingway was not pure

evil but the evil produced by his unpredictable and uncontrollable temper pushed a lot of

peoplemdasheven one-time friendsmdashaway from him Archibald MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoHe was wonderful irreplaceable but an impossible friend a man you

76

couldnt get along with a man you couldnt get along withoutrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 167)

Robert Capa once told Leicester Hemingway ldquoPapa can be more severe than God on

a rough day when the whole human race is misbehavingrdquo (192) Hemingway was his

own worst enemy

Hemingway was not a good Catholic He was married four times and even

divorced a Catholic woman whom he later called his best wife (L Hemingway 271) It

is speculated that Hemingway had affairs with multiple women Hemingway would have

affairs before marrying his last two or three wives Hemingwayrsquos son Jack ldquoBumbyrdquo

Hemingway surmised that Hemingway had an affair with the beautiful blond Jane

Mason in 1933 (Hawkins 152) According to Jack ldquoErnest bragged to him that Jane

liked climbing through the transom to his [Hemingwayrsquos] room at the Ambos Mundos

Hotelrdquo (153) Moreover a prostitute was known to have visited the Finca Vigiacutea

Although Hemingway was Catholic he didnrsquot really change his behavior to live

in sync with the Bible or all Catholic teachings He followed the rituals of the Church

not so much a personal transformative side Yet claiming to be Catholic Hemingway

lived by his own code In the end although Hemingway was not a good person he had

some good memories of a childhood growing up and some good experiences as an adult

Even with his bad experiences Hemingway was able to incorporate them into his

literature Hemingwayrsquos keen insight his precise powers of observation his absorption

of the knowledge gained from others and the Protestant work ethic of his youth paid off

as Hemingway put all of his being into trying to be an honest writer writing one true

sentence at a time and helping his audience to see the world through open and honest

77

eyes to help his readers see feel and almost literally experience first-hand what he was

writing aboutmdashthe good the bad and the ugly Though a flawed human being

Hemingway was a brilliant writer and his brilliance lives on through his works of

literature

WORKS CITED

75

WORKS CITED

Backman Melvin ldquoHemingway The Matador and the Crucifiedrdquo Modern Fiction

Studies 13 (1955) 2-11

Baker Carlos Hemingway the Writer as Artist Princeton Princeton University Press

1963 Print

Berman Ron ldquoProtestant Catholic Jew The Sun Also Risesrdquo The Hemingway

Review 181 (1998) 33 Web

Blume Lesley MM Everybody Behaves Badly the True Story Behind Hemingwayrsquos

Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises Boston Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016

Print

Cohn-Sherbok Dan Anti-Semitism Brimscombe Port Stroud The History Press 2002

Print

Dearborn Mary V Ernest Hemingway a Biography New York Alfred A Knopf

2017 Print

Di Robilant Andrea Autumn in Venice Ernest Hemingway and his Last Muse New

York Alfred A Knopf 2018 Print

Djos Matts ldquoAlcoholism in Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises A Wine and Roses

Perspective on the Lost Generationrdquo The Hemingway Review 142 (1995) 64

Easton MG Illustrated Bible Dictionary 3rd ed Thomas Nelson 1897 Bible Study

Toolscom Web 1 Dec 2018

ESV Study Bible English Standard Version Wheaton Crossway Bibles 2008 Print

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

COPYRIGHT PAGE ii

DEDICATION

CHAPTER

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

TABLE OF CONTENTSv

ABSTRACT vi

1 INTRODUCTION 1

New Historicism 1The Cultural Context and Overview of the Chapters to Follow 4

2 HEMINGWAY AND JUDAISM6

Historical Overview of Judaism6Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in his Novels 15

3 HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY 28

4 HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY 48

5 CONCLUSION71

WORKS CITED 74

v

ABSTRACT

Despite having been raised a Congregational Protestant Ernest Hemingway

abandoned the faith of his youth after he left homemdashespecially after he experienced

destruction and death in the Italian theater during World War I In the following years

Hemingway converted to Catholicism when he married his second wife Pauline Pfeifer

Hemingway also had an anti-Semitic streak often using racial slurs and even making the

villain in his first novel The Sun Also Rises to be a rich Jew This thesis uses new

historicism as the critical lens through which to view Hemingwayrsquos attitude towards

Judaism and Christianity It includes an investigation of his biography and some of his

novels Though he practiced Catholicism he sometimes had negative things to say about

it Yet his later novels show an increased level of spirituality culminating in The Old

Man and the Sea

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

This thesis utilizes new historicism as a lens through which to view Hemingwayrsquos

attitude towards religion and spirituality It involves first a brief explanation of this

perspective and then an investigation of Hemingwayrsquos life and several of his novels

New Historicism

Stephen Greenblatt gets the credit for coining the term ldquonew historicismrdquo in a

1982 issue of Genre (Harpham 363) Greenblatt saw new historicism as a practice not a

doctrine Greenblatt preferred the term ldquocultural poeticsrdquo in lieu of the term new

historicism New historicism is cultural interpretation New historicism searches the real

and the raw and claims to give a new approach to history Brook Thomas sees new

historicism as linking a bridge to the literary past (Thomas 182) It claims to give a new

approach to history providing a new angle from which to view the past According to

Thomas ldquoNew historicism suggests the newness of the pastrdquo (25) According to Joel

Fineman new historicism ldquoproposes to introduce a novelty or an innovation something

lsquo[n]ewrsquo into the closed and closing historiography of successive innovationrdquo (qtd in

Harpham 362) New historicism suggests that through an understanding of the past the

reader will see the past through new eyes and as it was seen in the past itself (Thomas

187) Plus new historicism seeks to represent those who were not represented in the

past New historicism is categorized as ldquoAgainst Theoryrdquo (187) Yet it is a theory in its

own respect New historicism questions whether dominant cultural forces predominate or

2

if cultural power is potentially undermined by other underlying destabilizing forces

(Harpham 360)

New historicism incorporates the reading of ldquoboth literary and non-literary textsrdquo

in order to understand the past from the point of view of the past (Kerridge 10)

Literature is defined as a cultural construct being unique to its own era and it is ldquoshaped

by the many peoples and discourses of that erardquo (10) New historicists believe that texts

should be viewed from their original setting and from the cultural context of that

particular period (10) Jane Tompkins in writing from the new historicist perspective

tries to sympathetically recreate the context in which literary works were produced and

the specific problems to which these literary works were devoted (185) Put simply new

historicism seeks to understand writers via their own historical terms (Veeser 186) New

historicists hope that by ldquoReconstructing an era from the materials it produced the

historian could sympathetically reinhabit the pastrdquo (89) Using the new historicist model

texts can reveal insights about the people that created them their discourses and their

ideology (Kerridge 10-11) In new historicism ldquoliterary and non-literary textsrdquo are given

equal scrutiny and regard (11) Consequently literature is a unique by-product of the

culture from which it originated and sheds unique insight into that culture

Despite Greenblattrsquos preference for his own term ldquocultural poeticsrdquo the term

new historicism stuck Whereas Greenblatt coined the term some scholars see Michel

Foucault as the power behind the method (Harpham 369) Foucault encouraged a group

of young scholars at Berkeley to promote new historicism in their journal

3

Representations In addition Foucault seemed to learn from this group Foucaultrsquos

ldquomost identifiable legacy in American literary studiesrdquo was new historicism (370)

New historicism claims to represent the real by defining the real as the textual

(360) According to Harpham ldquoLiterature is traditionally said to produce an lsquoethicalrsquo

effect through its ability to transcend its historical momentrdquo (374) Harpham says that the

real is defined as the local the material and the specific He also notes that ldquoA lsquonewrsquo

historicism promises knowledge of the past that really is knowledge that discloses the

object as in itself it really was that is not simply a reflex or internal mirroring of

contemporary self-awarenessrdquo (362) It is the goal of the new historicist to be objective

instead of subjective For instance the subjective seeks to define history through

personal tastes feelings and opinions New historicism is the opposed to this New

historicism seeks to present the past as it really was without the modern biases and

prejudices of those currently researching it New historicism tries to see through the eyes

and minds of the people who actually lived through and experienced history It tries to

understand the mindset and the feelings of the people of the time period in question

What people thought and how people thought is important Todayrsquos current beliefs

should be left out of the mix Past beliefs are essential to understanding the thinking

processes of the past

4

The Cultural Context and Overview of the Chapters To Follow

Ernest Hemingway was a man of his times Like many of his Lost Generation

after the Great War (in particular) he abandoned the faith of his youth although he quite

possibly did earlier World War I cemented this rejection In Hemingwayrsquos twenties he

married and then committed adultery According to Hemingway biographer Mary V

Dearborn he liked to marry those with whom he slept Hemingway started attending

religious services again after his second marriage to the rich Catholic Pauline Pfeiffer

Hemingway lived as an expat in Paris during the Roaring 20s Hemingwayrsquos friends

were newspapermen artists and writers Paris was hedonistic in those days After the

carnage and terror of World War I the returning Lost Generation just wanted to live life

to the utmost and the fullest In early-twentieth-century Paris Hemingway lived in an

atmosphere of lax morals Anything went In consequence he conformed to the culture

around him Some of Hemingwayrsquos literary friends were anti-Semitic Perhaps they

influenced him but Hemingway eventually showed signs of anti-Semitism too

Moreover some of the authors that Hemingway read especially as he was trying to

become a better writer were anti-Semitic themselves Living in predominantly Catholic

France converting to Catholicism at the insistence of his second wife was an easy task

for Hemingway Many of his friends were CatholicmdashJames Joyce being one At the

time Hemingway was just a conforming product of the culture and attitudes of those

around him He wanted to fit it inmdashhe wanted to be one of the boysmdashyet throughout his

life and his writing he was haunted by death and he wanted to find a spiritual solution to

his many struggles

5

Chapter 2 investigates Hemingway and Judaism and Chapter 3 centers on

Hemingway and Christianity In Chapter 4 the author argues that although he didnrsquot turn

out to be a good person and was vindictive against fellow writers critics and others

Hemingway was a good writer and used all his experiences good and bad to bring across

the truth and reality of life in his works of literature Hemingwayrsquos last novel Old Man

and the Sea provides the clearest statement of his spiritual and religious perspective

6

CHAPTER 2

HEMINGWAY AND JUDIASM

Historical Overview of Judaism

Anti-Semitism or hatred of Jews has been around since the rise of Judaism In

the Old Testament Pharaoh was the first political leader known to persecute the Jews

Pharaoh was concerned with the growing Jewish population and their loyalty Among

many other things he tried to kill Jewish ldquofirst-born sonsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 13) Next in

the Old Testament Haman tried to have the Jews killed off under Queen Esther

However most scholars agree that anti-Semitism came into its own in the years after

Christ left this earth For example Dan Cohn-Sherbok argues that ldquoit was only when

Christianity emerged in the first century CE that Jews came to be viewed as contemptible

and demonicrdquo (17)

Unfortunately the intensity of anti-Semitism in Christianity was mainly due to

misinterpretation In earlier centuries AD people could not read Scripture for themselves

and they were consequently misled In those days people had faith in and trusted the

Catholic Church seeing the pope as infallible Some misinterpreted Scripture to say that

the Jews were responsible for Christrsquos death However Scripture emphasizes that Christ

died for all so consequently he died for everyone If one looks at it from that point of

view then everyone past present and future were are and will be responsible for

Christrsquos death Yet some didnrsquot look at it that way In fact the Apostle Paul went out of

his way to preach and try to reach Jews first

7

Paul wrote in Romans 116 ldquoFor I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the

power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the

Greekrdquo (English Standard Version) John 422 reads ldquoYou worship what you do not

know we [Jews] worship what we know for salvation is from the Jewsrdquo In Romans

1117-18 Paul suggests that Gentile believers are just grafted into the Jewish promise ldquoIf

some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive were grafted in

among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree [then] do

not be arrogant toward the branches but if you are arrogant remember that it is not you

who supports the root but the root supports yourdquo Unfortunately some uninformed

early Christians did not put two and two together For some it was believed that the

Christian Church took the place of Israel which isnrsquot accurate Some believed that ldquothe

Church was the true inheritor of Godrsquos promisesrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 45) It was

believed that Jews no longer had a covenant with God and that Christians had completely

overshadowed and replaced Israel in that covenant This is not true

Acts 1346 reads of preaching to the Jews first ldquoIt was necessary that the word of

God be spoken to you firstrdquo Jesus also a Jew promoted preaching to the Jews first In

Matthew 125-6 Jesus says to the twelve disciples ldquoGo nowhere among the Gentiles and

enter no town of the Samaritans but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israelrdquo

(English Standard Version) In Matthew 1524 Jesus says ldquoI was sent only to the lost

sheep of the house of Israelrdquo (English Standard Version) The first Christians were a

group of Jews Jews were different so eventually urban legends sprang up without

accurate facts and the knowledge of Judaismrsquos teachings some people latched onto these

8

false assumptions and believed the lies that others were propagating about the Jews For

instance Jews were accused of murdering Christian children and then using their blood

for ritual practices It was believed that Jews used the blood of murdered Christian

children ldquoin the preparation of unleavened bread for Passoverrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 54) The

ritual murder charge was a misunderstanding (81) In fact in the fourteenth century

Jews were accused of bringing about the Black Death by poisoning the wells and springs

(60 67) This assertion first gained credence in southern France (81) Yet Jews suffered

and died under the Black Death as well This is an example of the Jews being blamed as

scapegoats

In the early Church the Bishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom accused the

early Hebrews of sacrificing ldquotheir sons and daughters to demons andrdquo eating their own

children (37 47) Chrysostom said of synagogues ldquoto go there was no better than

visiting a brothel a robberrsquos den or any indecent place [it is] a theatre a house of

prostitution and domicile of the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom said that the Jews ldquohave

surpassed the ferocity of wild beasts since they murder their offspring and immolate

them to the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom also accused the Jews of worshipping the devil Yet

Jeremiah 313b reads in reference to Israel ldquoI have loved you with an everlasting love

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to yourdquo (English Standard Version) If so-

called Christians would have accurately read this during this period they would have

seen that God loves his people and his nation Israel But some Christians thought that

the Christian Church entirely replaced Godrsquos Covenant with the Jews Consequently

Chrysostom said that Christians must hate the Jews (Cohn-Sherbok 47) Yet hatred is an

9

anti-Christian doctrine In Matthew 544 Jesus says ldquoBut I say to you Love your

enemies and pray for those who persecute

yourdquo (English Standard Version)

False conceptions of the Jews even seemed to be found among some of the

Church Fathers Some of the Church Fathers were frustrated that the Jews would not

convert to Christianity nor would they renounce their Judaism In some cases the quest

for converts became a competition Cohn-Sherbok writes ldquoDuring the same period

Tertullian the African Church Father called the synagogues of his day lsquofountains of

persecution of Christiansrsquordquo (46) Justin Martyr ldquorelated that Jews laugh curse and insult

Jesusrdquo (46) Jerome referred to Jews as Judases (47) In fact Judas was thought to be

ldquosymbolic of the Jewish peoplerdquo (84) In the New Testament ldquothe figure of Judas

was associated in the public mind with deviousness and treacheryrdquo (83)

Desecration of the communion host became another false charge against the Jews

as the then-Christians believed in the doctrine of transubstantiation In the doctrine of

transubstantiation the communion bread and wine (of the Eucharist) literally becomes

the body and blood of Jesus During this time it was believed that Jews stole the host in

order ldquoto assault it and thereby torture Christrdquo (80) The charge of desecration of the

Host was a hallucinatory fantasy (82) However the Jews did not believe in the Doctrine

of Transubstantiation which was affirmed at Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 (80) Only

Catholics believe this doctrine today Since the Jews did not believe in

transubstantiation they would in all likelihood not have attacked the host because they

10

couldnrsquot believe that they were actually attacking Christ in the process Desecration of

the Host was a wild belief and a total fantasy

In some cases the Talmud was burned because it was believed to be anti-

Christian Agobard Archbishop of Lyons believed that Jews stole Christian children

and sold them to Arabs (64) He also believed that Jews seduced Christian women All

sorts of wild beliefs developed about Jews many without factual basis It was all

conjecture and imagination In Germany ldquoa French monk Radulph went about preaching

that Jews were enemies of God and should be persecutedrdquo (65) As previously

mentioned the Jews were scapegoats they were blamed for everything During the

witch-hunting crazed days of the fifteenth century Jews were seen as being in cahoots

with witches and the devil (71) During this time it was believed that the Jews were born

misshapen hemorrhoidal and both sexes afflicted with menstruation In Trnava

Slovakia it was believed that Christian blood was an excellent means by which ldquoto cure

the wound produced by circumcisionrdquo (71)

For the duration of the Middle Ages ldquoChristians viewed Jews as sorcerers able to

cast spells against their enemiesrdquo (72) It was believed consequently that the Jews were

capable of working magic against Christians During the Black Death it was also

believed that Jews wanted to poison Christians In fact ldquoJews were accused of using

Christian blood for magical purposesrdquo (73) The little contact that these early Christians

had with Jews also led to their paranoia viewing the Jews as an alien mysterious and

strange people (74) Urban legends seemed to sprout up due to the lack of knowledge

Ignorance of Jews reigned

11

Jewish medicine too became suspect It was claimed that high rulers were killed

off through Jewish medicine During the Middle Ages the Vienna Faculty of Medicine

thought that ldquothe private code of Jewish doctors required them to murder one patient in

tenrdquo (77) Jews were eventually thought to possess attributes of the devil The Jews

ldquowere perceived as having horns tails and the beard of a goat and could be recognized

by their noxious smell the foetor judaiumlcusrdquo (79) Consequently the Jews were seen as

sub-human It was believed that Jews lacked morality anything went with them Jews

were so despised that they were exiled from countries At different times Spain France

and England expelled their Jewish populations In some instances they were invited

back

The charges against Jews were grotesque fantasies Tracts were written against

the Jews One such read of the Jews ldquolsquoDemons from hell race of the Jews detestable

men more accursed than Lucifer and more wicked than all the devils cruel tigers be

gone unworthy as you are to live among us when you thirst so for bloodrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 86)

Martin Luther at first favored the Jews writing a pamphlet That Christ was Born

a Jew However after he was unable to convert the Jews to his Protestant Reformed

Christian faith he became anti-Semitic So ldquoLuther stressed that they [the Jews] are the

most contemptible of all peoplesrdquo (90) Luther wrote ldquorsquomake no mistake that aside from

the Devil you have no enemy more venomous more desperate more bitter than a true

Jew who truly seeks to be a Jewrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90) Moreover ldquoMartin Luther

speculated that if the Jews could kill Christians they would gladly do sordquo (73)

12

Of the Jews Luther believed that ldquoThose who tolerate them [the Jews] will incur

great loss lsquoWhoever wishes to accept venomous serpents desperate enemies of the Lord

and to honour them to let himself be robbed pillaged corrupted and cursed by them

need only turn to the Jewsrsquordquo (90) Luther suggested of the Jews ldquoTheir synagogues

should be set on fire and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over

with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of itrdquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 90) Luther wrote ldquoTheir [Jewsrsquo] homes should likewise be broken down and

destroyed For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues

they should be deprived of their prayerbooks [sic] and Talmud in which idolatry lies

cursing and blasphemy are taught their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death

to teach any morerdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther also wrote ldquoPassport and travelling privileges should be absolutely

forbidden to the Jews They ought to be stopped from usury Let the young and

strong Jews and Jewesses be given the flail the axe the hoe the spade the distaff and

spindle and let them earn their bread by the sweat of their browrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok

90) Luther called the Jews an ldquoinsufferable devilish burdenrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther said that Jews were ldquochildren of the Devil condemned to the flames of hellrdquo (qtd

in Cohn-Sherbok 91) Luther believed that the Jews should be despised Luther even

thought that ldquothe Jews are worse than the devilsrdquo (91) Luther saw the Jews as

ldquoinstigators of social and economic corruptionrdquo (94) Luther thought that the Jews

wanted to ldquodestroy Christian civilizationrdquo (95)

13

Luther saw himself in a fight against Satan in the Jews Despite Lutherrsquos anti-

Semitism a good thing did emerge out of the Protestant Reformation Scripture was

translated into the common vernacular so that literate people could see what the Bible

said for themselves instead taking a priestrsquos or a popersquos word for it This led to literate

Christians seeing the Jews through the lens of Scripture instead of through anti-Jewish

sermons and hear-say from church leaders

In Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century the Jews were seen as favoring political

revolution and as having played a role in the revolutionary activities of the era (231)

This viewpoint started after the revolutions of 1848 (244) and it is not entirely off the

mark For example Karl Marx was a Jew Although not all Jews were revolutionaries

Nicholas Reynolds says that ldquoMore than a few Russian revolutionaries were Jewish one

reaction to the state-sanctioned anti-Semitism and the resulting pogroms that occurred

with frightening regularityrdquo (Writer Sailor Solider Spy 72) Capitalism also came to be

associated with the Jewsmdashparticularly its vices (Cohn-Sherbok 248) In the United

States the Jews were blamed for the Russian Revolution (231) There was fear of the

Jews or Judaeophobia A writer that Hemingway read was the anti-Semitic Fyodor

Dostoyevsky Perhaps this helped to influence Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

Dostoyevsky wrote ldquoLike a vast tightening net the power of assimilated Jewry stretches

over the whole world and no matter where we set foot we are caught in it We must

struggle to our last drop of blood against the insidious Judaization of Europe and

especially of Germanismrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 232)

14

In 1912 the Marconi Affair hit Great Britain Two leading Jewish politicians

Rufus Isaacs and Herbert Samuels were implicated in this corruption scandal

Eyewitness reported ldquoIsaacsrsquo brother is the president of the Marconi Company Isaacs

and Samuels have privately arranged to have the British people pay the Marconi

Company a considerable sum of money through the intermediary of Samuels and for

Isaacsrsquo benefitrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 236) In wake of the Marconi Affair one of

Hemingwayrsquos early favorite writers Rudyard Kipling ldquodedicated a hymn of hate to the

affairrdquo (236) Like the biblical greedy and crafty servant (of the prophet Elisha) Gehazi

who is punished with leprosy for his sins Kiplingrsquos poem ldquowas intended to illustrate the

cunning of these Jewish [Marconi] politiciansrdquo (236)

Once America made its foray into World War I ldquoJews were seen as participants

in international conspiracyrdquo (240) Americans thought that the Jews might be part of the

Russian Revolution In the literary world ldquoa number of writers commented on the evil

influence of Jewryrdquo (241) Hemingwayrsquos one-time-friend and literary mentor F Scott

Fitzgerald was one such example In fact Fitzgerald negatively portrayed New York

Jewish merchants in his novel The Beautiful and the Damned

Down in a tall busy street he read a dozen Jewish names on a line of stores In

the door of each stood a dark little man [Jew] watching the passersby with intent

eyes eyes gleaming with suspicion with pride with clarity with cupidity with

comprehension New Yorkmdashhe could not dissociate it now from the slow

upward creep of this people The little stores growing expanding consolidating

15

moving watched over with hawkrsquos eyes and a beersquos attention to detail (qtd in

Cohn-Sherbok 241)

This anti-Semitic view of Jews could have influenced Hemingway whether he read the

book or if Fitzgerald made his anti-Semitic views known to Hemingway The same

could be said of Ezra Pound Ezra Pound was a big anti-Semite and one of Hemingwayrsquos

friends It could be questioned if Ezra Pound influenced Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

In July of 1943 Pound was indicted for treason due to his anti-Semitic pro-Fascist radio

broadcasts from Italy (Dearborn 491) Poundrsquos radio broadcasts ldquowere shocking even

vilemdashhe recommended The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf he spoke of

the lsquo60 kikes who started this warrsquo and asserted lsquoThe Jew is a savagersquordquo (491) Later

due to Hemingwayrsquos suggestion Pound pleaded insanity and spent several years in an

Institution Hemingwayrsquos one-time friend Donald Ogden Stewart who was present for

the Pamplona bull fights in 1925 ldquotook the blame for having been the probable inspiration

for Bill Gortonrsquos [a character in The Sun Also Rises] anti-Semitic remarks and

exclamationsrdquo (Blume 123) Stewart wrote that ldquoI have no doubt that I was really

basically anti-Semitic in those days as probably also was Hemingwayrdquo (123) Lesley

Blume stresses that Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism ldquowas not a deep-rooted hatred like

the variety that gave rise to Nazismrdquo (123) Stewart referred to Hemingwayrsquos anti-

Semitism as ldquoa form of social snobbishness something that people simply took for

granted [during that time]rdquo (Blume 123) One would think that after the Holocaust

Hemingway would cease his anti-Semitic comments but he still continued In

16

Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century ldquoAmerican literature repeatedly described Jews in the

most unsavoury (sic) termsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 249)

The French also saw the Jews as having played a part in the Russian Revolution

(241) In France where Hemingway lived part of his literary life Alphonse Toussenel

wrote ldquoThe Jews King of the Epoch [in which] he blamed the Jews for the ills afflicting

societyrdquo (248) In France ldquoAccording to Edouard-Adolphe Drumont in La France Juive

the [French] Revolution had benefited only the Jewsrdquo (248) Edouard-Adolphe Drumont

caricatured the Jews as being hook-nosed possessing ldquohuge ears soft hands and arms of

unequal lengthrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 248) In France the Dreyfus Affair of the

nineteenth century had ratcheted up the prominence and appeal of French anti-Semitism

Yet the logical consequence of anti-Semitism took place years later during World War II

when Hitler instituted the Holocaust Of course Hemingway knew of this deadly result

of anti-Semitism but it is unknown how much it changed his view of Jews as later he

did show some more anti-Semitic behavior Perhaps old habits die hard

Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in His Novels

Unfortunately Hemingway was an anti-Semite To what degree is unknown

Some say that Hemingway was mildly or casually anti-Semitic (Hendrickson 32)

However in fits of anger Hemingway would hurl anti-Semitic slurs at those he knew to

be Jews Yet ironically ldquoHemingway knew admired and imitated Jewsrdquo like his friend

and literary mentor Gertrude Stein (Berman 39) Hemingway was also friends with

Harold Loeb a Jewish man (Dearborn 192) Hemingway and Loeb had played tennis

17

boxed and wrestled together In The Sun Also Rises the character of Robert Cohn is

based upon Harold Loeb Hemingway once had good things to say of Loeb On March

4 1925 Hemingway wrote to William B Smith of Loeb ldquoA hell of a good guy

Loeb is a male you can wrestle wit He aint been throwed since he learned in Princeton-

only weighs 150 about Heavy weights cant throw him Hersquos never wrestled pros or of

course hersquos have got throwed Still he aint been throwed I tried to throw him and he

throwed me in no timerdquo (sic throughout Hemingway in Katakis 28) In The Sun Also

Rises the Loeb Robert Cohn character is also Jake Barnesrsquo tennis partner (13) Despite

all his anti-Semitism later Hemingway married the half-Jewish reporter and writer

Martha Gellhorn as his third wife (Stoneback 136) Unfortunately it is exactly unknown

why Hemingway was anti-Semitic It would seem that the times in which he lived played

a role

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway has a stereo-typical Jewish character Robert

Cohn that he portrays as a proud rich weak self-pitying self-doubting awkward

sniveling whining misbehaving mannerless undesirable unremarkable and

dysfunctional killjoy who is an outsider and a drag on everyonersquos spirits Cohn is

supposed to represent all Jews (Berman 39) In fact Hemingway goes so far as to write

that Jews are inferior Hemingway writes of Cohn ldquoHe cared nothing for boxing in fact

he disliked it but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of

inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princetonrdquo (Sun 11) Loeb

had also gone to Princeton

18

Hemingway based almost the entire book of The Sun Also Rises on a real life

event that happened when Loeb Lady Duff Twysden and Pat Guthrie (Lady Duffrsquos

cousin and boyfriend) joined him Hemingwayrsquos first wife Hadley Richardson Don

Stewart and Bill Smith in Pamplona for the Festival of San Fermiacuten in July of 1925

(Dearborn 188) In the novel this group goes to Pamplona to have fun They join in the

Spanish Festival of San Fermiacuten where they drink excessively party and watch

professional bullfights All this time the Harold Loeb character Robert Cohn follows

his former lover Lady Brett Ashely around like a lap-dog and from the perspective of

the other festival-goers makes everyone else miserable

Hemingwayrsquos publication of this event into fiction hurt many of the real-life

players in the memorable drama The real Lady Brett Ashley Lady Duff Twysden later

referred to the book as nothing more than ldquocheap reportingrdquo (qtd in Blume 206) Former

Hemingway friend Donald Ogden Stewart felt the same way In his 1975 memoir By a

Stroke of Luck Stewart still refused to give The Sun Also Rises ldquothe artistic stature that

others accorded itrdquo (Blume 230) Stewartrsquos son recalls that his dad would say ldquoThatrsquos

exactly what happened it was like a photographrdquo (qtd in Blume 230) So for Stewart

the novel was just a retelling of events it is did not utilize artistic narrative originality

Just as Robert Cohn had had an affair with Lady Brett Ashley so Loeb had had an

intimate relationship with Lady Duff Twysden Scholars are unsure as to whether

Hemingway had any serious relationship with Lady Duff however he was jealous He

liked her In his reasoning he had met Lady Duff first (Dearborn 188) ldquoEven though

[Hemingway] had no plans to sleep with Duff himself that didnrsquot mean according to his

19

logic that she was fair game for Harold [Loeb]rdquo (188) Hemingway was protective of

Lady Duff and Hemingway saw Loeb as a snake (189) Perhaps Loebrsquos success with

Lady Duff finally pushed Hemingway against him

Mary V Dearborn notes that Hemingway was also jealous that Loebrsquos book

Doodab was coming out before his ownmdashLoebrsquos in May Hemingwayrsquos in October

(191) Hemingway was very competitive in his writing career In fact before

Hemingway made it as a fiction writer Harold Loeb had gone so far as to help

Hemingway get his first book of short stories In Our Time published (204) It is noted

that ldquoHarold [Loeb] rescued In Our Time from the returns pile at [Boni amp] Liveright [the

publishing company] he fought for the book and he was instrumental in getting it

publishedrdquo (192) Loeb had pleaded with Boni amp Liveright ldquoHold it Give it [In Our

Time] another reading I know what Irsquom talking aboutrdquo (Hawkins 39) In fact if it

were not for the persistence of his well-connected friends Hemingway may have quite

possibly never been published at all since his manuscripts had been repeatedly rejected

Unfortunately Hemingway did not like to give credit to others for helping him to rise in

his profession He wanted to take all the credit and the glory for himself He wanted to

be self-sufficient In addition having not gone to college Hemingway was leery of

college-educated men He felt inferior to them and he would try to compete with them in

order to make himself look and feel better Since Harold Loeb was a Princeton graduate

Hemingway was possibly disdainful of this and in all likelihood held it against Loeb

In trying to get In Our Time published Loeb took Hemingway to former Boni amp

Liveright vice president Leon Fleischmanrsquos Paris apartment (Blume 71) Previously

20

ldquoKitty Cannell [the Frances character in Sun] heard him [Hemingway] unthinkably use

lsquokikersquo with such casualness and scorn that she warned her Jewish lover Harold Loeb to

be careful with Hemingwayrdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 242) Kitty Cannell worried

that Hemingway ldquomight create a terrible scene in front of Fleischman and his wife

Helen She said as much to Loeb He brushed her offrdquo (Blume 71) After this meeting

with Fleischman Harold Loeb heard Hemingway malign Jews in his speech

Hemingway had a way of maligning making fun of and satirizing his friends and his

perceived enemies In the process he lost many friends and unnecessarily caused the

creation of many enemies In fact the release of The Sun Also Rises shocked Loeb as he

had thought that he and Hemingway were good friends (Dearborn 191-92)

Hemingway also turned on his former Jewish mentor Gertrude Stein

Hemingway got mad at Stein when she would not write a review for his new book In

Our Time Stein wanted to wait and see if Hemingway was going to be a success first

On November 8 1925 Hemingway commented to Ezra Pound of Stein ldquoWhat a lot of

safe playing kikesrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 38) Later in life after they broke with each

other Hemingway and Stein would arguemdashthrough writingmdashand trade barbs with one

another Hemingway would mock Stein In his article for Esquire in the April 1934

issue ldquoAD in Africa A Tanganyika Letterrdquo Hemingway wonders ldquohow much Buddha

at that age would resemble Gertrude Steinrdquo (Hemingway in White 159)

Hemingway was also against the troubled literary critic Dorothy Parker

(Dearborn 247) The half-Jewess Dorothy Parker was tough in her literary criticism yet

she gave Hemingway great reviews She adored Hemingway but Hemingway didnrsquot

21

return the feelings (Blume 155) Parker and Hemingway had met in New York In

Hemingway Parker thought that she had found a kindred spirit (156) During

Hemingwayrsquos New York visit Parker ldquobecame so engrossed in his tales of the Left Bank

that she shunted aside her skepticism and decided on the spot to move abroadrdquo (156)

Parker became for Hemingway a strong ally among literary critics Blume notes of

Parker ldquoIn years to come she would also pen several adoring Hemingway profiles and

book reviewsrdquo (156) Hemingway and Parker became so familiar that eventually

Hemingway started calling Parker ldquoDottyrdquo (156) Parker was so taken with Hemingway

that her ldquodevotion to him bordered on idolatryrdquo (158) But Parkerrsquos love for Hemingway

was a useful tool in Hemingwayrsquos arsenal

Unfortunately Parker was probably not stable She had tried to kill herself twice

within three years She confided in Hemingway ldquoabout a late-stage abortion she had

recently undergone about attempting suicide and about some other recent bad luck in

her liferdquo (qtd in Dearborn 247) During their conversation Hemingway discovered that

Parker did not like Spain For Parker ldquoPretty much everything about the countrymdashfrom

its treatment of animals to the rump-pinching habits of Spanish menmdashhad appalled herrdquo

(Blume 193) Moreover ldquoIn Barcelona she had walked out of a bullfight after a bull

gored a horse and declared that she found matadors disgustingrdquo (193) Back in Paris with

Hemingway ldquoParker had imparted these impressions to Hemingway for whom such

views amounted to sacrilegerdquo (193) Hemingway was offended by this and like other

things Hemingway took this personally to heart as he was an ardent Hispanophile loving

the Spanish country its people the slow pace of life and its culture (Dearborn 247)

22

Finally Hemingway ldquohad little sympathy for the self-inflicted wounds of a caustic and

comparatively pampered urbaniterdquo (Blume 194)

Later ldquoErnest wrote a long cruel poem about Parker not published until both

were dead called lsquoTo a Tragic Poetessrsquo revealing the personal details she had evidently

related during their most recent meetingrdquo (Dearborn 247-48) In the poem Hemingway

ldquoreferred to the dead fetus noted that she had all too conveniently failed in her suicide

attempts and mocked her failures with men He was pointedly mean about her being

Jewish referring to lsquothe Jewish cheeks of your plump assrsquordquo (248) The second half of

Hemingwayrsquos poem ldquoconsists of insults piled on Parker and others who out of ignorance

about it do not appreciate Spain (inevitably bullfighting comes up)rdquo (248) Pauline

Pfeiffer didnrsquot like this poem and referred to it as ldquoabout twelve tents [tenths] out of water

mayberdquo (Hawkins 59) Pauline thought the poem shrill In 1926 at the home of Archie

and Ada McLeish Ernest read this poem ldquoTo a Tragic Poetessrdquo to the assembled

gathering to try to get some laughs (Dearborn 248) No laughs came Donald Ogden

Stewart called the poem ldquoviciously unfair and unfunnyrdquo (qtd in Blume 194) Because of

the reading of the poem the Stewarts kept their distance from Hemingway from there on

out and Don Stewart was never close to Hemingway again (Dearborn 248) Ironically

since the poem was never published until after Parkerrsquos death ldquoParker never learned

about the existence of the poem [and] unaware of its existence she continued to write

wildly enthusiastic reviews of Hemingwayrsquos work in The New Yorker and called him one

of her favorite writersrdquo (Blume 194) Parker also called Hemingway ldquothe greatest living

American short story writerrdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 164)

23

There is also other evidence of Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism In his early years at

Lake Walloon the Point where the young people always liked to fish was sold ldquoto two

Jews who wanted to build a club houserdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 114) Bill

Smith later recalled that he and Ernest had planned to throw rotten fish down the Jewsrsquo

chimney at the lake (M Reynolds Paris Years 252) In the mid-1920s Hemingway

wrote Ezra Pound calling the aspiring poet Dave OrsquoNeil a ldquorsquoCelto-Kikersquordquo (Dearborn

134) Hemingway also wrote of his friend Nathan Asch ldquoYou couldnrsquot tell [of Asch

being a talented writer] Jews go bad quicklyrdquo (163) Later in Key West Hemingway

referred to the town as a ldquoJew administered phony of a townrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 154)

At the time that Hemingway wrote this Key West was for all intents and purposes

bankrupt ldquounable to collect enough taxes to pay its billsrdquo (N Reynolds 7) Under the

New Deal the town of Key West had ldquopetitioned the governor to take over the cityrdquo

(Hendrickson 154) As such ldquoThe Florida branch of Franklin Delano Rooseveltrsquos

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) stepped in and took overrdquo (N

Reynolds 7) Plus under the New Deal the plan was to turn Key West into a tourist

destination making Hemingwayrsquos home on Whitehead Street one of the attractions (8)

This would interfere with Hemingwayrsquos deeply coveted privacy (8) Moreover

Hemingway was disillusioned with the government after some World War I veterans

were killed during a hurricane that hit some of the Florida Keys

Later In Cuba in May 1955 The Old Man and the Sea film version of the novel

was to be filmed Hemingwayrsquos Jewish friend Peter Viertel who was writing the

screenplay joked with Hemingway in order to try to break up the tension between Ernest

24

and the film producer kidding ldquoabout Santiago going out on the eighty-fifth day and not

catching a fishrdquo (Dearborn 573) This made Hemingway mad Narrowing his eyes and

gritting his teeth he said ldquoThe Jews have always had a superior attitude toward fishingmdash

probably because fish has never been part of their dietrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573) This

Jewish comment in turn made Viertel mad and he said that ldquohe thought Ernest had

gotten beyond his anti-Semitism with The Sun Also Risesrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573)

Hemingway felt contrite that he had lashed out against his friend Viertel and he

ldquoassured Peter he had never been anti-Semitic and matters were smoothed overrdquo (573-

74)

Some Jews have the last name Stein Especially in his youth Hemingway like to

refer to himself as Hemingstein or Stein According to Dearborn Hemingway was

referring to a stein of beer in this case (39) Other nicknames he used were Hymenstein

or the Great Steinway (Hendrickson 266) Catherine Reef thinks that these nicknames

sound Jewish She writes

The last one [nickname] amused him [Ernest] most because it sounded like a

Jewish name Like many young people in narrow-minded Oak Park Ernest grew

up thinking it was all right to make fun of people of different faiths and

backgrounds and he never fully let go of this attitude As an adult he

occasionally called himself Hemingstein or just Stein and although he had

Jewish friends he sometimes mocked them behind their backs (14)

25

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway refers to himself as the great psychiatrist Dr

Hemingstein (53) In real life Hemingwayrsquos son Gregory ldquoGigirdquo for short was known

as the Irish Jew (Hendrickson 245)

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway gives Cohn boxing as his only strength

ldquoThere was a certain inner comfort in knowing he could knock down anybody who was

snooty to himrdquo (11) Because of boxing Hemingway goes so far as to portray Cohn with

the stereotypical Jewish nose In the novel Cohn gets his nose broken during a boxing

bout The narrator Jake Barnes says of Cohnrsquos reworked nose ldquoit certainly improved

his noserdquo (11) Ironically Hemingway threatened a similar situation later in his life In

Spain at the Hotel Florida after a serious shelling during the Spanish Civil War some of

the guests including the movie producer Herb Klein wanted to switch their rooms to the

safer rooms in the back of the hotel At this point in his life Hemingway would hold

people to a higher standard of bravery than his own (Dearborn 387) So Hemingway

intimidated and bullied those Hotel Florida guests into keeping their rooms in lieu of

switching them saying they ldquowould be running away from the enemy capitulating to the

Fascistsrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 387) However in fact Hemingway had his own room in one

of the safer back parts of the hotel Then ldquoaccording to one observer he rode up with

[Herb] Klein in the elevator called him a coward and lsquojostledrsquo him saying lsquoIrsquod like to

flatten your big Jewish nosersquordquo (388)

In The Sun Also Rises nobody wants to be around Cohn He is trying to be an all-

round guy and a Protestant gentleman (Berman 44) However Ron Berman refers to him

as a fake gentleman Melvin Backman argues that Cohn lacks any real identity (4)

26

Although Cohn tries to assimilate and be chivalrous nobody accepts his behavior as

authentic Hemingway portrays Cohn as still ldquotoo different to acceptrdquo (38) Cohn is also

a show-off and he likes to brag For example in winning a ldquoseveral hundred dollarsrdquo in

bridge ldquoIt made him rather vain of his bridge game and he talked several times of how a

man could always make a living at bridge if he were ever forced tordquo (17) In another

instance Cohn likes to brag about his relationship with Brett ldquoHe was being confidential

now and it was giving him pleasure to be able to talk with the understanding that I knew

there was something between him and Brettrdquo (106) Moreover Cohnrsquos believed and

perceived superiority is offensive to Jakersquos friend Bill Gorton One time Bill Gorton

says of the approaching Cohn ldquoWell let him not get superior and Jewishrdquo (Sun 102)

This perceived superiority makes Jake extremely dislike Cohn

Why I felt that impulse to devil him I do not know Of course I do know I was

blind unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to him The fact that I took it

as a matter of course did not alter that any I certainly did hate him I do not

think I ever really hated him until he had that little spell of superiority at lunchmdash

that and when he went through all that barbering (105)

According to Dearborn the character of Bill Gorton is a combination of Bill

Smith and Don Ogden Stewart In the novel Bill really doesnrsquot like Jews Bill says of

his Jewish friends adding of Cohn ldquoOh yes Irsquove got some darbs But not alongside of

this Robert Cohn But hersquos just so awfulrdquo (107) Bill is blatantly anti-Semitic He

asks Jake of Brett and Cohn ldquoWhy didnrsquot she go off with some of her own peoplerdquo

(107) Mike adds to this criticism later when he comments ldquoBrettrsquos gone off with men

27

But they werenrsquot ever Jews and they didnrsquot come and hang around afterwardrdquo (148) Bill

Gorton makes a number of anti-Semitic slurs Before their fishing trip Bill says to Jake

ldquoAnd as for this Robert Cohn he makes me sick and he can go to hell and Irsquom damn

glad hersquos staying here so we wonrsquot have him fishing with usrdquo to which Jake agrees (108)

In another case Hemingway likens Cohn to an animal a steer Cohn likes to tag-

along with Brett (141) After a bull fight Cohn says ldquoItrsquos no life being a steerrdquo (145)

Mike sarcastically replies ldquoDonrsquot you think so I would have thought yoursquod loved

being a steer Robertrdquo (146) Being likened to a steer makes Cohn mad Mike partially

drunk says ldquoIs Robert Cohn going to follow Brett around like a steer all the timerdquo

(146) These demeaning remarks imply that Jews are sub-human

At one point Mike intimates that Cohnrsquos Jewishness disqualifies him from being

a part of the group ldquoDo you think you amount to something Cohn Do you think you

belong here among usrdquo (181) Mike says to Cohn ldquoIrsquom not one of your literary chaps

Irsquom not clever But I do know when Irsquom not wanted Why donrsquot you see when

yoursquore not wanted Cohn Go away Go away for Godrsquos sake Take that sad Jewish

face away Donrsquot you think Irsquom rightrdquo (181) In another instance when Cohn tells Brett

that he will stay with her Brett replies ldquoOh donrsquot For Godrsquos sake go off

somewhererdquo (184) Cohn is portrayed as leech-like a clinger similar to Jews accused of

usury bleeding people dry With the eternal theme of Jewish suffering Brett says of

Cohn ldquoI hate him too I hate his damned sufferingrdquo (186)

In his short story ldquoGod Rest You Merry Gentlemenrdquo published in 1933

Hemingway takes a less anti-Semitic approach to Jews In this story there are two

28

doctors Dr Wilcox and Dr Fischer Dr Wilcox is Christian while Dr Fischer is Jewish

A sixteen-year-old boy comes into the hospital and says that he wants to be castrated

because he is struggling with lust The boy is religious and to him lust is a problem Dr

Fischer is compassionate with the boy and genuinely seems interested in his predicament

Dr Fischer converses with the boy and finally tells him ldquoTherersquos nothing wrong with

you Thatrsquos the way yoursquore supposed to be Therersquos nothing wrong with thatrdquo (Short

Stories 299) The boy still sees himself as sinning Dr Fischer tells the boy that what he

is going through is natural and that later he will think himself fortunate (300) The boy

is adamant that he is wrong He doesnrsquot want to listen to Dr Fischerrsquos explanations

Logically Dr Fischer explains to the boy that there is nothing wrong with his body that

he has a good body and that if he is religious then in the future his body can help him

consummate the sacrament of matrimony (300)

Dr Wilcox takes a different approach He calls the boy a fool (300) Then the

boy leaves when he finds out that nobody will castrate him Dr Wilcox rudely says to

the boy ldquoOh go andmdashrdquo (300) Horst Kruse interprets the absence as meaning ldquojack-

offrdquo (62) The boy leaves and later he does try to castrate himself amputating himself

in the process When the boy returns to the hospital with life-threatening injuries Dr

Wilcox ironically isnrsquot in a hurry to try to save the boy as he doesnrsquot see the condition as

an emergency In the story it is Dr Fischer who has shown mercy on the boy not Dr

Wilcox Kruse sees Doc Fischer as the moral center of the story and suggests that

Hemingwayrsquos portrayal of Dr Fischerrsquos knowledgeable insight and humanity might be an

attempt to try to ldquoatone for his former anti-Semitismrdquo (72) Kruse argues that Dr Fischer

29

might even be seen as a Christ-figure a fisher of men (65) Other scholars speculate that

this story might have been an attempt for Hemingway to apologize for the way he treated

Harold Loebrsquos alter-ego Robert Cohn (Kruse 73) But this interpretation is problematic

AE Hotchner once asked Hemingway if he had remorse about the way he had portrayed

Loeb and the others in The Sun Also Rises (Blume 237) Hotchner asked Hemingway

ldquoso if you had it to do over would you have been softerrdquo (237) Hemingway replied to

Hotchner ldquoOh hell nordquo (237) Despite this possible attempt at atonement Hemingway

continued to make anti-Semitic statements after this story first came out

30

CHAPTER 3

HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY

Ernest Hemingway was a born on July 21 1899 in Oak Park Illinois then a

Protestant conservative bastion There in his earliest years Hemingwayrsquos maternal

grandfather Ernest Hall led his family and their servants after breakfast on their knees

in morning prayer (Dearborn 11 Hemingway-Sanford 14) Unlike the others

Grandfather Hall did not pray with his eyes closed nor his head bowed (Pawley 22)

Instead he prayed with his head upraised and ldquowith his arms stretched upward as if

locked in a face-to-face with Godrdquo (Dearborn 11) He also prayed in a thundering voice

(Pawley 22) Ernestrsquos older sister Marcelline Hemingway-Sanford noted that she liked

to peak out at Grandfather Hall through her fingers ldquobecause he seemed so surely to be

talking right to his friend Godrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 15) Marcelline suggested that

Grandfather Hall knew God intimately (14) In addition Grandfather Hall led daily

devotions for the household with the book Daily Strength for Daily Needs (Isabelle 2

Hemingway-Sanford 14) Even the cook and the maid were present at these family

gatherings Grandfather Hall also led grace at the table (Isabelle 2) and he would lead

the family in worship (Hemingway-Sanford 15) He was Episcopalian and he liked to be

referred to in the biblical term ldquoAbbardquo which refers to God as in ldquoAbba fatherrdquo (Isabelle

2 Mark 1436) Marcelline referred to Grandfather Hall as being a very religious man

(Hemingway-Sanford 14) Every Sunday he would go to Grace Episcopal Church

where kneeling on the Brussels carpet he would lead the church in evening prayer

31

(Pawley 21) He once said of his grandson Ernest to his mother Grace ldquothis boy is

going to be heard from someday If he uses his imagination for good purposes hersquoll be

famous but if he starts the wrong way with all his energy hersquoll end in jail and its up to

you which way he goesrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 12)

Ernestrsquos paternal grandfather Anson Hemingway converted to Christianity in

1859 (Dearborn 13) Anson was a descendent of Ralph Hemingway ldquowho came to

America with the Great Migration and through him from a line of Puritan and

Congregationalist ministersrdquo (12) Anson Hemingway was friends with the great

evangelist DL Moody and he closely worked with him (for a while) as the general

secretary at the Chicago YMCA (Dearborn 13 Hemingway-Sanford 18) Ernest idolized

his grandfather Hemingway (Pawley 21) Ernestrsquos mother whom Ernest came to hate

once wrote Ernest ldquoNot for nothing are you the great great grandson of that noble

Christian Rev William Edward Miller and the grandson of the finest purest noblest man

I have ever known Ernest Hallrdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 103-04) In fact

Ernest Miller Hemingway was named after his grandfather and the Miller line of Gracersquos

family Grace wrote to Ernest ldquoYou are born of a race of gentlemen who were clean

mouthed chivalrous to all women grateful and generous You were named for the two

finest and noblest gentleman I have ever known See to it that you do not disgrace their

memoriesrdquo (qtd in M Reynolds Young Hemingway 138) Ernestrsquos family were such

churchgoers that they had their own pews at the First Congregational Church

(Hemingway-Sanford 147)

32

On the flip side Ernestrsquos father was rigid (Pawley 23) In disciplining his

children Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often forced his ldquochildren on their knees to pray

to God for forgivenessrdquo (Isabelle 4) Sometimes Ernest mockingly referred to his father

as ldquothe Great Physicianrdquo a title that Jesus also holds as a healer of people (Hemingway-

Sanford 127) According to a Hemingway biographer (no name given)

Sin scared the life out of Ernest At night he prayed that he had been a good boy

during the day The trouble was a boy could never be sure if he had been good

he might have done something bad and not known it was bad It was so hard to

obey every rule so hard to please his mother his father his teachers his minister

his God so hard that sometimes it wasnrsquot worth trying and a boy felt like giving

up (qtd in Pawley 23)

Ernest grew up then with a great spiritual legacy and upbringing that he found at times

challenging and problematic

On Easter in 1911 at the Third Congregational Church Ernest and his sister

Marcelline were confirmed and they received their First Communionrdquo (Dearborn 33) It

was at this church that Ernestrsquos mother was the choir director she even had Ernestmdasha

sopranomdashand Marcelline sing in the choir (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 108 L

Hemingway 28) In his youth Ernest Hemingway and Marcelline joined a contest put on

by the adult advisor of the Christian Endeavor Society Mr Sweeney to see who could

read the entire King James Bible first (Dearborn 37 Hemingway-Sanford 135) It was

Mr Sweeneyrsquos idea and he offered a prize (Hemingway-Sanford 135) Although Ernest

did not win he and Marcelline did complete the reading of the whole Bible (Dearborn

33

37) In addition Ernest and Marcelline passed a comprehensive test on what they had

read (Pawley 24) Additionally as a youth Ernest was given ldquoan allowance of one penny

per year of age each weekrdquo out of which he gave a tithe to the Sunday school (24) At

the age of fourteen Ernest starred in a Sunday school play at the Third Congregational

Church (24) After his parents transferred their membership to the First Congregational

Church Hemingway and Marcelline joined the Plymouth League where Ernest often led

Sunday afternoon services (Dearborn 33 Isabelle 7-8 Pawley 24 Hemingway-Sanford

147) Marcelline notes that ldquothe refreshments served after the meetings were quite an

attraction for the high school membersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 147) For the Plymouth

League Ernest took turns at being the treasurer the program chairman and sometimes

the speaker at the meetings At church Ernest and Marcelline also played in the church

orchestra Once Ernest and his four brothers and sisters dressed as Chinese and Japanese

citizens in order to phonetically sing the Japanese national anthem (147-48) Yet when

Hemingway went to Italy for World War I he saw and experienced the horrors of war

Perhaps because of this and through his teenage years Hemingway went astray from

his religious upbringing While in Italy Ernest met and fell in love with a nurse Agnes

von Kurowsky He loved her and wanted to start a new life with her in America

Hemingway wrote to William D Horne Jr about this on March 30 1919 ldquoBut Bill Irsquove

loved Ag Shersquos been my ideal and Bill I forgot all about religion and everything else-

because I had Ag to worship All I wanted was Ag and happinessrdquo (Hemingway in

Katakis XXV) This letter shows Hemingway distancing himself from religion in Italy

and replacing it with the woman he loved This is similar to how Catherine Barkley

34

made her lover Frederic Henry her religion in A Farewell to Arms (452) Unfortunately

for his parents Hemingway became a prodigal son and he never returned to the faith of

his youth (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 139)

Despite having turned away from his faith Hemingway could never entirely get

away from his upbringing and Oak Park mores For instance in his first marriage to

Hadley Richardson Hemingway was sometimes shocked by Hadleyrsquos language In fact

despite the fact that Hemingway used those very same words he didnrsquot think it proper for

a woman to use them (163) Hemingway still prayed ldquowhen he was courting Hadley

[he] asked her if she would pray with him in the Milan cathedral as Agnes would notrdquo

(Stoneback 110-11) Hadley responded that she would ldquoI am doing the best thing a

woman can do for a man Bringing you back to religionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 125-26)

Stoneback asserts that there is abundant evidence that Hemingway ldquoliked to pray in

Catholic churches and cathedrals years before he met Paulinerdquo (113)

Before going to World War I Hemingway worked for the Kansas City Star

While there Hemingwayrsquos mother learned that Ernest ldquohad stopped going to churchrdquo and

she sent off an angry letter to him (Reef 24) In one of his letters to his mother

Hemingway wrote ldquoYou know I donrsquot rave about religion but am as sincere a Christian

as I can be I believe in God and Jesus Christ have hopes for a hereafter and creeds

donrsquot matterrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) In addition prior to going to the Great War Ernestrsquos

father encouraged Ernest to associate with strong Christian YMCA men (M Reynolds

Young Hemingway 128) In his letters to Ernest Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often

sounded like a minister (171)

35

Upon his return to Oak Park after the war Hemingway wore his war uniform

around for four months and gave talks of his war experience Marcelline Hemingway

says that this was because Ernestrsquos long boots helped support his injured and weakened

legs Yet Hemingway lied and embellished his wartime experience This behavior is

just like that of Harold Krebs in Hemingwayrsquos short story ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

would lie and attribute ldquoto himself things other men had seen done or heard of and

stating as facts certain apocryphal incidents familiar to all soldiersrdquo (Short Stories 111-

12) In an essay in Ernest Hemingway Artifacts from Life Tom Putnam surmises that

Krebs in embellishing his war record to impress those around him ldquogrows more

disillusionedmdashfinding himself becoming a fraudrdquo (Putnam 184) Hemingway may have

disillusioned himself with his lies too In one instance Hemingway once gave a version

of his fictitious war stories in a talk to an audience at the First Baptist Church (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 56) So Hemingway lied in front of a church Proverbs

1222 reads ldquoLying lips are an abomination to the Lord but those who act faithfully are

his delightrdquo (English Standard Version)

Back in Oak Park Hemingway turned to alcohol for his comfort He stayed in

bed day after day and hid the liquor from his parents (Pawley 25) Staying in bed

helped his aching legs But he didnrsquot stay in bed more than half the day (Hemingway-

Sanford 178) According to Marcelline there were also times when Ernest had ldquoalmost

depressed intervals when he retired to his room away from the well-wishers and curiosity

seekersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 183) Hemingway used the alcohol to cope with the pain

of his war wounds (Pawley 25) One day Marcelline was upset about something and

36

when she came to Ernestrsquos room he noticed this and asked her what was wrong

(Hemingway-Sanford 183) Then he offered her a drink She tasted it Then he said to

her

Donrsquot be afraid Drink it up Sis it canrsquot hurt you Therersquos great comfort in

that little bottle not just for itself But it relaxes you when the pain gets bad

Mazaween donrsquot be afraid to taste all the other things in life that arenrsquot here in

Oak Park Taste everything Sis Donrsquot be afraid to try new things just

because they are new (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 184)

Ernest later wrote of an experience of drinking ldquoand the rhum (sic) enters into us like the

Holy Spiritrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 17) God was not Hemingwayrsquos comfort alcohol

was After that night Marcelline wondered to herself whether Ernest would ever be

happy again at home (Hemingway-Sanford 184) She noted a difference in him upon his

return to Oak Park Marcelline writes ldquoBut Ernest wasnrsquot the same old friend and

playmate I had knownrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178) adding that ldquoa lifetime of new

experiences war death agony new people a new language and love had crowded into

Ernestrsquos liferdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178)

After recovering from his wounds Ernest still didnrsquot get a job or show any

interest in college He had no plans at all Instead he went to Michigan to enjoy life with

his friends (Hemingway-Sanford 198) In Michigan according to Marcelline ldquoThough

Mother implored Ernestrsquos help and tried to talk to him about the family situation he

blithely ignored her appeals and managed to leave immediately after meals with his

friends or go fishing when something needed to be done he promised vaguely to help

37

lsquosome other timerdquo (205) His parents were very worried about his ldquolack of adult

responsibilityrdquo and ldquohis rudeness and his willingness to let both Mrs Charles Bill

Smithrsquos aunt and our family go on providing for him [led Mother to decide that]

something drastic had to be done to wake him uprdquo (205) Leicester Hemingway says that

ldquoOur parents had harbored definite hopes that this fling at soldiering had taught him

[Ernest] a lesson that now he would suddenly show a keen interest in some lsquosensiblersquo

way of liferdquo (L Hemingway 56)

The entire situation is similar to that of Harold Krebs in ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

returns from World War I with his Methodist faith shattered (Pawley 25) Krebs is

unemployed but his mother encourages him ldquorsquoGod has some work for everyone to do

There can be no idle hands in His Kingdomrsquordquo (Short Stories 115) Krebsrsquo mother adds

his fatherrsquos opinion ldquoAll work is honorable as he says But yoursquove got to make a start at

somethingrdquo (115) When Krebsrsquo mother asks Harold if he would kneel and pray with her

Krebs says that he canrsquot Krebsrsquo mother encourages him to try then she asks him if he

wants her to pray for him Krebs consents (116)

Of Ernestrsquos free-loading loafing time Leicester Hemingway writes ldquoAbout the

only thing I really understood of that first summer after the war was that Ernest was in an

agitated state and being around the family did not calm him at allrdquo (59) In the end

Ernestrsquos mother wrote Ernest a letter in which she said that Ernest had overdrawn his

account with her and that he was not welcome back at the family vacation home of

Windemere in Michigan (Dearborn 90) This action got Ernest out of the house looking

for a job on his own It also added to his resentment towards his mother In ldquoSoldierrsquos

38

Homerdquo Krebs tells his mother that he doesnrsquot love her Putnam suggests that Krebs has

forgotten how to love (Putnam 184) In Ernestrsquos case it is quite possible that he didnrsquot

love his mother It is known for sure that he didnrsquot like his mother When married to his

fourth wife Mary Welsh Ernest would sometimes rant about his mother blaming her for

making life hell for his father contributing to his fatherrsquos suicide and referring to his

mother as ldquothat bitchrdquo (qtd in Di Robilant 55) Perhaps his motherrsquos ultimatum pushed

him further away from his Protestant upbringing Although Hemingway didnrsquot like his

mother Hawkins argues that he inherited his volatile temper from her as she held grudges

against people Hawkins writes of Grace Hemingway ldquoGrace had a tendency to store up

injustices done to her so that on occasion even the smallest thing triggered a litany of

perceived wrongsrdquo (34) In addition to his motherrsquos ultimatum Ernestrsquos parents didnrsquot

seem to accept writing as a viable career for Ernest (M Reynolds My Brother 63) No

matter like Harold Krebs Hemingway did abandon his childhood faith after World War

I

Hemingway became interested in Catholicism during his service in Italy during

World War I There he served in the Red Cross Ambulance Corps of Unit 4 as driver for

the Italian Army (Hemingway-Sanford 157) After a few days in Italy Ernest and Bill

Horne found the place dull So hearing of the chance to volunteer ldquofor a special branch

the Red Cross Rolling Canteen Servicerdquo they applied and were accepted (160) This

Service operated all the way up to front linesmdashwhich was right where Hemingway

wanted to be in the midst of the action He ldquohad volunteered to be one of the bicycle

riders who distributed mail chocolate and tobacco to the soldiers in the trenches at the

39

frontrdquo (160) At that time the attack on the Piave River had started and the Austrians

were shelling around only fifty yards away on the other side of the river There making

his rounds in Fossalta Hemingway was wounded by an Austrian Trench Mortar as he

handed an Italian soldier a cigarette and chocolate (161) People thought that

Hemingway was going to die During this time Hemingway later claimed that he was

baptized by a priest ldquoAt Fornaci Ernest and the other wounded soldiers were

administered extreme unction by a chaplain with the Italian army Don Giuseppe

Bianchirdquo (Dearborn 59-60)

Michael Reynolds claims that the priestrsquos absolution of sins and anointment of oil

was an epiphanic moment for Hemingway (M Reynolds The Paris Years 346)

However it is unknown if Hemingway was really absolved of his sins by a Catholic

priest HR Stoneback notes that battlefield baptism and extreme unction did not

produce a ldquoformal process of reconciliation or conversionrdquo (109) On March 10 1927

Hemingway divorced Hadley Richardson to marry his new flame the Catholic Pauline

Pfeiffer This divorce devastated Hemingwayrsquos parents In fact Leicester Hemingway

overheard his dad say of Ernestrsquos divorce ldquoNo Itrsquos the disgrace Id rather see him in his

graverdquo (L Hemingway 103) Leicester Hemingway recalls that one morning while

digging for worms with Dr Hemingway the doctor says ldquoYou know of course that

your brother has brought great shame on our family by divorcing Hadley dont yourdquo

(103) Dr Hemingway laments the fact that there hadnrsquot been a divorce in the

Hemingway family for seventy years While in the process of trying to marry Pauline

Ernest returned to Italy searching for this priest Don Giuseppe Bianchi in order to

40

ascertain if this priest had actually performed an emergency baptism on him thus making

him Catholic (Dearborn 236) According to Hawkins Ernest found and visited with

Bianchi (71) Hawkins notes that as a rule priests during the First World War did not

ldquohand out baptismal certificates as they moved through hospital wards to anoint the

woundedrdquo (71) Despite the fact that there is ldquono evidence that Ernest returned with a

baptismal certificaterdquo he did swear to it (236) With this baptism he was allowed to

marry Pauline (M Reynolds American Homecoming 121) According to some scholars

death-bed baptism led Hemingway to become interested in Catholicism In addition

some scholars go so far as to say that this event marks the point when Hemingway started

to be Catholic Perhaps Ernestrsquos near-death experience infused a seed of Catholicism in

his heart

Michael Reynolds notes that ldquowhen an eighteen-year-old kid thinks hes dying a

Catholic priest can make a lasting impressionrdquo (The Paris Years 346) Reynolds claims

that long before Pauline the ceremony the ritual and the mystery of the Catholic Church

were a strong attraction to Hemingway Even if Pauline had not entered his life

Hemingway would have eventually turned Catholic Pauline simply accelerated this

process Later some found Hemingwayrsquos Catholic conversion to be suspect specious

and very convenient (345-46) Yet ldquonone of these doubters seriously thought of

Hemingway as a Protestant and he himself never looked back on his Congregational

training which he associated with Oak Park hypocrisy his fatherrsquos unbearable piety and

his motherrsquos church politics of who would rule the choir loftrdquo (346)

41

Hemingwayrsquos second wife Pauline Pfeiffer converted him to Catholicism In

fact Pfeiffer was such a serious Catholic that she caused Hemingway ldquo to take seriously

doctrine especially of sin and observance especially of prayerrdquo (Berman 33) Before

their marriage Pfeiffer had misgivings about marrying a married man and cutting him off

from his wife and child (Dearborn 229) For Pauline ldquoTo do so would be not only to

invite the damnation of her soul but also the unforgiving wrath of her Catholic parentsrdquo

(M Reynolds The Paris Years 318) If Pauline committed adultery she believed that

she would have been ldquosinning so mortally their souls were in jeopardyrdquo (318) Reynolds

wryly observes that ldquo[o]ne could not remain a devout Catholic and an ardent adulteressrdquo

(318)

For his part Ernest considered ldquoconverting to Catholicism in order to marry

Pauline in the Churchrdquo (Dearborn 221) Dearborn adds ldquoNo doubt Pauline was

researching the Churchrsquos requirements for marriage to a divorced manrdquo (221) In order to

marry Pauline Hemingway had to provide proof that his first marriage to Hadley was

outside the Church and so unofficial null and void (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 114) So since Hemingway ldquotestified that he had been baptized during the

war in Italy and that his first marriage was outside the Church [he] received on April

25 the necessary dispensation from the Archbishop of Paris which removed the last

obstacle to the ceremonyrdquo (121) Yet Hemingwayrsquos friend Ada MacLeish did not

attend Ernestrsquos and Paulinersquos wedding because she was disgusted by the Catholic

Churchrsquos solemnization of the new couplersquos bond and thought it a farce (Dearborn 237)

Ada

42

was completely disgusted with Ernestrsquos efforts to persuade the Catholic Church

that he had been baptized by a priest who walked between aisles of wounded men

in an Italian hospitalmdashtherefore Ernest was a Catholic and Hadley never had been

his wife and Bumby was a bastard To see this farce solemnized by the Catholic

Church was more than we [Archie and Ada] could take (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 124)

In his quest to marry Pauline Hemingway openly and formally embraced

Catholicism Hemingway wrote to Ernest Walsh about his rediscovered Catholicity

If I am anything I am a Catholic Had extreme unction administered to me as such

in July 1918 and recovered So guess I am a super-catholic It is most

certainly the most comfortable religion for anyone soldiering Am not what is

called a ldquogoodrdquo catholic But cannot imagine taking any other religion

seriously (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 345)

It is unknown whether Ernest ever mailed this letter

Ruth A Hawkins suggests that Hemingway ardently became a true Catholic

believer after he was cured of his temporary sexual problems after his marriage to

Pauline Hemingway told AE Hotchner that he and Pauline had had a good sex life

during their affair yet after they got married Hemingway experienced problems with

impotence (Hawkins 86) To try to alleviate this problem Hemingway saw doctors and a

mystic Nothing worked Pauline was patient and understanding Ernest was

discouraged so she encouraged him to go to the church a few blocks away and pray

Ernest recounts ldquoI went there and said a short prayer Then I went back to our room

43

Pauline was in bed waiting I undressed and got in bed and we made love like we

invented it We never had any trouble again Thatrsquos when I became a Catholicrdquo (qtd in

Hawkins 86)

Throughout his literary career Hemingway writes a number of stories involving

Catholics His short story ldquoThe Wine of Wyomingrdquo is about a French Catholic

bootlegging couple and is based upon a real-life Catholic couple that he met in Sheridan

Wyoming (Dearborn 263) Hemingway also writes about Catholicism in The Sun Also

Rises However Hemingway doesnrsquot write so much about Catholicism but rather of

Catholics themselves in their day-to-day lives (Hertzel 78) In The Sun Also Rises Jake

Barnes is nominally Catholic He basically lives the way that he wants to prays and

goes to church occasionally This is kind of like Hemingway who although not a

nominal Catholic lived the way that he wanted to while still claiming to be Catholic and

following some rituals In The Sun Also Rises Jake talks of going to church ldquoa couple of

times once with Brettrdquo (Sun 154) Although Jake prays regularly including for his

friends he also prays for mundane things like the upcoming bullfights and the Festival of

San Fermiacuten ldquoI wondered if there was anything else I might pray for and I thought I

would like to have some money so I prayed that I would make a lot of moneyrdquo (103)

While praying Jake gets distracted and he begins to think about other things ldquoas

all the time I was kneeling with my forehead on the wood in front of me and was

thinking of myself as praying I was a little ashamed and regretted that I was such a rotten

Catholicrdquo (103) Of his bad example as a Catholic Jake realizes that ldquothere was nothing I

could do about it at least for a while and maybe never but that anyway it was a grand

44

religion and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next timerdquo (103) One

critic asserts that The Sun Also Rises ldquois a novel about spiritual bankruptcyrdquo (Djos) Jake

is spiritually bankrupt but he tries to go about things in another way He drinks in order

escape the pain of the war and his impotency So alcohol might be said to be Jakersquos

primary spiritual comfort like it was a comfort for Hemingway Carlos Baker

categorizes The Sun Also Rises as a tale of Wastelanders (Berman 44) Moreover Jake

once thinks ldquoTo hell with people The Catholic Church had an awfully good way of

handling all thatrdquo (Sun 39) Jake believes that the Catholic Church has a good way of

sending people to hell purgatory or heaven to whatever fate the individual deserves

In addition Catholicism is referenced in Hemingwayrsquos A Farewell to Arms with

its protagonist Frederic Henry Unlike the nominally Catholic Jake Barnes Frederic has

no religion whatsoever (Farewell 279) However there is a priest in Fredericrsquos Italian

army unit that Frederic likes a lot Yet Frederic thinks the priest dull (33) According to

Frederic he and the priest share many of the same tastes yet there is a difference

between them (12) Frederic is a man of the world who does not believe in religion per

se and he loves women The priest is a man of God he loves God above all he doesnrsquot

pursue women When Frederic is recovering from his war wound in the hospital the

priest comes to visit him Frederic tells the priest that he does not love God (62) He

adds that he is ldquoafraid of Him in the night sometimesrdquo (62) Gary Sloan argues that

Fredericrsquos girlfriend Catherine ldquowill be his [Fredericrsquos] religion even as he she says is

hersrdquo (452) Michael Reynolds points out that ldquoCatherine sounded a lot like [Ernestrsquos

second wife] Pauline who had made Ernest her religion risking her soul on the promise

45

of his loverdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 216) This is also the case when

Ernest made his first girlfriend Agnes von Kurowsky his religion over organized

religion

Although Frederic is not religious in desperate times he seems to temporarily

become religious When he first receives his war injury he cries out to God ldquoget me out

of hererdquo (48) When his and Catherine Barkleyrsquos baby dies Frederic thinks of the baby

and thinks that it should have been baptized (279) Faced with the possibility of

Catherine dying Frederic prays ldquoEverything was gone inside of me I did not think I

could not think I knew she was going to die and I prayed that she would not Donrsquot let

her die Oh God please donrsquot let her die Irsquoll do anything for you if you wonrsquot let her

dierdquo (282) Hertzel points out that some of Hemingwayrsquos characters pray frequently

However it is also important to note that the prayers never get answered (79) For

example in Hemingwayrsquos posthumously published Islands in the Stream Thomas

Hudsonrsquos son David makes this comment about prayer ldquoYou canrsquot tell Audrey You

never know when it [prayer] may [do good] I donrsquot mean that Mr Davis needs to be

prayed for I just mean about prayer technicallyrdquo (186) In Frederick Henryrsquos case both

his baby and Catherine die Apparently in Hemingwayrsquos mind there was no

supernatural realm and prayers go nowhere Frederick asks Catherine on her death bed

ldquoDo you want me to get a priest or anyone to come and see yourdquo (Farewell 282)

Catherine just wants Frederic to stay with her Frederic says that his only religious feeling

comes at night (227) So the spiritual connection of sex is a religious experience to

Frederic

46

Hemingway does not present a supernatural dimension to Catholicism (Hertzel

78) In The Sun Also Rises as Jake and Brett leave a chapel in Pamplona he thinks that

ldquo[t]he praying had not been much of a successrdquo (212) Brett also portrays religion as

being uselessmdashat least for her saying ldquoDonrsquot know why I get so nervy in church

Never does me any goodrdquo (212) Brett says that praying never does her any good and

that she has never gotten anything that she prayed for (213) Jake does say that he has

gotten things that he has prayed for Brett replies of prayer ldquoMaybe it works for some

peoplerdquo (213) Jake considers himself ldquopretty religiousrdquo (213) Hemingway himself

prayed but apparently after the Spanish Civil War his view on prayer changed In The

Dangerous Summer he says ldquo[I] never [prayed] for myself during the Spanish Civil

War when I saw the terrible things that happened to other people and I felt that to pray for

oneself was selfish and egotisticalrdquo (142) In a June 19 1945 letter to Thomas Welsh

Hemingway expounded

In first war really scared after wounded and very devout at the end Fear of

death Belief in personal salvation or maybe just preservation through prayers for

intercession of Our Lady and various saints that prayed to with almost tribal faith

Spanish war seemed so selfish to pray for self when such things being done to all

people by people sponsored by Church that never prayed for self But missed

Ghostly comfort This war [Spanish Civil War] got through without praying

once Times a little bad sometimes too But felt that having forfeited any right to

ask for these intercessions would be absolutely crooked to ask for same no matter

how scared (qtd in Stoneback 128)

47

Consequently Hemingway only prayed for others after the Spanish Civil War In The

Dangerous Summer Hemingway writes of praying for others in Spain ldquoI prayed for all

those I had in hock to Fortune for all friends with cancer for all girls living and dead

and that Antonio would have good bulls that afternoonrdquo (69) Yet it is unknown if any

of Hemingwayrsquos prayers were ever answered In fact Hemingway wondered if his

prayers ever got anywhere

In case my prayers were invalid as they well might have been and to make sure

someone competent was doing it I took out a membership in the Jesuit Seminary

Fund Association at New Orleans for Carmen and Antonio [Ordoacutentildeez bullfighter]

There was a class graduating who when they were ordained would pray for them

each day (142)

So Hemingway got others to pray for his friends family and others in case that his

prayers were going nowhere In Hemingwayrsquos works instead of offering a supernatural

element to the Catholic Church he presents the Church as a solely human institution

Hertzel writes that Hemingway treats the Catholic Church as ldquoa colorful institution with

richness tradition ritual and discipline but it provides no convenient miraclesrdquo (78-79)

Consequently Hemingway uses Catholicism as a literary motif to add texture to his

writings (79)

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway seems to make fun of the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit that according to Christians is the method by which the Bible was

written Hemingwayrsquos example is silly Hemingway mockingly describes the writing

process of Waldo Frank the author of Virgin Spain He ldquolay naked in his bed in the night

48

and God sent him things to write how he lsquowas in touch ecstatically with the plunging and

immobile allrdquo (53) Moreover

After God sent it he wrote it The result was that unavoidable mysticism of a

man who writes a language so badly he cannot make a clear statement

complicated by whatever pseudo-scientific jargon is in style at the moment God

sent him some wonderful stuff about Spain during his short stay there

preparatory to writing of the soul of the country but it is often nonsense (53)

Hemingway wrote more generally of the religion of the Lost Generation again

with a touch of mockery

There will be many new salvations brought forward My generation in France for

example in two years sought salvation in first the Catholic Church 2nd DaDaism

third the movies fourth Royalism fifth the Catholic Church again There may be

another and better war But none of it will matter particularly to this generation

because to them the things that are given to people to happen have already

happened (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 327)

In his books Hemingway also seems to make fun of religion in order to try to be

comedic In his ficto-biography True at First Light Hemingway asks the interpreter

ldquoDid you not like the Mission School Remember God is listening He hears your every

wordrdquo (182) Later Hemingway asks GC ldquoAnd will you carry these principles into

Life sonrdquo (204) GC responds ldquoDrink your beer Billy Grahamrdquo (204) Ironically

years later Billy Graham would use Ernest Hemingway as a sermon illustration More

comedy follows in True at First Light when Hemingway talks about a new religion that

49

he created for the Africans He said that his African helpers Ngui and Mthuka and

himself ldquocould decide what was a sin and what was notrdquo (281) Hemingway also talks

about the ldquoHappy Hunting Groundsrdquo as if it were some sort of heaven

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway is comedic through the character of Bill

Gorton Walking down a boulevard with Jake Bill spots a taxidermistrsquos shop and

jokingly tries to get Jake to buy a stuffed dog Jake knows that it is a joke and just tries

to keep Bill moving down the boulevard After Jake promises to get a stuffed dog on the

way back Bill Gorton says ldquoAll right Have it your own way Road to hell paved with

unbought stuffed dogs Not my faultrdquo (78) Hemingway also does this with the priest in

A Farewell to Arms in order to try to infuse comedy into this novel when the captain at

the soldiersrsquo mess keep joking with the priest as the butt of the joke ldquoPriest to-day with

girlsrdquo (7) The captain adds ldquoPriest every night five against onerdquo (7)

On the train to Bayonne Bill Gorton says of some pilgrims on the train with

them ldquoGoddam Puritansrdquo (Sun 91) In the train compartment with Jake and Bill is a man

from Montana with his wife and son The man says to Jake and Bill of getting a meal

while pretending to be pilgrims ldquoThey thought we were snappers all right It

certainly shows you the power of the Catholic Church Itrsquos a pity you boys ainrsquot

Catholics You could get a meal then all rightrdquo (93) Frustrated by the situation Jake

assures him that he is Catholic When Bill Gorton corners a priest returning from a meal

with the pilgrims Bill asks him when the Protestants will get a chance to eat The priest

says that he doesnrsquot know and Gorton replies ldquoItrsquos enough to make a man join the Klanrdquo

(93)

50

After fishing along the Irati River Jake and Bill meet to have lunch After talking

about William Jennings Bryan and which came first the chicken or the egg Bill mocks

religion and the question of whether the chicken or the egg comes first ldquoOh how

should we know We should not question Our stay on earth is not for long Let us

rejoice and believe and give thanksrdquo (126) Holding a drumstick perhaps like a mock

scepter and a bottle of wine Bill tries to be mockingly funny ldquoLet us rejoice in our

blessings Let us utilize the fowls of the air Let us utilize the product of the vine Will

you utilize a little brotherrdquo (126) Handing Jake the bottle Bill says ldquoUtilize a little

brother Let us not doubt brother Let us not pry into the holy mysteries of the

hencoop with simian fingers Let us accept on faithrdquo (127) Then pointing at a

drumstick Bill says ldquoLet me tell you We will say and I for one am proud to saymdashand I

want you to say with me on your knees brother Let no man be ashamed to kneel here in

the great out-of-doors Remember the woods were Godrsquos first templesrdquo (127) They

uncork another bottle Before they take a nap Bill asks Jake if he is really a Catholic

(128) Jake replies that he is technically a Catholic When asked what that means Jake

says that he doesnrsquot know (129) Even though the Eucharist is mocked Jake and Bill are

seemingly reborn as they fish in nature So nature provides a chance at rest and

regeneration

Just like Hemingway in most of his life some of his characters are not religious

although they have religious influences Robert Jordan is one example His father was

religious But his fatherrsquos religion turned Robert off In one instance as a younger man

when Robert is about to leave on a train his father gets emotional and says a prayer over

51

him In response ldquoRobert Jordan had been so embarrassed by all of it [his fatherrsquos

emotionalism] the damp religious sound of the prayer and by his father kissing him

good-by that he had felt suddenly so much older than his father and sorry for him that he

could hardly bear itrdquo (For Whom Bell Tolls 405-406) This would seem similar to

Ernestrsquos leaving home for the first time en route to Kansas City (Hemingway-Sanford

154) In this instance Hemingwayrsquos father bought him the ticket and saw him off (154)

Maybe Dr Hemingway did cry when he saw Ernest off for he really loved his son

While Ernest was in Italy Marcelline notes that her ldquoDad had always loved Ernest

especially dearly and he missed him and prayed for him dailyrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford

160) To compound all this like Hemingwayrsquos father Robertrsquos religious father later

ldquoshot himselfrdquo in a suicide in the same manner as Robert Jordanrsquos father (For Whom Bell

Tolls 66) Robert ldquounderstood his father and he forgave him everything and he pitied him

but he was ashamed of himrdquo (340) Perhaps Hemingway was ashamed of his father after

his fatherrsquos sad suicide This shame and embarrassment of his late father and his

perceived cowardice may have pushed Robert away from religion (338) In addition it is

quite probable that the suicide of Hemingways father additionally pushed him away from

the Protestant tradition of his father as his father had been a deacon and a very upright

and religious man (Reynolds M American Homecoming 211) Yet Daniel Pawley notes

that Hemingway loved his father more than anyone else in the world At one point in For

Whom the Bell Tolls Robert says ldquoI do not believe in ogres nor soothsayers nor in the

supernatural thingsrdquo (250) When Pilar tells Robert that she cares about him Robert tells

52

Pilar that he doesnrsquot want her love He qualifies ldquoNi tu ni Diosrdquo (Neither yours nor

Godrsquos) (387) Robert doesnrsquot want Godrsquos love either

48

CHAPTER 4

HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY

According to Michael Reynolds Hemingway liked all things ancient and

medieval and that included the Catholic Church In fact Hemingway liked visiting

medieval cathedrals among them Chartres He ldquoliked the ritual the mystery the odors of

age and incense He liked its permanence in stonerdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 325)

Hadley Richardson liked to refer to the chivalric Hemingway as her ldquogentil parfit

knightrdquo an allusion to Chaucerrsquos description of the knight in The Canterbury Tales (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 223) and he liked to wear a scapular This scapular has

ldquogot an image of Christ on it suspended from a brown shoestring-like loop At home in

Key West friends have observed him with the scapular and how hersquoll make the sign of

the cross before he goes in swimmingrdquo (Hendrickson 28)

Hemingway would come back to the Bible in his later years in his search for

literary titles Hemingway alludes to Ecclesiastes 14-7 in his title of The Sun Also Rises

The Scriptural passage was used to signify that basically the Lost Generation would

pass away but that the earth would abide forever Moreover Hemingway gave the Bible

credit for teaching him how to write (Blume 213)

In his youth Hemingway idolized his missionary uncle to China Willoughby (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 110) Willoughby had a medical mission there In fact

Ernestrsquos father Dr Clarence Hemingway inspired by his brother had wanted to be a

medical missionary to Guam but his wife had dissuaded him from it (Pawley 24) Dr

49

Hemingway also had an offer for a medical mission in Greenland (L Hemingway 21)

Grace refused to go Ernest Hemingwayrsquos life might have had a much different outcome

if his mother would have supported his father in becoming a medical missionary to Guam

or even Greenland Years later when Hemingway was living in Cuba Hemingwayrsquos

sister Ursala visited and she and Ernest reminisced about their Uncle Willoughby

recalling his visits and together they sang ldquolsquoJesus Loves Mersquo in Chinese until the tears

rolled down their cheeksrdquo (25) Upon the death of his father Ernest returned home to

Oak Park where he openly displayed his new-found Catholic faith Marcelline says that

upon his arrival Ernest ldquotold us that he had had a Mass saidrdquo for their dad (Dearborn 268

M Reynolds American Homecoming 211 Hemingway-Sanford 233) With Dr

Hemingwayrsquos body lying in repose in the music room Ernest now leader of his family

led his family in the Lordrsquos Prayer This echoes back to the time in Ernestrsquos youth when

his Grandfather Hall would lead his family in the Lordrsquos prayer ldquohis eyes directed

heavenwardrdquo (Dearborn 268) However during this time of mourning Ernestrsquos

Catholicism angered some peoplemdashespecially Marcelline

Relying on Catholic teaching Ernest believed that his father had gone to

purgatory since suicide was a mortal sin (M Reynolds American Homecoming 211) In

addition Ernest mentioned that since his family was a Heathen Family ldquoit was

impossible to offer enough prayers to get his [Dr Hemingwayrsquos] soul into heavenrdquo

(Dearborn 268) Marcelline thought that Ernestrsquos idea of praying their father out of

purgatory was disgusting Ernest told his kid brother Leicester Hemingway to ldquopray as

hard as he could for his fatherrsquos soul to be released from purgatoryrdquo as ldquothings go right on

50

from hererdquo (Dearborn 268 My Brother 111) Despite the waves that Ernest made with

his family he showed genuine care concern and distress in his belief that his late father

was in purgatory (Dearborn 268) In this instance Hemingway definitely took Catholic

doctrine seriously

Dearborn paints Ernest Hemingway as a practicing Catholic one who would go to

Mass and fast on Good Friday She suggests that during this trying time Hemingway

turned to his faith in order to anchor himself through his grief She further suggests that

Ernestrsquos claim that his father was in purgatory was a way for him to assert his patriarchal

dominance over the family and to show that he was in charge Marcelline as the eldest

had tried to claim this role but in her struggle with Ernest she had lost (269)

In Chicago a Dominican priest wrote to Hemingway to thank him for saving his

friend Don Stewart in the bull ring at Pamplona (M Reynolds American Homecoming

156) This priest had heard of Hemingwayrsquos conversion to Catholicism within that year

1927 and he urged Hemingway to become a writer for the Dominican cause in order to

defend the Church and its ldquocause of Truthrdquo (156) In response Hemingway wrote

I have been a Catholic for many years although I feel very badly and did not go to

communion for over 8 years However I have gone regularly to mass for the last

two years and absolutely set my house in order within the year However I have

always had more faith than intelligence or knowledge and I have never wanted to

be known as a Catholic writer because I know the importance of setting an

examplemdashand I have never set a good example Also I am a dumb Catholic

and I have so much faith that I hate to examine itmdashbut I am trying to lead a good

51

life and to write well and truly and it is easier to do the first than the second (qtd

in M Reynolds American Homecoming 156)

In a 1940 Valentinersquos Day letter to his editor Maxwell Perkins Hemingway wrote ldquoI am

not a Catholic writer nor a party writer nor even an American writer but just a writer

meant to rise above injusticerdquo (qtd in Isabelle 51)

Despite his Catholicism Hemingwayrsquos faith didnrsquot help him to change into a

better man Although he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not

transform him nor even make him Christ-like Hemingway did not have a salvation

experience Nor was his faith life-altering Stoneback agrees that ldquoHemingway did not

turn to the church for instant deliverancerdquo (Stoneback 122) As a Catholic

Hemingway continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Ernestrsquos

Catholicism did not translate into his personal life Hemingwayrsquos religious life was one

solely of Catholic rituals He did not change his behavior or his vices He did not

overcome his problems Unfortunately in the end Hemingwayrsquos problems overcame

him

Despite his personal shortcomings Hemingway did at times take Catholicism

seriously After one of his African safaris he returned to Paris and saw his friend Ned

Calmer Calmer was a reporter and an aspiring novelist There Hemingway learned that

Calmerrsquos daughter had not been baptized (Hendrickson 44) This was unconscionable to

Hemingway Years later Calmer wrote that ldquoErnest seemed genuinely concerned

The attitude was this will never do He came along to the church of St Sulpice in Paris

52

as sponsor at the ceremonyrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 44) where Calmerrsquos daughter was

baptized

Hemingwayrsquos faith affected him in other ways too During the Spanish Civil

War his Catholicism would give him ldquosympathy with the conservative traditionalist side

in Spain at least in the early days of this unrestrdquo (Dearborn 303) Later Hemingway

would switch his allegiance to the anti-Franco anti-fascist communist-supported side of

the conflict Unfortunately this shift caused many family disputes with his wife Pauline

(Isabelle 25) However it was Hemingwayrsquos belief that politics and religion should not

mix (Stoneback 117) After the Spanish Civil War and in Cuba Hemingway used to

worry that the FBI were Roman Catholics and thus consequently Franco sympathizers

(N Reynolds 127) In fact Hemingway liked to refer to the FBI as ldquolsquoFrancorsquos Bastard

Irishrsquo and lsquoFrancorsquos Iron Cavalryrsquordquo (127) Nicholas Reynolds suggests that Hemingway

was paranoid about the FBI because he had signed on to be a spy with the Russian

Narodny Kommisariat Vnutrennikh Del (Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs)

better known as the NKVD Yet Hemingway never actually did anything for them His

code name was ldquoArgordquo Dearborn notes that ldquo[d]espite his professed Catholicism Ernest

was impatient with religion over philosophizing and what we would call today self-

helprdquo (320) Dorothy Parker makes a different claim about Hemingway ldquoThere is no

more than a thin line of moss to stamp the spot where Robert Benchley and Ernest

Hemingway had that big philosophical discussion about the meaning of liferdquo (qtd in M

Reynolds American Homecoming 106) Philosopher Ralph Withington Church ldquorecalls

his conversations with Hemingway about the lsquoproblem of redemptionrsquo and

53

Malebranchersquos lsquotheory of gracersquordquo (Stoneback 121) Ernest also had his own privately-

held opinions about Catholicism For example Hemingway told one of his daughters-in-

law that unlike the Catholic Churchrsquos teaching that animals donrsquot have souls he believed

that animals did (Dearborn 516) Secondly Ernest seems to have taken on or been

influenced by his motherrsquos mystic spiritualist bent Ernest believed in superstitions and

in some types of psychic phenomena (518)

Later in his life Ernest seems to have some misgivings about Catholicism He

consistently said when Paulinersquos name surfaced that ldquoher Catholic faith had wrecked the

marriagerdquo (Dearborn 406) Pauline had been advised by her doctor not to have any more

children The fear was that Pauline would get pregnant and die from the pregnancy

(Hawkins 141) Since Catholicism only permitted the birth control method of

withdrawal Ernestrsquos pleasure was significantly diminished by this technique and

consequently doomed their marriage Hemingway had also wanted to have a daughter

but this dream was never realized Paulinersquos second son Gregory who became a doctor

contends that all that his father would have had to have done to retain his pleasure would

have been to abstain from intercourse on Paulinersquos fertile days According to Gregrsquos

reasoning this ldquowould have been obvious to lsquoany foolrsquordquo (qtd in Dearborn 406)

According to Leicester Hemingway Ernest wanted nothing to do with the Catholic

church after Pauline and he asked for ldquothe address of an uncle William E Miller who

had written many hymns in the Episcopalian hymnalrdquo (Isabelle 58-59) Moreover Ernest

was concerned about his sons Patrick and Gregory attending a Catholic school Ernest

feared that this school Canterbury was affecting Patrick gradually and insidiously

54

(Dearborn 480) In fact Ernest hated this school and he referred to it as ldquoone of lsquothose

snot schoolsrsquordquo (480)

Paulinersquos and Hemingwayrsquos second son Gregory had a troubled life Over time

he came to like to dress up as a woman In Los Angeles this caught up with him when

he tried to enter the womenrsquos restroom of a theater in drag (Hendrickson 297) Pauline

cabled Hemingway that Gregory was in trouble Hemingway called back Pauline was in

a lot of pain but went to the phone anyway to tell Hemingway about the problem On the

phone Hemingway said ldquoItrsquos all your fault see how yoursquove brought him up yoursquore

corrupt and hersquos corruptrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 297) Hemingway intimated that perhaps

Gregoryrsquos Catholic upbringing had pushed Gregory into transgenderism Gregory had

served as an altar-boy at Saint Mary Star of the Sea (386)

That night Pauline went to bed in tears Unfortunately the heated accusative

argument with Ernest had set Pauline off At the time Pauline had been staying at her

sisterrsquos Virginia residence in Los Angeles In the early morning Virginia and her

friend Laura awakened to what they described as a ldquohorrendous screamrdquo from Paulinersquos

room Pauline was taken to the hospital where her blood pressure skyrocketed dropped

to zero and caused ldquoher to die of shock on the operating tablerdquo (Hawkins 271) Later

Hemingway blamed Paulinersquos death on Gregory Yet Gregory became a doctor and

researched his motherrsquos death more thoroughly Through an autopsy report Gregory

learned that his mother had died of a ldquorare tumor of the adrenal glandrdquo also known as

pheochromocytoma (275) This type of tumor secretes large quantities of adrenaline

causing blood pressure to spikemdasheven to the point where arteries can rupture Pauline

55

had had only an intermittent tumor that would secrete during times of stress Gregory

informed his father of his findings in a letter in the summer of 1960 Gregory wrote that

Hemingwayrsquos argument with Pauline had set Pauline off ldquocausing a blood vessel to

rupturerdquo after which her blood pressure dropped to zero with the resulting shock killing

her on the operating table (275) So Gregory blamed Hemingway for Paulinersquos early

death from shock due to the ruptured blood vessel and the drop of her blood pressure to

zero

In 1947 Hemingwayrsquos son Patrick had a spiritual crisis of his own Due to his

Catholic mother Patrick had been schooled in Catholic schools In 1947 Patrick had

been studying for the College Board exams at Hemingwayrsquos home the Finca in Cuba

However when Gregory had a spring vacation Patrick decided to join him in Key West

In 1945 Pauline had bought herself a sports car (Dearborn 497) In 1947 in Key West

Patrick was newly licensed and Patrick let Gregory drive the sports car Gregory drove

off the road and hit a tree near Casa Marina

In the process Patrick and Gregory seemed to suffer only minor injuries

Gregory ldquoreceived a minor knee injuryrdquo while Patrick ldquosuffered a cut on his chin and

slight headacherdquo (Hawkins 251) Yet Patrick had suffered a severe concussion (Di

Robilant 7) At first the boys didnrsquot seem to have any ill effects from the accident and

they arrived back at the Finca However shortly after his arrival Patrick started acting

strangely (Dearborn 497) At the Finca Patrick asked ldquofor a pot of hot water and some

teardquo (497) When Reneacute Villarreal brought the hot water and tea to the little house

ldquoPatrick complained that the water was dirtyrdquo (497) Then Patrick commenced shouting

56

loudly at the cook Ramoacuten who wasnrsquot even there Next at the main house Ernest

placed Patrick ldquoon a wicker chaise and stroked his headrdquo (497) In Havana the next day

Patrick was able to take the College Board exams but as the day progressed he grew

increasingly agitated So Ernest called for a doctor The doctor ldquosedated Patrick but the

next day he was delirious and soon became violent and it was necessary to restrain himrdquo

(497) Andrea Di Robilant believes that Patrick had a complete breakdown (7) His loss

of normalcy became a terrible ordeal for the Hemingway family in which his future his

sanity and his life hung in the balance (Dearborn 497)

In response Ernest placed Patrick in his own bed at the Finca and slept on a straw

mat in the living room just outside the door of his bedroom taking care of Patrick around

the clock (Dearborn 497-98 Hawkins 251) Ernest did this for the next three months

(Dearborn 498) It was hoped that Patrick would recover and be well within a couple of

weeks Yet it didnrsquot turn out this way Doctors from all over Cuba were called in Dr

Herrera deemed Patrick to be ldquopredementialrdquo a condition either set off from the exams or

by a crisis of his Catholic faith (498) Religion was a big portion of Patrickrsquos delirium

the other subject being putas whores A local priest named Don Andreacutes became one of

Patrickrsquos chief caretakers Surprisingly due to the spiritual nature of Patrickrsquos condition

this priest was unable to enter Patrickrsquos room without being accused of being the devil

incarnate Consequently this priest became known as the Black Priest

Patrick was so delusional that Ernest and his doctors were concerned about being

near Patrick because they were afraid that they would be scratched or bitten Patrick

remained bedridden for weeks and ldquohe moved in and out of consciousnessrdquo (Di Robilant

57

7) However Patrickrsquos condition did not improve he only worsened and became more

violentmdashhaving to be constantly restrained (Dearborn 498) At first the doctors wanted

Ernest to put Patrick in a hospital but Ernest was determined to keep Patrick at home

Patrick was so delirious that he wouldnrsquot eat When Patrick did eat he stuffed the food in

his mouth like a hamster to spit out at his caretakers Patrick even couldnrsquot swallow his

own saliva Considering that Patrick would probably rip out feeding tubes it was

decided to feed him rectally under restraint and under heavy sedation Patrick had not

eaten since his illness had begun five days prior It would take a full hour and a half to

feed Patrick rectally Despite this procedure Patrick dropped to eighty-eight pounds by

the start of August He had become psychotic

Given the limited means and the early days of psychiatric diagnoses in that time

and age it seemed like Patrick was schizophrenic perhaps even needing a lifetime of

institutionalized care (499) In July a new physician suggested that Patrick undergo

shock treatments In those days the only options were lobotomy and electroshock

therapy (499-500) So seeing no other viable option Patrickrsquos parents relented to the

electroshock therapy (500) In the outbuilding of the Finca Patrick received his first

shock treatment After only around ten minutes Patrick was reported as being ldquolucidrdquo

Fortunately Patrickrsquos electroshock therapy brought him back

The Hemingways remembered how the shock treatments had brought Patrick

back from the brink of hopelessness However when electroshock treatments were tried

years later on Ernest himself because of his traumatic brain injuries and compounding

depression they had the opposite effect For Ernest Hemingway electroshock treatments

58

wiped out his memory and he could no longer write take pride in himself and support

himself financially by the only means he knew how The shock treatments pushed

Hemingway further into depression

After his marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer Hemingway had misgivings about his

Catholic faith However HR Stoneback asserts that Hemingway never entirely gave up

his Catholicism and that he continued to go to Mass pray support the church and regard

himself as Catholic (114) Despite all this Hemingway had some bitterness toward the

Catholic Church Yet it still played an influence in his life Lloyd Arnold says of

Hemingwayrsquos last twenty years of life ldquoI did not know Papa as a man without Godrdquo (qtd

in Stoneback 105-06) Even after his marriage to Pauline Hemingway did put some

stock in Catholicism His divorce from Pauline made him excommunicated from the

Catholic Churchmdashhe could not receive communionmdashbut he still did visit Catholic

churches and pray inside During his marriage to Pauline Hemingway had faithfully and

regularly attended Mass Of his post-Pauline years Hemingway friend and biographer

AE Hotchner noted that in 1954 Hemingway on his way to Madrid stopped into the

cathedral at Burgos where he kneeled and prayed (Stoneback 106) According to

Hotchner in 1958 Hemingway paid for a new roof for the Catholic Church in Hailey

Idaho Then he gave an address to that parishrsquos young people admonishing them not to

work on Sunday as it was ldquovery back luckrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106)

Actor Gary Cooper who had played the role of Robert Jordan in the 1943 film

version of For Whom the Bell Tolls converted to Catholicism himself in 1958 In

response Hemingway ldquotalked sympathetically with Gary Cooper aboutrdquo it (Stoneback

59

106) In 1959 Hemingway was pickpocketed in Spain so in response he put an ad in

the newspaper asking the Spanish pickpocket to return his billfold as he cared mostly for

ldquogetting back the ldquoimage of St Christopher in itrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106) Throughout

his lifetime Hemingway named a son after a pope ldquodisplayed great pride in Patrickrsquos

confirmation mastery of the catechism gave money and support to the churchrdquo (110)

Ernest even taught his oldest son Bumby how to pray (L Hemingway 99) When

Hemingway received his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 he gave the medal to the

Virgen of Cobra Shrine in Cuba (Isabelle 52)

In a conversation with his fourth and final wife Mary Welsh Hemingway says to

her ldquoReligion is superstition and I believe in superstitionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 118)

Ernest adds that it is his ldquoTribal heritagerdquo (118) Mary wrote to Stoneback of Ernest that

when they would visit cathedrals in France Italy or Spain Hemingway would light

candles in honor of the memory of his friends Stoneback writes that with Ernest Mary

Hemingway had to live through a Catholic prism With Ernest Mary had to eat fish on

Fridays observe Lent do the Christmas traditions celebrate Ernestrsquos saintrsquos day have

masses and prayers said for family and friends observe holy days and Catholic feasts

drive miles off course to visit and revisit cathedrals and churches and to attend religious

processions (119) Mary Hemingway would later say that Hemingway ldquoadmiredrdquo the

Catholic church and that he ldquothought of himself always as Catholicrdquo (qtd in 119) Mary

Hemingway said of Ernestrsquos friend the Black Priest Don Andreacutes that he and

Hemingway would talk alone and that Ernest regarded him ldquoas his lsquopersonal priest and

confessorrsquo that they prayed together and for each otherrdquo (120) According to Toby

60

Bruce Hemingway and the Black Priest were very good friends they talked quite a lot

and that when Don Andreacutes died in 1955 Hemingway had masses said for him (132)

Mary said of Ernest ldquoWhen he said he was Catholic he meant itrdquo (qtd in 120)

Mary added that Ernest tried very hard at being Catholic Allen Tate said that

Hemingway was ldquovery Catholicrdquo and that his attitude towards sports was ldquorooted in

religious sensibilityrdquo (120) Tate added that it was the ritual of sport that Hemingway

liked RW Church says that Hemingwayrsquos ldquotalk during these late hours at Lips made

evident his conviction that Sport and bull-fighting in particular afforded a major way to

the redemption of manrdquo (135) Stoneback argues that for Hemingway sport is a

redemptive ritual that is central to his life and work (136) The renowned sportsman

George Leonard Herter said that although Hemingway was a strong Catholic

his ldquoreligion came mainly from the Apparitions of the Virgin Maryrdquo (121) Herter said

that Hemingway was almost obsessed with the apparitions and talked about them often

(134) Hemingway thought that they were important Hemingway did not understand

why the Catholic church did not publicize the apparitions Hemingway was amazed that

most brothers nuns and priests were ignorant of the apparitions and seemed to care even

less Herter said that he had heard Hemingway speak of the apparitions including

Lourdes Fatima and others ldquoat one time or anotherrdquo (qtd in 134) Herter says that

Hemingway believed that if there was no Bible ldquono man-made church lawsrdquo then the

apparitions conclusively proved that the Catholic church was the true church (134-35)

Herter adds that ldquoHemingway knew all the apparitions The ones at Pontmain

61

Pellivoisin Allyrod greatly impressed himrdquo (134-35) In addition Hemingway basically

believed that the Virgin Mary was earthrsquos listening post for Jesus and God (135)

Reynolds Price suggested that ldquoHemingwayrsquos lsquolifelong subjectrsquo was

lsquosaintlinessrsquordquo (121) Stoneback asserts a spiritual order to Hemingwayrsquos works in which

Hemingway examines the conscience through a Catholic lens (122) Stoneback

summarizes an October 18 1933 letter to Pauline Hemingway

tells Pauline that the proofs of Winner Take Nothing have arrived and though it is

a ldquodamned goodrdquo book itrsquos too much to expect the church will stand for it As he

sees it considering his writing the church would have two choices either kick

him out or prove he has no right to be in Either one would be bad because he

couldnrsquot tell them to ldquogo to the devilrdquo because of the ldquoItalian complicationsrdquo At

least hersquoll be able to say his prayers participate in the Mass support and

contribute to the church and wherever they donrsquot know him he can go to

confession He does not want to seem to be seeking ldquoappuirdquo as a ldquoCatholic

writerrdquo He says that he has no right to write the way he does and be ldquolsquoofficially

of the Churchrsquordquo Everything is fine with his conscience however he adds that

therersquos nothing wrong with the church (Stoneback 129-30)

Stoneback summarizes an interview with Fraser Drew As Stoneback

summarizes Hemingway told Drew

I [Hemingway] like to think that Irsquom a Catholic as far as I can be I can still go to

Mass although many things have happenedmdashthe divorces the marriages He

spoke with admiration of Catholicism and then of his friend the Basque priest

62

whom he had known in Spain [Don Andreacutes] and who now lived in San Francisco

de Paula He comes here a great deal said EH He prays for me every day as I

do for him I canrsquot pray for myself any more Perhaps itrsquos because in some way I

have become hardened Or perhaps it is because the self becomes less important

and others become more important But that Time article was bad He referred to

a recent article in Time which had commented that he had been born a

Congregationalist had become a Roman Catholic and now no longer went to

church This conversation with EH confirms my earlier feeling that he is a

religious man with respect for the religions of others (Stoneback 131)

Toby Bruce said of Hemingway and religion ldquoIrsquod say he was very religious Always

went to Mass especially when he was here still with Pauline And afterwards toordquo (qtd

in 132) Bruce added ldquoHe was a real Catholic and I think he tried very hard to be a good

Catholic Who knows for sure Yes he was he planned to donate a considerable sum

toward the restoration of the Mary Immaculate Convent Donrsquot know if he did I guess

Irsquod say he was a good Catholic Donrsquot know what the church would say about itrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 132-33)

Hemingway would cross himselfmdasheven after the 1930s (133) George Herter

wrote ldquoHemingway was a Catholic in those days when the Catholic Church was a church

instead of a mass of confusion The fact that he had been a steady marrying and divorce

type didnrsquot bother Ernest at all in his views on Catholicism I knew Ernest only had

his religion in his very shaky worldrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) George Herter responded

to HR Stoneback in a letter about Hemingway ldquoI repeat he was a very strong Catholic

63

He had complete faith in God Jesus the Virgin Holy Ghost guardian angels Much

more so than nearly all Catholics I have known He was a traditional Catholic as we

all were at the timerdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) In another letter from Herter to Stoneback

dated February 23 1978 Herter writes ldquoHemingway was a strong Catholic He had a

very good knowledge of early Christianity He did not attend Mass regularly He

believed the churchrsquos stand on divorce was right although he was divorced many times

He often stated that he was a poor example of a Catholic but offered no excusesrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 134-35) Stoneback asked a Key West resident what he thought of

Hemingwayrsquos religion The man responded ldquoHemingway was very religious went to

Mass early in the morning with Pauline You could tell he was religious when he fed

the cats the way he looked at the skyrdquo (136)

Yet in his last years of life Hemingway said some very anti-Catholic and anti-

Christian things For instance married to his last wife Mary Ernest said in an interview

to Lillian Ross of the possibility of an afterlife ldquoOnly suckers worry about saving their

soulsrdquo (qtd in Ross 50) Hemingway continued ldquoWho the hell should care about saving

his soul when it is a manrsquos duty to lose it intelligently the way you would sell a position

you were not defending if you could not hold it as expensively as possible trying to

make it the most expensive position that was ever soldrdquo (50) Gregory Hemingway

recounted something similar Gregory said that his father didnrsquot genuinely believe in

organized religion and that his father ldquomade it clear he didnrsquot believe in an afterlife He

did finally believe in a superior beingrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 186) Although Hemingway

didnrsquot believe that it was necessary to save onersquos soul he did contemplate the soul As a

64

boy Hemingway had thought that his soul had blown out of him once and it had returned

to his body (First Light 172) Hemingway claimed ignorance of the soul and he didnrsquot

know if it existed nor if anyone he knew anything about it Hemingway ponders the

soul ldquoProbably a spring of clear fresh water that never diminished in drought and never

froze in the winter was closest to what we had instead of the soul they all talked aboutrdquo

(172) As a boy Hemingway assumed that he had a soul but as he grew older and jaded

he wasnrsquot sure anymore Hemingway thinks that death ends things Yet he ponders that

perhaps only really religious people have souls (172-173) Of a belief in an afterlife for

the soul as heaven or hell Hemingway had his own opinions of that On July 1 1925

Hemingway creatively wrote to F Scott Fitzgerald of his vision of heaven

To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a

trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in and two lovely

houses in the town one where I would have my wife and children and be

monogamous and love them truly and well and the other where I would have my

nine beautiful mistresses on 9 different floors Then there would be a fine

church like in Pamplona where I could go and be confessed on the way from one

house to the other and I would get on my horse and ride out with my son to my

bull ranch named Hacienda Hadley and toss coins to all my illegitimate children

that lined the road I would write out at the Hacienda and send my son in to lock

the chastity belts onto my mistresses because someone had just galloped up with

the news that a notorious monogamist named Fitzgerald had been seen riding

65

toward the town at the head of a company of strolling drinkers (Hemingway in

Katakis 37)

However after his World War I injury Ernest wrote his family

You know they say there isnrsquot anything funny about this war and there isnrsquot I

wouldnrsquot say that it was hell because thatrsquos been a bit overworked since General

Shermanrsquos time but there have been about eight times when I would have

welcomed hell just on a chance it couldnrsquot come up to the phase of war I was

experiencing (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 166-67)

So if there was a hell Hemingway didnrsquot believe that it was worse than the horrors of

war Of his past Hemingway did have regrets He wrote ldquoThis past was never my past

life which truly bores me to think about and is often very distasteful due to the mistakes

that I have made and the casualties to various human beings involvedrdquo (Hemingway in

White 466)

The question of the soul comes up continually in the works of Hemingway In

ldquoNow I Lay Merdquo Nick Adams tries not to go to sleep at night because he is afraid like

Hemingway was that his soul is going to leave his body in the dark This all stems from

a battlefield injury and experience that Nick had when his soul temporarily left his body

Nick relates ldquoI had been that way [not sleeping at night] for a long time ever since I had

been blown up at night and felt it [his soul] go out of me and go off and then come back

I tried never to think about it but it had started to go since in the nights just at the

moment of going off to sleep and I could only stop it by a very great effortrdquo (Short

Stories 276)

66

Yet Nick doesnrsquot fear his soul leaving him during the day time Hemingway also

had a similar experience with his wounding at Fossalta According to Leicester

Hemingway Ernest once told Guy Hickok of this near-death experience ldquoI felt my soul

or something coming right out of my body like yoursquod pull a silk handkerchief out of a

pocket by one corner It flew around and then came back and went in again and I wasnrsquot

dead any morerdquo (56) Hemingway gives Frederic Henry the same experience in A

Farewell to Arms After the explosion that caused his wounding Henry says that

I tried to breathe but my breath would not come and I felt myself rush bodily out

of myself and out and out and out and all the time bodily in the wind I went out

swiftly all of myself and I knew I was dead and that it had all been a mistake to

think you just died Then I floated and instead of going on I felt myself slide

back I breathed and I was back (47)

Hemingway later referred to his Christian upbringing as ldquothat ton of shit we are

all fed when we are youngrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) Michael Reynolds makes the claim that

in Ernestrsquos youth fishing was his religion (118) However Archie MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoActually he was one of the most profoundly and spiritually powerful

creatures I have ever knownrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 158)

In The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway paints the old man Santiago as a

Christ figure There is so much Christian symbolism in this tale that the story can be

thought of as a parable The name Santiago literally means Saint James in Spanish

(Baker 293) In the Bible James was one of Jesusrsquo brothers Baker says of Santiago that

he ldquoshows in his own right certain qualities of mind and heart which are clearly

67

associated with the character and personality of Jesus Christ in the Gospel storiesrdquo (299)

Like Christ Santiago is able to ldquoignore physical painrdquo while focusing on the larger

objective goal to be gained in the end (299) There is an allusion to Christ on the cross

when Santiago in fighting for his prize ldquosettled comfortably against the wood and took

his suffering as it camerdquo (Old Man Sea 64) Like a horizontal cross-beam across Christrsquos

back Santiago has the cord tightened taught across his back (Backman 10 Old Man Sea

67) Santiago carries the burdensome weight of the fish on his back and he is even

burned by the cord because of it (Old Man Sea 82) The wood the suffering and

Santiagorsquos gentleness according to Melvin Backman blends ldquomagically into an image of

Christ on the crossrdquo (10) Three other Christ-like qualities that Santiago has are his

compassion his humility and his natural piety (Baker 299-300) Santiago has

compassion on certain animals that he encounters and of some fish that he catchesmdashlike

the giant marlin In his struggle with the marlin Santiago says ldquoI love you and respect

you very much But I will kill you dead before this day endsrdquo (Old Man Sea 54) After

he has killed the fish Santiago thinks ldquoYou loved him when he was alive and you loved

him after If you love him it is not a sin to kill himrdquo (105) Before killing the fish

Santiago ponders ldquoI wish I could feed the fish He is my brother But I must kill him

and keep strong to do itrdquo (59) Santiago thinks of his humility ldquoHe was too simple to

wonder when he had attained humility But he knew he had attained it and he knew it

was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true priderdquo (13-14) Santiago demonstrates

his pride when his disciple Manolo touts him as the best fisherman and he plays it down

by saying that he knows of better ones (23) Manolo claims ldquoQueacute va [No way] But

68

there is only yourdquo (23) Santiagorsquos piety is observed in that he prays when he feels and

senses the need and that his prayers are never oaths For example in trying to catch the

giant marlin Santiago says aloud ldquoNow that I have him coming so beautifully God help

me endure Irsquoll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys But I cannot say

them nowrdquo (87) Santiagorsquos prayers are never careless nor does he make them profane

He is reverent

As Christ had disciples so Santiago has his disciple Manolo Like Christ

Santiago is a teacher in that he was taught Manolo how to fish Christ was a fisher of

men Santiago is a traditional fisherman Manolo loves Santiago because of his teaching

Manolo how to fish and he admires and looks up to Santiago as a second father figure

Before Santiago goes out on his big marlin hunt Manolo says to him ldquoIf I cannot fish

with you I would like to serve in some wayrdquo (12) Manolo wants to be loyal to Santiago

Before his big marlin catch Santiago had had two previous eighty-seven day periods

where he went without a fish After the first period Santiago and Manolo had caught big

fish every day for three weeks GR Wilson Jr likens these three weeks to Christrsquos three

years of ministry where he fished for men and taught his disciples to fish for men (370)

At the start of Old Man Santiago had not caught a fish for eighty-four days The Old

Man and the Sea takes place over three days so this makes the second eighty-seven day

period In the Bible Christ demonstrated his divine authority by performing miracles

Wilson notes that Manolo has faith in the old man stemming from the miracle of the

three weeksrsquo bounty that he and Santiago had caught In addition according to Isabelle

Santiago ldquohooks the fish at noon and at noon of third day he kills itrdquo (77) This is just

69

like Christ who died and in three days rose again Isabelle adds that the marlin was

ldquolanded on the seventh attemptrdquo and that ldquoseven sharks were killedrdquo in the fishrsquos defense

(78) The number seven is a sacred and significant number recurring in the Bible After

the seventh day of creation God rested there are seven days in a week et cetera

(Easton) The number seven is also seen as symbolizing perfection and rest

Another similarity of Santiago with Christ are the wounds that he receives on his

hands On the cross Christ was pierced in each hand to help keep him pinned to the

cross In his battle with the fish Santiago receives bad cutsmdashstigmatamdashon his hands

Santiago sees his hands as brothers and he often talks to them Carlos Baker explains that

Santiago ldquospeaks to them [his hands] as to fellow-sufferers wills them to do the work

they must do and makes due allowances for them as if they were what he once calls

them lsquomy brothersrsquordquo (313) Once he says aloud ldquoHersquos [the fish] coming up Come

on hand Please come onrdquo (Old Man Sea 62) The hands also represent good and bad

The right hand is good and the left hand is bad Santiagorsquos hands are compared to the

criminals on the crosses to the left and right of Jesus who was on his own cross in the

center Santiagorsquos right hand is his good one Santiago thought that his left hand ldquohad

always been a traitor and would not do what he called on it to do and he did not trust itrdquo

(71) Luke 2339 reads ldquoOne of the criminals who were hanged railed at him [Jesus]

saying lsquoAre you not the Christ Save yourself and usrsquordquo (English Standard Version) So

Santiagorsquos left hand is untrustworthy Santiagorsquos right hand is so reliable that he quit

arm-wrestling despite being ldquoEl Campeoacutenrdquo in order to keep his right hand in good

condition as a tool of his trade fishing (70-71) The thief on Jesusrsquo right rebukes the

70

other criminal Then in Luke 2342 the thief on the right of Jesus asks Jesus ldquoJesus

remember me when you come into your kingdomrdquo (English Standard Version) Jesus

assures this repentant thief that that day the thief will be with him in paradise

Santiagorsquos right hand is like the penitent thief on the cross to Jesusrsquo right This analogy

can also be applied to the Last Judgment At the Last Judgment the saved will be on the

right hand of the Savior while those who are rejected and damned will be on his left

(Baker 314)

When Santiago sees two sharks approaching he says ldquoAyrdquo (Old Man Sea 107)

Hemingway explains of this exclamation that ldquoThere is no translation for this word and

perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make involuntarily feeling the nail go

through his hands and into the woodrdquo (107) Given his affinity and brotherhood with the

marlin when Santiago sees his prize catch eaten by the sharks it is a mortifying terrible

and crucifying experience for him Through Santiagorsquos crucifixion experience he is

transfigured Baker says that Santiagorsquos experience is also a form of martyrdom

although Santiago doesnrsquot see himself as a martyr (315) Baker also suggests that

Santiagorsquos experience also renders to him a form of apotheosis (316) Backman suggests

that Santiago triumphs (11) On his return voyage to Cuba Santiago ldquocould hardly

breathe now and he felt a strange taste in his mouth It was coppery and sweet and he

was afraid of it for a moment But there was not much of itrdquo (Old Man Sea 119) This

can be likened to Christ when he receives and drinks the ldquosponge filled with vinegarrdquo or

sour wine in Matthew 2748 (Baker 319) When Santiago returns to Cuba he has dried

blood on his face reminiscent of the blood on Christrsquos face because of the crown of

71

thorns Having arrived back everybody is asleep and nobody is there to greet or help

him He only sees a meandering cat Like Christ on the cross when God forsook him

because of the load of sin that he was carrying Santiago is alone in his suffering ldquoThere

was no one to help him so he pulled the boat up as far as he couldrdquo (Old Man Sea 120)

Removing the mast and sail Santiago ldquoshouldered the mast and started to climbrdquo (121)

This is like Christ carrying the heavy cross (Backman 11) Santiago ldquostarted to climb

again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder He

tried to get up But it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder and

looked at the roadrdquo (Old Man Sea 121) This is similar to Christ stumbling and falling as

he carried his cross on the Via Dolorosa on the way to his crucifixion at Golgotha Like

Christ Santiago falls under the burden he is bearing

Back at his shack Santiago lays down to sleep ldquoHe pulled the blanket over his

shoulders and then over his back and legs and he slept face down on the newspapers with

his arms out straight and the palms of his hands uprdquo (121-22) Baker notes that Santiago

sleeps in a cruciform position that sums up ldquothe symbolic position naturally assumed all

the suffering through which he has passedrdquo (320) In his return Santiago also brings

evidence of his epic battlegood work to increase the faith of his disciple Manolo

(Wilson 371) Wilson asserts that Santiago is on his death-bed when Manolo finds him

(372) The eighty-seventh day of this second period ends on Ascension Day as it began

on Ash Wednesday and ldquoconstitutes all but the last ten days of the Easter Cycle from

Lent through Paschal tiderdquo (369-70) As Mary cried over Christ at the tomb Manolo

returns to Santiagorsquos shanty sees the old manrsquos hands and starts to cry (Old Man Sea

72

122) Wilson also asserts that Santiago matches up with Joseph Campbellrsquos archetypal

model for a ldquohero with a thousand facesrdquo (372) For example Santiago starts out on his

journey or calling with the aid of the helper Manolo Santiago ldquocrosses the threshold of

adventure and meets a trial that can take many forms including the brother-battle

dragon-battle crucifixion and a night-sea journey all of which can be seen as applying

in some way to the old fishermanrdquo (372) The mythic-like story culminates in a ldquosacred

marriagerdquo between Santiago and his prize marlin (372) Fellow writer William Although

Hemingway was not a good nor a professing Christian and for most of his life claimed to

be Catholic he was not a reformed believer Hemingway still continued to be

Hemingway Despite all this according to Carlos Baker ldquoThe consciousness of God is

in his booksrdquo (328)

73

74

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

Hemingway wanted to be a good man and a great writer but unfortunately he

did not turn out to be a good manmdashalthough he had his moments of goodness Although

he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not transform him He did not

have a salvation experience nor was his faith life-altering As a Catholic Hemingway

continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Hemingwayrsquos religious

life was one solely of Catholic rituals He did not overcome his problems In the end his

problems overcame him Hemingway himself said of his heart ldquoActually in regard to the

innermost contents of my heart probably a most foul place I would rather have a good

cardiograph reportrdquo (Hemingway in White 459) Hemingway added ldquoNo one of us lives

by as rigid standards nor has a good ethics as we planned but an attempt is maderdquo (461)

Hemingway was vindictive against his critics Hemingway viewed most fellow

writers as enemies if they were not officially his enemy he eventually went about to

convert them into his enemies Hemingway wanted to be the top dog of everythingmdash

especially the writing scenemdashand he didnrsquot want to share the spotlight with anyone else

Ernest felt ldquothat anyone elsersquos success diminished his ownrdquo (Hawkins 61) Hemingwayrsquos

writer friend Sherwood Anderson was the one in Chicago to suggest that Hemingway

and his newly-married first wife Hadley Richardson go to Paris instead of their planned

destination of Italy Anderson told the young Hemingway that Paris was where the

literary world was at that time and that it was also the place to get published This advice

75

was instrumental into turning Hemingway into the famed writer that he became Had it

not been for Anderson and his encouragement and faith in Hemingway Hemingway may

have never became a Nobel Prize winning writer Anderson gave Hemingway letters of

introduction to Gertrude Stein Sylvia Beach Ezra Pound and F Scott Fitzgerald Like

Harold Loeb Anderson also helped in getting Hemingwayrsquos In Our Time published

stressing its importance to Boni amp Liveright (Dearborn 177) Since Anderson pushed In

Our Time Boni amp Liveright did not want to upset itrsquos star writer so they agreed to

publish it (Hawkins 39)

However after all was said and done Hemingway wrote his satire Torrents of

Spring mocking Andersonrsquos writing style in order to try to get laughs and in order to get

out of his contract with his publisher Boni amp Liveright It worked Torrents of Spring

was rejected by Boni amp Liveright because Anderson was the companyrsquos star writer So

in lieu of this Hemingway was able to sign with Max Perkins and the publisher

Scribnerrsquos and Sons Yet in the process Hemingway had burned his bridge of friendship

with Anderson who had been so generous and helpful with the young budding writer

Others who knew of Andersonrsquos graciousness and kindness to Hemingway were appalled

by Torrents of Spring (Hawkins 44)

Hemingway was anti-Semitic mean and demeaning to people he berated them

and belittled them He thought that all guys should be macho Hemingway was not pure

evil but the evil produced by his unpredictable and uncontrollable temper pushed a lot of

peoplemdasheven one-time friendsmdashaway from him Archibald MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoHe was wonderful irreplaceable but an impossible friend a man you

76

couldnt get along with a man you couldnt get along withoutrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 167)

Robert Capa once told Leicester Hemingway ldquoPapa can be more severe than God on

a rough day when the whole human race is misbehavingrdquo (192) Hemingway was his

own worst enemy

Hemingway was not a good Catholic He was married four times and even

divorced a Catholic woman whom he later called his best wife (L Hemingway 271) It

is speculated that Hemingway had affairs with multiple women Hemingway would have

affairs before marrying his last two or three wives Hemingwayrsquos son Jack ldquoBumbyrdquo

Hemingway surmised that Hemingway had an affair with the beautiful blond Jane

Mason in 1933 (Hawkins 152) According to Jack ldquoErnest bragged to him that Jane

liked climbing through the transom to his [Hemingwayrsquos] room at the Ambos Mundos

Hotelrdquo (153) Moreover a prostitute was known to have visited the Finca Vigiacutea

Although Hemingway was Catholic he didnrsquot really change his behavior to live

in sync with the Bible or all Catholic teachings He followed the rituals of the Church

not so much a personal transformative side Yet claiming to be Catholic Hemingway

lived by his own code In the end although Hemingway was not a good person he had

some good memories of a childhood growing up and some good experiences as an adult

Even with his bad experiences Hemingway was able to incorporate them into his

literature Hemingwayrsquos keen insight his precise powers of observation his absorption

of the knowledge gained from others and the Protestant work ethic of his youth paid off

as Hemingway put all of his being into trying to be an honest writer writing one true

sentence at a time and helping his audience to see the world through open and honest

77

eyes to help his readers see feel and almost literally experience first-hand what he was

writing aboutmdashthe good the bad and the ugly Though a flawed human being

Hemingway was a brilliant writer and his brilliance lives on through his works of

literature

WORKS CITED

75

WORKS CITED

Backman Melvin ldquoHemingway The Matador and the Crucifiedrdquo Modern Fiction

Studies 13 (1955) 2-11

Baker Carlos Hemingway the Writer as Artist Princeton Princeton University Press

1963 Print

Berman Ron ldquoProtestant Catholic Jew The Sun Also Risesrdquo The Hemingway

Review 181 (1998) 33 Web

Blume Lesley MM Everybody Behaves Badly the True Story Behind Hemingwayrsquos

Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises Boston Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016

Print

Cohn-Sherbok Dan Anti-Semitism Brimscombe Port Stroud The History Press 2002

Print

Dearborn Mary V Ernest Hemingway a Biography New York Alfred A Knopf

2017 Print

Di Robilant Andrea Autumn in Venice Ernest Hemingway and his Last Muse New

York Alfred A Knopf 2018 Print

Djos Matts ldquoAlcoholism in Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises A Wine and Roses

Perspective on the Lost Generationrdquo The Hemingway Review 142 (1995) 64

Easton MG Illustrated Bible Dictionary 3rd ed Thomas Nelson 1897 Bible Study

Toolscom Web 1 Dec 2018

ESV Study Bible English Standard Version Wheaton Crossway Bibles 2008 Print

ABSTRACT

Despite having been raised a Congregational Protestant Ernest Hemingway

abandoned the faith of his youth after he left homemdashespecially after he experienced

destruction and death in the Italian theater during World War I In the following years

Hemingway converted to Catholicism when he married his second wife Pauline Pfeifer

Hemingway also had an anti-Semitic streak often using racial slurs and even making the

villain in his first novel The Sun Also Rises to be a rich Jew This thesis uses new

historicism as the critical lens through which to view Hemingwayrsquos attitude towards

Judaism and Christianity It includes an investigation of his biography and some of his

novels Though he practiced Catholicism he sometimes had negative things to say about

it Yet his later novels show an increased level of spirituality culminating in The Old

Man and the Sea

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

This thesis utilizes new historicism as a lens through which to view Hemingwayrsquos

attitude towards religion and spirituality It involves first a brief explanation of this

perspective and then an investigation of Hemingwayrsquos life and several of his novels

New Historicism

Stephen Greenblatt gets the credit for coining the term ldquonew historicismrdquo in a

1982 issue of Genre (Harpham 363) Greenblatt saw new historicism as a practice not a

doctrine Greenblatt preferred the term ldquocultural poeticsrdquo in lieu of the term new

historicism New historicism is cultural interpretation New historicism searches the real

and the raw and claims to give a new approach to history Brook Thomas sees new

historicism as linking a bridge to the literary past (Thomas 182) It claims to give a new

approach to history providing a new angle from which to view the past According to

Thomas ldquoNew historicism suggests the newness of the pastrdquo (25) According to Joel

Fineman new historicism ldquoproposes to introduce a novelty or an innovation something

lsquo[n]ewrsquo into the closed and closing historiography of successive innovationrdquo (qtd in

Harpham 362) New historicism suggests that through an understanding of the past the

reader will see the past through new eyes and as it was seen in the past itself (Thomas

187) Plus new historicism seeks to represent those who were not represented in the

past New historicism is categorized as ldquoAgainst Theoryrdquo (187) Yet it is a theory in its

own respect New historicism questions whether dominant cultural forces predominate or

2

if cultural power is potentially undermined by other underlying destabilizing forces

(Harpham 360)

New historicism incorporates the reading of ldquoboth literary and non-literary textsrdquo

in order to understand the past from the point of view of the past (Kerridge 10)

Literature is defined as a cultural construct being unique to its own era and it is ldquoshaped

by the many peoples and discourses of that erardquo (10) New historicists believe that texts

should be viewed from their original setting and from the cultural context of that

particular period (10) Jane Tompkins in writing from the new historicist perspective

tries to sympathetically recreate the context in which literary works were produced and

the specific problems to which these literary works were devoted (185) Put simply new

historicism seeks to understand writers via their own historical terms (Veeser 186) New

historicists hope that by ldquoReconstructing an era from the materials it produced the

historian could sympathetically reinhabit the pastrdquo (89) Using the new historicist model

texts can reveal insights about the people that created them their discourses and their

ideology (Kerridge 10-11) In new historicism ldquoliterary and non-literary textsrdquo are given

equal scrutiny and regard (11) Consequently literature is a unique by-product of the

culture from which it originated and sheds unique insight into that culture

Despite Greenblattrsquos preference for his own term ldquocultural poeticsrdquo the term

new historicism stuck Whereas Greenblatt coined the term some scholars see Michel

Foucault as the power behind the method (Harpham 369) Foucault encouraged a group

of young scholars at Berkeley to promote new historicism in their journal

3

Representations In addition Foucault seemed to learn from this group Foucaultrsquos

ldquomost identifiable legacy in American literary studiesrdquo was new historicism (370)

New historicism claims to represent the real by defining the real as the textual

(360) According to Harpham ldquoLiterature is traditionally said to produce an lsquoethicalrsquo

effect through its ability to transcend its historical momentrdquo (374) Harpham says that the

real is defined as the local the material and the specific He also notes that ldquoA lsquonewrsquo

historicism promises knowledge of the past that really is knowledge that discloses the

object as in itself it really was that is not simply a reflex or internal mirroring of

contemporary self-awarenessrdquo (362) It is the goal of the new historicist to be objective

instead of subjective For instance the subjective seeks to define history through

personal tastes feelings and opinions New historicism is the opposed to this New

historicism seeks to present the past as it really was without the modern biases and

prejudices of those currently researching it New historicism tries to see through the eyes

and minds of the people who actually lived through and experienced history It tries to

understand the mindset and the feelings of the people of the time period in question

What people thought and how people thought is important Todayrsquos current beliefs

should be left out of the mix Past beliefs are essential to understanding the thinking

processes of the past

4

The Cultural Context and Overview of the Chapters To Follow

Ernest Hemingway was a man of his times Like many of his Lost Generation

after the Great War (in particular) he abandoned the faith of his youth although he quite

possibly did earlier World War I cemented this rejection In Hemingwayrsquos twenties he

married and then committed adultery According to Hemingway biographer Mary V

Dearborn he liked to marry those with whom he slept Hemingway started attending

religious services again after his second marriage to the rich Catholic Pauline Pfeiffer

Hemingway lived as an expat in Paris during the Roaring 20s Hemingwayrsquos friends

were newspapermen artists and writers Paris was hedonistic in those days After the

carnage and terror of World War I the returning Lost Generation just wanted to live life

to the utmost and the fullest In early-twentieth-century Paris Hemingway lived in an

atmosphere of lax morals Anything went In consequence he conformed to the culture

around him Some of Hemingwayrsquos literary friends were anti-Semitic Perhaps they

influenced him but Hemingway eventually showed signs of anti-Semitism too

Moreover some of the authors that Hemingway read especially as he was trying to

become a better writer were anti-Semitic themselves Living in predominantly Catholic

France converting to Catholicism at the insistence of his second wife was an easy task

for Hemingway Many of his friends were CatholicmdashJames Joyce being one At the

time Hemingway was just a conforming product of the culture and attitudes of those

around him He wanted to fit it inmdashhe wanted to be one of the boysmdashyet throughout his

life and his writing he was haunted by death and he wanted to find a spiritual solution to

his many struggles

5

Chapter 2 investigates Hemingway and Judaism and Chapter 3 centers on

Hemingway and Christianity In Chapter 4 the author argues that although he didnrsquot turn

out to be a good person and was vindictive against fellow writers critics and others

Hemingway was a good writer and used all his experiences good and bad to bring across

the truth and reality of life in his works of literature Hemingwayrsquos last novel Old Man

and the Sea provides the clearest statement of his spiritual and religious perspective

6

CHAPTER 2

HEMINGWAY AND JUDIASM

Historical Overview of Judaism

Anti-Semitism or hatred of Jews has been around since the rise of Judaism In

the Old Testament Pharaoh was the first political leader known to persecute the Jews

Pharaoh was concerned with the growing Jewish population and their loyalty Among

many other things he tried to kill Jewish ldquofirst-born sonsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 13) Next in

the Old Testament Haman tried to have the Jews killed off under Queen Esther

However most scholars agree that anti-Semitism came into its own in the years after

Christ left this earth For example Dan Cohn-Sherbok argues that ldquoit was only when

Christianity emerged in the first century CE that Jews came to be viewed as contemptible

and demonicrdquo (17)

Unfortunately the intensity of anti-Semitism in Christianity was mainly due to

misinterpretation In earlier centuries AD people could not read Scripture for themselves

and they were consequently misled In those days people had faith in and trusted the

Catholic Church seeing the pope as infallible Some misinterpreted Scripture to say that

the Jews were responsible for Christrsquos death However Scripture emphasizes that Christ

died for all so consequently he died for everyone If one looks at it from that point of

view then everyone past present and future were are and will be responsible for

Christrsquos death Yet some didnrsquot look at it that way In fact the Apostle Paul went out of

his way to preach and try to reach Jews first

7

Paul wrote in Romans 116 ldquoFor I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the

power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the

Greekrdquo (English Standard Version) John 422 reads ldquoYou worship what you do not

know we [Jews] worship what we know for salvation is from the Jewsrdquo In Romans

1117-18 Paul suggests that Gentile believers are just grafted into the Jewish promise ldquoIf

some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive were grafted in

among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree [then] do

not be arrogant toward the branches but if you are arrogant remember that it is not you

who supports the root but the root supports yourdquo Unfortunately some uninformed

early Christians did not put two and two together For some it was believed that the

Christian Church took the place of Israel which isnrsquot accurate Some believed that ldquothe

Church was the true inheritor of Godrsquos promisesrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 45) It was

believed that Jews no longer had a covenant with God and that Christians had completely

overshadowed and replaced Israel in that covenant This is not true

Acts 1346 reads of preaching to the Jews first ldquoIt was necessary that the word of

God be spoken to you firstrdquo Jesus also a Jew promoted preaching to the Jews first In

Matthew 125-6 Jesus says to the twelve disciples ldquoGo nowhere among the Gentiles and

enter no town of the Samaritans but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israelrdquo

(English Standard Version) In Matthew 1524 Jesus says ldquoI was sent only to the lost

sheep of the house of Israelrdquo (English Standard Version) The first Christians were a

group of Jews Jews were different so eventually urban legends sprang up without

accurate facts and the knowledge of Judaismrsquos teachings some people latched onto these

8

false assumptions and believed the lies that others were propagating about the Jews For

instance Jews were accused of murdering Christian children and then using their blood

for ritual practices It was believed that Jews used the blood of murdered Christian

children ldquoin the preparation of unleavened bread for Passoverrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 54) The

ritual murder charge was a misunderstanding (81) In fact in the fourteenth century

Jews were accused of bringing about the Black Death by poisoning the wells and springs

(60 67) This assertion first gained credence in southern France (81) Yet Jews suffered

and died under the Black Death as well This is an example of the Jews being blamed as

scapegoats

In the early Church the Bishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom accused the

early Hebrews of sacrificing ldquotheir sons and daughters to demons andrdquo eating their own

children (37 47) Chrysostom said of synagogues ldquoto go there was no better than

visiting a brothel a robberrsquos den or any indecent place [it is] a theatre a house of

prostitution and domicile of the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom said that the Jews ldquohave

surpassed the ferocity of wild beasts since they murder their offspring and immolate

them to the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom also accused the Jews of worshipping the devil Yet

Jeremiah 313b reads in reference to Israel ldquoI have loved you with an everlasting love

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to yourdquo (English Standard Version) If so-

called Christians would have accurately read this during this period they would have

seen that God loves his people and his nation Israel But some Christians thought that

the Christian Church entirely replaced Godrsquos Covenant with the Jews Consequently

Chrysostom said that Christians must hate the Jews (Cohn-Sherbok 47) Yet hatred is an

9

anti-Christian doctrine In Matthew 544 Jesus says ldquoBut I say to you Love your

enemies and pray for those who persecute

yourdquo (English Standard Version)

False conceptions of the Jews even seemed to be found among some of the

Church Fathers Some of the Church Fathers were frustrated that the Jews would not

convert to Christianity nor would they renounce their Judaism In some cases the quest

for converts became a competition Cohn-Sherbok writes ldquoDuring the same period

Tertullian the African Church Father called the synagogues of his day lsquofountains of

persecution of Christiansrsquordquo (46) Justin Martyr ldquorelated that Jews laugh curse and insult

Jesusrdquo (46) Jerome referred to Jews as Judases (47) In fact Judas was thought to be

ldquosymbolic of the Jewish peoplerdquo (84) In the New Testament ldquothe figure of Judas

was associated in the public mind with deviousness and treacheryrdquo (83)

Desecration of the communion host became another false charge against the Jews

as the then-Christians believed in the doctrine of transubstantiation In the doctrine of

transubstantiation the communion bread and wine (of the Eucharist) literally becomes

the body and blood of Jesus During this time it was believed that Jews stole the host in

order ldquoto assault it and thereby torture Christrdquo (80) The charge of desecration of the

Host was a hallucinatory fantasy (82) However the Jews did not believe in the Doctrine

of Transubstantiation which was affirmed at Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 (80) Only

Catholics believe this doctrine today Since the Jews did not believe in

transubstantiation they would in all likelihood not have attacked the host because they

10

couldnrsquot believe that they were actually attacking Christ in the process Desecration of

the Host was a wild belief and a total fantasy

In some cases the Talmud was burned because it was believed to be anti-

Christian Agobard Archbishop of Lyons believed that Jews stole Christian children

and sold them to Arabs (64) He also believed that Jews seduced Christian women All

sorts of wild beliefs developed about Jews many without factual basis It was all

conjecture and imagination In Germany ldquoa French monk Radulph went about preaching

that Jews were enemies of God and should be persecutedrdquo (65) As previously

mentioned the Jews were scapegoats they were blamed for everything During the

witch-hunting crazed days of the fifteenth century Jews were seen as being in cahoots

with witches and the devil (71) During this time it was believed that the Jews were born

misshapen hemorrhoidal and both sexes afflicted with menstruation In Trnava

Slovakia it was believed that Christian blood was an excellent means by which ldquoto cure

the wound produced by circumcisionrdquo (71)

For the duration of the Middle Ages ldquoChristians viewed Jews as sorcerers able to

cast spells against their enemiesrdquo (72) It was believed consequently that the Jews were

capable of working magic against Christians During the Black Death it was also

believed that Jews wanted to poison Christians In fact ldquoJews were accused of using

Christian blood for magical purposesrdquo (73) The little contact that these early Christians

had with Jews also led to their paranoia viewing the Jews as an alien mysterious and

strange people (74) Urban legends seemed to sprout up due to the lack of knowledge

Ignorance of Jews reigned

11

Jewish medicine too became suspect It was claimed that high rulers were killed

off through Jewish medicine During the Middle Ages the Vienna Faculty of Medicine

thought that ldquothe private code of Jewish doctors required them to murder one patient in

tenrdquo (77) Jews were eventually thought to possess attributes of the devil The Jews

ldquowere perceived as having horns tails and the beard of a goat and could be recognized

by their noxious smell the foetor judaiumlcusrdquo (79) Consequently the Jews were seen as

sub-human It was believed that Jews lacked morality anything went with them Jews

were so despised that they were exiled from countries At different times Spain France

and England expelled their Jewish populations In some instances they were invited

back

The charges against Jews were grotesque fantasies Tracts were written against

the Jews One such read of the Jews ldquolsquoDemons from hell race of the Jews detestable

men more accursed than Lucifer and more wicked than all the devils cruel tigers be

gone unworthy as you are to live among us when you thirst so for bloodrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 86)

Martin Luther at first favored the Jews writing a pamphlet That Christ was Born

a Jew However after he was unable to convert the Jews to his Protestant Reformed

Christian faith he became anti-Semitic So ldquoLuther stressed that they [the Jews] are the

most contemptible of all peoplesrdquo (90) Luther wrote ldquorsquomake no mistake that aside from

the Devil you have no enemy more venomous more desperate more bitter than a true

Jew who truly seeks to be a Jewrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90) Moreover ldquoMartin Luther

speculated that if the Jews could kill Christians they would gladly do sordquo (73)

12

Of the Jews Luther believed that ldquoThose who tolerate them [the Jews] will incur

great loss lsquoWhoever wishes to accept venomous serpents desperate enemies of the Lord

and to honour them to let himself be robbed pillaged corrupted and cursed by them

need only turn to the Jewsrsquordquo (90) Luther suggested of the Jews ldquoTheir synagogues

should be set on fire and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over

with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of itrdquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 90) Luther wrote ldquoTheir [Jewsrsquo] homes should likewise be broken down and

destroyed For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues

they should be deprived of their prayerbooks [sic] and Talmud in which idolatry lies

cursing and blasphemy are taught their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death

to teach any morerdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther also wrote ldquoPassport and travelling privileges should be absolutely

forbidden to the Jews They ought to be stopped from usury Let the young and

strong Jews and Jewesses be given the flail the axe the hoe the spade the distaff and

spindle and let them earn their bread by the sweat of their browrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok

90) Luther called the Jews an ldquoinsufferable devilish burdenrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther said that Jews were ldquochildren of the Devil condemned to the flames of hellrdquo (qtd

in Cohn-Sherbok 91) Luther believed that the Jews should be despised Luther even

thought that ldquothe Jews are worse than the devilsrdquo (91) Luther saw the Jews as

ldquoinstigators of social and economic corruptionrdquo (94) Luther thought that the Jews

wanted to ldquodestroy Christian civilizationrdquo (95)

13

Luther saw himself in a fight against Satan in the Jews Despite Lutherrsquos anti-

Semitism a good thing did emerge out of the Protestant Reformation Scripture was

translated into the common vernacular so that literate people could see what the Bible

said for themselves instead taking a priestrsquos or a popersquos word for it This led to literate

Christians seeing the Jews through the lens of Scripture instead of through anti-Jewish

sermons and hear-say from church leaders

In Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century the Jews were seen as favoring political

revolution and as having played a role in the revolutionary activities of the era (231)

This viewpoint started after the revolutions of 1848 (244) and it is not entirely off the

mark For example Karl Marx was a Jew Although not all Jews were revolutionaries

Nicholas Reynolds says that ldquoMore than a few Russian revolutionaries were Jewish one

reaction to the state-sanctioned anti-Semitism and the resulting pogroms that occurred

with frightening regularityrdquo (Writer Sailor Solider Spy 72) Capitalism also came to be

associated with the Jewsmdashparticularly its vices (Cohn-Sherbok 248) In the United

States the Jews were blamed for the Russian Revolution (231) There was fear of the

Jews or Judaeophobia A writer that Hemingway read was the anti-Semitic Fyodor

Dostoyevsky Perhaps this helped to influence Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

Dostoyevsky wrote ldquoLike a vast tightening net the power of assimilated Jewry stretches

over the whole world and no matter where we set foot we are caught in it We must

struggle to our last drop of blood against the insidious Judaization of Europe and

especially of Germanismrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 232)

14

In 1912 the Marconi Affair hit Great Britain Two leading Jewish politicians

Rufus Isaacs and Herbert Samuels were implicated in this corruption scandal

Eyewitness reported ldquoIsaacsrsquo brother is the president of the Marconi Company Isaacs

and Samuels have privately arranged to have the British people pay the Marconi

Company a considerable sum of money through the intermediary of Samuels and for

Isaacsrsquo benefitrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 236) In wake of the Marconi Affair one of

Hemingwayrsquos early favorite writers Rudyard Kipling ldquodedicated a hymn of hate to the

affairrdquo (236) Like the biblical greedy and crafty servant (of the prophet Elisha) Gehazi

who is punished with leprosy for his sins Kiplingrsquos poem ldquowas intended to illustrate the

cunning of these Jewish [Marconi] politiciansrdquo (236)

Once America made its foray into World War I ldquoJews were seen as participants

in international conspiracyrdquo (240) Americans thought that the Jews might be part of the

Russian Revolution In the literary world ldquoa number of writers commented on the evil

influence of Jewryrdquo (241) Hemingwayrsquos one-time-friend and literary mentor F Scott

Fitzgerald was one such example In fact Fitzgerald negatively portrayed New York

Jewish merchants in his novel The Beautiful and the Damned

Down in a tall busy street he read a dozen Jewish names on a line of stores In

the door of each stood a dark little man [Jew] watching the passersby with intent

eyes eyes gleaming with suspicion with pride with clarity with cupidity with

comprehension New Yorkmdashhe could not dissociate it now from the slow

upward creep of this people The little stores growing expanding consolidating

15

moving watched over with hawkrsquos eyes and a beersquos attention to detail (qtd in

Cohn-Sherbok 241)

This anti-Semitic view of Jews could have influenced Hemingway whether he read the

book or if Fitzgerald made his anti-Semitic views known to Hemingway The same

could be said of Ezra Pound Ezra Pound was a big anti-Semite and one of Hemingwayrsquos

friends It could be questioned if Ezra Pound influenced Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

In July of 1943 Pound was indicted for treason due to his anti-Semitic pro-Fascist radio

broadcasts from Italy (Dearborn 491) Poundrsquos radio broadcasts ldquowere shocking even

vilemdashhe recommended The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf he spoke of

the lsquo60 kikes who started this warrsquo and asserted lsquoThe Jew is a savagersquordquo (491) Later

due to Hemingwayrsquos suggestion Pound pleaded insanity and spent several years in an

Institution Hemingwayrsquos one-time friend Donald Ogden Stewart who was present for

the Pamplona bull fights in 1925 ldquotook the blame for having been the probable inspiration

for Bill Gortonrsquos [a character in The Sun Also Rises] anti-Semitic remarks and

exclamationsrdquo (Blume 123) Stewart wrote that ldquoI have no doubt that I was really

basically anti-Semitic in those days as probably also was Hemingwayrdquo (123) Lesley

Blume stresses that Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism ldquowas not a deep-rooted hatred like

the variety that gave rise to Nazismrdquo (123) Stewart referred to Hemingwayrsquos anti-

Semitism as ldquoa form of social snobbishness something that people simply took for

granted [during that time]rdquo (Blume 123) One would think that after the Holocaust

Hemingway would cease his anti-Semitic comments but he still continued In

16

Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century ldquoAmerican literature repeatedly described Jews in the

most unsavoury (sic) termsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 249)

The French also saw the Jews as having played a part in the Russian Revolution

(241) In France where Hemingway lived part of his literary life Alphonse Toussenel

wrote ldquoThe Jews King of the Epoch [in which] he blamed the Jews for the ills afflicting

societyrdquo (248) In France ldquoAccording to Edouard-Adolphe Drumont in La France Juive

the [French] Revolution had benefited only the Jewsrdquo (248) Edouard-Adolphe Drumont

caricatured the Jews as being hook-nosed possessing ldquohuge ears soft hands and arms of

unequal lengthrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 248) In France the Dreyfus Affair of the

nineteenth century had ratcheted up the prominence and appeal of French anti-Semitism

Yet the logical consequence of anti-Semitism took place years later during World War II

when Hitler instituted the Holocaust Of course Hemingway knew of this deadly result

of anti-Semitism but it is unknown how much it changed his view of Jews as later he

did show some more anti-Semitic behavior Perhaps old habits die hard

Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in His Novels

Unfortunately Hemingway was an anti-Semite To what degree is unknown

Some say that Hemingway was mildly or casually anti-Semitic (Hendrickson 32)

However in fits of anger Hemingway would hurl anti-Semitic slurs at those he knew to

be Jews Yet ironically ldquoHemingway knew admired and imitated Jewsrdquo like his friend

and literary mentor Gertrude Stein (Berman 39) Hemingway was also friends with

Harold Loeb a Jewish man (Dearborn 192) Hemingway and Loeb had played tennis

17

boxed and wrestled together In The Sun Also Rises the character of Robert Cohn is

based upon Harold Loeb Hemingway once had good things to say of Loeb On March

4 1925 Hemingway wrote to William B Smith of Loeb ldquoA hell of a good guy

Loeb is a male you can wrestle wit He aint been throwed since he learned in Princeton-

only weighs 150 about Heavy weights cant throw him Hersquos never wrestled pros or of

course hersquos have got throwed Still he aint been throwed I tried to throw him and he

throwed me in no timerdquo (sic throughout Hemingway in Katakis 28) In The Sun Also

Rises the Loeb Robert Cohn character is also Jake Barnesrsquo tennis partner (13) Despite

all his anti-Semitism later Hemingway married the half-Jewish reporter and writer

Martha Gellhorn as his third wife (Stoneback 136) Unfortunately it is exactly unknown

why Hemingway was anti-Semitic It would seem that the times in which he lived played

a role

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway has a stereo-typical Jewish character Robert

Cohn that he portrays as a proud rich weak self-pitying self-doubting awkward

sniveling whining misbehaving mannerless undesirable unremarkable and

dysfunctional killjoy who is an outsider and a drag on everyonersquos spirits Cohn is

supposed to represent all Jews (Berman 39) In fact Hemingway goes so far as to write

that Jews are inferior Hemingway writes of Cohn ldquoHe cared nothing for boxing in fact

he disliked it but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of

inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princetonrdquo (Sun 11) Loeb

had also gone to Princeton

18

Hemingway based almost the entire book of The Sun Also Rises on a real life

event that happened when Loeb Lady Duff Twysden and Pat Guthrie (Lady Duffrsquos

cousin and boyfriend) joined him Hemingwayrsquos first wife Hadley Richardson Don

Stewart and Bill Smith in Pamplona for the Festival of San Fermiacuten in July of 1925

(Dearborn 188) In the novel this group goes to Pamplona to have fun They join in the

Spanish Festival of San Fermiacuten where they drink excessively party and watch

professional bullfights All this time the Harold Loeb character Robert Cohn follows

his former lover Lady Brett Ashely around like a lap-dog and from the perspective of

the other festival-goers makes everyone else miserable

Hemingwayrsquos publication of this event into fiction hurt many of the real-life

players in the memorable drama The real Lady Brett Ashley Lady Duff Twysden later

referred to the book as nothing more than ldquocheap reportingrdquo (qtd in Blume 206) Former

Hemingway friend Donald Ogden Stewart felt the same way In his 1975 memoir By a

Stroke of Luck Stewart still refused to give The Sun Also Rises ldquothe artistic stature that

others accorded itrdquo (Blume 230) Stewartrsquos son recalls that his dad would say ldquoThatrsquos

exactly what happened it was like a photographrdquo (qtd in Blume 230) So for Stewart

the novel was just a retelling of events it is did not utilize artistic narrative originality

Just as Robert Cohn had had an affair with Lady Brett Ashley so Loeb had had an

intimate relationship with Lady Duff Twysden Scholars are unsure as to whether

Hemingway had any serious relationship with Lady Duff however he was jealous He

liked her In his reasoning he had met Lady Duff first (Dearborn 188) ldquoEven though

[Hemingway] had no plans to sleep with Duff himself that didnrsquot mean according to his

19

logic that she was fair game for Harold [Loeb]rdquo (188) Hemingway was protective of

Lady Duff and Hemingway saw Loeb as a snake (189) Perhaps Loebrsquos success with

Lady Duff finally pushed Hemingway against him

Mary V Dearborn notes that Hemingway was also jealous that Loebrsquos book

Doodab was coming out before his ownmdashLoebrsquos in May Hemingwayrsquos in October

(191) Hemingway was very competitive in his writing career In fact before

Hemingway made it as a fiction writer Harold Loeb had gone so far as to help

Hemingway get his first book of short stories In Our Time published (204) It is noted

that ldquoHarold [Loeb] rescued In Our Time from the returns pile at [Boni amp] Liveright [the

publishing company] he fought for the book and he was instrumental in getting it

publishedrdquo (192) Loeb had pleaded with Boni amp Liveright ldquoHold it Give it [In Our

Time] another reading I know what Irsquom talking aboutrdquo (Hawkins 39) In fact if it

were not for the persistence of his well-connected friends Hemingway may have quite

possibly never been published at all since his manuscripts had been repeatedly rejected

Unfortunately Hemingway did not like to give credit to others for helping him to rise in

his profession He wanted to take all the credit and the glory for himself He wanted to

be self-sufficient In addition having not gone to college Hemingway was leery of

college-educated men He felt inferior to them and he would try to compete with them in

order to make himself look and feel better Since Harold Loeb was a Princeton graduate

Hemingway was possibly disdainful of this and in all likelihood held it against Loeb

In trying to get In Our Time published Loeb took Hemingway to former Boni amp

Liveright vice president Leon Fleischmanrsquos Paris apartment (Blume 71) Previously

20

ldquoKitty Cannell [the Frances character in Sun] heard him [Hemingway] unthinkably use

lsquokikersquo with such casualness and scorn that she warned her Jewish lover Harold Loeb to

be careful with Hemingwayrdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 242) Kitty Cannell worried

that Hemingway ldquomight create a terrible scene in front of Fleischman and his wife

Helen She said as much to Loeb He brushed her offrdquo (Blume 71) After this meeting

with Fleischman Harold Loeb heard Hemingway malign Jews in his speech

Hemingway had a way of maligning making fun of and satirizing his friends and his

perceived enemies In the process he lost many friends and unnecessarily caused the

creation of many enemies In fact the release of The Sun Also Rises shocked Loeb as he

had thought that he and Hemingway were good friends (Dearborn 191-92)

Hemingway also turned on his former Jewish mentor Gertrude Stein

Hemingway got mad at Stein when she would not write a review for his new book In

Our Time Stein wanted to wait and see if Hemingway was going to be a success first

On November 8 1925 Hemingway commented to Ezra Pound of Stein ldquoWhat a lot of

safe playing kikesrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 38) Later in life after they broke with each

other Hemingway and Stein would arguemdashthrough writingmdashand trade barbs with one

another Hemingway would mock Stein In his article for Esquire in the April 1934

issue ldquoAD in Africa A Tanganyika Letterrdquo Hemingway wonders ldquohow much Buddha

at that age would resemble Gertrude Steinrdquo (Hemingway in White 159)

Hemingway was also against the troubled literary critic Dorothy Parker

(Dearborn 247) The half-Jewess Dorothy Parker was tough in her literary criticism yet

she gave Hemingway great reviews She adored Hemingway but Hemingway didnrsquot

21

return the feelings (Blume 155) Parker and Hemingway had met in New York In

Hemingway Parker thought that she had found a kindred spirit (156) During

Hemingwayrsquos New York visit Parker ldquobecame so engrossed in his tales of the Left Bank

that she shunted aside her skepticism and decided on the spot to move abroadrdquo (156)

Parker became for Hemingway a strong ally among literary critics Blume notes of

Parker ldquoIn years to come she would also pen several adoring Hemingway profiles and

book reviewsrdquo (156) Hemingway and Parker became so familiar that eventually

Hemingway started calling Parker ldquoDottyrdquo (156) Parker was so taken with Hemingway

that her ldquodevotion to him bordered on idolatryrdquo (158) But Parkerrsquos love for Hemingway

was a useful tool in Hemingwayrsquos arsenal

Unfortunately Parker was probably not stable She had tried to kill herself twice

within three years She confided in Hemingway ldquoabout a late-stage abortion she had

recently undergone about attempting suicide and about some other recent bad luck in

her liferdquo (qtd in Dearborn 247) During their conversation Hemingway discovered that

Parker did not like Spain For Parker ldquoPretty much everything about the countrymdashfrom

its treatment of animals to the rump-pinching habits of Spanish menmdashhad appalled herrdquo

(Blume 193) Moreover ldquoIn Barcelona she had walked out of a bullfight after a bull

gored a horse and declared that she found matadors disgustingrdquo (193) Back in Paris with

Hemingway ldquoParker had imparted these impressions to Hemingway for whom such

views amounted to sacrilegerdquo (193) Hemingway was offended by this and like other

things Hemingway took this personally to heart as he was an ardent Hispanophile loving

the Spanish country its people the slow pace of life and its culture (Dearborn 247)

22

Finally Hemingway ldquohad little sympathy for the self-inflicted wounds of a caustic and

comparatively pampered urbaniterdquo (Blume 194)

Later ldquoErnest wrote a long cruel poem about Parker not published until both

were dead called lsquoTo a Tragic Poetessrsquo revealing the personal details she had evidently

related during their most recent meetingrdquo (Dearborn 247-48) In the poem Hemingway

ldquoreferred to the dead fetus noted that she had all too conveniently failed in her suicide

attempts and mocked her failures with men He was pointedly mean about her being

Jewish referring to lsquothe Jewish cheeks of your plump assrsquordquo (248) The second half of

Hemingwayrsquos poem ldquoconsists of insults piled on Parker and others who out of ignorance

about it do not appreciate Spain (inevitably bullfighting comes up)rdquo (248) Pauline

Pfeiffer didnrsquot like this poem and referred to it as ldquoabout twelve tents [tenths] out of water

mayberdquo (Hawkins 59) Pauline thought the poem shrill In 1926 at the home of Archie

and Ada McLeish Ernest read this poem ldquoTo a Tragic Poetessrdquo to the assembled

gathering to try to get some laughs (Dearborn 248) No laughs came Donald Ogden

Stewart called the poem ldquoviciously unfair and unfunnyrdquo (qtd in Blume 194) Because of

the reading of the poem the Stewarts kept their distance from Hemingway from there on

out and Don Stewart was never close to Hemingway again (Dearborn 248) Ironically

since the poem was never published until after Parkerrsquos death ldquoParker never learned

about the existence of the poem [and] unaware of its existence she continued to write

wildly enthusiastic reviews of Hemingwayrsquos work in The New Yorker and called him one

of her favorite writersrdquo (Blume 194) Parker also called Hemingway ldquothe greatest living

American short story writerrdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 164)

23

There is also other evidence of Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism In his early years at

Lake Walloon the Point where the young people always liked to fish was sold ldquoto two

Jews who wanted to build a club houserdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 114) Bill

Smith later recalled that he and Ernest had planned to throw rotten fish down the Jewsrsquo

chimney at the lake (M Reynolds Paris Years 252) In the mid-1920s Hemingway

wrote Ezra Pound calling the aspiring poet Dave OrsquoNeil a ldquorsquoCelto-Kikersquordquo (Dearborn

134) Hemingway also wrote of his friend Nathan Asch ldquoYou couldnrsquot tell [of Asch

being a talented writer] Jews go bad quicklyrdquo (163) Later in Key West Hemingway

referred to the town as a ldquoJew administered phony of a townrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 154)

At the time that Hemingway wrote this Key West was for all intents and purposes

bankrupt ldquounable to collect enough taxes to pay its billsrdquo (N Reynolds 7) Under the

New Deal the town of Key West had ldquopetitioned the governor to take over the cityrdquo

(Hendrickson 154) As such ldquoThe Florida branch of Franklin Delano Rooseveltrsquos

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) stepped in and took overrdquo (N

Reynolds 7) Plus under the New Deal the plan was to turn Key West into a tourist

destination making Hemingwayrsquos home on Whitehead Street one of the attractions (8)

This would interfere with Hemingwayrsquos deeply coveted privacy (8) Moreover

Hemingway was disillusioned with the government after some World War I veterans

were killed during a hurricane that hit some of the Florida Keys

Later In Cuba in May 1955 The Old Man and the Sea film version of the novel

was to be filmed Hemingwayrsquos Jewish friend Peter Viertel who was writing the

screenplay joked with Hemingway in order to try to break up the tension between Ernest

24

and the film producer kidding ldquoabout Santiago going out on the eighty-fifth day and not

catching a fishrdquo (Dearborn 573) This made Hemingway mad Narrowing his eyes and

gritting his teeth he said ldquoThe Jews have always had a superior attitude toward fishingmdash

probably because fish has never been part of their dietrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573) This

Jewish comment in turn made Viertel mad and he said that ldquohe thought Ernest had

gotten beyond his anti-Semitism with The Sun Also Risesrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573)

Hemingway felt contrite that he had lashed out against his friend Viertel and he

ldquoassured Peter he had never been anti-Semitic and matters were smoothed overrdquo (573-

74)

Some Jews have the last name Stein Especially in his youth Hemingway like to

refer to himself as Hemingstein or Stein According to Dearborn Hemingway was

referring to a stein of beer in this case (39) Other nicknames he used were Hymenstein

or the Great Steinway (Hendrickson 266) Catherine Reef thinks that these nicknames

sound Jewish She writes

The last one [nickname] amused him [Ernest] most because it sounded like a

Jewish name Like many young people in narrow-minded Oak Park Ernest grew

up thinking it was all right to make fun of people of different faiths and

backgrounds and he never fully let go of this attitude As an adult he

occasionally called himself Hemingstein or just Stein and although he had

Jewish friends he sometimes mocked them behind their backs (14)

25

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway refers to himself as the great psychiatrist Dr

Hemingstein (53) In real life Hemingwayrsquos son Gregory ldquoGigirdquo for short was known

as the Irish Jew (Hendrickson 245)

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway gives Cohn boxing as his only strength

ldquoThere was a certain inner comfort in knowing he could knock down anybody who was

snooty to himrdquo (11) Because of boxing Hemingway goes so far as to portray Cohn with

the stereotypical Jewish nose In the novel Cohn gets his nose broken during a boxing

bout The narrator Jake Barnes says of Cohnrsquos reworked nose ldquoit certainly improved

his noserdquo (11) Ironically Hemingway threatened a similar situation later in his life In

Spain at the Hotel Florida after a serious shelling during the Spanish Civil War some of

the guests including the movie producer Herb Klein wanted to switch their rooms to the

safer rooms in the back of the hotel At this point in his life Hemingway would hold

people to a higher standard of bravery than his own (Dearborn 387) So Hemingway

intimidated and bullied those Hotel Florida guests into keeping their rooms in lieu of

switching them saying they ldquowould be running away from the enemy capitulating to the

Fascistsrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 387) However in fact Hemingway had his own room in one

of the safer back parts of the hotel Then ldquoaccording to one observer he rode up with

[Herb] Klein in the elevator called him a coward and lsquojostledrsquo him saying lsquoIrsquod like to

flatten your big Jewish nosersquordquo (388)

In The Sun Also Rises nobody wants to be around Cohn He is trying to be an all-

round guy and a Protestant gentleman (Berman 44) However Ron Berman refers to him

as a fake gentleman Melvin Backman argues that Cohn lacks any real identity (4)

26

Although Cohn tries to assimilate and be chivalrous nobody accepts his behavior as

authentic Hemingway portrays Cohn as still ldquotoo different to acceptrdquo (38) Cohn is also

a show-off and he likes to brag For example in winning a ldquoseveral hundred dollarsrdquo in

bridge ldquoIt made him rather vain of his bridge game and he talked several times of how a

man could always make a living at bridge if he were ever forced tordquo (17) In another

instance Cohn likes to brag about his relationship with Brett ldquoHe was being confidential

now and it was giving him pleasure to be able to talk with the understanding that I knew

there was something between him and Brettrdquo (106) Moreover Cohnrsquos believed and

perceived superiority is offensive to Jakersquos friend Bill Gorton One time Bill Gorton

says of the approaching Cohn ldquoWell let him not get superior and Jewishrdquo (Sun 102)

This perceived superiority makes Jake extremely dislike Cohn

Why I felt that impulse to devil him I do not know Of course I do know I was

blind unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to him The fact that I took it

as a matter of course did not alter that any I certainly did hate him I do not

think I ever really hated him until he had that little spell of superiority at lunchmdash

that and when he went through all that barbering (105)

According to Dearborn the character of Bill Gorton is a combination of Bill

Smith and Don Ogden Stewart In the novel Bill really doesnrsquot like Jews Bill says of

his Jewish friends adding of Cohn ldquoOh yes Irsquove got some darbs But not alongside of

this Robert Cohn But hersquos just so awfulrdquo (107) Bill is blatantly anti-Semitic He

asks Jake of Brett and Cohn ldquoWhy didnrsquot she go off with some of her own peoplerdquo

(107) Mike adds to this criticism later when he comments ldquoBrettrsquos gone off with men

27

But they werenrsquot ever Jews and they didnrsquot come and hang around afterwardrdquo (148) Bill

Gorton makes a number of anti-Semitic slurs Before their fishing trip Bill says to Jake

ldquoAnd as for this Robert Cohn he makes me sick and he can go to hell and Irsquom damn

glad hersquos staying here so we wonrsquot have him fishing with usrdquo to which Jake agrees (108)

In another case Hemingway likens Cohn to an animal a steer Cohn likes to tag-

along with Brett (141) After a bull fight Cohn says ldquoItrsquos no life being a steerrdquo (145)

Mike sarcastically replies ldquoDonrsquot you think so I would have thought yoursquod loved

being a steer Robertrdquo (146) Being likened to a steer makes Cohn mad Mike partially

drunk says ldquoIs Robert Cohn going to follow Brett around like a steer all the timerdquo

(146) These demeaning remarks imply that Jews are sub-human

At one point Mike intimates that Cohnrsquos Jewishness disqualifies him from being

a part of the group ldquoDo you think you amount to something Cohn Do you think you

belong here among usrdquo (181) Mike says to Cohn ldquoIrsquom not one of your literary chaps

Irsquom not clever But I do know when Irsquom not wanted Why donrsquot you see when

yoursquore not wanted Cohn Go away Go away for Godrsquos sake Take that sad Jewish

face away Donrsquot you think Irsquom rightrdquo (181) In another instance when Cohn tells Brett

that he will stay with her Brett replies ldquoOh donrsquot For Godrsquos sake go off

somewhererdquo (184) Cohn is portrayed as leech-like a clinger similar to Jews accused of

usury bleeding people dry With the eternal theme of Jewish suffering Brett says of

Cohn ldquoI hate him too I hate his damned sufferingrdquo (186)

In his short story ldquoGod Rest You Merry Gentlemenrdquo published in 1933

Hemingway takes a less anti-Semitic approach to Jews In this story there are two

28

doctors Dr Wilcox and Dr Fischer Dr Wilcox is Christian while Dr Fischer is Jewish

A sixteen-year-old boy comes into the hospital and says that he wants to be castrated

because he is struggling with lust The boy is religious and to him lust is a problem Dr

Fischer is compassionate with the boy and genuinely seems interested in his predicament

Dr Fischer converses with the boy and finally tells him ldquoTherersquos nothing wrong with

you Thatrsquos the way yoursquore supposed to be Therersquos nothing wrong with thatrdquo (Short

Stories 299) The boy still sees himself as sinning Dr Fischer tells the boy that what he

is going through is natural and that later he will think himself fortunate (300) The boy

is adamant that he is wrong He doesnrsquot want to listen to Dr Fischerrsquos explanations

Logically Dr Fischer explains to the boy that there is nothing wrong with his body that

he has a good body and that if he is religious then in the future his body can help him

consummate the sacrament of matrimony (300)

Dr Wilcox takes a different approach He calls the boy a fool (300) Then the

boy leaves when he finds out that nobody will castrate him Dr Wilcox rudely says to

the boy ldquoOh go andmdashrdquo (300) Horst Kruse interprets the absence as meaning ldquojack-

offrdquo (62) The boy leaves and later he does try to castrate himself amputating himself

in the process When the boy returns to the hospital with life-threatening injuries Dr

Wilcox ironically isnrsquot in a hurry to try to save the boy as he doesnrsquot see the condition as

an emergency In the story it is Dr Fischer who has shown mercy on the boy not Dr

Wilcox Kruse sees Doc Fischer as the moral center of the story and suggests that

Hemingwayrsquos portrayal of Dr Fischerrsquos knowledgeable insight and humanity might be an

attempt to try to ldquoatone for his former anti-Semitismrdquo (72) Kruse argues that Dr Fischer

29

might even be seen as a Christ-figure a fisher of men (65) Other scholars speculate that

this story might have been an attempt for Hemingway to apologize for the way he treated

Harold Loebrsquos alter-ego Robert Cohn (Kruse 73) But this interpretation is problematic

AE Hotchner once asked Hemingway if he had remorse about the way he had portrayed

Loeb and the others in The Sun Also Rises (Blume 237) Hotchner asked Hemingway

ldquoso if you had it to do over would you have been softerrdquo (237) Hemingway replied to

Hotchner ldquoOh hell nordquo (237) Despite this possible attempt at atonement Hemingway

continued to make anti-Semitic statements after this story first came out

30

CHAPTER 3

HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY

Ernest Hemingway was a born on July 21 1899 in Oak Park Illinois then a

Protestant conservative bastion There in his earliest years Hemingwayrsquos maternal

grandfather Ernest Hall led his family and their servants after breakfast on their knees

in morning prayer (Dearborn 11 Hemingway-Sanford 14) Unlike the others

Grandfather Hall did not pray with his eyes closed nor his head bowed (Pawley 22)

Instead he prayed with his head upraised and ldquowith his arms stretched upward as if

locked in a face-to-face with Godrdquo (Dearborn 11) He also prayed in a thundering voice

(Pawley 22) Ernestrsquos older sister Marcelline Hemingway-Sanford noted that she liked

to peak out at Grandfather Hall through her fingers ldquobecause he seemed so surely to be

talking right to his friend Godrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 15) Marcelline suggested that

Grandfather Hall knew God intimately (14) In addition Grandfather Hall led daily

devotions for the household with the book Daily Strength for Daily Needs (Isabelle 2

Hemingway-Sanford 14) Even the cook and the maid were present at these family

gatherings Grandfather Hall also led grace at the table (Isabelle 2) and he would lead

the family in worship (Hemingway-Sanford 15) He was Episcopalian and he liked to be

referred to in the biblical term ldquoAbbardquo which refers to God as in ldquoAbba fatherrdquo (Isabelle

2 Mark 1436) Marcelline referred to Grandfather Hall as being a very religious man

(Hemingway-Sanford 14) Every Sunday he would go to Grace Episcopal Church

where kneeling on the Brussels carpet he would lead the church in evening prayer

31

(Pawley 21) He once said of his grandson Ernest to his mother Grace ldquothis boy is

going to be heard from someday If he uses his imagination for good purposes hersquoll be

famous but if he starts the wrong way with all his energy hersquoll end in jail and its up to

you which way he goesrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 12)

Ernestrsquos paternal grandfather Anson Hemingway converted to Christianity in

1859 (Dearborn 13) Anson was a descendent of Ralph Hemingway ldquowho came to

America with the Great Migration and through him from a line of Puritan and

Congregationalist ministersrdquo (12) Anson Hemingway was friends with the great

evangelist DL Moody and he closely worked with him (for a while) as the general

secretary at the Chicago YMCA (Dearborn 13 Hemingway-Sanford 18) Ernest idolized

his grandfather Hemingway (Pawley 21) Ernestrsquos mother whom Ernest came to hate

once wrote Ernest ldquoNot for nothing are you the great great grandson of that noble

Christian Rev William Edward Miller and the grandson of the finest purest noblest man

I have ever known Ernest Hallrdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 103-04) In fact

Ernest Miller Hemingway was named after his grandfather and the Miller line of Gracersquos

family Grace wrote to Ernest ldquoYou are born of a race of gentlemen who were clean

mouthed chivalrous to all women grateful and generous You were named for the two

finest and noblest gentleman I have ever known See to it that you do not disgrace their

memoriesrdquo (qtd in M Reynolds Young Hemingway 138) Ernestrsquos family were such

churchgoers that they had their own pews at the First Congregational Church

(Hemingway-Sanford 147)

32

On the flip side Ernestrsquos father was rigid (Pawley 23) In disciplining his

children Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often forced his ldquochildren on their knees to pray

to God for forgivenessrdquo (Isabelle 4) Sometimes Ernest mockingly referred to his father

as ldquothe Great Physicianrdquo a title that Jesus also holds as a healer of people (Hemingway-

Sanford 127) According to a Hemingway biographer (no name given)

Sin scared the life out of Ernest At night he prayed that he had been a good boy

during the day The trouble was a boy could never be sure if he had been good

he might have done something bad and not known it was bad It was so hard to

obey every rule so hard to please his mother his father his teachers his minister

his God so hard that sometimes it wasnrsquot worth trying and a boy felt like giving

up (qtd in Pawley 23)

Ernest grew up then with a great spiritual legacy and upbringing that he found at times

challenging and problematic

On Easter in 1911 at the Third Congregational Church Ernest and his sister

Marcelline were confirmed and they received their First Communionrdquo (Dearborn 33) It

was at this church that Ernestrsquos mother was the choir director she even had Ernestmdasha

sopranomdashand Marcelline sing in the choir (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 108 L

Hemingway 28) In his youth Ernest Hemingway and Marcelline joined a contest put on

by the adult advisor of the Christian Endeavor Society Mr Sweeney to see who could

read the entire King James Bible first (Dearborn 37 Hemingway-Sanford 135) It was

Mr Sweeneyrsquos idea and he offered a prize (Hemingway-Sanford 135) Although Ernest

did not win he and Marcelline did complete the reading of the whole Bible (Dearborn

33

37) In addition Ernest and Marcelline passed a comprehensive test on what they had

read (Pawley 24) Additionally as a youth Ernest was given ldquoan allowance of one penny

per year of age each weekrdquo out of which he gave a tithe to the Sunday school (24) At

the age of fourteen Ernest starred in a Sunday school play at the Third Congregational

Church (24) After his parents transferred their membership to the First Congregational

Church Hemingway and Marcelline joined the Plymouth League where Ernest often led

Sunday afternoon services (Dearborn 33 Isabelle 7-8 Pawley 24 Hemingway-Sanford

147) Marcelline notes that ldquothe refreshments served after the meetings were quite an

attraction for the high school membersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 147) For the Plymouth

League Ernest took turns at being the treasurer the program chairman and sometimes

the speaker at the meetings At church Ernest and Marcelline also played in the church

orchestra Once Ernest and his four brothers and sisters dressed as Chinese and Japanese

citizens in order to phonetically sing the Japanese national anthem (147-48) Yet when

Hemingway went to Italy for World War I he saw and experienced the horrors of war

Perhaps because of this and through his teenage years Hemingway went astray from

his religious upbringing While in Italy Ernest met and fell in love with a nurse Agnes

von Kurowsky He loved her and wanted to start a new life with her in America

Hemingway wrote to William D Horne Jr about this on March 30 1919 ldquoBut Bill Irsquove

loved Ag Shersquos been my ideal and Bill I forgot all about religion and everything else-

because I had Ag to worship All I wanted was Ag and happinessrdquo (Hemingway in

Katakis XXV) This letter shows Hemingway distancing himself from religion in Italy

and replacing it with the woman he loved This is similar to how Catherine Barkley

34

made her lover Frederic Henry her religion in A Farewell to Arms (452) Unfortunately

for his parents Hemingway became a prodigal son and he never returned to the faith of

his youth (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 139)

Despite having turned away from his faith Hemingway could never entirely get

away from his upbringing and Oak Park mores For instance in his first marriage to

Hadley Richardson Hemingway was sometimes shocked by Hadleyrsquos language In fact

despite the fact that Hemingway used those very same words he didnrsquot think it proper for

a woman to use them (163) Hemingway still prayed ldquowhen he was courting Hadley

[he] asked her if she would pray with him in the Milan cathedral as Agnes would notrdquo

(Stoneback 110-11) Hadley responded that she would ldquoI am doing the best thing a

woman can do for a man Bringing you back to religionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 125-26)

Stoneback asserts that there is abundant evidence that Hemingway ldquoliked to pray in

Catholic churches and cathedrals years before he met Paulinerdquo (113)

Before going to World War I Hemingway worked for the Kansas City Star

While there Hemingwayrsquos mother learned that Ernest ldquohad stopped going to churchrdquo and

she sent off an angry letter to him (Reef 24) In one of his letters to his mother

Hemingway wrote ldquoYou know I donrsquot rave about religion but am as sincere a Christian

as I can be I believe in God and Jesus Christ have hopes for a hereafter and creeds

donrsquot matterrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) In addition prior to going to the Great War Ernestrsquos

father encouraged Ernest to associate with strong Christian YMCA men (M Reynolds

Young Hemingway 128) In his letters to Ernest Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often

sounded like a minister (171)

35

Upon his return to Oak Park after the war Hemingway wore his war uniform

around for four months and gave talks of his war experience Marcelline Hemingway

says that this was because Ernestrsquos long boots helped support his injured and weakened

legs Yet Hemingway lied and embellished his wartime experience This behavior is

just like that of Harold Krebs in Hemingwayrsquos short story ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

would lie and attribute ldquoto himself things other men had seen done or heard of and

stating as facts certain apocryphal incidents familiar to all soldiersrdquo (Short Stories 111-

12) In an essay in Ernest Hemingway Artifacts from Life Tom Putnam surmises that

Krebs in embellishing his war record to impress those around him ldquogrows more

disillusionedmdashfinding himself becoming a fraudrdquo (Putnam 184) Hemingway may have

disillusioned himself with his lies too In one instance Hemingway once gave a version

of his fictitious war stories in a talk to an audience at the First Baptist Church (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 56) So Hemingway lied in front of a church Proverbs

1222 reads ldquoLying lips are an abomination to the Lord but those who act faithfully are

his delightrdquo (English Standard Version)

Back in Oak Park Hemingway turned to alcohol for his comfort He stayed in

bed day after day and hid the liquor from his parents (Pawley 25) Staying in bed

helped his aching legs But he didnrsquot stay in bed more than half the day (Hemingway-

Sanford 178) According to Marcelline there were also times when Ernest had ldquoalmost

depressed intervals when he retired to his room away from the well-wishers and curiosity

seekersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 183) Hemingway used the alcohol to cope with the pain

of his war wounds (Pawley 25) One day Marcelline was upset about something and

36

when she came to Ernestrsquos room he noticed this and asked her what was wrong

(Hemingway-Sanford 183) Then he offered her a drink She tasted it Then he said to

her

Donrsquot be afraid Drink it up Sis it canrsquot hurt you Therersquos great comfort in

that little bottle not just for itself But it relaxes you when the pain gets bad

Mazaween donrsquot be afraid to taste all the other things in life that arenrsquot here in

Oak Park Taste everything Sis Donrsquot be afraid to try new things just

because they are new (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 184)

Ernest later wrote of an experience of drinking ldquoand the rhum (sic) enters into us like the

Holy Spiritrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 17) God was not Hemingwayrsquos comfort alcohol

was After that night Marcelline wondered to herself whether Ernest would ever be

happy again at home (Hemingway-Sanford 184) She noted a difference in him upon his

return to Oak Park Marcelline writes ldquoBut Ernest wasnrsquot the same old friend and

playmate I had knownrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178) adding that ldquoa lifetime of new

experiences war death agony new people a new language and love had crowded into

Ernestrsquos liferdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178)

After recovering from his wounds Ernest still didnrsquot get a job or show any

interest in college He had no plans at all Instead he went to Michigan to enjoy life with

his friends (Hemingway-Sanford 198) In Michigan according to Marcelline ldquoThough

Mother implored Ernestrsquos help and tried to talk to him about the family situation he

blithely ignored her appeals and managed to leave immediately after meals with his

friends or go fishing when something needed to be done he promised vaguely to help

37

lsquosome other timerdquo (205) His parents were very worried about his ldquolack of adult

responsibilityrdquo and ldquohis rudeness and his willingness to let both Mrs Charles Bill

Smithrsquos aunt and our family go on providing for him [led Mother to decide that]

something drastic had to be done to wake him uprdquo (205) Leicester Hemingway says that

ldquoOur parents had harbored definite hopes that this fling at soldiering had taught him

[Ernest] a lesson that now he would suddenly show a keen interest in some lsquosensiblersquo

way of liferdquo (L Hemingway 56)

The entire situation is similar to that of Harold Krebs in ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

returns from World War I with his Methodist faith shattered (Pawley 25) Krebs is

unemployed but his mother encourages him ldquorsquoGod has some work for everyone to do

There can be no idle hands in His Kingdomrsquordquo (Short Stories 115) Krebsrsquo mother adds

his fatherrsquos opinion ldquoAll work is honorable as he says But yoursquove got to make a start at

somethingrdquo (115) When Krebsrsquo mother asks Harold if he would kneel and pray with her

Krebs says that he canrsquot Krebsrsquo mother encourages him to try then she asks him if he

wants her to pray for him Krebs consents (116)

Of Ernestrsquos free-loading loafing time Leicester Hemingway writes ldquoAbout the

only thing I really understood of that first summer after the war was that Ernest was in an

agitated state and being around the family did not calm him at allrdquo (59) In the end

Ernestrsquos mother wrote Ernest a letter in which she said that Ernest had overdrawn his

account with her and that he was not welcome back at the family vacation home of

Windemere in Michigan (Dearborn 90) This action got Ernest out of the house looking

for a job on his own It also added to his resentment towards his mother In ldquoSoldierrsquos

38

Homerdquo Krebs tells his mother that he doesnrsquot love her Putnam suggests that Krebs has

forgotten how to love (Putnam 184) In Ernestrsquos case it is quite possible that he didnrsquot

love his mother It is known for sure that he didnrsquot like his mother When married to his

fourth wife Mary Welsh Ernest would sometimes rant about his mother blaming her for

making life hell for his father contributing to his fatherrsquos suicide and referring to his

mother as ldquothat bitchrdquo (qtd in Di Robilant 55) Perhaps his motherrsquos ultimatum pushed

him further away from his Protestant upbringing Although Hemingway didnrsquot like his

mother Hawkins argues that he inherited his volatile temper from her as she held grudges

against people Hawkins writes of Grace Hemingway ldquoGrace had a tendency to store up

injustices done to her so that on occasion even the smallest thing triggered a litany of

perceived wrongsrdquo (34) In addition to his motherrsquos ultimatum Ernestrsquos parents didnrsquot

seem to accept writing as a viable career for Ernest (M Reynolds My Brother 63) No

matter like Harold Krebs Hemingway did abandon his childhood faith after World War

I

Hemingway became interested in Catholicism during his service in Italy during

World War I There he served in the Red Cross Ambulance Corps of Unit 4 as driver for

the Italian Army (Hemingway-Sanford 157) After a few days in Italy Ernest and Bill

Horne found the place dull So hearing of the chance to volunteer ldquofor a special branch

the Red Cross Rolling Canteen Servicerdquo they applied and were accepted (160) This

Service operated all the way up to front linesmdashwhich was right where Hemingway

wanted to be in the midst of the action He ldquohad volunteered to be one of the bicycle

riders who distributed mail chocolate and tobacco to the soldiers in the trenches at the

39

frontrdquo (160) At that time the attack on the Piave River had started and the Austrians

were shelling around only fifty yards away on the other side of the river There making

his rounds in Fossalta Hemingway was wounded by an Austrian Trench Mortar as he

handed an Italian soldier a cigarette and chocolate (161) People thought that

Hemingway was going to die During this time Hemingway later claimed that he was

baptized by a priest ldquoAt Fornaci Ernest and the other wounded soldiers were

administered extreme unction by a chaplain with the Italian army Don Giuseppe

Bianchirdquo (Dearborn 59-60)

Michael Reynolds claims that the priestrsquos absolution of sins and anointment of oil

was an epiphanic moment for Hemingway (M Reynolds The Paris Years 346)

However it is unknown if Hemingway was really absolved of his sins by a Catholic

priest HR Stoneback notes that battlefield baptism and extreme unction did not

produce a ldquoformal process of reconciliation or conversionrdquo (109) On March 10 1927

Hemingway divorced Hadley Richardson to marry his new flame the Catholic Pauline

Pfeiffer This divorce devastated Hemingwayrsquos parents In fact Leicester Hemingway

overheard his dad say of Ernestrsquos divorce ldquoNo Itrsquos the disgrace Id rather see him in his

graverdquo (L Hemingway 103) Leicester Hemingway recalls that one morning while

digging for worms with Dr Hemingway the doctor says ldquoYou know of course that

your brother has brought great shame on our family by divorcing Hadley dont yourdquo

(103) Dr Hemingway laments the fact that there hadnrsquot been a divorce in the

Hemingway family for seventy years While in the process of trying to marry Pauline

Ernest returned to Italy searching for this priest Don Giuseppe Bianchi in order to

40

ascertain if this priest had actually performed an emergency baptism on him thus making

him Catholic (Dearborn 236) According to Hawkins Ernest found and visited with

Bianchi (71) Hawkins notes that as a rule priests during the First World War did not

ldquohand out baptismal certificates as they moved through hospital wards to anoint the

woundedrdquo (71) Despite the fact that there is ldquono evidence that Ernest returned with a

baptismal certificaterdquo he did swear to it (236) With this baptism he was allowed to

marry Pauline (M Reynolds American Homecoming 121) According to some scholars

death-bed baptism led Hemingway to become interested in Catholicism In addition

some scholars go so far as to say that this event marks the point when Hemingway started

to be Catholic Perhaps Ernestrsquos near-death experience infused a seed of Catholicism in

his heart

Michael Reynolds notes that ldquowhen an eighteen-year-old kid thinks hes dying a

Catholic priest can make a lasting impressionrdquo (The Paris Years 346) Reynolds claims

that long before Pauline the ceremony the ritual and the mystery of the Catholic Church

were a strong attraction to Hemingway Even if Pauline had not entered his life

Hemingway would have eventually turned Catholic Pauline simply accelerated this

process Later some found Hemingwayrsquos Catholic conversion to be suspect specious

and very convenient (345-46) Yet ldquonone of these doubters seriously thought of

Hemingway as a Protestant and he himself never looked back on his Congregational

training which he associated with Oak Park hypocrisy his fatherrsquos unbearable piety and

his motherrsquos church politics of who would rule the choir loftrdquo (346)

41

Hemingwayrsquos second wife Pauline Pfeiffer converted him to Catholicism In

fact Pfeiffer was such a serious Catholic that she caused Hemingway ldquo to take seriously

doctrine especially of sin and observance especially of prayerrdquo (Berman 33) Before

their marriage Pfeiffer had misgivings about marrying a married man and cutting him off

from his wife and child (Dearborn 229) For Pauline ldquoTo do so would be not only to

invite the damnation of her soul but also the unforgiving wrath of her Catholic parentsrdquo

(M Reynolds The Paris Years 318) If Pauline committed adultery she believed that

she would have been ldquosinning so mortally their souls were in jeopardyrdquo (318) Reynolds

wryly observes that ldquo[o]ne could not remain a devout Catholic and an ardent adulteressrdquo

(318)

For his part Ernest considered ldquoconverting to Catholicism in order to marry

Pauline in the Churchrdquo (Dearborn 221) Dearborn adds ldquoNo doubt Pauline was

researching the Churchrsquos requirements for marriage to a divorced manrdquo (221) In order to

marry Pauline Hemingway had to provide proof that his first marriage to Hadley was

outside the Church and so unofficial null and void (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 114) So since Hemingway ldquotestified that he had been baptized during the

war in Italy and that his first marriage was outside the Church [he] received on April

25 the necessary dispensation from the Archbishop of Paris which removed the last

obstacle to the ceremonyrdquo (121) Yet Hemingwayrsquos friend Ada MacLeish did not

attend Ernestrsquos and Paulinersquos wedding because she was disgusted by the Catholic

Churchrsquos solemnization of the new couplersquos bond and thought it a farce (Dearborn 237)

Ada

42

was completely disgusted with Ernestrsquos efforts to persuade the Catholic Church

that he had been baptized by a priest who walked between aisles of wounded men

in an Italian hospitalmdashtherefore Ernest was a Catholic and Hadley never had been

his wife and Bumby was a bastard To see this farce solemnized by the Catholic

Church was more than we [Archie and Ada] could take (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 124)

In his quest to marry Pauline Hemingway openly and formally embraced

Catholicism Hemingway wrote to Ernest Walsh about his rediscovered Catholicity

If I am anything I am a Catholic Had extreme unction administered to me as such

in July 1918 and recovered So guess I am a super-catholic It is most

certainly the most comfortable religion for anyone soldiering Am not what is

called a ldquogoodrdquo catholic But cannot imagine taking any other religion

seriously (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 345)

It is unknown whether Ernest ever mailed this letter

Ruth A Hawkins suggests that Hemingway ardently became a true Catholic

believer after he was cured of his temporary sexual problems after his marriage to

Pauline Hemingway told AE Hotchner that he and Pauline had had a good sex life

during their affair yet after they got married Hemingway experienced problems with

impotence (Hawkins 86) To try to alleviate this problem Hemingway saw doctors and a

mystic Nothing worked Pauline was patient and understanding Ernest was

discouraged so she encouraged him to go to the church a few blocks away and pray

Ernest recounts ldquoI went there and said a short prayer Then I went back to our room

43

Pauline was in bed waiting I undressed and got in bed and we made love like we

invented it We never had any trouble again Thatrsquos when I became a Catholicrdquo (qtd in

Hawkins 86)

Throughout his literary career Hemingway writes a number of stories involving

Catholics His short story ldquoThe Wine of Wyomingrdquo is about a French Catholic

bootlegging couple and is based upon a real-life Catholic couple that he met in Sheridan

Wyoming (Dearborn 263) Hemingway also writes about Catholicism in The Sun Also

Rises However Hemingway doesnrsquot write so much about Catholicism but rather of

Catholics themselves in their day-to-day lives (Hertzel 78) In The Sun Also Rises Jake

Barnes is nominally Catholic He basically lives the way that he wants to prays and

goes to church occasionally This is kind of like Hemingway who although not a

nominal Catholic lived the way that he wanted to while still claiming to be Catholic and

following some rituals In The Sun Also Rises Jake talks of going to church ldquoa couple of

times once with Brettrdquo (Sun 154) Although Jake prays regularly including for his

friends he also prays for mundane things like the upcoming bullfights and the Festival of

San Fermiacuten ldquoI wondered if there was anything else I might pray for and I thought I

would like to have some money so I prayed that I would make a lot of moneyrdquo (103)

While praying Jake gets distracted and he begins to think about other things ldquoas

all the time I was kneeling with my forehead on the wood in front of me and was

thinking of myself as praying I was a little ashamed and regretted that I was such a rotten

Catholicrdquo (103) Of his bad example as a Catholic Jake realizes that ldquothere was nothing I

could do about it at least for a while and maybe never but that anyway it was a grand

44

religion and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next timerdquo (103) One

critic asserts that The Sun Also Rises ldquois a novel about spiritual bankruptcyrdquo (Djos) Jake

is spiritually bankrupt but he tries to go about things in another way He drinks in order

escape the pain of the war and his impotency So alcohol might be said to be Jakersquos

primary spiritual comfort like it was a comfort for Hemingway Carlos Baker

categorizes The Sun Also Rises as a tale of Wastelanders (Berman 44) Moreover Jake

once thinks ldquoTo hell with people The Catholic Church had an awfully good way of

handling all thatrdquo (Sun 39) Jake believes that the Catholic Church has a good way of

sending people to hell purgatory or heaven to whatever fate the individual deserves

In addition Catholicism is referenced in Hemingwayrsquos A Farewell to Arms with

its protagonist Frederic Henry Unlike the nominally Catholic Jake Barnes Frederic has

no religion whatsoever (Farewell 279) However there is a priest in Fredericrsquos Italian

army unit that Frederic likes a lot Yet Frederic thinks the priest dull (33) According to

Frederic he and the priest share many of the same tastes yet there is a difference

between them (12) Frederic is a man of the world who does not believe in religion per

se and he loves women The priest is a man of God he loves God above all he doesnrsquot

pursue women When Frederic is recovering from his war wound in the hospital the

priest comes to visit him Frederic tells the priest that he does not love God (62) He

adds that he is ldquoafraid of Him in the night sometimesrdquo (62) Gary Sloan argues that

Fredericrsquos girlfriend Catherine ldquowill be his [Fredericrsquos] religion even as he she says is

hersrdquo (452) Michael Reynolds points out that ldquoCatherine sounded a lot like [Ernestrsquos

second wife] Pauline who had made Ernest her religion risking her soul on the promise

45

of his loverdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 216) This is also the case when

Ernest made his first girlfriend Agnes von Kurowsky his religion over organized

religion

Although Frederic is not religious in desperate times he seems to temporarily

become religious When he first receives his war injury he cries out to God ldquoget me out

of hererdquo (48) When his and Catherine Barkleyrsquos baby dies Frederic thinks of the baby

and thinks that it should have been baptized (279) Faced with the possibility of

Catherine dying Frederic prays ldquoEverything was gone inside of me I did not think I

could not think I knew she was going to die and I prayed that she would not Donrsquot let

her die Oh God please donrsquot let her die Irsquoll do anything for you if you wonrsquot let her

dierdquo (282) Hertzel points out that some of Hemingwayrsquos characters pray frequently

However it is also important to note that the prayers never get answered (79) For

example in Hemingwayrsquos posthumously published Islands in the Stream Thomas

Hudsonrsquos son David makes this comment about prayer ldquoYou canrsquot tell Audrey You

never know when it [prayer] may [do good] I donrsquot mean that Mr Davis needs to be

prayed for I just mean about prayer technicallyrdquo (186) In Frederick Henryrsquos case both

his baby and Catherine die Apparently in Hemingwayrsquos mind there was no

supernatural realm and prayers go nowhere Frederick asks Catherine on her death bed

ldquoDo you want me to get a priest or anyone to come and see yourdquo (Farewell 282)

Catherine just wants Frederic to stay with her Frederic says that his only religious feeling

comes at night (227) So the spiritual connection of sex is a religious experience to

Frederic

46

Hemingway does not present a supernatural dimension to Catholicism (Hertzel

78) In The Sun Also Rises as Jake and Brett leave a chapel in Pamplona he thinks that

ldquo[t]he praying had not been much of a successrdquo (212) Brett also portrays religion as

being uselessmdashat least for her saying ldquoDonrsquot know why I get so nervy in church

Never does me any goodrdquo (212) Brett says that praying never does her any good and

that she has never gotten anything that she prayed for (213) Jake does say that he has

gotten things that he has prayed for Brett replies of prayer ldquoMaybe it works for some

peoplerdquo (213) Jake considers himself ldquopretty religiousrdquo (213) Hemingway himself

prayed but apparently after the Spanish Civil War his view on prayer changed In The

Dangerous Summer he says ldquo[I] never [prayed] for myself during the Spanish Civil

War when I saw the terrible things that happened to other people and I felt that to pray for

oneself was selfish and egotisticalrdquo (142) In a June 19 1945 letter to Thomas Welsh

Hemingway expounded

In first war really scared after wounded and very devout at the end Fear of

death Belief in personal salvation or maybe just preservation through prayers for

intercession of Our Lady and various saints that prayed to with almost tribal faith

Spanish war seemed so selfish to pray for self when such things being done to all

people by people sponsored by Church that never prayed for self But missed

Ghostly comfort This war [Spanish Civil War] got through without praying

once Times a little bad sometimes too But felt that having forfeited any right to

ask for these intercessions would be absolutely crooked to ask for same no matter

how scared (qtd in Stoneback 128)

47

Consequently Hemingway only prayed for others after the Spanish Civil War In The

Dangerous Summer Hemingway writes of praying for others in Spain ldquoI prayed for all

those I had in hock to Fortune for all friends with cancer for all girls living and dead

and that Antonio would have good bulls that afternoonrdquo (69) Yet it is unknown if any

of Hemingwayrsquos prayers were ever answered In fact Hemingway wondered if his

prayers ever got anywhere

In case my prayers were invalid as they well might have been and to make sure

someone competent was doing it I took out a membership in the Jesuit Seminary

Fund Association at New Orleans for Carmen and Antonio [Ordoacutentildeez bullfighter]

There was a class graduating who when they were ordained would pray for them

each day (142)

So Hemingway got others to pray for his friends family and others in case that his

prayers were going nowhere In Hemingwayrsquos works instead of offering a supernatural

element to the Catholic Church he presents the Church as a solely human institution

Hertzel writes that Hemingway treats the Catholic Church as ldquoa colorful institution with

richness tradition ritual and discipline but it provides no convenient miraclesrdquo (78-79)

Consequently Hemingway uses Catholicism as a literary motif to add texture to his

writings (79)

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway seems to make fun of the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit that according to Christians is the method by which the Bible was

written Hemingwayrsquos example is silly Hemingway mockingly describes the writing

process of Waldo Frank the author of Virgin Spain He ldquolay naked in his bed in the night

48

and God sent him things to write how he lsquowas in touch ecstatically with the plunging and

immobile allrdquo (53) Moreover

After God sent it he wrote it The result was that unavoidable mysticism of a

man who writes a language so badly he cannot make a clear statement

complicated by whatever pseudo-scientific jargon is in style at the moment God

sent him some wonderful stuff about Spain during his short stay there

preparatory to writing of the soul of the country but it is often nonsense (53)

Hemingway wrote more generally of the religion of the Lost Generation again

with a touch of mockery

There will be many new salvations brought forward My generation in France for

example in two years sought salvation in first the Catholic Church 2nd DaDaism

third the movies fourth Royalism fifth the Catholic Church again There may be

another and better war But none of it will matter particularly to this generation

because to them the things that are given to people to happen have already

happened (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 327)

In his books Hemingway also seems to make fun of religion in order to try to be

comedic In his ficto-biography True at First Light Hemingway asks the interpreter

ldquoDid you not like the Mission School Remember God is listening He hears your every

wordrdquo (182) Later Hemingway asks GC ldquoAnd will you carry these principles into

Life sonrdquo (204) GC responds ldquoDrink your beer Billy Grahamrdquo (204) Ironically

years later Billy Graham would use Ernest Hemingway as a sermon illustration More

comedy follows in True at First Light when Hemingway talks about a new religion that

49

he created for the Africans He said that his African helpers Ngui and Mthuka and

himself ldquocould decide what was a sin and what was notrdquo (281) Hemingway also talks

about the ldquoHappy Hunting Groundsrdquo as if it were some sort of heaven

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway is comedic through the character of Bill

Gorton Walking down a boulevard with Jake Bill spots a taxidermistrsquos shop and

jokingly tries to get Jake to buy a stuffed dog Jake knows that it is a joke and just tries

to keep Bill moving down the boulevard After Jake promises to get a stuffed dog on the

way back Bill Gorton says ldquoAll right Have it your own way Road to hell paved with

unbought stuffed dogs Not my faultrdquo (78) Hemingway also does this with the priest in

A Farewell to Arms in order to try to infuse comedy into this novel when the captain at

the soldiersrsquo mess keep joking with the priest as the butt of the joke ldquoPriest to-day with

girlsrdquo (7) The captain adds ldquoPriest every night five against onerdquo (7)

On the train to Bayonne Bill Gorton says of some pilgrims on the train with

them ldquoGoddam Puritansrdquo (Sun 91) In the train compartment with Jake and Bill is a man

from Montana with his wife and son The man says to Jake and Bill of getting a meal

while pretending to be pilgrims ldquoThey thought we were snappers all right It

certainly shows you the power of the Catholic Church Itrsquos a pity you boys ainrsquot

Catholics You could get a meal then all rightrdquo (93) Frustrated by the situation Jake

assures him that he is Catholic When Bill Gorton corners a priest returning from a meal

with the pilgrims Bill asks him when the Protestants will get a chance to eat The priest

says that he doesnrsquot know and Gorton replies ldquoItrsquos enough to make a man join the Klanrdquo

(93)

50

After fishing along the Irati River Jake and Bill meet to have lunch After talking

about William Jennings Bryan and which came first the chicken or the egg Bill mocks

religion and the question of whether the chicken or the egg comes first ldquoOh how

should we know We should not question Our stay on earth is not for long Let us

rejoice and believe and give thanksrdquo (126) Holding a drumstick perhaps like a mock

scepter and a bottle of wine Bill tries to be mockingly funny ldquoLet us rejoice in our

blessings Let us utilize the fowls of the air Let us utilize the product of the vine Will

you utilize a little brotherrdquo (126) Handing Jake the bottle Bill says ldquoUtilize a little

brother Let us not doubt brother Let us not pry into the holy mysteries of the

hencoop with simian fingers Let us accept on faithrdquo (127) Then pointing at a

drumstick Bill says ldquoLet me tell you We will say and I for one am proud to saymdashand I

want you to say with me on your knees brother Let no man be ashamed to kneel here in

the great out-of-doors Remember the woods were Godrsquos first templesrdquo (127) They

uncork another bottle Before they take a nap Bill asks Jake if he is really a Catholic

(128) Jake replies that he is technically a Catholic When asked what that means Jake

says that he doesnrsquot know (129) Even though the Eucharist is mocked Jake and Bill are

seemingly reborn as they fish in nature So nature provides a chance at rest and

regeneration

Just like Hemingway in most of his life some of his characters are not religious

although they have religious influences Robert Jordan is one example His father was

religious But his fatherrsquos religion turned Robert off In one instance as a younger man

when Robert is about to leave on a train his father gets emotional and says a prayer over

51

him In response ldquoRobert Jordan had been so embarrassed by all of it [his fatherrsquos

emotionalism] the damp religious sound of the prayer and by his father kissing him

good-by that he had felt suddenly so much older than his father and sorry for him that he

could hardly bear itrdquo (For Whom Bell Tolls 405-406) This would seem similar to

Ernestrsquos leaving home for the first time en route to Kansas City (Hemingway-Sanford

154) In this instance Hemingwayrsquos father bought him the ticket and saw him off (154)

Maybe Dr Hemingway did cry when he saw Ernest off for he really loved his son

While Ernest was in Italy Marcelline notes that her ldquoDad had always loved Ernest

especially dearly and he missed him and prayed for him dailyrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford

160) To compound all this like Hemingwayrsquos father Robertrsquos religious father later

ldquoshot himselfrdquo in a suicide in the same manner as Robert Jordanrsquos father (For Whom Bell

Tolls 66) Robert ldquounderstood his father and he forgave him everything and he pitied him

but he was ashamed of himrdquo (340) Perhaps Hemingway was ashamed of his father after

his fatherrsquos sad suicide This shame and embarrassment of his late father and his

perceived cowardice may have pushed Robert away from religion (338) In addition it is

quite probable that the suicide of Hemingways father additionally pushed him away from

the Protestant tradition of his father as his father had been a deacon and a very upright

and religious man (Reynolds M American Homecoming 211) Yet Daniel Pawley notes

that Hemingway loved his father more than anyone else in the world At one point in For

Whom the Bell Tolls Robert says ldquoI do not believe in ogres nor soothsayers nor in the

supernatural thingsrdquo (250) When Pilar tells Robert that she cares about him Robert tells

52

Pilar that he doesnrsquot want her love He qualifies ldquoNi tu ni Diosrdquo (Neither yours nor

Godrsquos) (387) Robert doesnrsquot want Godrsquos love either

48

CHAPTER 4

HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY

According to Michael Reynolds Hemingway liked all things ancient and

medieval and that included the Catholic Church In fact Hemingway liked visiting

medieval cathedrals among them Chartres He ldquoliked the ritual the mystery the odors of

age and incense He liked its permanence in stonerdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 325)

Hadley Richardson liked to refer to the chivalric Hemingway as her ldquogentil parfit

knightrdquo an allusion to Chaucerrsquos description of the knight in The Canterbury Tales (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 223) and he liked to wear a scapular This scapular has

ldquogot an image of Christ on it suspended from a brown shoestring-like loop At home in

Key West friends have observed him with the scapular and how hersquoll make the sign of

the cross before he goes in swimmingrdquo (Hendrickson 28)

Hemingway would come back to the Bible in his later years in his search for

literary titles Hemingway alludes to Ecclesiastes 14-7 in his title of The Sun Also Rises

The Scriptural passage was used to signify that basically the Lost Generation would

pass away but that the earth would abide forever Moreover Hemingway gave the Bible

credit for teaching him how to write (Blume 213)

In his youth Hemingway idolized his missionary uncle to China Willoughby (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 110) Willoughby had a medical mission there In fact

Ernestrsquos father Dr Clarence Hemingway inspired by his brother had wanted to be a

medical missionary to Guam but his wife had dissuaded him from it (Pawley 24) Dr

49

Hemingway also had an offer for a medical mission in Greenland (L Hemingway 21)

Grace refused to go Ernest Hemingwayrsquos life might have had a much different outcome

if his mother would have supported his father in becoming a medical missionary to Guam

or even Greenland Years later when Hemingway was living in Cuba Hemingwayrsquos

sister Ursala visited and she and Ernest reminisced about their Uncle Willoughby

recalling his visits and together they sang ldquolsquoJesus Loves Mersquo in Chinese until the tears

rolled down their cheeksrdquo (25) Upon the death of his father Ernest returned home to

Oak Park where he openly displayed his new-found Catholic faith Marcelline says that

upon his arrival Ernest ldquotold us that he had had a Mass saidrdquo for their dad (Dearborn 268

M Reynolds American Homecoming 211 Hemingway-Sanford 233) With Dr

Hemingwayrsquos body lying in repose in the music room Ernest now leader of his family

led his family in the Lordrsquos Prayer This echoes back to the time in Ernestrsquos youth when

his Grandfather Hall would lead his family in the Lordrsquos prayer ldquohis eyes directed

heavenwardrdquo (Dearborn 268) However during this time of mourning Ernestrsquos

Catholicism angered some peoplemdashespecially Marcelline

Relying on Catholic teaching Ernest believed that his father had gone to

purgatory since suicide was a mortal sin (M Reynolds American Homecoming 211) In

addition Ernest mentioned that since his family was a Heathen Family ldquoit was

impossible to offer enough prayers to get his [Dr Hemingwayrsquos] soul into heavenrdquo

(Dearborn 268) Marcelline thought that Ernestrsquos idea of praying their father out of

purgatory was disgusting Ernest told his kid brother Leicester Hemingway to ldquopray as

hard as he could for his fatherrsquos soul to be released from purgatoryrdquo as ldquothings go right on

50

from hererdquo (Dearborn 268 My Brother 111) Despite the waves that Ernest made with

his family he showed genuine care concern and distress in his belief that his late father

was in purgatory (Dearborn 268) In this instance Hemingway definitely took Catholic

doctrine seriously

Dearborn paints Ernest Hemingway as a practicing Catholic one who would go to

Mass and fast on Good Friday She suggests that during this trying time Hemingway

turned to his faith in order to anchor himself through his grief She further suggests that

Ernestrsquos claim that his father was in purgatory was a way for him to assert his patriarchal

dominance over the family and to show that he was in charge Marcelline as the eldest

had tried to claim this role but in her struggle with Ernest she had lost (269)

In Chicago a Dominican priest wrote to Hemingway to thank him for saving his

friend Don Stewart in the bull ring at Pamplona (M Reynolds American Homecoming

156) This priest had heard of Hemingwayrsquos conversion to Catholicism within that year

1927 and he urged Hemingway to become a writer for the Dominican cause in order to

defend the Church and its ldquocause of Truthrdquo (156) In response Hemingway wrote

I have been a Catholic for many years although I feel very badly and did not go to

communion for over 8 years However I have gone regularly to mass for the last

two years and absolutely set my house in order within the year However I have

always had more faith than intelligence or knowledge and I have never wanted to

be known as a Catholic writer because I know the importance of setting an

examplemdashand I have never set a good example Also I am a dumb Catholic

and I have so much faith that I hate to examine itmdashbut I am trying to lead a good

51

life and to write well and truly and it is easier to do the first than the second (qtd

in M Reynolds American Homecoming 156)

In a 1940 Valentinersquos Day letter to his editor Maxwell Perkins Hemingway wrote ldquoI am

not a Catholic writer nor a party writer nor even an American writer but just a writer

meant to rise above injusticerdquo (qtd in Isabelle 51)

Despite his Catholicism Hemingwayrsquos faith didnrsquot help him to change into a

better man Although he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not

transform him nor even make him Christ-like Hemingway did not have a salvation

experience Nor was his faith life-altering Stoneback agrees that ldquoHemingway did not

turn to the church for instant deliverancerdquo (Stoneback 122) As a Catholic

Hemingway continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Ernestrsquos

Catholicism did not translate into his personal life Hemingwayrsquos religious life was one

solely of Catholic rituals He did not change his behavior or his vices He did not

overcome his problems Unfortunately in the end Hemingwayrsquos problems overcame

him

Despite his personal shortcomings Hemingway did at times take Catholicism

seriously After one of his African safaris he returned to Paris and saw his friend Ned

Calmer Calmer was a reporter and an aspiring novelist There Hemingway learned that

Calmerrsquos daughter had not been baptized (Hendrickson 44) This was unconscionable to

Hemingway Years later Calmer wrote that ldquoErnest seemed genuinely concerned

The attitude was this will never do He came along to the church of St Sulpice in Paris

52

as sponsor at the ceremonyrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 44) where Calmerrsquos daughter was

baptized

Hemingwayrsquos faith affected him in other ways too During the Spanish Civil

War his Catholicism would give him ldquosympathy with the conservative traditionalist side

in Spain at least in the early days of this unrestrdquo (Dearborn 303) Later Hemingway

would switch his allegiance to the anti-Franco anti-fascist communist-supported side of

the conflict Unfortunately this shift caused many family disputes with his wife Pauline

(Isabelle 25) However it was Hemingwayrsquos belief that politics and religion should not

mix (Stoneback 117) After the Spanish Civil War and in Cuba Hemingway used to

worry that the FBI were Roman Catholics and thus consequently Franco sympathizers

(N Reynolds 127) In fact Hemingway liked to refer to the FBI as ldquolsquoFrancorsquos Bastard

Irishrsquo and lsquoFrancorsquos Iron Cavalryrsquordquo (127) Nicholas Reynolds suggests that Hemingway

was paranoid about the FBI because he had signed on to be a spy with the Russian

Narodny Kommisariat Vnutrennikh Del (Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs)

better known as the NKVD Yet Hemingway never actually did anything for them His

code name was ldquoArgordquo Dearborn notes that ldquo[d]espite his professed Catholicism Ernest

was impatient with religion over philosophizing and what we would call today self-

helprdquo (320) Dorothy Parker makes a different claim about Hemingway ldquoThere is no

more than a thin line of moss to stamp the spot where Robert Benchley and Ernest

Hemingway had that big philosophical discussion about the meaning of liferdquo (qtd in M

Reynolds American Homecoming 106) Philosopher Ralph Withington Church ldquorecalls

his conversations with Hemingway about the lsquoproblem of redemptionrsquo and

53

Malebranchersquos lsquotheory of gracersquordquo (Stoneback 121) Ernest also had his own privately-

held opinions about Catholicism For example Hemingway told one of his daughters-in-

law that unlike the Catholic Churchrsquos teaching that animals donrsquot have souls he believed

that animals did (Dearborn 516) Secondly Ernest seems to have taken on or been

influenced by his motherrsquos mystic spiritualist bent Ernest believed in superstitions and

in some types of psychic phenomena (518)

Later in his life Ernest seems to have some misgivings about Catholicism He

consistently said when Paulinersquos name surfaced that ldquoher Catholic faith had wrecked the

marriagerdquo (Dearborn 406) Pauline had been advised by her doctor not to have any more

children The fear was that Pauline would get pregnant and die from the pregnancy

(Hawkins 141) Since Catholicism only permitted the birth control method of

withdrawal Ernestrsquos pleasure was significantly diminished by this technique and

consequently doomed their marriage Hemingway had also wanted to have a daughter

but this dream was never realized Paulinersquos second son Gregory who became a doctor

contends that all that his father would have had to have done to retain his pleasure would

have been to abstain from intercourse on Paulinersquos fertile days According to Gregrsquos

reasoning this ldquowould have been obvious to lsquoany foolrsquordquo (qtd in Dearborn 406)

According to Leicester Hemingway Ernest wanted nothing to do with the Catholic

church after Pauline and he asked for ldquothe address of an uncle William E Miller who

had written many hymns in the Episcopalian hymnalrdquo (Isabelle 58-59) Moreover Ernest

was concerned about his sons Patrick and Gregory attending a Catholic school Ernest

feared that this school Canterbury was affecting Patrick gradually and insidiously

54

(Dearborn 480) In fact Ernest hated this school and he referred to it as ldquoone of lsquothose

snot schoolsrsquordquo (480)

Paulinersquos and Hemingwayrsquos second son Gregory had a troubled life Over time

he came to like to dress up as a woman In Los Angeles this caught up with him when

he tried to enter the womenrsquos restroom of a theater in drag (Hendrickson 297) Pauline

cabled Hemingway that Gregory was in trouble Hemingway called back Pauline was in

a lot of pain but went to the phone anyway to tell Hemingway about the problem On the

phone Hemingway said ldquoItrsquos all your fault see how yoursquove brought him up yoursquore

corrupt and hersquos corruptrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 297) Hemingway intimated that perhaps

Gregoryrsquos Catholic upbringing had pushed Gregory into transgenderism Gregory had

served as an altar-boy at Saint Mary Star of the Sea (386)

That night Pauline went to bed in tears Unfortunately the heated accusative

argument with Ernest had set Pauline off At the time Pauline had been staying at her

sisterrsquos Virginia residence in Los Angeles In the early morning Virginia and her

friend Laura awakened to what they described as a ldquohorrendous screamrdquo from Paulinersquos

room Pauline was taken to the hospital where her blood pressure skyrocketed dropped

to zero and caused ldquoher to die of shock on the operating tablerdquo (Hawkins 271) Later

Hemingway blamed Paulinersquos death on Gregory Yet Gregory became a doctor and

researched his motherrsquos death more thoroughly Through an autopsy report Gregory

learned that his mother had died of a ldquorare tumor of the adrenal glandrdquo also known as

pheochromocytoma (275) This type of tumor secretes large quantities of adrenaline

causing blood pressure to spikemdasheven to the point where arteries can rupture Pauline

55

had had only an intermittent tumor that would secrete during times of stress Gregory

informed his father of his findings in a letter in the summer of 1960 Gregory wrote that

Hemingwayrsquos argument with Pauline had set Pauline off ldquocausing a blood vessel to

rupturerdquo after which her blood pressure dropped to zero with the resulting shock killing

her on the operating table (275) So Gregory blamed Hemingway for Paulinersquos early

death from shock due to the ruptured blood vessel and the drop of her blood pressure to

zero

In 1947 Hemingwayrsquos son Patrick had a spiritual crisis of his own Due to his

Catholic mother Patrick had been schooled in Catholic schools In 1947 Patrick had

been studying for the College Board exams at Hemingwayrsquos home the Finca in Cuba

However when Gregory had a spring vacation Patrick decided to join him in Key West

In 1945 Pauline had bought herself a sports car (Dearborn 497) In 1947 in Key West

Patrick was newly licensed and Patrick let Gregory drive the sports car Gregory drove

off the road and hit a tree near Casa Marina

In the process Patrick and Gregory seemed to suffer only minor injuries

Gregory ldquoreceived a minor knee injuryrdquo while Patrick ldquosuffered a cut on his chin and

slight headacherdquo (Hawkins 251) Yet Patrick had suffered a severe concussion (Di

Robilant 7) At first the boys didnrsquot seem to have any ill effects from the accident and

they arrived back at the Finca However shortly after his arrival Patrick started acting

strangely (Dearborn 497) At the Finca Patrick asked ldquofor a pot of hot water and some

teardquo (497) When Reneacute Villarreal brought the hot water and tea to the little house

ldquoPatrick complained that the water was dirtyrdquo (497) Then Patrick commenced shouting

56

loudly at the cook Ramoacuten who wasnrsquot even there Next at the main house Ernest

placed Patrick ldquoon a wicker chaise and stroked his headrdquo (497) In Havana the next day

Patrick was able to take the College Board exams but as the day progressed he grew

increasingly agitated So Ernest called for a doctor The doctor ldquosedated Patrick but the

next day he was delirious and soon became violent and it was necessary to restrain himrdquo

(497) Andrea Di Robilant believes that Patrick had a complete breakdown (7) His loss

of normalcy became a terrible ordeal for the Hemingway family in which his future his

sanity and his life hung in the balance (Dearborn 497)

In response Ernest placed Patrick in his own bed at the Finca and slept on a straw

mat in the living room just outside the door of his bedroom taking care of Patrick around

the clock (Dearborn 497-98 Hawkins 251) Ernest did this for the next three months

(Dearborn 498) It was hoped that Patrick would recover and be well within a couple of

weeks Yet it didnrsquot turn out this way Doctors from all over Cuba were called in Dr

Herrera deemed Patrick to be ldquopredementialrdquo a condition either set off from the exams or

by a crisis of his Catholic faith (498) Religion was a big portion of Patrickrsquos delirium

the other subject being putas whores A local priest named Don Andreacutes became one of

Patrickrsquos chief caretakers Surprisingly due to the spiritual nature of Patrickrsquos condition

this priest was unable to enter Patrickrsquos room without being accused of being the devil

incarnate Consequently this priest became known as the Black Priest

Patrick was so delusional that Ernest and his doctors were concerned about being

near Patrick because they were afraid that they would be scratched or bitten Patrick

remained bedridden for weeks and ldquohe moved in and out of consciousnessrdquo (Di Robilant

57

7) However Patrickrsquos condition did not improve he only worsened and became more

violentmdashhaving to be constantly restrained (Dearborn 498) At first the doctors wanted

Ernest to put Patrick in a hospital but Ernest was determined to keep Patrick at home

Patrick was so delirious that he wouldnrsquot eat When Patrick did eat he stuffed the food in

his mouth like a hamster to spit out at his caretakers Patrick even couldnrsquot swallow his

own saliva Considering that Patrick would probably rip out feeding tubes it was

decided to feed him rectally under restraint and under heavy sedation Patrick had not

eaten since his illness had begun five days prior It would take a full hour and a half to

feed Patrick rectally Despite this procedure Patrick dropped to eighty-eight pounds by

the start of August He had become psychotic

Given the limited means and the early days of psychiatric diagnoses in that time

and age it seemed like Patrick was schizophrenic perhaps even needing a lifetime of

institutionalized care (499) In July a new physician suggested that Patrick undergo

shock treatments In those days the only options were lobotomy and electroshock

therapy (499-500) So seeing no other viable option Patrickrsquos parents relented to the

electroshock therapy (500) In the outbuilding of the Finca Patrick received his first

shock treatment After only around ten minutes Patrick was reported as being ldquolucidrdquo

Fortunately Patrickrsquos electroshock therapy brought him back

The Hemingways remembered how the shock treatments had brought Patrick

back from the brink of hopelessness However when electroshock treatments were tried

years later on Ernest himself because of his traumatic brain injuries and compounding

depression they had the opposite effect For Ernest Hemingway electroshock treatments

58

wiped out his memory and he could no longer write take pride in himself and support

himself financially by the only means he knew how The shock treatments pushed

Hemingway further into depression

After his marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer Hemingway had misgivings about his

Catholic faith However HR Stoneback asserts that Hemingway never entirely gave up

his Catholicism and that he continued to go to Mass pray support the church and regard

himself as Catholic (114) Despite all this Hemingway had some bitterness toward the

Catholic Church Yet it still played an influence in his life Lloyd Arnold says of

Hemingwayrsquos last twenty years of life ldquoI did not know Papa as a man without Godrdquo (qtd

in Stoneback 105-06) Even after his marriage to Pauline Hemingway did put some

stock in Catholicism His divorce from Pauline made him excommunicated from the

Catholic Churchmdashhe could not receive communionmdashbut he still did visit Catholic

churches and pray inside During his marriage to Pauline Hemingway had faithfully and

regularly attended Mass Of his post-Pauline years Hemingway friend and biographer

AE Hotchner noted that in 1954 Hemingway on his way to Madrid stopped into the

cathedral at Burgos where he kneeled and prayed (Stoneback 106) According to

Hotchner in 1958 Hemingway paid for a new roof for the Catholic Church in Hailey

Idaho Then he gave an address to that parishrsquos young people admonishing them not to

work on Sunday as it was ldquovery back luckrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106)

Actor Gary Cooper who had played the role of Robert Jordan in the 1943 film

version of For Whom the Bell Tolls converted to Catholicism himself in 1958 In

response Hemingway ldquotalked sympathetically with Gary Cooper aboutrdquo it (Stoneback

59

106) In 1959 Hemingway was pickpocketed in Spain so in response he put an ad in

the newspaper asking the Spanish pickpocket to return his billfold as he cared mostly for

ldquogetting back the ldquoimage of St Christopher in itrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106) Throughout

his lifetime Hemingway named a son after a pope ldquodisplayed great pride in Patrickrsquos

confirmation mastery of the catechism gave money and support to the churchrdquo (110)

Ernest even taught his oldest son Bumby how to pray (L Hemingway 99) When

Hemingway received his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 he gave the medal to the

Virgen of Cobra Shrine in Cuba (Isabelle 52)

In a conversation with his fourth and final wife Mary Welsh Hemingway says to

her ldquoReligion is superstition and I believe in superstitionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 118)

Ernest adds that it is his ldquoTribal heritagerdquo (118) Mary wrote to Stoneback of Ernest that

when they would visit cathedrals in France Italy or Spain Hemingway would light

candles in honor of the memory of his friends Stoneback writes that with Ernest Mary

Hemingway had to live through a Catholic prism With Ernest Mary had to eat fish on

Fridays observe Lent do the Christmas traditions celebrate Ernestrsquos saintrsquos day have

masses and prayers said for family and friends observe holy days and Catholic feasts

drive miles off course to visit and revisit cathedrals and churches and to attend religious

processions (119) Mary Hemingway would later say that Hemingway ldquoadmiredrdquo the

Catholic church and that he ldquothought of himself always as Catholicrdquo (qtd in 119) Mary

Hemingway said of Ernestrsquos friend the Black Priest Don Andreacutes that he and

Hemingway would talk alone and that Ernest regarded him ldquoas his lsquopersonal priest and

confessorrsquo that they prayed together and for each otherrdquo (120) According to Toby

60

Bruce Hemingway and the Black Priest were very good friends they talked quite a lot

and that when Don Andreacutes died in 1955 Hemingway had masses said for him (132)

Mary said of Ernest ldquoWhen he said he was Catholic he meant itrdquo (qtd in 120)

Mary added that Ernest tried very hard at being Catholic Allen Tate said that

Hemingway was ldquovery Catholicrdquo and that his attitude towards sports was ldquorooted in

religious sensibilityrdquo (120) Tate added that it was the ritual of sport that Hemingway

liked RW Church says that Hemingwayrsquos ldquotalk during these late hours at Lips made

evident his conviction that Sport and bull-fighting in particular afforded a major way to

the redemption of manrdquo (135) Stoneback argues that for Hemingway sport is a

redemptive ritual that is central to his life and work (136) The renowned sportsman

George Leonard Herter said that although Hemingway was a strong Catholic

his ldquoreligion came mainly from the Apparitions of the Virgin Maryrdquo (121) Herter said

that Hemingway was almost obsessed with the apparitions and talked about them often

(134) Hemingway thought that they were important Hemingway did not understand

why the Catholic church did not publicize the apparitions Hemingway was amazed that

most brothers nuns and priests were ignorant of the apparitions and seemed to care even

less Herter said that he had heard Hemingway speak of the apparitions including

Lourdes Fatima and others ldquoat one time or anotherrdquo (qtd in 134) Herter says that

Hemingway believed that if there was no Bible ldquono man-made church lawsrdquo then the

apparitions conclusively proved that the Catholic church was the true church (134-35)

Herter adds that ldquoHemingway knew all the apparitions The ones at Pontmain

61

Pellivoisin Allyrod greatly impressed himrdquo (134-35) In addition Hemingway basically

believed that the Virgin Mary was earthrsquos listening post for Jesus and God (135)

Reynolds Price suggested that ldquoHemingwayrsquos lsquolifelong subjectrsquo was

lsquosaintlinessrsquordquo (121) Stoneback asserts a spiritual order to Hemingwayrsquos works in which

Hemingway examines the conscience through a Catholic lens (122) Stoneback

summarizes an October 18 1933 letter to Pauline Hemingway

tells Pauline that the proofs of Winner Take Nothing have arrived and though it is

a ldquodamned goodrdquo book itrsquos too much to expect the church will stand for it As he

sees it considering his writing the church would have two choices either kick

him out or prove he has no right to be in Either one would be bad because he

couldnrsquot tell them to ldquogo to the devilrdquo because of the ldquoItalian complicationsrdquo At

least hersquoll be able to say his prayers participate in the Mass support and

contribute to the church and wherever they donrsquot know him he can go to

confession He does not want to seem to be seeking ldquoappuirdquo as a ldquoCatholic

writerrdquo He says that he has no right to write the way he does and be ldquolsquoofficially

of the Churchrsquordquo Everything is fine with his conscience however he adds that

therersquos nothing wrong with the church (Stoneback 129-30)

Stoneback summarizes an interview with Fraser Drew As Stoneback

summarizes Hemingway told Drew

I [Hemingway] like to think that Irsquom a Catholic as far as I can be I can still go to

Mass although many things have happenedmdashthe divorces the marriages He

spoke with admiration of Catholicism and then of his friend the Basque priest

62

whom he had known in Spain [Don Andreacutes] and who now lived in San Francisco

de Paula He comes here a great deal said EH He prays for me every day as I

do for him I canrsquot pray for myself any more Perhaps itrsquos because in some way I

have become hardened Or perhaps it is because the self becomes less important

and others become more important But that Time article was bad He referred to

a recent article in Time which had commented that he had been born a

Congregationalist had become a Roman Catholic and now no longer went to

church This conversation with EH confirms my earlier feeling that he is a

religious man with respect for the religions of others (Stoneback 131)

Toby Bruce said of Hemingway and religion ldquoIrsquod say he was very religious Always

went to Mass especially when he was here still with Pauline And afterwards toordquo (qtd

in 132) Bruce added ldquoHe was a real Catholic and I think he tried very hard to be a good

Catholic Who knows for sure Yes he was he planned to donate a considerable sum

toward the restoration of the Mary Immaculate Convent Donrsquot know if he did I guess

Irsquod say he was a good Catholic Donrsquot know what the church would say about itrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 132-33)

Hemingway would cross himselfmdasheven after the 1930s (133) George Herter

wrote ldquoHemingway was a Catholic in those days when the Catholic Church was a church

instead of a mass of confusion The fact that he had been a steady marrying and divorce

type didnrsquot bother Ernest at all in his views on Catholicism I knew Ernest only had

his religion in his very shaky worldrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) George Herter responded

to HR Stoneback in a letter about Hemingway ldquoI repeat he was a very strong Catholic

63

He had complete faith in God Jesus the Virgin Holy Ghost guardian angels Much

more so than nearly all Catholics I have known He was a traditional Catholic as we

all were at the timerdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) In another letter from Herter to Stoneback

dated February 23 1978 Herter writes ldquoHemingway was a strong Catholic He had a

very good knowledge of early Christianity He did not attend Mass regularly He

believed the churchrsquos stand on divorce was right although he was divorced many times

He often stated that he was a poor example of a Catholic but offered no excusesrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 134-35) Stoneback asked a Key West resident what he thought of

Hemingwayrsquos religion The man responded ldquoHemingway was very religious went to

Mass early in the morning with Pauline You could tell he was religious when he fed

the cats the way he looked at the skyrdquo (136)

Yet in his last years of life Hemingway said some very anti-Catholic and anti-

Christian things For instance married to his last wife Mary Ernest said in an interview

to Lillian Ross of the possibility of an afterlife ldquoOnly suckers worry about saving their

soulsrdquo (qtd in Ross 50) Hemingway continued ldquoWho the hell should care about saving

his soul when it is a manrsquos duty to lose it intelligently the way you would sell a position

you were not defending if you could not hold it as expensively as possible trying to

make it the most expensive position that was ever soldrdquo (50) Gregory Hemingway

recounted something similar Gregory said that his father didnrsquot genuinely believe in

organized religion and that his father ldquomade it clear he didnrsquot believe in an afterlife He

did finally believe in a superior beingrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 186) Although Hemingway

didnrsquot believe that it was necessary to save onersquos soul he did contemplate the soul As a

64

boy Hemingway had thought that his soul had blown out of him once and it had returned

to his body (First Light 172) Hemingway claimed ignorance of the soul and he didnrsquot

know if it existed nor if anyone he knew anything about it Hemingway ponders the

soul ldquoProbably a spring of clear fresh water that never diminished in drought and never

froze in the winter was closest to what we had instead of the soul they all talked aboutrdquo

(172) As a boy Hemingway assumed that he had a soul but as he grew older and jaded

he wasnrsquot sure anymore Hemingway thinks that death ends things Yet he ponders that

perhaps only really religious people have souls (172-173) Of a belief in an afterlife for

the soul as heaven or hell Hemingway had his own opinions of that On July 1 1925

Hemingway creatively wrote to F Scott Fitzgerald of his vision of heaven

To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a

trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in and two lovely

houses in the town one where I would have my wife and children and be

monogamous and love them truly and well and the other where I would have my

nine beautiful mistresses on 9 different floors Then there would be a fine

church like in Pamplona where I could go and be confessed on the way from one

house to the other and I would get on my horse and ride out with my son to my

bull ranch named Hacienda Hadley and toss coins to all my illegitimate children

that lined the road I would write out at the Hacienda and send my son in to lock

the chastity belts onto my mistresses because someone had just galloped up with

the news that a notorious monogamist named Fitzgerald had been seen riding

65

toward the town at the head of a company of strolling drinkers (Hemingway in

Katakis 37)

However after his World War I injury Ernest wrote his family

You know they say there isnrsquot anything funny about this war and there isnrsquot I

wouldnrsquot say that it was hell because thatrsquos been a bit overworked since General

Shermanrsquos time but there have been about eight times when I would have

welcomed hell just on a chance it couldnrsquot come up to the phase of war I was

experiencing (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 166-67)

So if there was a hell Hemingway didnrsquot believe that it was worse than the horrors of

war Of his past Hemingway did have regrets He wrote ldquoThis past was never my past

life which truly bores me to think about and is often very distasteful due to the mistakes

that I have made and the casualties to various human beings involvedrdquo (Hemingway in

White 466)

The question of the soul comes up continually in the works of Hemingway In

ldquoNow I Lay Merdquo Nick Adams tries not to go to sleep at night because he is afraid like

Hemingway was that his soul is going to leave his body in the dark This all stems from

a battlefield injury and experience that Nick had when his soul temporarily left his body

Nick relates ldquoI had been that way [not sleeping at night] for a long time ever since I had

been blown up at night and felt it [his soul] go out of me and go off and then come back

I tried never to think about it but it had started to go since in the nights just at the

moment of going off to sleep and I could only stop it by a very great effortrdquo (Short

Stories 276)

66

Yet Nick doesnrsquot fear his soul leaving him during the day time Hemingway also

had a similar experience with his wounding at Fossalta According to Leicester

Hemingway Ernest once told Guy Hickok of this near-death experience ldquoI felt my soul

or something coming right out of my body like yoursquod pull a silk handkerchief out of a

pocket by one corner It flew around and then came back and went in again and I wasnrsquot

dead any morerdquo (56) Hemingway gives Frederic Henry the same experience in A

Farewell to Arms After the explosion that caused his wounding Henry says that

I tried to breathe but my breath would not come and I felt myself rush bodily out

of myself and out and out and out and all the time bodily in the wind I went out

swiftly all of myself and I knew I was dead and that it had all been a mistake to

think you just died Then I floated and instead of going on I felt myself slide

back I breathed and I was back (47)

Hemingway later referred to his Christian upbringing as ldquothat ton of shit we are

all fed when we are youngrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) Michael Reynolds makes the claim that

in Ernestrsquos youth fishing was his religion (118) However Archie MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoActually he was one of the most profoundly and spiritually powerful

creatures I have ever knownrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 158)

In The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway paints the old man Santiago as a

Christ figure There is so much Christian symbolism in this tale that the story can be

thought of as a parable The name Santiago literally means Saint James in Spanish

(Baker 293) In the Bible James was one of Jesusrsquo brothers Baker says of Santiago that

he ldquoshows in his own right certain qualities of mind and heart which are clearly

67

associated with the character and personality of Jesus Christ in the Gospel storiesrdquo (299)

Like Christ Santiago is able to ldquoignore physical painrdquo while focusing on the larger

objective goal to be gained in the end (299) There is an allusion to Christ on the cross

when Santiago in fighting for his prize ldquosettled comfortably against the wood and took

his suffering as it camerdquo (Old Man Sea 64) Like a horizontal cross-beam across Christrsquos

back Santiago has the cord tightened taught across his back (Backman 10 Old Man Sea

67) Santiago carries the burdensome weight of the fish on his back and he is even

burned by the cord because of it (Old Man Sea 82) The wood the suffering and

Santiagorsquos gentleness according to Melvin Backman blends ldquomagically into an image of

Christ on the crossrdquo (10) Three other Christ-like qualities that Santiago has are his

compassion his humility and his natural piety (Baker 299-300) Santiago has

compassion on certain animals that he encounters and of some fish that he catchesmdashlike

the giant marlin In his struggle with the marlin Santiago says ldquoI love you and respect

you very much But I will kill you dead before this day endsrdquo (Old Man Sea 54) After

he has killed the fish Santiago thinks ldquoYou loved him when he was alive and you loved

him after If you love him it is not a sin to kill himrdquo (105) Before killing the fish

Santiago ponders ldquoI wish I could feed the fish He is my brother But I must kill him

and keep strong to do itrdquo (59) Santiago thinks of his humility ldquoHe was too simple to

wonder when he had attained humility But he knew he had attained it and he knew it

was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true priderdquo (13-14) Santiago demonstrates

his pride when his disciple Manolo touts him as the best fisherman and he plays it down

by saying that he knows of better ones (23) Manolo claims ldquoQueacute va [No way] But

68

there is only yourdquo (23) Santiagorsquos piety is observed in that he prays when he feels and

senses the need and that his prayers are never oaths For example in trying to catch the

giant marlin Santiago says aloud ldquoNow that I have him coming so beautifully God help

me endure Irsquoll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys But I cannot say

them nowrdquo (87) Santiagorsquos prayers are never careless nor does he make them profane

He is reverent

As Christ had disciples so Santiago has his disciple Manolo Like Christ

Santiago is a teacher in that he was taught Manolo how to fish Christ was a fisher of

men Santiago is a traditional fisherman Manolo loves Santiago because of his teaching

Manolo how to fish and he admires and looks up to Santiago as a second father figure

Before Santiago goes out on his big marlin hunt Manolo says to him ldquoIf I cannot fish

with you I would like to serve in some wayrdquo (12) Manolo wants to be loyal to Santiago

Before his big marlin catch Santiago had had two previous eighty-seven day periods

where he went without a fish After the first period Santiago and Manolo had caught big

fish every day for three weeks GR Wilson Jr likens these three weeks to Christrsquos three

years of ministry where he fished for men and taught his disciples to fish for men (370)

At the start of Old Man Santiago had not caught a fish for eighty-four days The Old

Man and the Sea takes place over three days so this makes the second eighty-seven day

period In the Bible Christ demonstrated his divine authority by performing miracles

Wilson notes that Manolo has faith in the old man stemming from the miracle of the

three weeksrsquo bounty that he and Santiago had caught In addition according to Isabelle

Santiago ldquohooks the fish at noon and at noon of third day he kills itrdquo (77) This is just

69

like Christ who died and in three days rose again Isabelle adds that the marlin was

ldquolanded on the seventh attemptrdquo and that ldquoseven sharks were killedrdquo in the fishrsquos defense

(78) The number seven is a sacred and significant number recurring in the Bible After

the seventh day of creation God rested there are seven days in a week et cetera

(Easton) The number seven is also seen as symbolizing perfection and rest

Another similarity of Santiago with Christ are the wounds that he receives on his

hands On the cross Christ was pierced in each hand to help keep him pinned to the

cross In his battle with the fish Santiago receives bad cutsmdashstigmatamdashon his hands

Santiago sees his hands as brothers and he often talks to them Carlos Baker explains that

Santiago ldquospeaks to them [his hands] as to fellow-sufferers wills them to do the work

they must do and makes due allowances for them as if they were what he once calls

them lsquomy brothersrsquordquo (313) Once he says aloud ldquoHersquos [the fish] coming up Come

on hand Please come onrdquo (Old Man Sea 62) The hands also represent good and bad

The right hand is good and the left hand is bad Santiagorsquos hands are compared to the

criminals on the crosses to the left and right of Jesus who was on his own cross in the

center Santiagorsquos right hand is his good one Santiago thought that his left hand ldquohad

always been a traitor and would not do what he called on it to do and he did not trust itrdquo

(71) Luke 2339 reads ldquoOne of the criminals who were hanged railed at him [Jesus]

saying lsquoAre you not the Christ Save yourself and usrsquordquo (English Standard Version) So

Santiagorsquos left hand is untrustworthy Santiagorsquos right hand is so reliable that he quit

arm-wrestling despite being ldquoEl Campeoacutenrdquo in order to keep his right hand in good

condition as a tool of his trade fishing (70-71) The thief on Jesusrsquo right rebukes the

70

other criminal Then in Luke 2342 the thief on the right of Jesus asks Jesus ldquoJesus

remember me when you come into your kingdomrdquo (English Standard Version) Jesus

assures this repentant thief that that day the thief will be with him in paradise

Santiagorsquos right hand is like the penitent thief on the cross to Jesusrsquo right This analogy

can also be applied to the Last Judgment At the Last Judgment the saved will be on the

right hand of the Savior while those who are rejected and damned will be on his left

(Baker 314)

When Santiago sees two sharks approaching he says ldquoAyrdquo (Old Man Sea 107)

Hemingway explains of this exclamation that ldquoThere is no translation for this word and

perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make involuntarily feeling the nail go

through his hands and into the woodrdquo (107) Given his affinity and brotherhood with the

marlin when Santiago sees his prize catch eaten by the sharks it is a mortifying terrible

and crucifying experience for him Through Santiagorsquos crucifixion experience he is

transfigured Baker says that Santiagorsquos experience is also a form of martyrdom

although Santiago doesnrsquot see himself as a martyr (315) Baker also suggests that

Santiagorsquos experience also renders to him a form of apotheosis (316) Backman suggests

that Santiago triumphs (11) On his return voyage to Cuba Santiago ldquocould hardly

breathe now and he felt a strange taste in his mouth It was coppery and sweet and he

was afraid of it for a moment But there was not much of itrdquo (Old Man Sea 119) This

can be likened to Christ when he receives and drinks the ldquosponge filled with vinegarrdquo or

sour wine in Matthew 2748 (Baker 319) When Santiago returns to Cuba he has dried

blood on his face reminiscent of the blood on Christrsquos face because of the crown of

71

thorns Having arrived back everybody is asleep and nobody is there to greet or help

him He only sees a meandering cat Like Christ on the cross when God forsook him

because of the load of sin that he was carrying Santiago is alone in his suffering ldquoThere

was no one to help him so he pulled the boat up as far as he couldrdquo (Old Man Sea 120)

Removing the mast and sail Santiago ldquoshouldered the mast and started to climbrdquo (121)

This is like Christ carrying the heavy cross (Backman 11) Santiago ldquostarted to climb

again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder He

tried to get up But it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder and

looked at the roadrdquo (Old Man Sea 121) This is similar to Christ stumbling and falling as

he carried his cross on the Via Dolorosa on the way to his crucifixion at Golgotha Like

Christ Santiago falls under the burden he is bearing

Back at his shack Santiago lays down to sleep ldquoHe pulled the blanket over his

shoulders and then over his back and legs and he slept face down on the newspapers with

his arms out straight and the palms of his hands uprdquo (121-22) Baker notes that Santiago

sleeps in a cruciform position that sums up ldquothe symbolic position naturally assumed all

the suffering through which he has passedrdquo (320) In his return Santiago also brings

evidence of his epic battlegood work to increase the faith of his disciple Manolo

(Wilson 371) Wilson asserts that Santiago is on his death-bed when Manolo finds him

(372) The eighty-seventh day of this second period ends on Ascension Day as it began

on Ash Wednesday and ldquoconstitutes all but the last ten days of the Easter Cycle from

Lent through Paschal tiderdquo (369-70) As Mary cried over Christ at the tomb Manolo

returns to Santiagorsquos shanty sees the old manrsquos hands and starts to cry (Old Man Sea

72

122) Wilson also asserts that Santiago matches up with Joseph Campbellrsquos archetypal

model for a ldquohero with a thousand facesrdquo (372) For example Santiago starts out on his

journey or calling with the aid of the helper Manolo Santiago ldquocrosses the threshold of

adventure and meets a trial that can take many forms including the brother-battle

dragon-battle crucifixion and a night-sea journey all of which can be seen as applying

in some way to the old fishermanrdquo (372) The mythic-like story culminates in a ldquosacred

marriagerdquo between Santiago and his prize marlin (372) Fellow writer William Although

Hemingway was not a good nor a professing Christian and for most of his life claimed to

be Catholic he was not a reformed believer Hemingway still continued to be

Hemingway Despite all this according to Carlos Baker ldquoThe consciousness of God is

in his booksrdquo (328)

73

74

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

Hemingway wanted to be a good man and a great writer but unfortunately he

did not turn out to be a good manmdashalthough he had his moments of goodness Although

he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not transform him He did not

have a salvation experience nor was his faith life-altering As a Catholic Hemingway

continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Hemingwayrsquos religious

life was one solely of Catholic rituals He did not overcome his problems In the end his

problems overcame him Hemingway himself said of his heart ldquoActually in regard to the

innermost contents of my heart probably a most foul place I would rather have a good

cardiograph reportrdquo (Hemingway in White 459) Hemingway added ldquoNo one of us lives

by as rigid standards nor has a good ethics as we planned but an attempt is maderdquo (461)

Hemingway was vindictive against his critics Hemingway viewed most fellow

writers as enemies if they were not officially his enemy he eventually went about to

convert them into his enemies Hemingway wanted to be the top dog of everythingmdash

especially the writing scenemdashand he didnrsquot want to share the spotlight with anyone else

Ernest felt ldquothat anyone elsersquos success diminished his ownrdquo (Hawkins 61) Hemingwayrsquos

writer friend Sherwood Anderson was the one in Chicago to suggest that Hemingway

and his newly-married first wife Hadley Richardson go to Paris instead of their planned

destination of Italy Anderson told the young Hemingway that Paris was where the

literary world was at that time and that it was also the place to get published This advice

75

was instrumental into turning Hemingway into the famed writer that he became Had it

not been for Anderson and his encouragement and faith in Hemingway Hemingway may

have never became a Nobel Prize winning writer Anderson gave Hemingway letters of

introduction to Gertrude Stein Sylvia Beach Ezra Pound and F Scott Fitzgerald Like

Harold Loeb Anderson also helped in getting Hemingwayrsquos In Our Time published

stressing its importance to Boni amp Liveright (Dearborn 177) Since Anderson pushed In

Our Time Boni amp Liveright did not want to upset itrsquos star writer so they agreed to

publish it (Hawkins 39)

However after all was said and done Hemingway wrote his satire Torrents of

Spring mocking Andersonrsquos writing style in order to try to get laughs and in order to get

out of his contract with his publisher Boni amp Liveright It worked Torrents of Spring

was rejected by Boni amp Liveright because Anderson was the companyrsquos star writer So

in lieu of this Hemingway was able to sign with Max Perkins and the publisher

Scribnerrsquos and Sons Yet in the process Hemingway had burned his bridge of friendship

with Anderson who had been so generous and helpful with the young budding writer

Others who knew of Andersonrsquos graciousness and kindness to Hemingway were appalled

by Torrents of Spring (Hawkins 44)

Hemingway was anti-Semitic mean and demeaning to people he berated them

and belittled them He thought that all guys should be macho Hemingway was not pure

evil but the evil produced by his unpredictable and uncontrollable temper pushed a lot of

peoplemdasheven one-time friendsmdashaway from him Archibald MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoHe was wonderful irreplaceable but an impossible friend a man you

76

couldnt get along with a man you couldnt get along withoutrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 167)

Robert Capa once told Leicester Hemingway ldquoPapa can be more severe than God on

a rough day when the whole human race is misbehavingrdquo (192) Hemingway was his

own worst enemy

Hemingway was not a good Catholic He was married four times and even

divorced a Catholic woman whom he later called his best wife (L Hemingway 271) It

is speculated that Hemingway had affairs with multiple women Hemingway would have

affairs before marrying his last two or three wives Hemingwayrsquos son Jack ldquoBumbyrdquo

Hemingway surmised that Hemingway had an affair with the beautiful blond Jane

Mason in 1933 (Hawkins 152) According to Jack ldquoErnest bragged to him that Jane

liked climbing through the transom to his [Hemingwayrsquos] room at the Ambos Mundos

Hotelrdquo (153) Moreover a prostitute was known to have visited the Finca Vigiacutea

Although Hemingway was Catholic he didnrsquot really change his behavior to live

in sync with the Bible or all Catholic teachings He followed the rituals of the Church

not so much a personal transformative side Yet claiming to be Catholic Hemingway

lived by his own code In the end although Hemingway was not a good person he had

some good memories of a childhood growing up and some good experiences as an adult

Even with his bad experiences Hemingway was able to incorporate them into his

literature Hemingwayrsquos keen insight his precise powers of observation his absorption

of the knowledge gained from others and the Protestant work ethic of his youth paid off

as Hemingway put all of his being into trying to be an honest writer writing one true

sentence at a time and helping his audience to see the world through open and honest

77

eyes to help his readers see feel and almost literally experience first-hand what he was

writing aboutmdashthe good the bad and the ugly Though a flawed human being

Hemingway was a brilliant writer and his brilliance lives on through his works of

literature

WORKS CITED

75

WORKS CITED

Backman Melvin ldquoHemingway The Matador and the Crucifiedrdquo Modern Fiction

Studies 13 (1955) 2-11

Baker Carlos Hemingway the Writer as Artist Princeton Princeton University Press

1963 Print

Berman Ron ldquoProtestant Catholic Jew The Sun Also Risesrdquo The Hemingway

Review 181 (1998) 33 Web

Blume Lesley MM Everybody Behaves Badly the True Story Behind Hemingwayrsquos

Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises Boston Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016

Print

Cohn-Sherbok Dan Anti-Semitism Brimscombe Port Stroud The History Press 2002

Print

Dearborn Mary V Ernest Hemingway a Biography New York Alfred A Knopf

2017 Print

Di Robilant Andrea Autumn in Venice Ernest Hemingway and his Last Muse New

York Alfred A Knopf 2018 Print

Djos Matts ldquoAlcoholism in Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises A Wine and Roses

Perspective on the Lost Generationrdquo The Hemingway Review 142 (1995) 64

Easton MG Illustrated Bible Dictionary 3rd ed Thomas Nelson 1897 Bible Study

Toolscom Web 1 Dec 2018

ESV Study Bible English Standard Version Wheaton Crossway Bibles 2008 Print

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

This thesis utilizes new historicism as a lens through which to view Hemingwayrsquos

attitude towards religion and spirituality It involves first a brief explanation of this

perspective and then an investigation of Hemingwayrsquos life and several of his novels

New Historicism

Stephen Greenblatt gets the credit for coining the term ldquonew historicismrdquo in a

1982 issue of Genre (Harpham 363) Greenblatt saw new historicism as a practice not a

doctrine Greenblatt preferred the term ldquocultural poeticsrdquo in lieu of the term new

historicism New historicism is cultural interpretation New historicism searches the real

and the raw and claims to give a new approach to history Brook Thomas sees new

historicism as linking a bridge to the literary past (Thomas 182) It claims to give a new

approach to history providing a new angle from which to view the past According to

Thomas ldquoNew historicism suggests the newness of the pastrdquo (25) According to Joel

Fineman new historicism ldquoproposes to introduce a novelty or an innovation something

lsquo[n]ewrsquo into the closed and closing historiography of successive innovationrdquo (qtd in

Harpham 362) New historicism suggests that through an understanding of the past the

reader will see the past through new eyes and as it was seen in the past itself (Thomas

187) Plus new historicism seeks to represent those who were not represented in the

past New historicism is categorized as ldquoAgainst Theoryrdquo (187) Yet it is a theory in its

own respect New historicism questions whether dominant cultural forces predominate or

2

if cultural power is potentially undermined by other underlying destabilizing forces

(Harpham 360)

New historicism incorporates the reading of ldquoboth literary and non-literary textsrdquo

in order to understand the past from the point of view of the past (Kerridge 10)

Literature is defined as a cultural construct being unique to its own era and it is ldquoshaped

by the many peoples and discourses of that erardquo (10) New historicists believe that texts

should be viewed from their original setting and from the cultural context of that

particular period (10) Jane Tompkins in writing from the new historicist perspective

tries to sympathetically recreate the context in which literary works were produced and

the specific problems to which these literary works were devoted (185) Put simply new

historicism seeks to understand writers via their own historical terms (Veeser 186) New

historicists hope that by ldquoReconstructing an era from the materials it produced the

historian could sympathetically reinhabit the pastrdquo (89) Using the new historicist model

texts can reveal insights about the people that created them their discourses and their

ideology (Kerridge 10-11) In new historicism ldquoliterary and non-literary textsrdquo are given

equal scrutiny and regard (11) Consequently literature is a unique by-product of the

culture from which it originated and sheds unique insight into that culture

Despite Greenblattrsquos preference for his own term ldquocultural poeticsrdquo the term

new historicism stuck Whereas Greenblatt coined the term some scholars see Michel

Foucault as the power behind the method (Harpham 369) Foucault encouraged a group

of young scholars at Berkeley to promote new historicism in their journal

3

Representations In addition Foucault seemed to learn from this group Foucaultrsquos

ldquomost identifiable legacy in American literary studiesrdquo was new historicism (370)

New historicism claims to represent the real by defining the real as the textual

(360) According to Harpham ldquoLiterature is traditionally said to produce an lsquoethicalrsquo

effect through its ability to transcend its historical momentrdquo (374) Harpham says that the

real is defined as the local the material and the specific He also notes that ldquoA lsquonewrsquo

historicism promises knowledge of the past that really is knowledge that discloses the

object as in itself it really was that is not simply a reflex or internal mirroring of

contemporary self-awarenessrdquo (362) It is the goal of the new historicist to be objective

instead of subjective For instance the subjective seeks to define history through

personal tastes feelings and opinions New historicism is the opposed to this New

historicism seeks to present the past as it really was without the modern biases and

prejudices of those currently researching it New historicism tries to see through the eyes

and minds of the people who actually lived through and experienced history It tries to

understand the mindset and the feelings of the people of the time period in question

What people thought and how people thought is important Todayrsquos current beliefs

should be left out of the mix Past beliefs are essential to understanding the thinking

processes of the past

4

The Cultural Context and Overview of the Chapters To Follow

Ernest Hemingway was a man of his times Like many of his Lost Generation

after the Great War (in particular) he abandoned the faith of his youth although he quite

possibly did earlier World War I cemented this rejection In Hemingwayrsquos twenties he

married and then committed adultery According to Hemingway biographer Mary V

Dearborn he liked to marry those with whom he slept Hemingway started attending

religious services again after his second marriage to the rich Catholic Pauline Pfeiffer

Hemingway lived as an expat in Paris during the Roaring 20s Hemingwayrsquos friends

were newspapermen artists and writers Paris was hedonistic in those days After the

carnage and terror of World War I the returning Lost Generation just wanted to live life

to the utmost and the fullest In early-twentieth-century Paris Hemingway lived in an

atmosphere of lax morals Anything went In consequence he conformed to the culture

around him Some of Hemingwayrsquos literary friends were anti-Semitic Perhaps they

influenced him but Hemingway eventually showed signs of anti-Semitism too

Moreover some of the authors that Hemingway read especially as he was trying to

become a better writer were anti-Semitic themselves Living in predominantly Catholic

France converting to Catholicism at the insistence of his second wife was an easy task

for Hemingway Many of his friends were CatholicmdashJames Joyce being one At the

time Hemingway was just a conforming product of the culture and attitudes of those

around him He wanted to fit it inmdashhe wanted to be one of the boysmdashyet throughout his

life and his writing he was haunted by death and he wanted to find a spiritual solution to

his many struggles

5

Chapter 2 investigates Hemingway and Judaism and Chapter 3 centers on

Hemingway and Christianity In Chapter 4 the author argues that although he didnrsquot turn

out to be a good person and was vindictive against fellow writers critics and others

Hemingway was a good writer and used all his experiences good and bad to bring across

the truth and reality of life in his works of literature Hemingwayrsquos last novel Old Man

and the Sea provides the clearest statement of his spiritual and religious perspective

6

CHAPTER 2

HEMINGWAY AND JUDIASM

Historical Overview of Judaism

Anti-Semitism or hatred of Jews has been around since the rise of Judaism In

the Old Testament Pharaoh was the first political leader known to persecute the Jews

Pharaoh was concerned with the growing Jewish population and their loyalty Among

many other things he tried to kill Jewish ldquofirst-born sonsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 13) Next in

the Old Testament Haman tried to have the Jews killed off under Queen Esther

However most scholars agree that anti-Semitism came into its own in the years after

Christ left this earth For example Dan Cohn-Sherbok argues that ldquoit was only when

Christianity emerged in the first century CE that Jews came to be viewed as contemptible

and demonicrdquo (17)

Unfortunately the intensity of anti-Semitism in Christianity was mainly due to

misinterpretation In earlier centuries AD people could not read Scripture for themselves

and they were consequently misled In those days people had faith in and trusted the

Catholic Church seeing the pope as infallible Some misinterpreted Scripture to say that

the Jews were responsible for Christrsquos death However Scripture emphasizes that Christ

died for all so consequently he died for everyone If one looks at it from that point of

view then everyone past present and future were are and will be responsible for

Christrsquos death Yet some didnrsquot look at it that way In fact the Apostle Paul went out of

his way to preach and try to reach Jews first

7

Paul wrote in Romans 116 ldquoFor I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the

power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the

Greekrdquo (English Standard Version) John 422 reads ldquoYou worship what you do not

know we [Jews] worship what we know for salvation is from the Jewsrdquo In Romans

1117-18 Paul suggests that Gentile believers are just grafted into the Jewish promise ldquoIf

some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive were grafted in

among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree [then] do

not be arrogant toward the branches but if you are arrogant remember that it is not you

who supports the root but the root supports yourdquo Unfortunately some uninformed

early Christians did not put two and two together For some it was believed that the

Christian Church took the place of Israel which isnrsquot accurate Some believed that ldquothe

Church was the true inheritor of Godrsquos promisesrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 45) It was

believed that Jews no longer had a covenant with God and that Christians had completely

overshadowed and replaced Israel in that covenant This is not true

Acts 1346 reads of preaching to the Jews first ldquoIt was necessary that the word of

God be spoken to you firstrdquo Jesus also a Jew promoted preaching to the Jews first In

Matthew 125-6 Jesus says to the twelve disciples ldquoGo nowhere among the Gentiles and

enter no town of the Samaritans but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israelrdquo

(English Standard Version) In Matthew 1524 Jesus says ldquoI was sent only to the lost

sheep of the house of Israelrdquo (English Standard Version) The first Christians were a

group of Jews Jews were different so eventually urban legends sprang up without

accurate facts and the knowledge of Judaismrsquos teachings some people latched onto these

8

false assumptions and believed the lies that others were propagating about the Jews For

instance Jews were accused of murdering Christian children and then using their blood

for ritual practices It was believed that Jews used the blood of murdered Christian

children ldquoin the preparation of unleavened bread for Passoverrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 54) The

ritual murder charge was a misunderstanding (81) In fact in the fourteenth century

Jews were accused of bringing about the Black Death by poisoning the wells and springs

(60 67) This assertion first gained credence in southern France (81) Yet Jews suffered

and died under the Black Death as well This is an example of the Jews being blamed as

scapegoats

In the early Church the Bishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom accused the

early Hebrews of sacrificing ldquotheir sons and daughters to demons andrdquo eating their own

children (37 47) Chrysostom said of synagogues ldquoto go there was no better than

visiting a brothel a robberrsquos den or any indecent place [it is] a theatre a house of

prostitution and domicile of the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom said that the Jews ldquohave

surpassed the ferocity of wild beasts since they murder their offspring and immolate

them to the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom also accused the Jews of worshipping the devil Yet

Jeremiah 313b reads in reference to Israel ldquoI have loved you with an everlasting love

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to yourdquo (English Standard Version) If so-

called Christians would have accurately read this during this period they would have

seen that God loves his people and his nation Israel But some Christians thought that

the Christian Church entirely replaced Godrsquos Covenant with the Jews Consequently

Chrysostom said that Christians must hate the Jews (Cohn-Sherbok 47) Yet hatred is an

9

anti-Christian doctrine In Matthew 544 Jesus says ldquoBut I say to you Love your

enemies and pray for those who persecute

yourdquo (English Standard Version)

False conceptions of the Jews even seemed to be found among some of the

Church Fathers Some of the Church Fathers were frustrated that the Jews would not

convert to Christianity nor would they renounce their Judaism In some cases the quest

for converts became a competition Cohn-Sherbok writes ldquoDuring the same period

Tertullian the African Church Father called the synagogues of his day lsquofountains of

persecution of Christiansrsquordquo (46) Justin Martyr ldquorelated that Jews laugh curse and insult

Jesusrdquo (46) Jerome referred to Jews as Judases (47) In fact Judas was thought to be

ldquosymbolic of the Jewish peoplerdquo (84) In the New Testament ldquothe figure of Judas

was associated in the public mind with deviousness and treacheryrdquo (83)

Desecration of the communion host became another false charge against the Jews

as the then-Christians believed in the doctrine of transubstantiation In the doctrine of

transubstantiation the communion bread and wine (of the Eucharist) literally becomes

the body and blood of Jesus During this time it was believed that Jews stole the host in

order ldquoto assault it and thereby torture Christrdquo (80) The charge of desecration of the

Host was a hallucinatory fantasy (82) However the Jews did not believe in the Doctrine

of Transubstantiation which was affirmed at Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 (80) Only

Catholics believe this doctrine today Since the Jews did not believe in

transubstantiation they would in all likelihood not have attacked the host because they

10

couldnrsquot believe that they were actually attacking Christ in the process Desecration of

the Host was a wild belief and a total fantasy

In some cases the Talmud was burned because it was believed to be anti-

Christian Agobard Archbishop of Lyons believed that Jews stole Christian children

and sold them to Arabs (64) He also believed that Jews seduced Christian women All

sorts of wild beliefs developed about Jews many without factual basis It was all

conjecture and imagination In Germany ldquoa French monk Radulph went about preaching

that Jews were enemies of God and should be persecutedrdquo (65) As previously

mentioned the Jews were scapegoats they were blamed for everything During the

witch-hunting crazed days of the fifteenth century Jews were seen as being in cahoots

with witches and the devil (71) During this time it was believed that the Jews were born

misshapen hemorrhoidal and both sexes afflicted with menstruation In Trnava

Slovakia it was believed that Christian blood was an excellent means by which ldquoto cure

the wound produced by circumcisionrdquo (71)

For the duration of the Middle Ages ldquoChristians viewed Jews as sorcerers able to

cast spells against their enemiesrdquo (72) It was believed consequently that the Jews were

capable of working magic against Christians During the Black Death it was also

believed that Jews wanted to poison Christians In fact ldquoJews were accused of using

Christian blood for magical purposesrdquo (73) The little contact that these early Christians

had with Jews also led to their paranoia viewing the Jews as an alien mysterious and

strange people (74) Urban legends seemed to sprout up due to the lack of knowledge

Ignorance of Jews reigned

11

Jewish medicine too became suspect It was claimed that high rulers were killed

off through Jewish medicine During the Middle Ages the Vienna Faculty of Medicine

thought that ldquothe private code of Jewish doctors required them to murder one patient in

tenrdquo (77) Jews were eventually thought to possess attributes of the devil The Jews

ldquowere perceived as having horns tails and the beard of a goat and could be recognized

by their noxious smell the foetor judaiumlcusrdquo (79) Consequently the Jews were seen as

sub-human It was believed that Jews lacked morality anything went with them Jews

were so despised that they were exiled from countries At different times Spain France

and England expelled their Jewish populations In some instances they were invited

back

The charges against Jews were grotesque fantasies Tracts were written against

the Jews One such read of the Jews ldquolsquoDemons from hell race of the Jews detestable

men more accursed than Lucifer and more wicked than all the devils cruel tigers be

gone unworthy as you are to live among us when you thirst so for bloodrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 86)

Martin Luther at first favored the Jews writing a pamphlet That Christ was Born

a Jew However after he was unable to convert the Jews to his Protestant Reformed

Christian faith he became anti-Semitic So ldquoLuther stressed that they [the Jews] are the

most contemptible of all peoplesrdquo (90) Luther wrote ldquorsquomake no mistake that aside from

the Devil you have no enemy more venomous more desperate more bitter than a true

Jew who truly seeks to be a Jewrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90) Moreover ldquoMartin Luther

speculated that if the Jews could kill Christians they would gladly do sordquo (73)

12

Of the Jews Luther believed that ldquoThose who tolerate them [the Jews] will incur

great loss lsquoWhoever wishes to accept venomous serpents desperate enemies of the Lord

and to honour them to let himself be robbed pillaged corrupted and cursed by them

need only turn to the Jewsrsquordquo (90) Luther suggested of the Jews ldquoTheir synagogues

should be set on fire and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over

with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of itrdquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 90) Luther wrote ldquoTheir [Jewsrsquo] homes should likewise be broken down and

destroyed For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues

they should be deprived of their prayerbooks [sic] and Talmud in which idolatry lies

cursing and blasphemy are taught their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death

to teach any morerdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther also wrote ldquoPassport and travelling privileges should be absolutely

forbidden to the Jews They ought to be stopped from usury Let the young and

strong Jews and Jewesses be given the flail the axe the hoe the spade the distaff and

spindle and let them earn their bread by the sweat of their browrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok

90) Luther called the Jews an ldquoinsufferable devilish burdenrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther said that Jews were ldquochildren of the Devil condemned to the flames of hellrdquo (qtd

in Cohn-Sherbok 91) Luther believed that the Jews should be despised Luther even

thought that ldquothe Jews are worse than the devilsrdquo (91) Luther saw the Jews as

ldquoinstigators of social and economic corruptionrdquo (94) Luther thought that the Jews

wanted to ldquodestroy Christian civilizationrdquo (95)

13

Luther saw himself in a fight against Satan in the Jews Despite Lutherrsquos anti-

Semitism a good thing did emerge out of the Protestant Reformation Scripture was

translated into the common vernacular so that literate people could see what the Bible

said for themselves instead taking a priestrsquos or a popersquos word for it This led to literate

Christians seeing the Jews through the lens of Scripture instead of through anti-Jewish

sermons and hear-say from church leaders

In Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century the Jews were seen as favoring political

revolution and as having played a role in the revolutionary activities of the era (231)

This viewpoint started after the revolutions of 1848 (244) and it is not entirely off the

mark For example Karl Marx was a Jew Although not all Jews were revolutionaries

Nicholas Reynolds says that ldquoMore than a few Russian revolutionaries were Jewish one

reaction to the state-sanctioned anti-Semitism and the resulting pogroms that occurred

with frightening regularityrdquo (Writer Sailor Solider Spy 72) Capitalism also came to be

associated with the Jewsmdashparticularly its vices (Cohn-Sherbok 248) In the United

States the Jews were blamed for the Russian Revolution (231) There was fear of the

Jews or Judaeophobia A writer that Hemingway read was the anti-Semitic Fyodor

Dostoyevsky Perhaps this helped to influence Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

Dostoyevsky wrote ldquoLike a vast tightening net the power of assimilated Jewry stretches

over the whole world and no matter where we set foot we are caught in it We must

struggle to our last drop of blood against the insidious Judaization of Europe and

especially of Germanismrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 232)

14

In 1912 the Marconi Affair hit Great Britain Two leading Jewish politicians

Rufus Isaacs and Herbert Samuels were implicated in this corruption scandal

Eyewitness reported ldquoIsaacsrsquo brother is the president of the Marconi Company Isaacs

and Samuels have privately arranged to have the British people pay the Marconi

Company a considerable sum of money through the intermediary of Samuels and for

Isaacsrsquo benefitrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 236) In wake of the Marconi Affair one of

Hemingwayrsquos early favorite writers Rudyard Kipling ldquodedicated a hymn of hate to the

affairrdquo (236) Like the biblical greedy and crafty servant (of the prophet Elisha) Gehazi

who is punished with leprosy for his sins Kiplingrsquos poem ldquowas intended to illustrate the

cunning of these Jewish [Marconi] politiciansrdquo (236)

Once America made its foray into World War I ldquoJews were seen as participants

in international conspiracyrdquo (240) Americans thought that the Jews might be part of the

Russian Revolution In the literary world ldquoa number of writers commented on the evil

influence of Jewryrdquo (241) Hemingwayrsquos one-time-friend and literary mentor F Scott

Fitzgerald was one such example In fact Fitzgerald negatively portrayed New York

Jewish merchants in his novel The Beautiful and the Damned

Down in a tall busy street he read a dozen Jewish names on a line of stores In

the door of each stood a dark little man [Jew] watching the passersby with intent

eyes eyes gleaming with suspicion with pride with clarity with cupidity with

comprehension New Yorkmdashhe could not dissociate it now from the slow

upward creep of this people The little stores growing expanding consolidating

15

moving watched over with hawkrsquos eyes and a beersquos attention to detail (qtd in

Cohn-Sherbok 241)

This anti-Semitic view of Jews could have influenced Hemingway whether he read the

book or if Fitzgerald made his anti-Semitic views known to Hemingway The same

could be said of Ezra Pound Ezra Pound was a big anti-Semite and one of Hemingwayrsquos

friends It could be questioned if Ezra Pound influenced Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

In July of 1943 Pound was indicted for treason due to his anti-Semitic pro-Fascist radio

broadcasts from Italy (Dearborn 491) Poundrsquos radio broadcasts ldquowere shocking even

vilemdashhe recommended The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf he spoke of

the lsquo60 kikes who started this warrsquo and asserted lsquoThe Jew is a savagersquordquo (491) Later

due to Hemingwayrsquos suggestion Pound pleaded insanity and spent several years in an

Institution Hemingwayrsquos one-time friend Donald Ogden Stewart who was present for

the Pamplona bull fights in 1925 ldquotook the blame for having been the probable inspiration

for Bill Gortonrsquos [a character in The Sun Also Rises] anti-Semitic remarks and

exclamationsrdquo (Blume 123) Stewart wrote that ldquoI have no doubt that I was really

basically anti-Semitic in those days as probably also was Hemingwayrdquo (123) Lesley

Blume stresses that Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism ldquowas not a deep-rooted hatred like

the variety that gave rise to Nazismrdquo (123) Stewart referred to Hemingwayrsquos anti-

Semitism as ldquoa form of social snobbishness something that people simply took for

granted [during that time]rdquo (Blume 123) One would think that after the Holocaust

Hemingway would cease his anti-Semitic comments but he still continued In

16

Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century ldquoAmerican literature repeatedly described Jews in the

most unsavoury (sic) termsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 249)

The French also saw the Jews as having played a part in the Russian Revolution

(241) In France where Hemingway lived part of his literary life Alphonse Toussenel

wrote ldquoThe Jews King of the Epoch [in which] he blamed the Jews for the ills afflicting

societyrdquo (248) In France ldquoAccording to Edouard-Adolphe Drumont in La France Juive

the [French] Revolution had benefited only the Jewsrdquo (248) Edouard-Adolphe Drumont

caricatured the Jews as being hook-nosed possessing ldquohuge ears soft hands and arms of

unequal lengthrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 248) In France the Dreyfus Affair of the

nineteenth century had ratcheted up the prominence and appeal of French anti-Semitism

Yet the logical consequence of anti-Semitism took place years later during World War II

when Hitler instituted the Holocaust Of course Hemingway knew of this deadly result

of anti-Semitism but it is unknown how much it changed his view of Jews as later he

did show some more anti-Semitic behavior Perhaps old habits die hard

Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in His Novels

Unfortunately Hemingway was an anti-Semite To what degree is unknown

Some say that Hemingway was mildly or casually anti-Semitic (Hendrickson 32)

However in fits of anger Hemingway would hurl anti-Semitic slurs at those he knew to

be Jews Yet ironically ldquoHemingway knew admired and imitated Jewsrdquo like his friend

and literary mentor Gertrude Stein (Berman 39) Hemingway was also friends with

Harold Loeb a Jewish man (Dearborn 192) Hemingway and Loeb had played tennis

17

boxed and wrestled together In The Sun Also Rises the character of Robert Cohn is

based upon Harold Loeb Hemingway once had good things to say of Loeb On March

4 1925 Hemingway wrote to William B Smith of Loeb ldquoA hell of a good guy

Loeb is a male you can wrestle wit He aint been throwed since he learned in Princeton-

only weighs 150 about Heavy weights cant throw him Hersquos never wrestled pros or of

course hersquos have got throwed Still he aint been throwed I tried to throw him and he

throwed me in no timerdquo (sic throughout Hemingway in Katakis 28) In The Sun Also

Rises the Loeb Robert Cohn character is also Jake Barnesrsquo tennis partner (13) Despite

all his anti-Semitism later Hemingway married the half-Jewish reporter and writer

Martha Gellhorn as his third wife (Stoneback 136) Unfortunately it is exactly unknown

why Hemingway was anti-Semitic It would seem that the times in which he lived played

a role

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway has a stereo-typical Jewish character Robert

Cohn that he portrays as a proud rich weak self-pitying self-doubting awkward

sniveling whining misbehaving mannerless undesirable unremarkable and

dysfunctional killjoy who is an outsider and a drag on everyonersquos spirits Cohn is

supposed to represent all Jews (Berman 39) In fact Hemingway goes so far as to write

that Jews are inferior Hemingway writes of Cohn ldquoHe cared nothing for boxing in fact

he disliked it but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of

inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princetonrdquo (Sun 11) Loeb

had also gone to Princeton

18

Hemingway based almost the entire book of The Sun Also Rises on a real life

event that happened when Loeb Lady Duff Twysden and Pat Guthrie (Lady Duffrsquos

cousin and boyfriend) joined him Hemingwayrsquos first wife Hadley Richardson Don

Stewart and Bill Smith in Pamplona for the Festival of San Fermiacuten in July of 1925

(Dearborn 188) In the novel this group goes to Pamplona to have fun They join in the

Spanish Festival of San Fermiacuten where they drink excessively party and watch

professional bullfights All this time the Harold Loeb character Robert Cohn follows

his former lover Lady Brett Ashely around like a lap-dog and from the perspective of

the other festival-goers makes everyone else miserable

Hemingwayrsquos publication of this event into fiction hurt many of the real-life

players in the memorable drama The real Lady Brett Ashley Lady Duff Twysden later

referred to the book as nothing more than ldquocheap reportingrdquo (qtd in Blume 206) Former

Hemingway friend Donald Ogden Stewart felt the same way In his 1975 memoir By a

Stroke of Luck Stewart still refused to give The Sun Also Rises ldquothe artistic stature that

others accorded itrdquo (Blume 230) Stewartrsquos son recalls that his dad would say ldquoThatrsquos

exactly what happened it was like a photographrdquo (qtd in Blume 230) So for Stewart

the novel was just a retelling of events it is did not utilize artistic narrative originality

Just as Robert Cohn had had an affair with Lady Brett Ashley so Loeb had had an

intimate relationship with Lady Duff Twysden Scholars are unsure as to whether

Hemingway had any serious relationship with Lady Duff however he was jealous He

liked her In his reasoning he had met Lady Duff first (Dearborn 188) ldquoEven though

[Hemingway] had no plans to sleep with Duff himself that didnrsquot mean according to his

19

logic that she was fair game for Harold [Loeb]rdquo (188) Hemingway was protective of

Lady Duff and Hemingway saw Loeb as a snake (189) Perhaps Loebrsquos success with

Lady Duff finally pushed Hemingway against him

Mary V Dearborn notes that Hemingway was also jealous that Loebrsquos book

Doodab was coming out before his ownmdashLoebrsquos in May Hemingwayrsquos in October

(191) Hemingway was very competitive in his writing career In fact before

Hemingway made it as a fiction writer Harold Loeb had gone so far as to help

Hemingway get his first book of short stories In Our Time published (204) It is noted

that ldquoHarold [Loeb] rescued In Our Time from the returns pile at [Boni amp] Liveright [the

publishing company] he fought for the book and he was instrumental in getting it

publishedrdquo (192) Loeb had pleaded with Boni amp Liveright ldquoHold it Give it [In Our

Time] another reading I know what Irsquom talking aboutrdquo (Hawkins 39) In fact if it

were not for the persistence of his well-connected friends Hemingway may have quite

possibly never been published at all since his manuscripts had been repeatedly rejected

Unfortunately Hemingway did not like to give credit to others for helping him to rise in

his profession He wanted to take all the credit and the glory for himself He wanted to

be self-sufficient In addition having not gone to college Hemingway was leery of

college-educated men He felt inferior to them and he would try to compete with them in

order to make himself look and feel better Since Harold Loeb was a Princeton graduate

Hemingway was possibly disdainful of this and in all likelihood held it against Loeb

In trying to get In Our Time published Loeb took Hemingway to former Boni amp

Liveright vice president Leon Fleischmanrsquos Paris apartment (Blume 71) Previously

20

ldquoKitty Cannell [the Frances character in Sun] heard him [Hemingway] unthinkably use

lsquokikersquo with such casualness and scorn that she warned her Jewish lover Harold Loeb to

be careful with Hemingwayrdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 242) Kitty Cannell worried

that Hemingway ldquomight create a terrible scene in front of Fleischman and his wife

Helen She said as much to Loeb He brushed her offrdquo (Blume 71) After this meeting

with Fleischman Harold Loeb heard Hemingway malign Jews in his speech

Hemingway had a way of maligning making fun of and satirizing his friends and his

perceived enemies In the process he lost many friends and unnecessarily caused the

creation of many enemies In fact the release of The Sun Also Rises shocked Loeb as he

had thought that he and Hemingway were good friends (Dearborn 191-92)

Hemingway also turned on his former Jewish mentor Gertrude Stein

Hemingway got mad at Stein when she would not write a review for his new book In

Our Time Stein wanted to wait and see if Hemingway was going to be a success first

On November 8 1925 Hemingway commented to Ezra Pound of Stein ldquoWhat a lot of

safe playing kikesrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 38) Later in life after they broke with each

other Hemingway and Stein would arguemdashthrough writingmdashand trade barbs with one

another Hemingway would mock Stein In his article for Esquire in the April 1934

issue ldquoAD in Africa A Tanganyika Letterrdquo Hemingway wonders ldquohow much Buddha

at that age would resemble Gertrude Steinrdquo (Hemingway in White 159)

Hemingway was also against the troubled literary critic Dorothy Parker

(Dearborn 247) The half-Jewess Dorothy Parker was tough in her literary criticism yet

she gave Hemingway great reviews She adored Hemingway but Hemingway didnrsquot

21

return the feelings (Blume 155) Parker and Hemingway had met in New York In

Hemingway Parker thought that she had found a kindred spirit (156) During

Hemingwayrsquos New York visit Parker ldquobecame so engrossed in his tales of the Left Bank

that she shunted aside her skepticism and decided on the spot to move abroadrdquo (156)

Parker became for Hemingway a strong ally among literary critics Blume notes of

Parker ldquoIn years to come she would also pen several adoring Hemingway profiles and

book reviewsrdquo (156) Hemingway and Parker became so familiar that eventually

Hemingway started calling Parker ldquoDottyrdquo (156) Parker was so taken with Hemingway

that her ldquodevotion to him bordered on idolatryrdquo (158) But Parkerrsquos love for Hemingway

was a useful tool in Hemingwayrsquos arsenal

Unfortunately Parker was probably not stable She had tried to kill herself twice

within three years She confided in Hemingway ldquoabout a late-stage abortion she had

recently undergone about attempting suicide and about some other recent bad luck in

her liferdquo (qtd in Dearborn 247) During their conversation Hemingway discovered that

Parker did not like Spain For Parker ldquoPretty much everything about the countrymdashfrom

its treatment of animals to the rump-pinching habits of Spanish menmdashhad appalled herrdquo

(Blume 193) Moreover ldquoIn Barcelona she had walked out of a bullfight after a bull

gored a horse and declared that she found matadors disgustingrdquo (193) Back in Paris with

Hemingway ldquoParker had imparted these impressions to Hemingway for whom such

views amounted to sacrilegerdquo (193) Hemingway was offended by this and like other

things Hemingway took this personally to heart as he was an ardent Hispanophile loving

the Spanish country its people the slow pace of life and its culture (Dearborn 247)

22

Finally Hemingway ldquohad little sympathy for the self-inflicted wounds of a caustic and

comparatively pampered urbaniterdquo (Blume 194)

Later ldquoErnest wrote a long cruel poem about Parker not published until both

were dead called lsquoTo a Tragic Poetessrsquo revealing the personal details she had evidently

related during their most recent meetingrdquo (Dearborn 247-48) In the poem Hemingway

ldquoreferred to the dead fetus noted that she had all too conveniently failed in her suicide

attempts and mocked her failures with men He was pointedly mean about her being

Jewish referring to lsquothe Jewish cheeks of your plump assrsquordquo (248) The second half of

Hemingwayrsquos poem ldquoconsists of insults piled on Parker and others who out of ignorance

about it do not appreciate Spain (inevitably bullfighting comes up)rdquo (248) Pauline

Pfeiffer didnrsquot like this poem and referred to it as ldquoabout twelve tents [tenths] out of water

mayberdquo (Hawkins 59) Pauline thought the poem shrill In 1926 at the home of Archie

and Ada McLeish Ernest read this poem ldquoTo a Tragic Poetessrdquo to the assembled

gathering to try to get some laughs (Dearborn 248) No laughs came Donald Ogden

Stewart called the poem ldquoviciously unfair and unfunnyrdquo (qtd in Blume 194) Because of

the reading of the poem the Stewarts kept their distance from Hemingway from there on

out and Don Stewart was never close to Hemingway again (Dearborn 248) Ironically

since the poem was never published until after Parkerrsquos death ldquoParker never learned

about the existence of the poem [and] unaware of its existence she continued to write

wildly enthusiastic reviews of Hemingwayrsquos work in The New Yorker and called him one

of her favorite writersrdquo (Blume 194) Parker also called Hemingway ldquothe greatest living

American short story writerrdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 164)

23

There is also other evidence of Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism In his early years at

Lake Walloon the Point where the young people always liked to fish was sold ldquoto two

Jews who wanted to build a club houserdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 114) Bill

Smith later recalled that he and Ernest had planned to throw rotten fish down the Jewsrsquo

chimney at the lake (M Reynolds Paris Years 252) In the mid-1920s Hemingway

wrote Ezra Pound calling the aspiring poet Dave OrsquoNeil a ldquorsquoCelto-Kikersquordquo (Dearborn

134) Hemingway also wrote of his friend Nathan Asch ldquoYou couldnrsquot tell [of Asch

being a talented writer] Jews go bad quicklyrdquo (163) Later in Key West Hemingway

referred to the town as a ldquoJew administered phony of a townrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 154)

At the time that Hemingway wrote this Key West was for all intents and purposes

bankrupt ldquounable to collect enough taxes to pay its billsrdquo (N Reynolds 7) Under the

New Deal the town of Key West had ldquopetitioned the governor to take over the cityrdquo

(Hendrickson 154) As such ldquoThe Florida branch of Franklin Delano Rooseveltrsquos

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) stepped in and took overrdquo (N

Reynolds 7) Plus under the New Deal the plan was to turn Key West into a tourist

destination making Hemingwayrsquos home on Whitehead Street one of the attractions (8)

This would interfere with Hemingwayrsquos deeply coveted privacy (8) Moreover

Hemingway was disillusioned with the government after some World War I veterans

were killed during a hurricane that hit some of the Florida Keys

Later In Cuba in May 1955 The Old Man and the Sea film version of the novel

was to be filmed Hemingwayrsquos Jewish friend Peter Viertel who was writing the

screenplay joked with Hemingway in order to try to break up the tension between Ernest

24

and the film producer kidding ldquoabout Santiago going out on the eighty-fifth day and not

catching a fishrdquo (Dearborn 573) This made Hemingway mad Narrowing his eyes and

gritting his teeth he said ldquoThe Jews have always had a superior attitude toward fishingmdash

probably because fish has never been part of their dietrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573) This

Jewish comment in turn made Viertel mad and he said that ldquohe thought Ernest had

gotten beyond his anti-Semitism with The Sun Also Risesrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573)

Hemingway felt contrite that he had lashed out against his friend Viertel and he

ldquoassured Peter he had never been anti-Semitic and matters were smoothed overrdquo (573-

74)

Some Jews have the last name Stein Especially in his youth Hemingway like to

refer to himself as Hemingstein or Stein According to Dearborn Hemingway was

referring to a stein of beer in this case (39) Other nicknames he used were Hymenstein

or the Great Steinway (Hendrickson 266) Catherine Reef thinks that these nicknames

sound Jewish She writes

The last one [nickname] amused him [Ernest] most because it sounded like a

Jewish name Like many young people in narrow-minded Oak Park Ernest grew

up thinking it was all right to make fun of people of different faiths and

backgrounds and he never fully let go of this attitude As an adult he

occasionally called himself Hemingstein or just Stein and although he had

Jewish friends he sometimes mocked them behind their backs (14)

25

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway refers to himself as the great psychiatrist Dr

Hemingstein (53) In real life Hemingwayrsquos son Gregory ldquoGigirdquo for short was known

as the Irish Jew (Hendrickson 245)

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway gives Cohn boxing as his only strength

ldquoThere was a certain inner comfort in knowing he could knock down anybody who was

snooty to himrdquo (11) Because of boxing Hemingway goes so far as to portray Cohn with

the stereotypical Jewish nose In the novel Cohn gets his nose broken during a boxing

bout The narrator Jake Barnes says of Cohnrsquos reworked nose ldquoit certainly improved

his noserdquo (11) Ironically Hemingway threatened a similar situation later in his life In

Spain at the Hotel Florida after a serious shelling during the Spanish Civil War some of

the guests including the movie producer Herb Klein wanted to switch their rooms to the

safer rooms in the back of the hotel At this point in his life Hemingway would hold

people to a higher standard of bravery than his own (Dearborn 387) So Hemingway

intimidated and bullied those Hotel Florida guests into keeping their rooms in lieu of

switching them saying they ldquowould be running away from the enemy capitulating to the

Fascistsrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 387) However in fact Hemingway had his own room in one

of the safer back parts of the hotel Then ldquoaccording to one observer he rode up with

[Herb] Klein in the elevator called him a coward and lsquojostledrsquo him saying lsquoIrsquod like to

flatten your big Jewish nosersquordquo (388)

In The Sun Also Rises nobody wants to be around Cohn He is trying to be an all-

round guy and a Protestant gentleman (Berman 44) However Ron Berman refers to him

as a fake gentleman Melvin Backman argues that Cohn lacks any real identity (4)

26

Although Cohn tries to assimilate and be chivalrous nobody accepts his behavior as

authentic Hemingway portrays Cohn as still ldquotoo different to acceptrdquo (38) Cohn is also

a show-off and he likes to brag For example in winning a ldquoseveral hundred dollarsrdquo in

bridge ldquoIt made him rather vain of his bridge game and he talked several times of how a

man could always make a living at bridge if he were ever forced tordquo (17) In another

instance Cohn likes to brag about his relationship with Brett ldquoHe was being confidential

now and it was giving him pleasure to be able to talk with the understanding that I knew

there was something between him and Brettrdquo (106) Moreover Cohnrsquos believed and

perceived superiority is offensive to Jakersquos friend Bill Gorton One time Bill Gorton

says of the approaching Cohn ldquoWell let him not get superior and Jewishrdquo (Sun 102)

This perceived superiority makes Jake extremely dislike Cohn

Why I felt that impulse to devil him I do not know Of course I do know I was

blind unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to him The fact that I took it

as a matter of course did not alter that any I certainly did hate him I do not

think I ever really hated him until he had that little spell of superiority at lunchmdash

that and when he went through all that barbering (105)

According to Dearborn the character of Bill Gorton is a combination of Bill

Smith and Don Ogden Stewart In the novel Bill really doesnrsquot like Jews Bill says of

his Jewish friends adding of Cohn ldquoOh yes Irsquove got some darbs But not alongside of

this Robert Cohn But hersquos just so awfulrdquo (107) Bill is blatantly anti-Semitic He

asks Jake of Brett and Cohn ldquoWhy didnrsquot she go off with some of her own peoplerdquo

(107) Mike adds to this criticism later when he comments ldquoBrettrsquos gone off with men

27

But they werenrsquot ever Jews and they didnrsquot come and hang around afterwardrdquo (148) Bill

Gorton makes a number of anti-Semitic slurs Before their fishing trip Bill says to Jake

ldquoAnd as for this Robert Cohn he makes me sick and he can go to hell and Irsquom damn

glad hersquos staying here so we wonrsquot have him fishing with usrdquo to which Jake agrees (108)

In another case Hemingway likens Cohn to an animal a steer Cohn likes to tag-

along with Brett (141) After a bull fight Cohn says ldquoItrsquos no life being a steerrdquo (145)

Mike sarcastically replies ldquoDonrsquot you think so I would have thought yoursquod loved

being a steer Robertrdquo (146) Being likened to a steer makes Cohn mad Mike partially

drunk says ldquoIs Robert Cohn going to follow Brett around like a steer all the timerdquo

(146) These demeaning remarks imply that Jews are sub-human

At one point Mike intimates that Cohnrsquos Jewishness disqualifies him from being

a part of the group ldquoDo you think you amount to something Cohn Do you think you

belong here among usrdquo (181) Mike says to Cohn ldquoIrsquom not one of your literary chaps

Irsquom not clever But I do know when Irsquom not wanted Why donrsquot you see when

yoursquore not wanted Cohn Go away Go away for Godrsquos sake Take that sad Jewish

face away Donrsquot you think Irsquom rightrdquo (181) In another instance when Cohn tells Brett

that he will stay with her Brett replies ldquoOh donrsquot For Godrsquos sake go off

somewhererdquo (184) Cohn is portrayed as leech-like a clinger similar to Jews accused of

usury bleeding people dry With the eternal theme of Jewish suffering Brett says of

Cohn ldquoI hate him too I hate his damned sufferingrdquo (186)

In his short story ldquoGod Rest You Merry Gentlemenrdquo published in 1933

Hemingway takes a less anti-Semitic approach to Jews In this story there are two

28

doctors Dr Wilcox and Dr Fischer Dr Wilcox is Christian while Dr Fischer is Jewish

A sixteen-year-old boy comes into the hospital and says that he wants to be castrated

because he is struggling with lust The boy is religious and to him lust is a problem Dr

Fischer is compassionate with the boy and genuinely seems interested in his predicament

Dr Fischer converses with the boy and finally tells him ldquoTherersquos nothing wrong with

you Thatrsquos the way yoursquore supposed to be Therersquos nothing wrong with thatrdquo (Short

Stories 299) The boy still sees himself as sinning Dr Fischer tells the boy that what he

is going through is natural and that later he will think himself fortunate (300) The boy

is adamant that he is wrong He doesnrsquot want to listen to Dr Fischerrsquos explanations

Logically Dr Fischer explains to the boy that there is nothing wrong with his body that

he has a good body and that if he is religious then in the future his body can help him

consummate the sacrament of matrimony (300)

Dr Wilcox takes a different approach He calls the boy a fool (300) Then the

boy leaves when he finds out that nobody will castrate him Dr Wilcox rudely says to

the boy ldquoOh go andmdashrdquo (300) Horst Kruse interprets the absence as meaning ldquojack-

offrdquo (62) The boy leaves and later he does try to castrate himself amputating himself

in the process When the boy returns to the hospital with life-threatening injuries Dr

Wilcox ironically isnrsquot in a hurry to try to save the boy as he doesnrsquot see the condition as

an emergency In the story it is Dr Fischer who has shown mercy on the boy not Dr

Wilcox Kruse sees Doc Fischer as the moral center of the story and suggests that

Hemingwayrsquos portrayal of Dr Fischerrsquos knowledgeable insight and humanity might be an

attempt to try to ldquoatone for his former anti-Semitismrdquo (72) Kruse argues that Dr Fischer

29

might even be seen as a Christ-figure a fisher of men (65) Other scholars speculate that

this story might have been an attempt for Hemingway to apologize for the way he treated

Harold Loebrsquos alter-ego Robert Cohn (Kruse 73) But this interpretation is problematic

AE Hotchner once asked Hemingway if he had remorse about the way he had portrayed

Loeb and the others in The Sun Also Rises (Blume 237) Hotchner asked Hemingway

ldquoso if you had it to do over would you have been softerrdquo (237) Hemingway replied to

Hotchner ldquoOh hell nordquo (237) Despite this possible attempt at atonement Hemingway

continued to make anti-Semitic statements after this story first came out

30

CHAPTER 3

HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY

Ernest Hemingway was a born on July 21 1899 in Oak Park Illinois then a

Protestant conservative bastion There in his earliest years Hemingwayrsquos maternal

grandfather Ernest Hall led his family and their servants after breakfast on their knees

in morning prayer (Dearborn 11 Hemingway-Sanford 14) Unlike the others

Grandfather Hall did not pray with his eyes closed nor his head bowed (Pawley 22)

Instead he prayed with his head upraised and ldquowith his arms stretched upward as if

locked in a face-to-face with Godrdquo (Dearborn 11) He also prayed in a thundering voice

(Pawley 22) Ernestrsquos older sister Marcelline Hemingway-Sanford noted that she liked

to peak out at Grandfather Hall through her fingers ldquobecause he seemed so surely to be

talking right to his friend Godrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 15) Marcelline suggested that

Grandfather Hall knew God intimately (14) In addition Grandfather Hall led daily

devotions for the household with the book Daily Strength for Daily Needs (Isabelle 2

Hemingway-Sanford 14) Even the cook and the maid were present at these family

gatherings Grandfather Hall also led grace at the table (Isabelle 2) and he would lead

the family in worship (Hemingway-Sanford 15) He was Episcopalian and he liked to be

referred to in the biblical term ldquoAbbardquo which refers to God as in ldquoAbba fatherrdquo (Isabelle

2 Mark 1436) Marcelline referred to Grandfather Hall as being a very religious man

(Hemingway-Sanford 14) Every Sunday he would go to Grace Episcopal Church

where kneeling on the Brussels carpet he would lead the church in evening prayer

31

(Pawley 21) He once said of his grandson Ernest to his mother Grace ldquothis boy is

going to be heard from someday If he uses his imagination for good purposes hersquoll be

famous but if he starts the wrong way with all his energy hersquoll end in jail and its up to

you which way he goesrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 12)

Ernestrsquos paternal grandfather Anson Hemingway converted to Christianity in

1859 (Dearborn 13) Anson was a descendent of Ralph Hemingway ldquowho came to

America with the Great Migration and through him from a line of Puritan and

Congregationalist ministersrdquo (12) Anson Hemingway was friends with the great

evangelist DL Moody and he closely worked with him (for a while) as the general

secretary at the Chicago YMCA (Dearborn 13 Hemingway-Sanford 18) Ernest idolized

his grandfather Hemingway (Pawley 21) Ernestrsquos mother whom Ernest came to hate

once wrote Ernest ldquoNot for nothing are you the great great grandson of that noble

Christian Rev William Edward Miller and the grandson of the finest purest noblest man

I have ever known Ernest Hallrdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 103-04) In fact

Ernest Miller Hemingway was named after his grandfather and the Miller line of Gracersquos

family Grace wrote to Ernest ldquoYou are born of a race of gentlemen who were clean

mouthed chivalrous to all women grateful and generous You were named for the two

finest and noblest gentleman I have ever known See to it that you do not disgrace their

memoriesrdquo (qtd in M Reynolds Young Hemingway 138) Ernestrsquos family were such

churchgoers that they had their own pews at the First Congregational Church

(Hemingway-Sanford 147)

32

On the flip side Ernestrsquos father was rigid (Pawley 23) In disciplining his

children Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often forced his ldquochildren on their knees to pray

to God for forgivenessrdquo (Isabelle 4) Sometimes Ernest mockingly referred to his father

as ldquothe Great Physicianrdquo a title that Jesus also holds as a healer of people (Hemingway-

Sanford 127) According to a Hemingway biographer (no name given)

Sin scared the life out of Ernest At night he prayed that he had been a good boy

during the day The trouble was a boy could never be sure if he had been good

he might have done something bad and not known it was bad It was so hard to

obey every rule so hard to please his mother his father his teachers his minister

his God so hard that sometimes it wasnrsquot worth trying and a boy felt like giving

up (qtd in Pawley 23)

Ernest grew up then with a great spiritual legacy and upbringing that he found at times

challenging and problematic

On Easter in 1911 at the Third Congregational Church Ernest and his sister

Marcelline were confirmed and they received their First Communionrdquo (Dearborn 33) It

was at this church that Ernestrsquos mother was the choir director she even had Ernestmdasha

sopranomdashand Marcelline sing in the choir (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 108 L

Hemingway 28) In his youth Ernest Hemingway and Marcelline joined a contest put on

by the adult advisor of the Christian Endeavor Society Mr Sweeney to see who could

read the entire King James Bible first (Dearborn 37 Hemingway-Sanford 135) It was

Mr Sweeneyrsquos idea and he offered a prize (Hemingway-Sanford 135) Although Ernest

did not win he and Marcelline did complete the reading of the whole Bible (Dearborn

33

37) In addition Ernest and Marcelline passed a comprehensive test on what they had

read (Pawley 24) Additionally as a youth Ernest was given ldquoan allowance of one penny

per year of age each weekrdquo out of which he gave a tithe to the Sunday school (24) At

the age of fourteen Ernest starred in a Sunday school play at the Third Congregational

Church (24) After his parents transferred their membership to the First Congregational

Church Hemingway and Marcelline joined the Plymouth League where Ernest often led

Sunday afternoon services (Dearborn 33 Isabelle 7-8 Pawley 24 Hemingway-Sanford

147) Marcelline notes that ldquothe refreshments served after the meetings were quite an

attraction for the high school membersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 147) For the Plymouth

League Ernest took turns at being the treasurer the program chairman and sometimes

the speaker at the meetings At church Ernest and Marcelline also played in the church

orchestra Once Ernest and his four brothers and sisters dressed as Chinese and Japanese

citizens in order to phonetically sing the Japanese national anthem (147-48) Yet when

Hemingway went to Italy for World War I he saw and experienced the horrors of war

Perhaps because of this and through his teenage years Hemingway went astray from

his religious upbringing While in Italy Ernest met and fell in love with a nurse Agnes

von Kurowsky He loved her and wanted to start a new life with her in America

Hemingway wrote to William D Horne Jr about this on March 30 1919 ldquoBut Bill Irsquove

loved Ag Shersquos been my ideal and Bill I forgot all about religion and everything else-

because I had Ag to worship All I wanted was Ag and happinessrdquo (Hemingway in

Katakis XXV) This letter shows Hemingway distancing himself from religion in Italy

and replacing it with the woman he loved This is similar to how Catherine Barkley

34

made her lover Frederic Henry her religion in A Farewell to Arms (452) Unfortunately

for his parents Hemingway became a prodigal son and he never returned to the faith of

his youth (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 139)

Despite having turned away from his faith Hemingway could never entirely get

away from his upbringing and Oak Park mores For instance in his first marriage to

Hadley Richardson Hemingway was sometimes shocked by Hadleyrsquos language In fact

despite the fact that Hemingway used those very same words he didnrsquot think it proper for

a woman to use them (163) Hemingway still prayed ldquowhen he was courting Hadley

[he] asked her if she would pray with him in the Milan cathedral as Agnes would notrdquo

(Stoneback 110-11) Hadley responded that she would ldquoI am doing the best thing a

woman can do for a man Bringing you back to religionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 125-26)

Stoneback asserts that there is abundant evidence that Hemingway ldquoliked to pray in

Catholic churches and cathedrals years before he met Paulinerdquo (113)

Before going to World War I Hemingway worked for the Kansas City Star

While there Hemingwayrsquos mother learned that Ernest ldquohad stopped going to churchrdquo and

she sent off an angry letter to him (Reef 24) In one of his letters to his mother

Hemingway wrote ldquoYou know I donrsquot rave about religion but am as sincere a Christian

as I can be I believe in God and Jesus Christ have hopes for a hereafter and creeds

donrsquot matterrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) In addition prior to going to the Great War Ernestrsquos

father encouraged Ernest to associate with strong Christian YMCA men (M Reynolds

Young Hemingway 128) In his letters to Ernest Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often

sounded like a minister (171)

35

Upon his return to Oak Park after the war Hemingway wore his war uniform

around for four months and gave talks of his war experience Marcelline Hemingway

says that this was because Ernestrsquos long boots helped support his injured and weakened

legs Yet Hemingway lied and embellished his wartime experience This behavior is

just like that of Harold Krebs in Hemingwayrsquos short story ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

would lie and attribute ldquoto himself things other men had seen done or heard of and

stating as facts certain apocryphal incidents familiar to all soldiersrdquo (Short Stories 111-

12) In an essay in Ernest Hemingway Artifacts from Life Tom Putnam surmises that

Krebs in embellishing his war record to impress those around him ldquogrows more

disillusionedmdashfinding himself becoming a fraudrdquo (Putnam 184) Hemingway may have

disillusioned himself with his lies too In one instance Hemingway once gave a version

of his fictitious war stories in a talk to an audience at the First Baptist Church (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 56) So Hemingway lied in front of a church Proverbs

1222 reads ldquoLying lips are an abomination to the Lord but those who act faithfully are

his delightrdquo (English Standard Version)

Back in Oak Park Hemingway turned to alcohol for his comfort He stayed in

bed day after day and hid the liquor from his parents (Pawley 25) Staying in bed

helped his aching legs But he didnrsquot stay in bed more than half the day (Hemingway-

Sanford 178) According to Marcelline there were also times when Ernest had ldquoalmost

depressed intervals when he retired to his room away from the well-wishers and curiosity

seekersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 183) Hemingway used the alcohol to cope with the pain

of his war wounds (Pawley 25) One day Marcelline was upset about something and

36

when she came to Ernestrsquos room he noticed this and asked her what was wrong

(Hemingway-Sanford 183) Then he offered her a drink She tasted it Then he said to

her

Donrsquot be afraid Drink it up Sis it canrsquot hurt you Therersquos great comfort in

that little bottle not just for itself But it relaxes you when the pain gets bad

Mazaween donrsquot be afraid to taste all the other things in life that arenrsquot here in

Oak Park Taste everything Sis Donrsquot be afraid to try new things just

because they are new (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 184)

Ernest later wrote of an experience of drinking ldquoand the rhum (sic) enters into us like the

Holy Spiritrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 17) God was not Hemingwayrsquos comfort alcohol

was After that night Marcelline wondered to herself whether Ernest would ever be

happy again at home (Hemingway-Sanford 184) She noted a difference in him upon his

return to Oak Park Marcelline writes ldquoBut Ernest wasnrsquot the same old friend and

playmate I had knownrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178) adding that ldquoa lifetime of new

experiences war death agony new people a new language and love had crowded into

Ernestrsquos liferdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178)

After recovering from his wounds Ernest still didnrsquot get a job or show any

interest in college He had no plans at all Instead he went to Michigan to enjoy life with

his friends (Hemingway-Sanford 198) In Michigan according to Marcelline ldquoThough

Mother implored Ernestrsquos help and tried to talk to him about the family situation he

blithely ignored her appeals and managed to leave immediately after meals with his

friends or go fishing when something needed to be done he promised vaguely to help

37

lsquosome other timerdquo (205) His parents were very worried about his ldquolack of adult

responsibilityrdquo and ldquohis rudeness and his willingness to let both Mrs Charles Bill

Smithrsquos aunt and our family go on providing for him [led Mother to decide that]

something drastic had to be done to wake him uprdquo (205) Leicester Hemingway says that

ldquoOur parents had harbored definite hopes that this fling at soldiering had taught him

[Ernest] a lesson that now he would suddenly show a keen interest in some lsquosensiblersquo

way of liferdquo (L Hemingway 56)

The entire situation is similar to that of Harold Krebs in ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

returns from World War I with his Methodist faith shattered (Pawley 25) Krebs is

unemployed but his mother encourages him ldquorsquoGod has some work for everyone to do

There can be no idle hands in His Kingdomrsquordquo (Short Stories 115) Krebsrsquo mother adds

his fatherrsquos opinion ldquoAll work is honorable as he says But yoursquove got to make a start at

somethingrdquo (115) When Krebsrsquo mother asks Harold if he would kneel and pray with her

Krebs says that he canrsquot Krebsrsquo mother encourages him to try then she asks him if he

wants her to pray for him Krebs consents (116)

Of Ernestrsquos free-loading loafing time Leicester Hemingway writes ldquoAbout the

only thing I really understood of that first summer after the war was that Ernest was in an

agitated state and being around the family did not calm him at allrdquo (59) In the end

Ernestrsquos mother wrote Ernest a letter in which she said that Ernest had overdrawn his

account with her and that he was not welcome back at the family vacation home of

Windemere in Michigan (Dearborn 90) This action got Ernest out of the house looking

for a job on his own It also added to his resentment towards his mother In ldquoSoldierrsquos

38

Homerdquo Krebs tells his mother that he doesnrsquot love her Putnam suggests that Krebs has

forgotten how to love (Putnam 184) In Ernestrsquos case it is quite possible that he didnrsquot

love his mother It is known for sure that he didnrsquot like his mother When married to his

fourth wife Mary Welsh Ernest would sometimes rant about his mother blaming her for

making life hell for his father contributing to his fatherrsquos suicide and referring to his

mother as ldquothat bitchrdquo (qtd in Di Robilant 55) Perhaps his motherrsquos ultimatum pushed

him further away from his Protestant upbringing Although Hemingway didnrsquot like his

mother Hawkins argues that he inherited his volatile temper from her as she held grudges

against people Hawkins writes of Grace Hemingway ldquoGrace had a tendency to store up

injustices done to her so that on occasion even the smallest thing triggered a litany of

perceived wrongsrdquo (34) In addition to his motherrsquos ultimatum Ernestrsquos parents didnrsquot

seem to accept writing as a viable career for Ernest (M Reynolds My Brother 63) No

matter like Harold Krebs Hemingway did abandon his childhood faith after World War

I

Hemingway became interested in Catholicism during his service in Italy during

World War I There he served in the Red Cross Ambulance Corps of Unit 4 as driver for

the Italian Army (Hemingway-Sanford 157) After a few days in Italy Ernest and Bill

Horne found the place dull So hearing of the chance to volunteer ldquofor a special branch

the Red Cross Rolling Canteen Servicerdquo they applied and were accepted (160) This

Service operated all the way up to front linesmdashwhich was right where Hemingway

wanted to be in the midst of the action He ldquohad volunteered to be one of the bicycle

riders who distributed mail chocolate and tobacco to the soldiers in the trenches at the

39

frontrdquo (160) At that time the attack on the Piave River had started and the Austrians

were shelling around only fifty yards away on the other side of the river There making

his rounds in Fossalta Hemingway was wounded by an Austrian Trench Mortar as he

handed an Italian soldier a cigarette and chocolate (161) People thought that

Hemingway was going to die During this time Hemingway later claimed that he was

baptized by a priest ldquoAt Fornaci Ernest and the other wounded soldiers were

administered extreme unction by a chaplain with the Italian army Don Giuseppe

Bianchirdquo (Dearborn 59-60)

Michael Reynolds claims that the priestrsquos absolution of sins and anointment of oil

was an epiphanic moment for Hemingway (M Reynolds The Paris Years 346)

However it is unknown if Hemingway was really absolved of his sins by a Catholic

priest HR Stoneback notes that battlefield baptism and extreme unction did not

produce a ldquoformal process of reconciliation or conversionrdquo (109) On March 10 1927

Hemingway divorced Hadley Richardson to marry his new flame the Catholic Pauline

Pfeiffer This divorce devastated Hemingwayrsquos parents In fact Leicester Hemingway

overheard his dad say of Ernestrsquos divorce ldquoNo Itrsquos the disgrace Id rather see him in his

graverdquo (L Hemingway 103) Leicester Hemingway recalls that one morning while

digging for worms with Dr Hemingway the doctor says ldquoYou know of course that

your brother has brought great shame on our family by divorcing Hadley dont yourdquo

(103) Dr Hemingway laments the fact that there hadnrsquot been a divorce in the

Hemingway family for seventy years While in the process of trying to marry Pauline

Ernest returned to Italy searching for this priest Don Giuseppe Bianchi in order to

40

ascertain if this priest had actually performed an emergency baptism on him thus making

him Catholic (Dearborn 236) According to Hawkins Ernest found and visited with

Bianchi (71) Hawkins notes that as a rule priests during the First World War did not

ldquohand out baptismal certificates as they moved through hospital wards to anoint the

woundedrdquo (71) Despite the fact that there is ldquono evidence that Ernest returned with a

baptismal certificaterdquo he did swear to it (236) With this baptism he was allowed to

marry Pauline (M Reynolds American Homecoming 121) According to some scholars

death-bed baptism led Hemingway to become interested in Catholicism In addition

some scholars go so far as to say that this event marks the point when Hemingway started

to be Catholic Perhaps Ernestrsquos near-death experience infused a seed of Catholicism in

his heart

Michael Reynolds notes that ldquowhen an eighteen-year-old kid thinks hes dying a

Catholic priest can make a lasting impressionrdquo (The Paris Years 346) Reynolds claims

that long before Pauline the ceremony the ritual and the mystery of the Catholic Church

were a strong attraction to Hemingway Even if Pauline had not entered his life

Hemingway would have eventually turned Catholic Pauline simply accelerated this

process Later some found Hemingwayrsquos Catholic conversion to be suspect specious

and very convenient (345-46) Yet ldquonone of these doubters seriously thought of

Hemingway as a Protestant and he himself never looked back on his Congregational

training which he associated with Oak Park hypocrisy his fatherrsquos unbearable piety and

his motherrsquos church politics of who would rule the choir loftrdquo (346)

41

Hemingwayrsquos second wife Pauline Pfeiffer converted him to Catholicism In

fact Pfeiffer was such a serious Catholic that she caused Hemingway ldquo to take seriously

doctrine especially of sin and observance especially of prayerrdquo (Berman 33) Before

their marriage Pfeiffer had misgivings about marrying a married man and cutting him off

from his wife and child (Dearborn 229) For Pauline ldquoTo do so would be not only to

invite the damnation of her soul but also the unforgiving wrath of her Catholic parentsrdquo

(M Reynolds The Paris Years 318) If Pauline committed adultery she believed that

she would have been ldquosinning so mortally their souls were in jeopardyrdquo (318) Reynolds

wryly observes that ldquo[o]ne could not remain a devout Catholic and an ardent adulteressrdquo

(318)

For his part Ernest considered ldquoconverting to Catholicism in order to marry

Pauline in the Churchrdquo (Dearborn 221) Dearborn adds ldquoNo doubt Pauline was

researching the Churchrsquos requirements for marriage to a divorced manrdquo (221) In order to

marry Pauline Hemingway had to provide proof that his first marriage to Hadley was

outside the Church and so unofficial null and void (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 114) So since Hemingway ldquotestified that he had been baptized during the

war in Italy and that his first marriage was outside the Church [he] received on April

25 the necessary dispensation from the Archbishop of Paris which removed the last

obstacle to the ceremonyrdquo (121) Yet Hemingwayrsquos friend Ada MacLeish did not

attend Ernestrsquos and Paulinersquos wedding because she was disgusted by the Catholic

Churchrsquos solemnization of the new couplersquos bond and thought it a farce (Dearborn 237)

Ada

42

was completely disgusted with Ernestrsquos efforts to persuade the Catholic Church

that he had been baptized by a priest who walked between aisles of wounded men

in an Italian hospitalmdashtherefore Ernest was a Catholic and Hadley never had been

his wife and Bumby was a bastard To see this farce solemnized by the Catholic

Church was more than we [Archie and Ada] could take (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 124)

In his quest to marry Pauline Hemingway openly and formally embraced

Catholicism Hemingway wrote to Ernest Walsh about his rediscovered Catholicity

If I am anything I am a Catholic Had extreme unction administered to me as such

in July 1918 and recovered So guess I am a super-catholic It is most

certainly the most comfortable religion for anyone soldiering Am not what is

called a ldquogoodrdquo catholic But cannot imagine taking any other religion

seriously (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 345)

It is unknown whether Ernest ever mailed this letter

Ruth A Hawkins suggests that Hemingway ardently became a true Catholic

believer after he was cured of his temporary sexual problems after his marriage to

Pauline Hemingway told AE Hotchner that he and Pauline had had a good sex life

during their affair yet after they got married Hemingway experienced problems with

impotence (Hawkins 86) To try to alleviate this problem Hemingway saw doctors and a

mystic Nothing worked Pauline was patient and understanding Ernest was

discouraged so she encouraged him to go to the church a few blocks away and pray

Ernest recounts ldquoI went there and said a short prayer Then I went back to our room

43

Pauline was in bed waiting I undressed and got in bed and we made love like we

invented it We never had any trouble again Thatrsquos when I became a Catholicrdquo (qtd in

Hawkins 86)

Throughout his literary career Hemingway writes a number of stories involving

Catholics His short story ldquoThe Wine of Wyomingrdquo is about a French Catholic

bootlegging couple and is based upon a real-life Catholic couple that he met in Sheridan

Wyoming (Dearborn 263) Hemingway also writes about Catholicism in The Sun Also

Rises However Hemingway doesnrsquot write so much about Catholicism but rather of

Catholics themselves in their day-to-day lives (Hertzel 78) In The Sun Also Rises Jake

Barnes is nominally Catholic He basically lives the way that he wants to prays and

goes to church occasionally This is kind of like Hemingway who although not a

nominal Catholic lived the way that he wanted to while still claiming to be Catholic and

following some rituals In The Sun Also Rises Jake talks of going to church ldquoa couple of

times once with Brettrdquo (Sun 154) Although Jake prays regularly including for his

friends he also prays for mundane things like the upcoming bullfights and the Festival of

San Fermiacuten ldquoI wondered if there was anything else I might pray for and I thought I

would like to have some money so I prayed that I would make a lot of moneyrdquo (103)

While praying Jake gets distracted and he begins to think about other things ldquoas

all the time I was kneeling with my forehead on the wood in front of me and was

thinking of myself as praying I was a little ashamed and regretted that I was such a rotten

Catholicrdquo (103) Of his bad example as a Catholic Jake realizes that ldquothere was nothing I

could do about it at least for a while and maybe never but that anyway it was a grand

44

religion and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next timerdquo (103) One

critic asserts that The Sun Also Rises ldquois a novel about spiritual bankruptcyrdquo (Djos) Jake

is spiritually bankrupt but he tries to go about things in another way He drinks in order

escape the pain of the war and his impotency So alcohol might be said to be Jakersquos

primary spiritual comfort like it was a comfort for Hemingway Carlos Baker

categorizes The Sun Also Rises as a tale of Wastelanders (Berman 44) Moreover Jake

once thinks ldquoTo hell with people The Catholic Church had an awfully good way of

handling all thatrdquo (Sun 39) Jake believes that the Catholic Church has a good way of

sending people to hell purgatory or heaven to whatever fate the individual deserves

In addition Catholicism is referenced in Hemingwayrsquos A Farewell to Arms with

its protagonist Frederic Henry Unlike the nominally Catholic Jake Barnes Frederic has

no religion whatsoever (Farewell 279) However there is a priest in Fredericrsquos Italian

army unit that Frederic likes a lot Yet Frederic thinks the priest dull (33) According to

Frederic he and the priest share many of the same tastes yet there is a difference

between them (12) Frederic is a man of the world who does not believe in religion per

se and he loves women The priest is a man of God he loves God above all he doesnrsquot

pursue women When Frederic is recovering from his war wound in the hospital the

priest comes to visit him Frederic tells the priest that he does not love God (62) He

adds that he is ldquoafraid of Him in the night sometimesrdquo (62) Gary Sloan argues that

Fredericrsquos girlfriend Catherine ldquowill be his [Fredericrsquos] religion even as he she says is

hersrdquo (452) Michael Reynolds points out that ldquoCatherine sounded a lot like [Ernestrsquos

second wife] Pauline who had made Ernest her religion risking her soul on the promise

45

of his loverdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 216) This is also the case when

Ernest made his first girlfriend Agnes von Kurowsky his religion over organized

religion

Although Frederic is not religious in desperate times he seems to temporarily

become religious When he first receives his war injury he cries out to God ldquoget me out

of hererdquo (48) When his and Catherine Barkleyrsquos baby dies Frederic thinks of the baby

and thinks that it should have been baptized (279) Faced with the possibility of

Catherine dying Frederic prays ldquoEverything was gone inside of me I did not think I

could not think I knew she was going to die and I prayed that she would not Donrsquot let

her die Oh God please donrsquot let her die Irsquoll do anything for you if you wonrsquot let her

dierdquo (282) Hertzel points out that some of Hemingwayrsquos characters pray frequently

However it is also important to note that the prayers never get answered (79) For

example in Hemingwayrsquos posthumously published Islands in the Stream Thomas

Hudsonrsquos son David makes this comment about prayer ldquoYou canrsquot tell Audrey You

never know when it [prayer] may [do good] I donrsquot mean that Mr Davis needs to be

prayed for I just mean about prayer technicallyrdquo (186) In Frederick Henryrsquos case both

his baby and Catherine die Apparently in Hemingwayrsquos mind there was no

supernatural realm and prayers go nowhere Frederick asks Catherine on her death bed

ldquoDo you want me to get a priest or anyone to come and see yourdquo (Farewell 282)

Catherine just wants Frederic to stay with her Frederic says that his only religious feeling

comes at night (227) So the spiritual connection of sex is a religious experience to

Frederic

46

Hemingway does not present a supernatural dimension to Catholicism (Hertzel

78) In The Sun Also Rises as Jake and Brett leave a chapel in Pamplona he thinks that

ldquo[t]he praying had not been much of a successrdquo (212) Brett also portrays religion as

being uselessmdashat least for her saying ldquoDonrsquot know why I get so nervy in church

Never does me any goodrdquo (212) Brett says that praying never does her any good and

that she has never gotten anything that she prayed for (213) Jake does say that he has

gotten things that he has prayed for Brett replies of prayer ldquoMaybe it works for some

peoplerdquo (213) Jake considers himself ldquopretty religiousrdquo (213) Hemingway himself

prayed but apparently after the Spanish Civil War his view on prayer changed In The

Dangerous Summer he says ldquo[I] never [prayed] for myself during the Spanish Civil

War when I saw the terrible things that happened to other people and I felt that to pray for

oneself was selfish and egotisticalrdquo (142) In a June 19 1945 letter to Thomas Welsh

Hemingway expounded

In first war really scared after wounded and very devout at the end Fear of

death Belief in personal salvation or maybe just preservation through prayers for

intercession of Our Lady and various saints that prayed to with almost tribal faith

Spanish war seemed so selfish to pray for self when such things being done to all

people by people sponsored by Church that never prayed for self But missed

Ghostly comfort This war [Spanish Civil War] got through without praying

once Times a little bad sometimes too But felt that having forfeited any right to

ask for these intercessions would be absolutely crooked to ask for same no matter

how scared (qtd in Stoneback 128)

47

Consequently Hemingway only prayed for others after the Spanish Civil War In The

Dangerous Summer Hemingway writes of praying for others in Spain ldquoI prayed for all

those I had in hock to Fortune for all friends with cancer for all girls living and dead

and that Antonio would have good bulls that afternoonrdquo (69) Yet it is unknown if any

of Hemingwayrsquos prayers were ever answered In fact Hemingway wondered if his

prayers ever got anywhere

In case my prayers were invalid as they well might have been and to make sure

someone competent was doing it I took out a membership in the Jesuit Seminary

Fund Association at New Orleans for Carmen and Antonio [Ordoacutentildeez bullfighter]

There was a class graduating who when they were ordained would pray for them

each day (142)

So Hemingway got others to pray for his friends family and others in case that his

prayers were going nowhere In Hemingwayrsquos works instead of offering a supernatural

element to the Catholic Church he presents the Church as a solely human institution

Hertzel writes that Hemingway treats the Catholic Church as ldquoa colorful institution with

richness tradition ritual and discipline but it provides no convenient miraclesrdquo (78-79)

Consequently Hemingway uses Catholicism as a literary motif to add texture to his

writings (79)

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway seems to make fun of the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit that according to Christians is the method by which the Bible was

written Hemingwayrsquos example is silly Hemingway mockingly describes the writing

process of Waldo Frank the author of Virgin Spain He ldquolay naked in his bed in the night

48

and God sent him things to write how he lsquowas in touch ecstatically with the plunging and

immobile allrdquo (53) Moreover

After God sent it he wrote it The result was that unavoidable mysticism of a

man who writes a language so badly he cannot make a clear statement

complicated by whatever pseudo-scientific jargon is in style at the moment God

sent him some wonderful stuff about Spain during his short stay there

preparatory to writing of the soul of the country but it is often nonsense (53)

Hemingway wrote more generally of the religion of the Lost Generation again

with a touch of mockery

There will be many new salvations brought forward My generation in France for

example in two years sought salvation in first the Catholic Church 2nd DaDaism

third the movies fourth Royalism fifth the Catholic Church again There may be

another and better war But none of it will matter particularly to this generation

because to them the things that are given to people to happen have already

happened (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 327)

In his books Hemingway also seems to make fun of religion in order to try to be

comedic In his ficto-biography True at First Light Hemingway asks the interpreter

ldquoDid you not like the Mission School Remember God is listening He hears your every

wordrdquo (182) Later Hemingway asks GC ldquoAnd will you carry these principles into

Life sonrdquo (204) GC responds ldquoDrink your beer Billy Grahamrdquo (204) Ironically

years later Billy Graham would use Ernest Hemingway as a sermon illustration More

comedy follows in True at First Light when Hemingway talks about a new religion that

49

he created for the Africans He said that his African helpers Ngui and Mthuka and

himself ldquocould decide what was a sin and what was notrdquo (281) Hemingway also talks

about the ldquoHappy Hunting Groundsrdquo as if it were some sort of heaven

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway is comedic through the character of Bill

Gorton Walking down a boulevard with Jake Bill spots a taxidermistrsquos shop and

jokingly tries to get Jake to buy a stuffed dog Jake knows that it is a joke and just tries

to keep Bill moving down the boulevard After Jake promises to get a stuffed dog on the

way back Bill Gorton says ldquoAll right Have it your own way Road to hell paved with

unbought stuffed dogs Not my faultrdquo (78) Hemingway also does this with the priest in

A Farewell to Arms in order to try to infuse comedy into this novel when the captain at

the soldiersrsquo mess keep joking with the priest as the butt of the joke ldquoPriest to-day with

girlsrdquo (7) The captain adds ldquoPriest every night five against onerdquo (7)

On the train to Bayonne Bill Gorton says of some pilgrims on the train with

them ldquoGoddam Puritansrdquo (Sun 91) In the train compartment with Jake and Bill is a man

from Montana with his wife and son The man says to Jake and Bill of getting a meal

while pretending to be pilgrims ldquoThey thought we were snappers all right It

certainly shows you the power of the Catholic Church Itrsquos a pity you boys ainrsquot

Catholics You could get a meal then all rightrdquo (93) Frustrated by the situation Jake

assures him that he is Catholic When Bill Gorton corners a priest returning from a meal

with the pilgrims Bill asks him when the Protestants will get a chance to eat The priest

says that he doesnrsquot know and Gorton replies ldquoItrsquos enough to make a man join the Klanrdquo

(93)

50

After fishing along the Irati River Jake and Bill meet to have lunch After talking

about William Jennings Bryan and which came first the chicken or the egg Bill mocks

religion and the question of whether the chicken or the egg comes first ldquoOh how

should we know We should not question Our stay on earth is not for long Let us

rejoice and believe and give thanksrdquo (126) Holding a drumstick perhaps like a mock

scepter and a bottle of wine Bill tries to be mockingly funny ldquoLet us rejoice in our

blessings Let us utilize the fowls of the air Let us utilize the product of the vine Will

you utilize a little brotherrdquo (126) Handing Jake the bottle Bill says ldquoUtilize a little

brother Let us not doubt brother Let us not pry into the holy mysteries of the

hencoop with simian fingers Let us accept on faithrdquo (127) Then pointing at a

drumstick Bill says ldquoLet me tell you We will say and I for one am proud to saymdashand I

want you to say with me on your knees brother Let no man be ashamed to kneel here in

the great out-of-doors Remember the woods were Godrsquos first templesrdquo (127) They

uncork another bottle Before they take a nap Bill asks Jake if he is really a Catholic

(128) Jake replies that he is technically a Catholic When asked what that means Jake

says that he doesnrsquot know (129) Even though the Eucharist is mocked Jake and Bill are

seemingly reborn as they fish in nature So nature provides a chance at rest and

regeneration

Just like Hemingway in most of his life some of his characters are not religious

although they have religious influences Robert Jordan is one example His father was

religious But his fatherrsquos religion turned Robert off In one instance as a younger man

when Robert is about to leave on a train his father gets emotional and says a prayer over

51

him In response ldquoRobert Jordan had been so embarrassed by all of it [his fatherrsquos

emotionalism] the damp religious sound of the prayer and by his father kissing him

good-by that he had felt suddenly so much older than his father and sorry for him that he

could hardly bear itrdquo (For Whom Bell Tolls 405-406) This would seem similar to

Ernestrsquos leaving home for the first time en route to Kansas City (Hemingway-Sanford

154) In this instance Hemingwayrsquos father bought him the ticket and saw him off (154)

Maybe Dr Hemingway did cry when he saw Ernest off for he really loved his son

While Ernest was in Italy Marcelline notes that her ldquoDad had always loved Ernest

especially dearly and he missed him and prayed for him dailyrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford

160) To compound all this like Hemingwayrsquos father Robertrsquos religious father later

ldquoshot himselfrdquo in a suicide in the same manner as Robert Jordanrsquos father (For Whom Bell

Tolls 66) Robert ldquounderstood his father and he forgave him everything and he pitied him

but he was ashamed of himrdquo (340) Perhaps Hemingway was ashamed of his father after

his fatherrsquos sad suicide This shame and embarrassment of his late father and his

perceived cowardice may have pushed Robert away from religion (338) In addition it is

quite probable that the suicide of Hemingways father additionally pushed him away from

the Protestant tradition of his father as his father had been a deacon and a very upright

and religious man (Reynolds M American Homecoming 211) Yet Daniel Pawley notes

that Hemingway loved his father more than anyone else in the world At one point in For

Whom the Bell Tolls Robert says ldquoI do not believe in ogres nor soothsayers nor in the

supernatural thingsrdquo (250) When Pilar tells Robert that she cares about him Robert tells

52

Pilar that he doesnrsquot want her love He qualifies ldquoNi tu ni Diosrdquo (Neither yours nor

Godrsquos) (387) Robert doesnrsquot want Godrsquos love either

48

CHAPTER 4

HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY

According to Michael Reynolds Hemingway liked all things ancient and

medieval and that included the Catholic Church In fact Hemingway liked visiting

medieval cathedrals among them Chartres He ldquoliked the ritual the mystery the odors of

age and incense He liked its permanence in stonerdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 325)

Hadley Richardson liked to refer to the chivalric Hemingway as her ldquogentil parfit

knightrdquo an allusion to Chaucerrsquos description of the knight in The Canterbury Tales (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 223) and he liked to wear a scapular This scapular has

ldquogot an image of Christ on it suspended from a brown shoestring-like loop At home in

Key West friends have observed him with the scapular and how hersquoll make the sign of

the cross before he goes in swimmingrdquo (Hendrickson 28)

Hemingway would come back to the Bible in his later years in his search for

literary titles Hemingway alludes to Ecclesiastes 14-7 in his title of The Sun Also Rises

The Scriptural passage was used to signify that basically the Lost Generation would

pass away but that the earth would abide forever Moreover Hemingway gave the Bible

credit for teaching him how to write (Blume 213)

In his youth Hemingway idolized his missionary uncle to China Willoughby (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 110) Willoughby had a medical mission there In fact

Ernestrsquos father Dr Clarence Hemingway inspired by his brother had wanted to be a

medical missionary to Guam but his wife had dissuaded him from it (Pawley 24) Dr

49

Hemingway also had an offer for a medical mission in Greenland (L Hemingway 21)

Grace refused to go Ernest Hemingwayrsquos life might have had a much different outcome

if his mother would have supported his father in becoming a medical missionary to Guam

or even Greenland Years later when Hemingway was living in Cuba Hemingwayrsquos

sister Ursala visited and she and Ernest reminisced about their Uncle Willoughby

recalling his visits and together they sang ldquolsquoJesus Loves Mersquo in Chinese until the tears

rolled down their cheeksrdquo (25) Upon the death of his father Ernest returned home to

Oak Park where he openly displayed his new-found Catholic faith Marcelline says that

upon his arrival Ernest ldquotold us that he had had a Mass saidrdquo for their dad (Dearborn 268

M Reynolds American Homecoming 211 Hemingway-Sanford 233) With Dr

Hemingwayrsquos body lying in repose in the music room Ernest now leader of his family

led his family in the Lordrsquos Prayer This echoes back to the time in Ernestrsquos youth when

his Grandfather Hall would lead his family in the Lordrsquos prayer ldquohis eyes directed

heavenwardrdquo (Dearborn 268) However during this time of mourning Ernestrsquos

Catholicism angered some peoplemdashespecially Marcelline

Relying on Catholic teaching Ernest believed that his father had gone to

purgatory since suicide was a mortal sin (M Reynolds American Homecoming 211) In

addition Ernest mentioned that since his family was a Heathen Family ldquoit was

impossible to offer enough prayers to get his [Dr Hemingwayrsquos] soul into heavenrdquo

(Dearborn 268) Marcelline thought that Ernestrsquos idea of praying their father out of

purgatory was disgusting Ernest told his kid brother Leicester Hemingway to ldquopray as

hard as he could for his fatherrsquos soul to be released from purgatoryrdquo as ldquothings go right on

50

from hererdquo (Dearborn 268 My Brother 111) Despite the waves that Ernest made with

his family he showed genuine care concern and distress in his belief that his late father

was in purgatory (Dearborn 268) In this instance Hemingway definitely took Catholic

doctrine seriously

Dearborn paints Ernest Hemingway as a practicing Catholic one who would go to

Mass and fast on Good Friday She suggests that during this trying time Hemingway

turned to his faith in order to anchor himself through his grief She further suggests that

Ernestrsquos claim that his father was in purgatory was a way for him to assert his patriarchal

dominance over the family and to show that he was in charge Marcelline as the eldest

had tried to claim this role but in her struggle with Ernest she had lost (269)

In Chicago a Dominican priest wrote to Hemingway to thank him for saving his

friend Don Stewart in the bull ring at Pamplona (M Reynolds American Homecoming

156) This priest had heard of Hemingwayrsquos conversion to Catholicism within that year

1927 and he urged Hemingway to become a writer for the Dominican cause in order to

defend the Church and its ldquocause of Truthrdquo (156) In response Hemingway wrote

I have been a Catholic for many years although I feel very badly and did not go to

communion for over 8 years However I have gone regularly to mass for the last

two years and absolutely set my house in order within the year However I have

always had more faith than intelligence or knowledge and I have never wanted to

be known as a Catholic writer because I know the importance of setting an

examplemdashand I have never set a good example Also I am a dumb Catholic

and I have so much faith that I hate to examine itmdashbut I am trying to lead a good

51

life and to write well and truly and it is easier to do the first than the second (qtd

in M Reynolds American Homecoming 156)

In a 1940 Valentinersquos Day letter to his editor Maxwell Perkins Hemingway wrote ldquoI am

not a Catholic writer nor a party writer nor even an American writer but just a writer

meant to rise above injusticerdquo (qtd in Isabelle 51)

Despite his Catholicism Hemingwayrsquos faith didnrsquot help him to change into a

better man Although he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not

transform him nor even make him Christ-like Hemingway did not have a salvation

experience Nor was his faith life-altering Stoneback agrees that ldquoHemingway did not

turn to the church for instant deliverancerdquo (Stoneback 122) As a Catholic

Hemingway continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Ernestrsquos

Catholicism did not translate into his personal life Hemingwayrsquos religious life was one

solely of Catholic rituals He did not change his behavior or his vices He did not

overcome his problems Unfortunately in the end Hemingwayrsquos problems overcame

him

Despite his personal shortcomings Hemingway did at times take Catholicism

seriously After one of his African safaris he returned to Paris and saw his friend Ned

Calmer Calmer was a reporter and an aspiring novelist There Hemingway learned that

Calmerrsquos daughter had not been baptized (Hendrickson 44) This was unconscionable to

Hemingway Years later Calmer wrote that ldquoErnest seemed genuinely concerned

The attitude was this will never do He came along to the church of St Sulpice in Paris

52

as sponsor at the ceremonyrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 44) where Calmerrsquos daughter was

baptized

Hemingwayrsquos faith affected him in other ways too During the Spanish Civil

War his Catholicism would give him ldquosympathy with the conservative traditionalist side

in Spain at least in the early days of this unrestrdquo (Dearborn 303) Later Hemingway

would switch his allegiance to the anti-Franco anti-fascist communist-supported side of

the conflict Unfortunately this shift caused many family disputes with his wife Pauline

(Isabelle 25) However it was Hemingwayrsquos belief that politics and religion should not

mix (Stoneback 117) After the Spanish Civil War and in Cuba Hemingway used to

worry that the FBI were Roman Catholics and thus consequently Franco sympathizers

(N Reynolds 127) In fact Hemingway liked to refer to the FBI as ldquolsquoFrancorsquos Bastard

Irishrsquo and lsquoFrancorsquos Iron Cavalryrsquordquo (127) Nicholas Reynolds suggests that Hemingway

was paranoid about the FBI because he had signed on to be a spy with the Russian

Narodny Kommisariat Vnutrennikh Del (Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs)

better known as the NKVD Yet Hemingway never actually did anything for them His

code name was ldquoArgordquo Dearborn notes that ldquo[d]espite his professed Catholicism Ernest

was impatient with religion over philosophizing and what we would call today self-

helprdquo (320) Dorothy Parker makes a different claim about Hemingway ldquoThere is no

more than a thin line of moss to stamp the spot where Robert Benchley and Ernest

Hemingway had that big philosophical discussion about the meaning of liferdquo (qtd in M

Reynolds American Homecoming 106) Philosopher Ralph Withington Church ldquorecalls

his conversations with Hemingway about the lsquoproblem of redemptionrsquo and

53

Malebranchersquos lsquotheory of gracersquordquo (Stoneback 121) Ernest also had his own privately-

held opinions about Catholicism For example Hemingway told one of his daughters-in-

law that unlike the Catholic Churchrsquos teaching that animals donrsquot have souls he believed

that animals did (Dearborn 516) Secondly Ernest seems to have taken on or been

influenced by his motherrsquos mystic spiritualist bent Ernest believed in superstitions and

in some types of psychic phenomena (518)

Later in his life Ernest seems to have some misgivings about Catholicism He

consistently said when Paulinersquos name surfaced that ldquoher Catholic faith had wrecked the

marriagerdquo (Dearborn 406) Pauline had been advised by her doctor not to have any more

children The fear was that Pauline would get pregnant and die from the pregnancy

(Hawkins 141) Since Catholicism only permitted the birth control method of

withdrawal Ernestrsquos pleasure was significantly diminished by this technique and

consequently doomed their marriage Hemingway had also wanted to have a daughter

but this dream was never realized Paulinersquos second son Gregory who became a doctor

contends that all that his father would have had to have done to retain his pleasure would

have been to abstain from intercourse on Paulinersquos fertile days According to Gregrsquos

reasoning this ldquowould have been obvious to lsquoany foolrsquordquo (qtd in Dearborn 406)

According to Leicester Hemingway Ernest wanted nothing to do with the Catholic

church after Pauline and he asked for ldquothe address of an uncle William E Miller who

had written many hymns in the Episcopalian hymnalrdquo (Isabelle 58-59) Moreover Ernest

was concerned about his sons Patrick and Gregory attending a Catholic school Ernest

feared that this school Canterbury was affecting Patrick gradually and insidiously

54

(Dearborn 480) In fact Ernest hated this school and he referred to it as ldquoone of lsquothose

snot schoolsrsquordquo (480)

Paulinersquos and Hemingwayrsquos second son Gregory had a troubled life Over time

he came to like to dress up as a woman In Los Angeles this caught up with him when

he tried to enter the womenrsquos restroom of a theater in drag (Hendrickson 297) Pauline

cabled Hemingway that Gregory was in trouble Hemingway called back Pauline was in

a lot of pain but went to the phone anyway to tell Hemingway about the problem On the

phone Hemingway said ldquoItrsquos all your fault see how yoursquove brought him up yoursquore

corrupt and hersquos corruptrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 297) Hemingway intimated that perhaps

Gregoryrsquos Catholic upbringing had pushed Gregory into transgenderism Gregory had

served as an altar-boy at Saint Mary Star of the Sea (386)

That night Pauline went to bed in tears Unfortunately the heated accusative

argument with Ernest had set Pauline off At the time Pauline had been staying at her

sisterrsquos Virginia residence in Los Angeles In the early morning Virginia and her

friend Laura awakened to what they described as a ldquohorrendous screamrdquo from Paulinersquos

room Pauline was taken to the hospital where her blood pressure skyrocketed dropped

to zero and caused ldquoher to die of shock on the operating tablerdquo (Hawkins 271) Later

Hemingway blamed Paulinersquos death on Gregory Yet Gregory became a doctor and

researched his motherrsquos death more thoroughly Through an autopsy report Gregory

learned that his mother had died of a ldquorare tumor of the adrenal glandrdquo also known as

pheochromocytoma (275) This type of tumor secretes large quantities of adrenaline

causing blood pressure to spikemdasheven to the point where arteries can rupture Pauline

55

had had only an intermittent tumor that would secrete during times of stress Gregory

informed his father of his findings in a letter in the summer of 1960 Gregory wrote that

Hemingwayrsquos argument with Pauline had set Pauline off ldquocausing a blood vessel to

rupturerdquo after which her blood pressure dropped to zero with the resulting shock killing

her on the operating table (275) So Gregory blamed Hemingway for Paulinersquos early

death from shock due to the ruptured blood vessel and the drop of her blood pressure to

zero

In 1947 Hemingwayrsquos son Patrick had a spiritual crisis of his own Due to his

Catholic mother Patrick had been schooled in Catholic schools In 1947 Patrick had

been studying for the College Board exams at Hemingwayrsquos home the Finca in Cuba

However when Gregory had a spring vacation Patrick decided to join him in Key West

In 1945 Pauline had bought herself a sports car (Dearborn 497) In 1947 in Key West

Patrick was newly licensed and Patrick let Gregory drive the sports car Gregory drove

off the road and hit a tree near Casa Marina

In the process Patrick and Gregory seemed to suffer only minor injuries

Gregory ldquoreceived a minor knee injuryrdquo while Patrick ldquosuffered a cut on his chin and

slight headacherdquo (Hawkins 251) Yet Patrick had suffered a severe concussion (Di

Robilant 7) At first the boys didnrsquot seem to have any ill effects from the accident and

they arrived back at the Finca However shortly after his arrival Patrick started acting

strangely (Dearborn 497) At the Finca Patrick asked ldquofor a pot of hot water and some

teardquo (497) When Reneacute Villarreal brought the hot water and tea to the little house

ldquoPatrick complained that the water was dirtyrdquo (497) Then Patrick commenced shouting

56

loudly at the cook Ramoacuten who wasnrsquot even there Next at the main house Ernest

placed Patrick ldquoon a wicker chaise and stroked his headrdquo (497) In Havana the next day

Patrick was able to take the College Board exams but as the day progressed he grew

increasingly agitated So Ernest called for a doctor The doctor ldquosedated Patrick but the

next day he was delirious and soon became violent and it was necessary to restrain himrdquo

(497) Andrea Di Robilant believes that Patrick had a complete breakdown (7) His loss

of normalcy became a terrible ordeal for the Hemingway family in which his future his

sanity and his life hung in the balance (Dearborn 497)

In response Ernest placed Patrick in his own bed at the Finca and slept on a straw

mat in the living room just outside the door of his bedroom taking care of Patrick around

the clock (Dearborn 497-98 Hawkins 251) Ernest did this for the next three months

(Dearborn 498) It was hoped that Patrick would recover and be well within a couple of

weeks Yet it didnrsquot turn out this way Doctors from all over Cuba were called in Dr

Herrera deemed Patrick to be ldquopredementialrdquo a condition either set off from the exams or

by a crisis of his Catholic faith (498) Religion was a big portion of Patrickrsquos delirium

the other subject being putas whores A local priest named Don Andreacutes became one of

Patrickrsquos chief caretakers Surprisingly due to the spiritual nature of Patrickrsquos condition

this priest was unable to enter Patrickrsquos room without being accused of being the devil

incarnate Consequently this priest became known as the Black Priest

Patrick was so delusional that Ernest and his doctors were concerned about being

near Patrick because they were afraid that they would be scratched or bitten Patrick

remained bedridden for weeks and ldquohe moved in and out of consciousnessrdquo (Di Robilant

57

7) However Patrickrsquos condition did not improve he only worsened and became more

violentmdashhaving to be constantly restrained (Dearborn 498) At first the doctors wanted

Ernest to put Patrick in a hospital but Ernest was determined to keep Patrick at home

Patrick was so delirious that he wouldnrsquot eat When Patrick did eat he stuffed the food in

his mouth like a hamster to spit out at his caretakers Patrick even couldnrsquot swallow his

own saliva Considering that Patrick would probably rip out feeding tubes it was

decided to feed him rectally under restraint and under heavy sedation Patrick had not

eaten since his illness had begun five days prior It would take a full hour and a half to

feed Patrick rectally Despite this procedure Patrick dropped to eighty-eight pounds by

the start of August He had become psychotic

Given the limited means and the early days of psychiatric diagnoses in that time

and age it seemed like Patrick was schizophrenic perhaps even needing a lifetime of

institutionalized care (499) In July a new physician suggested that Patrick undergo

shock treatments In those days the only options were lobotomy and electroshock

therapy (499-500) So seeing no other viable option Patrickrsquos parents relented to the

electroshock therapy (500) In the outbuilding of the Finca Patrick received his first

shock treatment After only around ten minutes Patrick was reported as being ldquolucidrdquo

Fortunately Patrickrsquos electroshock therapy brought him back

The Hemingways remembered how the shock treatments had brought Patrick

back from the brink of hopelessness However when electroshock treatments were tried

years later on Ernest himself because of his traumatic brain injuries and compounding

depression they had the opposite effect For Ernest Hemingway electroshock treatments

58

wiped out his memory and he could no longer write take pride in himself and support

himself financially by the only means he knew how The shock treatments pushed

Hemingway further into depression

After his marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer Hemingway had misgivings about his

Catholic faith However HR Stoneback asserts that Hemingway never entirely gave up

his Catholicism and that he continued to go to Mass pray support the church and regard

himself as Catholic (114) Despite all this Hemingway had some bitterness toward the

Catholic Church Yet it still played an influence in his life Lloyd Arnold says of

Hemingwayrsquos last twenty years of life ldquoI did not know Papa as a man without Godrdquo (qtd

in Stoneback 105-06) Even after his marriage to Pauline Hemingway did put some

stock in Catholicism His divorce from Pauline made him excommunicated from the

Catholic Churchmdashhe could not receive communionmdashbut he still did visit Catholic

churches and pray inside During his marriage to Pauline Hemingway had faithfully and

regularly attended Mass Of his post-Pauline years Hemingway friend and biographer

AE Hotchner noted that in 1954 Hemingway on his way to Madrid stopped into the

cathedral at Burgos where he kneeled and prayed (Stoneback 106) According to

Hotchner in 1958 Hemingway paid for a new roof for the Catholic Church in Hailey

Idaho Then he gave an address to that parishrsquos young people admonishing them not to

work on Sunday as it was ldquovery back luckrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106)

Actor Gary Cooper who had played the role of Robert Jordan in the 1943 film

version of For Whom the Bell Tolls converted to Catholicism himself in 1958 In

response Hemingway ldquotalked sympathetically with Gary Cooper aboutrdquo it (Stoneback

59

106) In 1959 Hemingway was pickpocketed in Spain so in response he put an ad in

the newspaper asking the Spanish pickpocket to return his billfold as he cared mostly for

ldquogetting back the ldquoimage of St Christopher in itrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106) Throughout

his lifetime Hemingway named a son after a pope ldquodisplayed great pride in Patrickrsquos

confirmation mastery of the catechism gave money and support to the churchrdquo (110)

Ernest even taught his oldest son Bumby how to pray (L Hemingway 99) When

Hemingway received his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 he gave the medal to the

Virgen of Cobra Shrine in Cuba (Isabelle 52)

In a conversation with his fourth and final wife Mary Welsh Hemingway says to

her ldquoReligion is superstition and I believe in superstitionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 118)

Ernest adds that it is his ldquoTribal heritagerdquo (118) Mary wrote to Stoneback of Ernest that

when they would visit cathedrals in France Italy or Spain Hemingway would light

candles in honor of the memory of his friends Stoneback writes that with Ernest Mary

Hemingway had to live through a Catholic prism With Ernest Mary had to eat fish on

Fridays observe Lent do the Christmas traditions celebrate Ernestrsquos saintrsquos day have

masses and prayers said for family and friends observe holy days and Catholic feasts

drive miles off course to visit and revisit cathedrals and churches and to attend religious

processions (119) Mary Hemingway would later say that Hemingway ldquoadmiredrdquo the

Catholic church and that he ldquothought of himself always as Catholicrdquo (qtd in 119) Mary

Hemingway said of Ernestrsquos friend the Black Priest Don Andreacutes that he and

Hemingway would talk alone and that Ernest regarded him ldquoas his lsquopersonal priest and

confessorrsquo that they prayed together and for each otherrdquo (120) According to Toby

60

Bruce Hemingway and the Black Priest were very good friends they talked quite a lot

and that when Don Andreacutes died in 1955 Hemingway had masses said for him (132)

Mary said of Ernest ldquoWhen he said he was Catholic he meant itrdquo (qtd in 120)

Mary added that Ernest tried very hard at being Catholic Allen Tate said that

Hemingway was ldquovery Catholicrdquo and that his attitude towards sports was ldquorooted in

religious sensibilityrdquo (120) Tate added that it was the ritual of sport that Hemingway

liked RW Church says that Hemingwayrsquos ldquotalk during these late hours at Lips made

evident his conviction that Sport and bull-fighting in particular afforded a major way to

the redemption of manrdquo (135) Stoneback argues that for Hemingway sport is a

redemptive ritual that is central to his life and work (136) The renowned sportsman

George Leonard Herter said that although Hemingway was a strong Catholic

his ldquoreligion came mainly from the Apparitions of the Virgin Maryrdquo (121) Herter said

that Hemingway was almost obsessed with the apparitions and talked about them often

(134) Hemingway thought that they were important Hemingway did not understand

why the Catholic church did not publicize the apparitions Hemingway was amazed that

most brothers nuns and priests were ignorant of the apparitions and seemed to care even

less Herter said that he had heard Hemingway speak of the apparitions including

Lourdes Fatima and others ldquoat one time or anotherrdquo (qtd in 134) Herter says that

Hemingway believed that if there was no Bible ldquono man-made church lawsrdquo then the

apparitions conclusively proved that the Catholic church was the true church (134-35)

Herter adds that ldquoHemingway knew all the apparitions The ones at Pontmain

61

Pellivoisin Allyrod greatly impressed himrdquo (134-35) In addition Hemingway basically

believed that the Virgin Mary was earthrsquos listening post for Jesus and God (135)

Reynolds Price suggested that ldquoHemingwayrsquos lsquolifelong subjectrsquo was

lsquosaintlinessrsquordquo (121) Stoneback asserts a spiritual order to Hemingwayrsquos works in which

Hemingway examines the conscience through a Catholic lens (122) Stoneback

summarizes an October 18 1933 letter to Pauline Hemingway

tells Pauline that the proofs of Winner Take Nothing have arrived and though it is

a ldquodamned goodrdquo book itrsquos too much to expect the church will stand for it As he

sees it considering his writing the church would have two choices either kick

him out or prove he has no right to be in Either one would be bad because he

couldnrsquot tell them to ldquogo to the devilrdquo because of the ldquoItalian complicationsrdquo At

least hersquoll be able to say his prayers participate in the Mass support and

contribute to the church and wherever they donrsquot know him he can go to

confession He does not want to seem to be seeking ldquoappuirdquo as a ldquoCatholic

writerrdquo He says that he has no right to write the way he does and be ldquolsquoofficially

of the Churchrsquordquo Everything is fine with his conscience however he adds that

therersquos nothing wrong with the church (Stoneback 129-30)

Stoneback summarizes an interview with Fraser Drew As Stoneback

summarizes Hemingway told Drew

I [Hemingway] like to think that Irsquom a Catholic as far as I can be I can still go to

Mass although many things have happenedmdashthe divorces the marriages He

spoke with admiration of Catholicism and then of his friend the Basque priest

62

whom he had known in Spain [Don Andreacutes] and who now lived in San Francisco

de Paula He comes here a great deal said EH He prays for me every day as I

do for him I canrsquot pray for myself any more Perhaps itrsquos because in some way I

have become hardened Or perhaps it is because the self becomes less important

and others become more important But that Time article was bad He referred to

a recent article in Time which had commented that he had been born a

Congregationalist had become a Roman Catholic and now no longer went to

church This conversation with EH confirms my earlier feeling that he is a

religious man with respect for the religions of others (Stoneback 131)

Toby Bruce said of Hemingway and religion ldquoIrsquod say he was very religious Always

went to Mass especially when he was here still with Pauline And afterwards toordquo (qtd

in 132) Bruce added ldquoHe was a real Catholic and I think he tried very hard to be a good

Catholic Who knows for sure Yes he was he planned to donate a considerable sum

toward the restoration of the Mary Immaculate Convent Donrsquot know if he did I guess

Irsquod say he was a good Catholic Donrsquot know what the church would say about itrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 132-33)

Hemingway would cross himselfmdasheven after the 1930s (133) George Herter

wrote ldquoHemingway was a Catholic in those days when the Catholic Church was a church

instead of a mass of confusion The fact that he had been a steady marrying and divorce

type didnrsquot bother Ernest at all in his views on Catholicism I knew Ernest only had

his religion in his very shaky worldrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) George Herter responded

to HR Stoneback in a letter about Hemingway ldquoI repeat he was a very strong Catholic

63

He had complete faith in God Jesus the Virgin Holy Ghost guardian angels Much

more so than nearly all Catholics I have known He was a traditional Catholic as we

all were at the timerdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) In another letter from Herter to Stoneback

dated February 23 1978 Herter writes ldquoHemingway was a strong Catholic He had a

very good knowledge of early Christianity He did not attend Mass regularly He

believed the churchrsquos stand on divorce was right although he was divorced many times

He often stated that he was a poor example of a Catholic but offered no excusesrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 134-35) Stoneback asked a Key West resident what he thought of

Hemingwayrsquos religion The man responded ldquoHemingway was very religious went to

Mass early in the morning with Pauline You could tell he was religious when he fed

the cats the way he looked at the skyrdquo (136)

Yet in his last years of life Hemingway said some very anti-Catholic and anti-

Christian things For instance married to his last wife Mary Ernest said in an interview

to Lillian Ross of the possibility of an afterlife ldquoOnly suckers worry about saving their

soulsrdquo (qtd in Ross 50) Hemingway continued ldquoWho the hell should care about saving

his soul when it is a manrsquos duty to lose it intelligently the way you would sell a position

you were not defending if you could not hold it as expensively as possible trying to

make it the most expensive position that was ever soldrdquo (50) Gregory Hemingway

recounted something similar Gregory said that his father didnrsquot genuinely believe in

organized religion and that his father ldquomade it clear he didnrsquot believe in an afterlife He

did finally believe in a superior beingrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 186) Although Hemingway

didnrsquot believe that it was necessary to save onersquos soul he did contemplate the soul As a

64

boy Hemingway had thought that his soul had blown out of him once and it had returned

to his body (First Light 172) Hemingway claimed ignorance of the soul and he didnrsquot

know if it existed nor if anyone he knew anything about it Hemingway ponders the

soul ldquoProbably a spring of clear fresh water that never diminished in drought and never

froze in the winter was closest to what we had instead of the soul they all talked aboutrdquo

(172) As a boy Hemingway assumed that he had a soul but as he grew older and jaded

he wasnrsquot sure anymore Hemingway thinks that death ends things Yet he ponders that

perhaps only really religious people have souls (172-173) Of a belief in an afterlife for

the soul as heaven or hell Hemingway had his own opinions of that On July 1 1925

Hemingway creatively wrote to F Scott Fitzgerald of his vision of heaven

To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a

trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in and two lovely

houses in the town one where I would have my wife and children and be

monogamous and love them truly and well and the other where I would have my

nine beautiful mistresses on 9 different floors Then there would be a fine

church like in Pamplona where I could go and be confessed on the way from one

house to the other and I would get on my horse and ride out with my son to my

bull ranch named Hacienda Hadley and toss coins to all my illegitimate children

that lined the road I would write out at the Hacienda and send my son in to lock

the chastity belts onto my mistresses because someone had just galloped up with

the news that a notorious monogamist named Fitzgerald had been seen riding

65

toward the town at the head of a company of strolling drinkers (Hemingway in

Katakis 37)

However after his World War I injury Ernest wrote his family

You know they say there isnrsquot anything funny about this war and there isnrsquot I

wouldnrsquot say that it was hell because thatrsquos been a bit overworked since General

Shermanrsquos time but there have been about eight times when I would have

welcomed hell just on a chance it couldnrsquot come up to the phase of war I was

experiencing (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 166-67)

So if there was a hell Hemingway didnrsquot believe that it was worse than the horrors of

war Of his past Hemingway did have regrets He wrote ldquoThis past was never my past

life which truly bores me to think about and is often very distasteful due to the mistakes

that I have made and the casualties to various human beings involvedrdquo (Hemingway in

White 466)

The question of the soul comes up continually in the works of Hemingway In

ldquoNow I Lay Merdquo Nick Adams tries not to go to sleep at night because he is afraid like

Hemingway was that his soul is going to leave his body in the dark This all stems from

a battlefield injury and experience that Nick had when his soul temporarily left his body

Nick relates ldquoI had been that way [not sleeping at night] for a long time ever since I had

been blown up at night and felt it [his soul] go out of me and go off and then come back

I tried never to think about it but it had started to go since in the nights just at the

moment of going off to sleep and I could only stop it by a very great effortrdquo (Short

Stories 276)

66

Yet Nick doesnrsquot fear his soul leaving him during the day time Hemingway also

had a similar experience with his wounding at Fossalta According to Leicester

Hemingway Ernest once told Guy Hickok of this near-death experience ldquoI felt my soul

or something coming right out of my body like yoursquod pull a silk handkerchief out of a

pocket by one corner It flew around and then came back and went in again and I wasnrsquot

dead any morerdquo (56) Hemingway gives Frederic Henry the same experience in A

Farewell to Arms After the explosion that caused his wounding Henry says that

I tried to breathe but my breath would not come and I felt myself rush bodily out

of myself and out and out and out and all the time bodily in the wind I went out

swiftly all of myself and I knew I was dead and that it had all been a mistake to

think you just died Then I floated and instead of going on I felt myself slide

back I breathed and I was back (47)

Hemingway later referred to his Christian upbringing as ldquothat ton of shit we are

all fed when we are youngrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) Michael Reynolds makes the claim that

in Ernestrsquos youth fishing was his religion (118) However Archie MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoActually he was one of the most profoundly and spiritually powerful

creatures I have ever knownrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 158)

In The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway paints the old man Santiago as a

Christ figure There is so much Christian symbolism in this tale that the story can be

thought of as a parable The name Santiago literally means Saint James in Spanish

(Baker 293) In the Bible James was one of Jesusrsquo brothers Baker says of Santiago that

he ldquoshows in his own right certain qualities of mind and heart which are clearly

67

associated with the character and personality of Jesus Christ in the Gospel storiesrdquo (299)

Like Christ Santiago is able to ldquoignore physical painrdquo while focusing on the larger

objective goal to be gained in the end (299) There is an allusion to Christ on the cross

when Santiago in fighting for his prize ldquosettled comfortably against the wood and took

his suffering as it camerdquo (Old Man Sea 64) Like a horizontal cross-beam across Christrsquos

back Santiago has the cord tightened taught across his back (Backman 10 Old Man Sea

67) Santiago carries the burdensome weight of the fish on his back and he is even

burned by the cord because of it (Old Man Sea 82) The wood the suffering and

Santiagorsquos gentleness according to Melvin Backman blends ldquomagically into an image of

Christ on the crossrdquo (10) Three other Christ-like qualities that Santiago has are his

compassion his humility and his natural piety (Baker 299-300) Santiago has

compassion on certain animals that he encounters and of some fish that he catchesmdashlike

the giant marlin In his struggle with the marlin Santiago says ldquoI love you and respect

you very much But I will kill you dead before this day endsrdquo (Old Man Sea 54) After

he has killed the fish Santiago thinks ldquoYou loved him when he was alive and you loved

him after If you love him it is not a sin to kill himrdquo (105) Before killing the fish

Santiago ponders ldquoI wish I could feed the fish He is my brother But I must kill him

and keep strong to do itrdquo (59) Santiago thinks of his humility ldquoHe was too simple to

wonder when he had attained humility But he knew he had attained it and he knew it

was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true priderdquo (13-14) Santiago demonstrates

his pride when his disciple Manolo touts him as the best fisherman and he plays it down

by saying that he knows of better ones (23) Manolo claims ldquoQueacute va [No way] But

68

there is only yourdquo (23) Santiagorsquos piety is observed in that he prays when he feels and

senses the need and that his prayers are never oaths For example in trying to catch the

giant marlin Santiago says aloud ldquoNow that I have him coming so beautifully God help

me endure Irsquoll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys But I cannot say

them nowrdquo (87) Santiagorsquos prayers are never careless nor does he make them profane

He is reverent

As Christ had disciples so Santiago has his disciple Manolo Like Christ

Santiago is a teacher in that he was taught Manolo how to fish Christ was a fisher of

men Santiago is a traditional fisherman Manolo loves Santiago because of his teaching

Manolo how to fish and he admires and looks up to Santiago as a second father figure

Before Santiago goes out on his big marlin hunt Manolo says to him ldquoIf I cannot fish

with you I would like to serve in some wayrdquo (12) Manolo wants to be loyal to Santiago

Before his big marlin catch Santiago had had two previous eighty-seven day periods

where he went without a fish After the first period Santiago and Manolo had caught big

fish every day for three weeks GR Wilson Jr likens these three weeks to Christrsquos three

years of ministry where he fished for men and taught his disciples to fish for men (370)

At the start of Old Man Santiago had not caught a fish for eighty-four days The Old

Man and the Sea takes place over three days so this makes the second eighty-seven day

period In the Bible Christ demonstrated his divine authority by performing miracles

Wilson notes that Manolo has faith in the old man stemming from the miracle of the

three weeksrsquo bounty that he and Santiago had caught In addition according to Isabelle

Santiago ldquohooks the fish at noon and at noon of third day he kills itrdquo (77) This is just

69

like Christ who died and in three days rose again Isabelle adds that the marlin was

ldquolanded on the seventh attemptrdquo and that ldquoseven sharks were killedrdquo in the fishrsquos defense

(78) The number seven is a sacred and significant number recurring in the Bible After

the seventh day of creation God rested there are seven days in a week et cetera

(Easton) The number seven is also seen as symbolizing perfection and rest

Another similarity of Santiago with Christ are the wounds that he receives on his

hands On the cross Christ was pierced in each hand to help keep him pinned to the

cross In his battle with the fish Santiago receives bad cutsmdashstigmatamdashon his hands

Santiago sees his hands as brothers and he often talks to them Carlos Baker explains that

Santiago ldquospeaks to them [his hands] as to fellow-sufferers wills them to do the work

they must do and makes due allowances for them as if they were what he once calls

them lsquomy brothersrsquordquo (313) Once he says aloud ldquoHersquos [the fish] coming up Come

on hand Please come onrdquo (Old Man Sea 62) The hands also represent good and bad

The right hand is good and the left hand is bad Santiagorsquos hands are compared to the

criminals on the crosses to the left and right of Jesus who was on his own cross in the

center Santiagorsquos right hand is his good one Santiago thought that his left hand ldquohad

always been a traitor and would not do what he called on it to do and he did not trust itrdquo

(71) Luke 2339 reads ldquoOne of the criminals who were hanged railed at him [Jesus]

saying lsquoAre you not the Christ Save yourself and usrsquordquo (English Standard Version) So

Santiagorsquos left hand is untrustworthy Santiagorsquos right hand is so reliable that he quit

arm-wrestling despite being ldquoEl Campeoacutenrdquo in order to keep his right hand in good

condition as a tool of his trade fishing (70-71) The thief on Jesusrsquo right rebukes the

70

other criminal Then in Luke 2342 the thief on the right of Jesus asks Jesus ldquoJesus

remember me when you come into your kingdomrdquo (English Standard Version) Jesus

assures this repentant thief that that day the thief will be with him in paradise

Santiagorsquos right hand is like the penitent thief on the cross to Jesusrsquo right This analogy

can also be applied to the Last Judgment At the Last Judgment the saved will be on the

right hand of the Savior while those who are rejected and damned will be on his left

(Baker 314)

When Santiago sees two sharks approaching he says ldquoAyrdquo (Old Man Sea 107)

Hemingway explains of this exclamation that ldquoThere is no translation for this word and

perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make involuntarily feeling the nail go

through his hands and into the woodrdquo (107) Given his affinity and brotherhood with the

marlin when Santiago sees his prize catch eaten by the sharks it is a mortifying terrible

and crucifying experience for him Through Santiagorsquos crucifixion experience he is

transfigured Baker says that Santiagorsquos experience is also a form of martyrdom

although Santiago doesnrsquot see himself as a martyr (315) Baker also suggests that

Santiagorsquos experience also renders to him a form of apotheosis (316) Backman suggests

that Santiago triumphs (11) On his return voyage to Cuba Santiago ldquocould hardly

breathe now and he felt a strange taste in his mouth It was coppery and sweet and he

was afraid of it for a moment But there was not much of itrdquo (Old Man Sea 119) This

can be likened to Christ when he receives and drinks the ldquosponge filled with vinegarrdquo or

sour wine in Matthew 2748 (Baker 319) When Santiago returns to Cuba he has dried

blood on his face reminiscent of the blood on Christrsquos face because of the crown of

71

thorns Having arrived back everybody is asleep and nobody is there to greet or help

him He only sees a meandering cat Like Christ on the cross when God forsook him

because of the load of sin that he was carrying Santiago is alone in his suffering ldquoThere

was no one to help him so he pulled the boat up as far as he couldrdquo (Old Man Sea 120)

Removing the mast and sail Santiago ldquoshouldered the mast and started to climbrdquo (121)

This is like Christ carrying the heavy cross (Backman 11) Santiago ldquostarted to climb

again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder He

tried to get up But it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder and

looked at the roadrdquo (Old Man Sea 121) This is similar to Christ stumbling and falling as

he carried his cross on the Via Dolorosa on the way to his crucifixion at Golgotha Like

Christ Santiago falls under the burden he is bearing

Back at his shack Santiago lays down to sleep ldquoHe pulled the blanket over his

shoulders and then over his back and legs and he slept face down on the newspapers with

his arms out straight and the palms of his hands uprdquo (121-22) Baker notes that Santiago

sleeps in a cruciform position that sums up ldquothe symbolic position naturally assumed all

the suffering through which he has passedrdquo (320) In his return Santiago also brings

evidence of his epic battlegood work to increase the faith of his disciple Manolo

(Wilson 371) Wilson asserts that Santiago is on his death-bed when Manolo finds him

(372) The eighty-seventh day of this second period ends on Ascension Day as it began

on Ash Wednesday and ldquoconstitutes all but the last ten days of the Easter Cycle from

Lent through Paschal tiderdquo (369-70) As Mary cried over Christ at the tomb Manolo

returns to Santiagorsquos shanty sees the old manrsquos hands and starts to cry (Old Man Sea

72

122) Wilson also asserts that Santiago matches up with Joseph Campbellrsquos archetypal

model for a ldquohero with a thousand facesrdquo (372) For example Santiago starts out on his

journey or calling with the aid of the helper Manolo Santiago ldquocrosses the threshold of

adventure and meets a trial that can take many forms including the brother-battle

dragon-battle crucifixion and a night-sea journey all of which can be seen as applying

in some way to the old fishermanrdquo (372) The mythic-like story culminates in a ldquosacred

marriagerdquo between Santiago and his prize marlin (372) Fellow writer William Although

Hemingway was not a good nor a professing Christian and for most of his life claimed to

be Catholic he was not a reformed believer Hemingway still continued to be

Hemingway Despite all this according to Carlos Baker ldquoThe consciousness of God is

in his booksrdquo (328)

73

74

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

Hemingway wanted to be a good man and a great writer but unfortunately he

did not turn out to be a good manmdashalthough he had his moments of goodness Although

he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not transform him He did not

have a salvation experience nor was his faith life-altering As a Catholic Hemingway

continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Hemingwayrsquos religious

life was one solely of Catholic rituals He did not overcome his problems In the end his

problems overcame him Hemingway himself said of his heart ldquoActually in regard to the

innermost contents of my heart probably a most foul place I would rather have a good

cardiograph reportrdquo (Hemingway in White 459) Hemingway added ldquoNo one of us lives

by as rigid standards nor has a good ethics as we planned but an attempt is maderdquo (461)

Hemingway was vindictive against his critics Hemingway viewed most fellow

writers as enemies if they were not officially his enemy he eventually went about to

convert them into his enemies Hemingway wanted to be the top dog of everythingmdash

especially the writing scenemdashand he didnrsquot want to share the spotlight with anyone else

Ernest felt ldquothat anyone elsersquos success diminished his ownrdquo (Hawkins 61) Hemingwayrsquos

writer friend Sherwood Anderson was the one in Chicago to suggest that Hemingway

and his newly-married first wife Hadley Richardson go to Paris instead of their planned

destination of Italy Anderson told the young Hemingway that Paris was where the

literary world was at that time and that it was also the place to get published This advice

75

was instrumental into turning Hemingway into the famed writer that he became Had it

not been for Anderson and his encouragement and faith in Hemingway Hemingway may

have never became a Nobel Prize winning writer Anderson gave Hemingway letters of

introduction to Gertrude Stein Sylvia Beach Ezra Pound and F Scott Fitzgerald Like

Harold Loeb Anderson also helped in getting Hemingwayrsquos In Our Time published

stressing its importance to Boni amp Liveright (Dearborn 177) Since Anderson pushed In

Our Time Boni amp Liveright did not want to upset itrsquos star writer so they agreed to

publish it (Hawkins 39)

However after all was said and done Hemingway wrote his satire Torrents of

Spring mocking Andersonrsquos writing style in order to try to get laughs and in order to get

out of his contract with his publisher Boni amp Liveright It worked Torrents of Spring

was rejected by Boni amp Liveright because Anderson was the companyrsquos star writer So

in lieu of this Hemingway was able to sign with Max Perkins and the publisher

Scribnerrsquos and Sons Yet in the process Hemingway had burned his bridge of friendship

with Anderson who had been so generous and helpful with the young budding writer

Others who knew of Andersonrsquos graciousness and kindness to Hemingway were appalled

by Torrents of Spring (Hawkins 44)

Hemingway was anti-Semitic mean and demeaning to people he berated them

and belittled them He thought that all guys should be macho Hemingway was not pure

evil but the evil produced by his unpredictable and uncontrollable temper pushed a lot of

peoplemdasheven one-time friendsmdashaway from him Archibald MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoHe was wonderful irreplaceable but an impossible friend a man you

76

couldnt get along with a man you couldnt get along withoutrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 167)

Robert Capa once told Leicester Hemingway ldquoPapa can be more severe than God on

a rough day when the whole human race is misbehavingrdquo (192) Hemingway was his

own worst enemy

Hemingway was not a good Catholic He was married four times and even

divorced a Catholic woman whom he later called his best wife (L Hemingway 271) It

is speculated that Hemingway had affairs with multiple women Hemingway would have

affairs before marrying his last two or three wives Hemingwayrsquos son Jack ldquoBumbyrdquo

Hemingway surmised that Hemingway had an affair with the beautiful blond Jane

Mason in 1933 (Hawkins 152) According to Jack ldquoErnest bragged to him that Jane

liked climbing through the transom to his [Hemingwayrsquos] room at the Ambos Mundos

Hotelrdquo (153) Moreover a prostitute was known to have visited the Finca Vigiacutea

Although Hemingway was Catholic he didnrsquot really change his behavior to live

in sync with the Bible or all Catholic teachings He followed the rituals of the Church

not so much a personal transformative side Yet claiming to be Catholic Hemingway

lived by his own code In the end although Hemingway was not a good person he had

some good memories of a childhood growing up and some good experiences as an adult

Even with his bad experiences Hemingway was able to incorporate them into his

literature Hemingwayrsquos keen insight his precise powers of observation his absorption

of the knowledge gained from others and the Protestant work ethic of his youth paid off

as Hemingway put all of his being into trying to be an honest writer writing one true

sentence at a time and helping his audience to see the world through open and honest

77

eyes to help his readers see feel and almost literally experience first-hand what he was

writing aboutmdashthe good the bad and the ugly Though a flawed human being

Hemingway was a brilliant writer and his brilliance lives on through his works of

literature

WORKS CITED

75

WORKS CITED

Backman Melvin ldquoHemingway The Matador and the Crucifiedrdquo Modern Fiction

Studies 13 (1955) 2-11

Baker Carlos Hemingway the Writer as Artist Princeton Princeton University Press

1963 Print

Berman Ron ldquoProtestant Catholic Jew The Sun Also Risesrdquo The Hemingway

Review 181 (1998) 33 Web

Blume Lesley MM Everybody Behaves Badly the True Story Behind Hemingwayrsquos

Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises Boston Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016

Print

Cohn-Sherbok Dan Anti-Semitism Brimscombe Port Stroud The History Press 2002

Print

Dearborn Mary V Ernest Hemingway a Biography New York Alfred A Knopf

2017 Print

Di Robilant Andrea Autumn in Venice Ernest Hemingway and his Last Muse New

York Alfred A Knopf 2018 Print

Djos Matts ldquoAlcoholism in Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises A Wine and Roses

Perspective on the Lost Generationrdquo The Hemingway Review 142 (1995) 64

Easton MG Illustrated Bible Dictionary 3rd ed Thomas Nelson 1897 Bible Study

Toolscom Web 1 Dec 2018

ESV Study Bible English Standard Version Wheaton Crossway Bibles 2008 Print

2

if cultural power is potentially undermined by other underlying destabilizing forces

(Harpham 360)

New historicism incorporates the reading of ldquoboth literary and non-literary textsrdquo

in order to understand the past from the point of view of the past (Kerridge 10)

Literature is defined as a cultural construct being unique to its own era and it is ldquoshaped

by the many peoples and discourses of that erardquo (10) New historicists believe that texts

should be viewed from their original setting and from the cultural context of that

particular period (10) Jane Tompkins in writing from the new historicist perspective

tries to sympathetically recreate the context in which literary works were produced and

the specific problems to which these literary works were devoted (185) Put simply new

historicism seeks to understand writers via their own historical terms (Veeser 186) New

historicists hope that by ldquoReconstructing an era from the materials it produced the

historian could sympathetically reinhabit the pastrdquo (89) Using the new historicist model

texts can reveal insights about the people that created them their discourses and their

ideology (Kerridge 10-11) In new historicism ldquoliterary and non-literary textsrdquo are given

equal scrutiny and regard (11) Consequently literature is a unique by-product of the

culture from which it originated and sheds unique insight into that culture

Despite Greenblattrsquos preference for his own term ldquocultural poeticsrdquo the term

new historicism stuck Whereas Greenblatt coined the term some scholars see Michel

Foucault as the power behind the method (Harpham 369) Foucault encouraged a group

of young scholars at Berkeley to promote new historicism in their journal

3

Representations In addition Foucault seemed to learn from this group Foucaultrsquos

ldquomost identifiable legacy in American literary studiesrdquo was new historicism (370)

New historicism claims to represent the real by defining the real as the textual

(360) According to Harpham ldquoLiterature is traditionally said to produce an lsquoethicalrsquo

effect through its ability to transcend its historical momentrdquo (374) Harpham says that the

real is defined as the local the material and the specific He also notes that ldquoA lsquonewrsquo

historicism promises knowledge of the past that really is knowledge that discloses the

object as in itself it really was that is not simply a reflex or internal mirroring of

contemporary self-awarenessrdquo (362) It is the goal of the new historicist to be objective

instead of subjective For instance the subjective seeks to define history through

personal tastes feelings and opinions New historicism is the opposed to this New

historicism seeks to present the past as it really was without the modern biases and

prejudices of those currently researching it New historicism tries to see through the eyes

and minds of the people who actually lived through and experienced history It tries to

understand the mindset and the feelings of the people of the time period in question

What people thought and how people thought is important Todayrsquos current beliefs

should be left out of the mix Past beliefs are essential to understanding the thinking

processes of the past

4

The Cultural Context and Overview of the Chapters To Follow

Ernest Hemingway was a man of his times Like many of his Lost Generation

after the Great War (in particular) he abandoned the faith of his youth although he quite

possibly did earlier World War I cemented this rejection In Hemingwayrsquos twenties he

married and then committed adultery According to Hemingway biographer Mary V

Dearborn he liked to marry those with whom he slept Hemingway started attending

religious services again after his second marriage to the rich Catholic Pauline Pfeiffer

Hemingway lived as an expat in Paris during the Roaring 20s Hemingwayrsquos friends

were newspapermen artists and writers Paris was hedonistic in those days After the

carnage and terror of World War I the returning Lost Generation just wanted to live life

to the utmost and the fullest In early-twentieth-century Paris Hemingway lived in an

atmosphere of lax morals Anything went In consequence he conformed to the culture

around him Some of Hemingwayrsquos literary friends were anti-Semitic Perhaps they

influenced him but Hemingway eventually showed signs of anti-Semitism too

Moreover some of the authors that Hemingway read especially as he was trying to

become a better writer were anti-Semitic themselves Living in predominantly Catholic

France converting to Catholicism at the insistence of his second wife was an easy task

for Hemingway Many of his friends were CatholicmdashJames Joyce being one At the

time Hemingway was just a conforming product of the culture and attitudes of those

around him He wanted to fit it inmdashhe wanted to be one of the boysmdashyet throughout his

life and his writing he was haunted by death and he wanted to find a spiritual solution to

his many struggles

5

Chapter 2 investigates Hemingway and Judaism and Chapter 3 centers on

Hemingway and Christianity In Chapter 4 the author argues that although he didnrsquot turn

out to be a good person and was vindictive against fellow writers critics and others

Hemingway was a good writer and used all his experiences good and bad to bring across

the truth and reality of life in his works of literature Hemingwayrsquos last novel Old Man

and the Sea provides the clearest statement of his spiritual and religious perspective

6

CHAPTER 2

HEMINGWAY AND JUDIASM

Historical Overview of Judaism

Anti-Semitism or hatred of Jews has been around since the rise of Judaism In

the Old Testament Pharaoh was the first political leader known to persecute the Jews

Pharaoh was concerned with the growing Jewish population and their loyalty Among

many other things he tried to kill Jewish ldquofirst-born sonsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 13) Next in

the Old Testament Haman tried to have the Jews killed off under Queen Esther

However most scholars agree that anti-Semitism came into its own in the years after

Christ left this earth For example Dan Cohn-Sherbok argues that ldquoit was only when

Christianity emerged in the first century CE that Jews came to be viewed as contemptible

and demonicrdquo (17)

Unfortunately the intensity of anti-Semitism in Christianity was mainly due to

misinterpretation In earlier centuries AD people could not read Scripture for themselves

and they were consequently misled In those days people had faith in and trusted the

Catholic Church seeing the pope as infallible Some misinterpreted Scripture to say that

the Jews were responsible for Christrsquos death However Scripture emphasizes that Christ

died for all so consequently he died for everyone If one looks at it from that point of

view then everyone past present and future were are and will be responsible for

Christrsquos death Yet some didnrsquot look at it that way In fact the Apostle Paul went out of

his way to preach and try to reach Jews first

7

Paul wrote in Romans 116 ldquoFor I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the

power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the

Greekrdquo (English Standard Version) John 422 reads ldquoYou worship what you do not

know we [Jews] worship what we know for salvation is from the Jewsrdquo In Romans

1117-18 Paul suggests that Gentile believers are just grafted into the Jewish promise ldquoIf

some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive were grafted in

among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree [then] do

not be arrogant toward the branches but if you are arrogant remember that it is not you

who supports the root but the root supports yourdquo Unfortunately some uninformed

early Christians did not put two and two together For some it was believed that the

Christian Church took the place of Israel which isnrsquot accurate Some believed that ldquothe

Church was the true inheritor of Godrsquos promisesrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 45) It was

believed that Jews no longer had a covenant with God and that Christians had completely

overshadowed and replaced Israel in that covenant This is not true

Acts 1346 reads of preaching to the Jews first ldquoIt was necessary that the word of

God be spoken to you firstrdquo Jesus also a Jew promoted preaching to the Jews first In

Matthew 125-6 Jesus says to the twelve disciples ldquoGo nowhere among the Gentiles and

enter no town of the Samaritans but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israelrdquo

(English Standard Version) In Matthew 1524 Jesus says ldquoI was sent only to the lost

sheep of the house of Israelrdquo (English Standard Version) The first Christians were a

group of Jews Jews were different so eventually urban legends sprang up without

accurate facts and the knowledge of Judaismrsquos teachings some people latched onto these

8

false assumptions and believed the lies that others were propagating about the Jews For

instance Jews were accused of murdering Christian children and then using their blood

for ritual practices It was believed that Jews used the blood of murdered Christian

children ldquoin the preparation of unleavened bread for Passoverrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 54) The

ritual murder charge was a misunderstanding (81) In fact in the fourteenth century

Jews were accused of bringing about the Black Death by poisoning the wells and springs

(60 67) This assertion first gained credence in southern France (81) Yet Jews suffered

and died under the Black Death as well This is an example of the Jews being blamed as

scapegoats

In the early Church the Bishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom accused the

early Hebrews of sacrificing ldquotheir sons and daughters to demons andrdquo eating their own

children (37 47) Chrysostom said of synagogues ldquoto go there was no better than

visiting a brothel a robberrsquos den or any indecent place [it is] a theatre a house of

prostitution and domicile of the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom said that the Jews ldquohave

surpassed the ferocity of wild beasts since they murder their offspring and immolate

them to the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom also accused the Jews of worshipping the devil Yet

Jeremiah 313b reads in reference to Israel ldquoI have loved you with an everlasting love

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to yourdquo (English Standard Version) If so-

called Christians would have accurately read this during this period they would have

seen that God loves his people and his nation Israel But some Christians thought that

the Christian Church entirely replaced Godrsquos Covenant with the Jews Consequently

Chrysostom said that Christians must hate the Jews (Cohn-Sherbok 47) Yet hatred is an

9

anti-Christian doctrine In Matthew 544 Jesus says ldquoBut I say to you Love your

enemies and pray for those who persecute

yourdquo (English Standard Version)

False conceptions of the Jews even seemed to be found among some of the

Church Fathers Some of the Church Fathers were frustrated that the Jews would not

convert to Christianity nor would they renounce their Judaism In some cases the quest

for converts became a competition Cohn-Sherbok writes ldquoDuring the same period

Tertullian the African Church Father called the synagogues of his day lsquofountains of

persecution of Christiansrsquordquo (46) Justin Martyr ldquorelated that Jews laugh curse and insult

Jesusrdquo (46) Jerome referred to Jews as Judases (47) In fact Judas was thought to be

ldquosymbolic of the Jewish peoplerdquo (84) In the New Testament ldquothe figure of Judas

was associated in the public mind with deviousness and treacheryrdquo (83)

Desecration of the communion host became another false charge against the Jews

as the then-Christians believed in the doctrine of transubstantiation In the doctrine of

transubstantiation the communion bread and wine (of the Eucharist) literally becomes

the body and blood of Jesus During this time it was believed that Jews stole the host in

order ldquoto assault it and thereby torture Christrdquo (80) The charge of desecration of the

Host was a hallucinatory fantasy (82) However the Jews did not believe in the Doctrine

of Transubstantiation which was affirmed at Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 (80) Only

Catholics believe this doctrine today Since the Jews did not believe in

transubstantiation they would in all likelihood not have attacked the host because they

10

couldnrsquot believe that they were actually attacking Christ in the process Desecration of

the Host was a wild belief and a total fantasy

In some cases the Talmud was burned because it was believed to be anti-

Christian Agobard Archbishop of Lyons believed that Jews stole Christian children

and sold them to Arabs (64) He also believed that Jews seduced Christian women All

sorts of wild beliefs developed about Jews many without factual basis It was all

conjecture and imagination In Germany ldquoa French monk Radulph went about preaching

that Jews were enemies of God and should be persecutedrdquo (65) As previously

mentioned the Jews were scapegoats they were blamed for everything During the

witch-hunting crazed days of the fifteenth century Jews were seen as being in cahoots

with witches and the devil (71) During this time it was believed that the Jews were born

misshapen hemorrhoidal and both sexes afflicted with menstruation In Trnava

Slovakia it was believed that Christian blood was an excellent means by which ldquoto cure

the wound produced by circumcisionrdquo (71)

For the duration of the Middle Ages ldquoChristians viewed Jews as sorcerers able to

cast spells against their enemiesrdquo (72) It was believed consequently that the Jews were

capable of working magic against Christians During the Black Death it was also

believed that Jews wanted to poison Christians In fact ldquoJews were accused of using

Christian blood for magical purposesrdquo (73) The little contact that these early Christians

had with Jews also led to their paranoia viewing the Jews as an alien mysterious and

strange people (74) Urban legends seemed to sprout up due to the lack of knowledge

Ignorance of Jews reigned

11

Jewish medicine too became suspect It was claimed that high rulers were killed

off through Jewish medicine During the Middle Ages the Vienna Faculty of Medicine

thought that ldquothe private code of Jewish doctors required them to murder one patient in

tenrdquo (77) Jews were eventually thought to possess attributes of the devil The Jews

ldquowere perceived as having horns tails and the beard of a goat and could be recognized

by their noxious smell the foetor judaiumlcusrdquo (79) Consequently the Jews were seen as

sub-human It was believed that Jews lacked morality anything went with them Jews

were so despised that they were exiled from countries At different times Spain France

and England expelled their Jewish populations In some instances they were invited

back

The charges against Jews were grotesque fantasies Tracts were written against

the Jews One such read of the Jews ldquolsquoDemons from hell race of the Jews detestable

men more accursed than Lucifer and more wicked than all the devils cruel tigers be

gone unworthy as you are to live among us when you thirst so for bloodrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 86)

Martin Luther at first favored the Jews writing a pamphlet That Christ was Born

a Jew However after he was unable to convert the Jews to his Protestant Reformed

Christian faith he became anti-Semitic So ldquoLuther stressed that they [the Jews] are the

most contemptible of all peoplesrdquo (90) Luther wrote ldquorsquomake no mistake that aside from

the Devil you have no enemy more venomous more desperate more bitter than a true

Jew who truly seeks to be a Jewrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90) Moreover ldquoMartin Luther

speculated that if the Jews could kill Christians they would gladly do sordquo (73)

12

Of the Jews Luther believed that ldquoThose who tolerate them [the Jews] will incur

great loss lsquoWhoever wishes to accept venomous serpents desperate enemies of the Lord

and to honour them to let himself be robbed pillaged corrupted and cursed by them

need only turn to the Jewsrsquordquo (90) Luther suggested of the Jews ldquoTheir synagogues

should be set on fire and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over

with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of itrdquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 90) Luther wrote ldquoTheir [Jewsrsquo] homes should likewise be broken down and

destroyed For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues

they should be deprived of their prayerbooks [sic] and Talmud in which idolatry lies

cursing and blasphemy are taught their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death

to teach any morerdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther also wrote ldquoPassport and travelling privileges should be absolutely

forbidden to the Jews They ought to be stopped from usury Let the young and

strong Jews and Jewesses be given the flail the axe the hoe the spade the distaff and

spindle and let them earn their bread by the sweat of their browrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok

90) Luther called the Jews an ldquoinsufferable devilish burdenrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther said that Jews were ldquochildren of the Devil condemned to the flames of hellrdquo (qtd

in Cohn-Sherbok 91) Luther believed that the Jews should be despised Luther even

thought that ldquothe Jews are worse than the devilsrdquo (91) Luther saw the Jews as

ldquoinstigators of social and economic corruptionrdquo (94) Luther thought that the Jews

wanted to ldquodestroy Christian civilizationrdquo (95)

13

Luther saw himself in a fight against Satan in the Jews Despite Lutherrsquos anti-

Semitism a good thing did emerge out of the Protestant Reformation Scripture was

translated into the common vernacular so that literate people could see what the Bible

said for themselves instead taking a priestrsquos or a popersquos word for it This led to literate

Christians seeing the Jews through the lens of Scripture instead of through anti-Jewish

sermons and hear-say from church leaders

In Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century the Jews were seen as favoring political

revolution and as having played a role in the revolutionary activities of the era (231)

This viewpoint started after the revolutions of 1848 (244) and it is not entirely off the

mark For example Karl Marx was a Jew Although not all Jews were revolutionaries

Nicholas Reynolds says that ldquoMore than a few Russian revolutionaries were Jewish one

reaction to the state-sanctioned anti-Semitism and the resulting pogroms that occurred

with frightening regularityrdquo (Writer Sailor Solider Spy 72) Capitalism also came to be

associated with the Jewsmdashparticularly its vices (Cohn-Sherbok 248) In the United

States the Jews were blamed for the Russian Revolution (231) There was fear of the

Jews or Judaeophobia A writer that Hemingway read was the anti-Semitic Fyodor

Dostoyevsky Perhaps this helped to influence Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

Dostoyevsky wrote ldquoLike a vast tightening net the power of assimilated Jewry stretches

over the whole world and no matter where we set foot we are caught in it We must

struggle to our last drop of blood against the insidious Judaization of Europe and

especially of Germanismrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 232)

14

In 1912 the Marconi Affair hit Great Britain Two leading Jewish politicians

Rufus Isaacs and Herbert Samuels were implicated in this corruption scandal

Eyewitness reported ldquoIsaacsrsquo brother is the president of the Marconi Company Isaacs

and Samuels have privately arranged to have the British people pay the Marconi

Company a considerable sum of money through the intermediary of Samuels and for

Isaacsrsquo benefitrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 236) In wake of the Marconi Affair one of

Hemingwayrsquos early favorite writers Rudyard Kipling ldquodedicated a hymn of hate to the

affairrdquo (236) Like the biblical greedy and crafty servant (of the prophet Elisha) Gehazi

who is punished with leprosy for his sins Kiplingrsquos poem ldquowas intended to illustrate the

cunning of these Jewish [Marconi] politiciansrdquo (236)

Once America made its foray into World War I ldquoJews were seen as participants

in international conspiracyrdquo (240) Americans thought that the Jews might be part of the

Russian Revolution In the literary world ldquoa number of writers commented on the evil

influence of Jewryrdquo (241) Hemingwayrsquos one-time-friend and literary mentor F Scott

Fitzgerald was one such example In fact Fitzgerald negatively portrayed New York

Jewish merchants in his novel The Beautiful and the Damned

Down in a tall busy street he read a dozen Jewish names on a line of stores In

the door of each stood a dark little man [Jew] watching the passersby with intent

eyes eyes gleaming with suspicion with pride with clarity with cupidity with

comprehension New Yorkmdashhe could not dissociate it now from the slow

upward creep of this people The little stores growing expanding consolidating

15

moving watched over with hawkrsquos eyes and a beersquos attention to detail (qtd in

Cohn-Sherbok 241)

This anti-Semitic view of Jews could have influenced Hemingway whether he read the

book or if Fitzgerald made his anti-Semitic views known to Hemingway The same

could be said of Ezra Pound Ezra Pound was a big anti-Semite and one of Hemingwayrsquos

friends It could be questioned if Ezra Pound influenced Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

In July of 1943 Pound was indicted for treason due to his anti-Semitic pro-Fascist radio

broadcasts from Italy (Dearborn 491) Poundrsquos radio broadcasts ldquowere shocking even

vilemdashhe recommended The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf he spoke of

the lsquo60 kikes who started this warrsquo and asserted lsquoThe Jew is a savagersquordquo (491) Later

due to Hemingwayrsquos suggestion Pound pleaded insanity and spent several years in an

Institution Hemingwayrsquos one-time friend Donald Ogden Stewart who was present for

the Pamplona bull fights in 1925 ldquotook the blame for having been the probable inspiration

for Bill Gortonrsquos [a character in The Sun Also Rises] anti-Semitic remarks and

exclamationsrdquo (Blume 123) Stewart wrote that ldquoI have no doubt that I was really

basically anti-Semitic in those days as probably also was Hemingwayrdquo (123) Lesley

Blume stresses that Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism ldquowas not a deep-rooted hatred like

the variety that gave rise to Nazismrdquo (123) Stewart referred to Hemingwayrsquos anti-

Semitism as ldquoa form of social snobbishness something that people simply took for

granted [during that time]rdquo (Blume 123) One would think that after the Holocaust

Hemingway would cease his anti-Semitic comments but he still continued In

16

Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century ldquoAmerican literature repeatedly described Jews in the

most unsavoury (sic) termsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 249)

The French also saw the Jews as having played a part in the Russian Revolution

(241) In France where Hemingway lived part of his literary life Alphonse Toussenel

wrote ldquoThe Jews King of the Epoch [in which] he blamed the Jews for the ills afflicting

societyrdquo (248) In France ldquoAccording to Edouard-Adolphe Drumont in La France Juive

the [French] Revolution had benefited only the Jewsrdquo (248) Edouard-Adolphe Drumont

caricatured the Jews as being hook-nosed possessing ldquohuge ears soft hands and arms of

unequal lengthrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 248) In France the Dreyfus Affair of the

nineteenth century had ratcheted up the prominence and appeal of French anti-Semitism

Yet the logical consequence of anti-Semitism took place years later during World War II

when Hitler instituted the Holocaust Of course Hemingway knew of this deadly result

of anti-Semitism but it is unknown how much it changed his view of Jews as later he

did show some more anti-Semitic behavior Perhaps old habits die hard

Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in His Novels

Unfortunately Hemingway was an anti-Semite To what degree is unknown

Some say that Hemingway was mildly or casually anti-Semitic (Hendrickson 32)

However in fits of anger Hemingway would hurl anti-Semitic slurs at those he knew to

be Jews Yet ironically ldquoHemingway knew admired and imitated Jewsrdquo like his friend

and literary mentor Gertrude Stein (Berman 39) Hemingway was also friends with

Harold Loeb a Jewish man (Dearborn 192) Hemingway and Loeb had played tennis

17

boxed and wrestled together In The Sun Also Rises the character of Robert Cohn is

based upon Harold Loeb Hemingway once had good things to say of Loeb On March

4 1925 Hemingway wrote to William B Smith of Loeb ldquoA hell of a good guy

Loeb is a male you can wrestle wit He aint been throwed since he learned in Princeton-

only weighs 150 about Heavy weights cant throw him Hersquos never wrestled pros or of

course hersquos have got throwed Still he aint been throwed I tried to throw him and he

throwed me in no timerdquo (sic throughout Hemingway in Katakis 28) In The Sun Also

Rises the Loeb Robert Cohn character is also Jake Barnesrsquo tennis partner (13) Despite

all his anti-Semitism later Hemingway married the half-Jewish reporter and writer

Martha Gellhorn as his third wife (Stoneback 136) Unfortunately it is exactly unknown

why Hemingway was anti-Semitic It would seem that the times in which he lived played

a role

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway has a stereo-typical Jewish character Robert

Cohn that he portrays as a proud rich weak self-pitying self-doubting awkward

sniveling whining misbehaving mannerless undesirable unremarkable and

dysfunctional killjoy who is an outsider and a drag on everyonersquos spirits Cohn is

supposed to represent all Jews (Berman 39) In fact Hemingway goes so far as to write

that Jews are inferior Hemingway writes of Cohn ldquoHe cared nothing for boxing in fact

he disliked it but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of

inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princetonrdquo (Sun 11) Loeb

had also gone to Princeton

18

Hemingway based almost the entire book of The Sun Also Rises on a real life

event that happened when Loeb Lady Duff Twysden and Pat Guthrie (Lady Duffrsquos

cousin and boyfriend) joined him Hemingwayrsquos first wife Hadley Richardson Don

Stewart and Bill Smith in Pamplona for the Festival of San Fermiacuten in July of 1925

(Dearborn 188) In the novel this group goes to Pamplona to have fun They join in the

Spanish Festival of San Fermiacuten where they drink excessively party and watch

professional bullfights All this time the Harold Loeb character Robert Cohn follows

his former lover Lady Brett Ashely around like a lap-dog and from the perspective of

the other festival-goers makes everyone else miserable

Hemingwayrsquos publication of this event into fiction hurt many of the real-life

players in the memorable drama The real Lady Brett Ashley Lady Duff Twysden later

referred to the book as nothing more than ldquocheap reportingrdquo (qtd in Blume 206) Former

Hemingway friend Donald Ogden Stewart felt the same way In his 1975 memoir By a

Stroke of Luck Stewart still refused to give The Sun Also Rises ldquothe artistic stature that

others accorded itrdquo (Blume 230) Stewartrsquos son recalls that his dad would say ldquoThatrsquos

exactly what happened it was like a photographrdquo (qtd in Blume 230) So for Stewart

the novel was just a retelling of events it is did not utilize artistic narrative originality

Just as Robert Cohn had had an affair with Lady Brett Ashley so Loeb had had an

intimate relationship with Lady Duff Twysden Scholars are unsure as to whether

Hemingway had any serious relationship with Lady Duff however he was jealous He

liked her In his reasoning he had met Lady Duff first (Dearborn 188) ldquoEven though

[Hemingway] had no plans to sleep with Duff himself that didnrsquot mean according to his

19

logic that she was fair game for Harold [Loeb]rdquo (188) Hemingway was protective of

Lady Duff and Hemingway saw Loeb as a snake (189) Perhaps Loebrsquos success with

Lady Duff finally pushed Hemingway against him

Mary V Dearborn notes that Hemingway was also jealous that Loebrsquos book

Doodab was coming out before his ownmdashLoebrsquos in May Hemingwayrsquos in October

(191) Hemingway was very competitive in his writing career In fact before

Hemingway made it as a fiction writer Harold Loeb had gone so far as to help

Hemingway get his first book of short stories In Our Time published (204) It is noted

that ldquoHarold [Loeb] rescued In Our Time from the returns pile at [Boni amp] Liveright [the

publishing company] he fought for the book and he was instrumental in getting it

publishedrdquo (192) Loeb had pleaded with Boni amp Liveright ldquoHold it Give it [In Our

Time] another reading I know what Irsquom talking aboutrdquo (Hawkins 39) In fact if it

were not for the persistence of his well-connected friends Hemingway may have quite

possibly never been published at all since his manuscripts had been repeatedly rejected

Unfortunately Hemingway did not like to give credit to others for helping him to rise in

his profession He wanted to take all the credit and the glory for himself He wanted to

be self-sufficient In addition having not gone to college Hemingway was leery of

college-educated men He felt inferior to them and he would try to compete with them in

order to make himself look and feel better Since Harold Loeb was a Princeton graduate

Hemingway was possibly disdainful of this and in all likelihood held it against Loeb

In trying to get In Our Time published Loeb took Hemingway to former Boni amp

Liveright vice president Leon Fleischmanrsquos Paris apartment (Blume 71) Previously

20

ldquoKitty Cannell [the Frances character in Sun] heard him [Hemingway] unthinkably use

lsquokikersquo with such casualness and scorn that she warned her Jewish lover Harold Loeb to

be careful with Hemingwayrdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 242) Kitty Cannell worried

that Hemingway ldquomight create a terrible scene in front of Fleischman and his wife

Helen She said as much to Loeb He brushed her offrdquo (Blume 71) After this meeting

with Fleischman Harold Loeb heard Hemingway malign Jews in his speech

Hemingway had a way of maligning making fun of and satirizing his friends and his

perceived enemies In the process he lost many friends and unnecessarily caused the

creation of many enemies In fact the release of The Sun Also Rises shocked Loeb as he

had thought that he and Hemingway were good friends (Dearborn 191-92)

Hemingway also turned on his former Jewish mentor Gertrude Stein

Hemingway got mad at Stein when she would not write a review for his new book In

Our Time Stein wanted to wait and see if Hemingway was going to be a success first

On November 8 1925 Hemingway commented to Ezra Pound of Stein ldquoWhat a lot of

safe playing kikesrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 38) Later in life after they broke with each

other Hemingway and Stein would arguemdashthrough writingmdashand trade barbs with one

another Hemingway would mock Stein In his article for Esquire in the April 1934

issue ldquoAD in Africa A Tanganyika Letterrdquo Hemingway wonders ldquohow much Buddha

at that age would resemble Gertrude Steinrdquo (Hemingway in White 159)

Hemingway was also against the troubled literary critic Dorothy Parker

(Dearborn 247) The half-Jewess Dorothy Parker was tough in her literary criticism yet

she gave Hemingway great reviews She adored Hemingway but Hemingway didnrsquot

21

return the feelings (Blume 155) Parker and Hemingway had met in New York In

Hemingway Parker thought that she had found a kindred spirit (156) During

Hemingwayrsquos New York visit Parker ldquobecame so engrossed in his tales of the Left Bank

that she shunted aside her skepticism and decided on the spot to move abroadrdquo (156)

Parker became for Hemingway a strong ally among literary critics Blume notes of

Parker ldquoIn years to come she would also pen several adoring Hemingway profiles and

book reviewsrdquo (156) Hemingway and Parker became so familiar that eventually

Hemingway started calling Parker ldquoDottyrdquo (156) Parker was so taken with Hemingway

that her ldquodevotion to him bordered on idolatryrdquo (158) But Parkerrsquos love for Hemingway

was a useful tool in Hemingwayrsquos arsenal

Unfortunately Parker was probably not stable She had tried to kill herself twice

within three years She confided in Hemingway ldquoabout a late-stage abortion she had

recently undergone about attempting suicide and about some other recent bad luck in

her liferdquo (qtd in Dearborn 247) During their conversation Hemingway discovered that

Parker did not like Spain For Parker ldquoPretty much everything about the countrymdashfrom

its treatment of animals to the rump-pinching habits of Spanish menmdashhad appalled herrdquo

(Blume 193) Moreover ldquoIn Barcelona she had walked out of a bullfight after a bull

gored a horse and declared that she found matadors disgustingrdquo (193) Back in Paris with

Hemingway ldquoParker had imparted these impressions to Hemingway for whom such

views amounted to sacrilegerdquo (193) Hemingway was offended by this and like other

things Hemingway took this personally to heart as he was an ardent Hispanophile loving

the Spanish country its people the slow pace of life and its culture (Dearborn 247)

22

Finally Hemingway ldquohad little sympathy for the self-inflicted wounds of a caustic and

comparatively pampered urbaniterdquo (Blume 194)

Later ldquoErnest wrote a long cruel poem about Parker not published until both

were dead called lsquoTo a Tragic Poetessrsquo revealing the personal details she had evidently

related during their most recent meetingrdquo (Dearborn 247-48) In the poem Hemingway

ldquoreferred to the dead fetus noted that she had all too conveniently failed in her suicide

attempts and mocked her failures with men He was pointedly mean about her being

Jewish referring to lsquothe Jewish cheeks of your plump assrsquordquo (248) The second half of

Hemingwayrsquos poem ldquoconsists of insults piled on Parker and others who out of ignorance

about it do not appreciate Spain (inevitably bullfighting comes up)rdquo (248) Pauline

Pfeiffer didnrsquot like this poem and referred to it as ldquoabout twelve tents [tenths] out of water

mayberdquo (Hawkins 59) Pauline thought the poem shrill In 1926 at the home of Archie

and Ada McLeish Ernest read this poem ldquoTo a Tragic Poetessrdquo to the assembled

gathering to try to get some laughs (Dearborn 248) No laughs came Donald Ogden

Stewart called the poem ldquoviciously unfair and unfunnyrdquo (qtd in Blume 194) Because of

the reading of the poem the Stewarts kept their distance from Hemingway from there on

out and Don Stewart was never close to Hemingway again (Dearborn 248) Ironically

since the poem was never published until after Parkerrsquos death ldquoParker never learned

about the existence of the poem [and] unaware of its existence she continued to write

wildly enthusiastic reviews of Hemingwayrsquos work in The New Yorker and called him one

of her favorite writersrdquo (Blume 194) Parker also called Hemingway ldquothe greatest living

American short story writerrdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 164)

23

There is also other evidence of Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism In his early years at

Lake Walloon the Point where the young people always liked to fish was sold ldquoto two

Jews who wanted to build a club houserdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 114) Bill

Smith later recalled that he and Ernest had planned to throw rotten fish down the Jewsrsquo

chimney at the lake (M Reynolds Paris Years 252) In the mid-1920s Hemingway

wrote Ezra Pound calling the aspiring poet Dave OrsquoNeil a ldquorsquoCelto-Kikersquordquo (Dearborn

134) Hemingway also wrote of his friend Nathan Asch ldquoYou couldnrsquot tell [of Asch

being a talented writer] Jews go bad quicklyrdquo (163) Later in Key West Hemingway

referred to the town as a ldquoJew administered phony of a townrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 154)

At the time that Hemingway wrote this Key West was for all intents and purposes

bankrupt ldquounable to collect enough taxes to pay its billsrdquo (N Reynolds 7) Under the

New Deal the town of Key West had ldquopetitioned the governor to take over the cityrdquo

(Hendrickson 154) As such ldquoThe Florida branch of Franklin Delano Rooseveltrsquos

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) stepped in and took overrdquo (N

Reynolds 7) Plus under the New Deal the plan was to turn Key West into a tourist

destination making Hemingwayrsquos home on Whitehead Street one of the attractions (8)

This would interfere with Hemingwayrsquos deeply coveted privacy (8) Moreover

Hemingway was disillusioned with the government after some World War I veterans

were killed during a hurricane that hit some of the Florida Keys

Later In Cuba in May 1955 The Old Man and the Sea film version of the novel

was to be filmed Hemingwayrsquos Jewish friend Peter Viertel who was writing the

screenplay joked with Hemingway in order to try to break up the tension between Ernest

24

and the film producer kidding ldquoabout Santiago going out on the eighty-fifth day and not

catching a fishrdquo (Dearborn 573) This made Hemingway mad Narrowing his eyes and

gritting his teeth he said ldquoThe Jews have always had a superior attitude toward fishingmdash

probably because fish has never been part of their dietrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573) This

Jewish comment in turn made Viertel mad and he said that ldquohe thought Ernest had

gotten beyond his anti-Semitism with The Sun Also Risesrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573)

Hemingway felt contrite that he had lashed out against his friend Viertel and he

ldquoassured Peter he had never been anti-Semitic and matters were smoothed overrdquo (573-

74)

Some Jews have the last name Stein Especially in his youth Hemingway like to

refer to himself as Hemingstein or Stein According to Dearborn Hemingway was

referring to a stein of beer in this case (39) Other nicknames he used were Hymenstein

or the Great Steinway (Hendrickson 266) Catherine Reef thinks that these nicknames

sound Jewish She writes

The last one [nickname] amused him [Ernest] most because it sounded like a

Jewish name Like many young people in narrow-minded Oak Park Ernest grew

up thinking it was all right to make fun of people of different faiths and

backgrounds and he never fully let go of this attitude As an adult he

occasionally called himself Hemingstein or just Stein and although he had

Jewish friends he sometimes mocked them behind their backs (14)

25

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway refers to himself as the great psychiatrist Dr

Hemingstein (53) In real life Hemingwayrsquos son Gregory ldquoGigirdquo for short was known

as the Irish Jew (Hendrickson 245)

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway gives Cohn boxing as his only strength

ldquoThere was a certain inner comfort in knowing he could knock down anybody who was

snooty to himrdquo (11) Because of boxing Hemingway goes so far as to portray Cohn with

the stereotypical Jewish nose In the novel Cohn gets his nose broken during a boxing

bout The narrator Jake Barnes says of Cohnrsquos reworked nose ldquoit certainly improved

his noserdquo (11) Ironically Hemingway threatened a similar situation later in his life In

Spain at the Hotel Florida after a serious shelling during the Spanish Civil War some of

the guests including the movie producer Herb Klein wanted to switch their rooms to the

safer rooms in the back of the hotel At this point in his life Hemingway would hold

people to a higher standard of bravery than his own (Dearborn 387) So Hemingway

intimidated and bullied those Hotel Florida guests into keeping their rooms in lieu of

switching them saying they ldquowould be running away from the enemy capitulating to the

Fascistsrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 387) However in fact Hemingway had his own room in one

of the safer back parts of the hotel Then ldquoaccording to one observer he rode up with

[Herb] Klein in the elevator called him a coward and lsquojostledrsquo him saying lsquoIrsquod like to

flatten your big Jewish nosersquordquo (388)

In The Sun Also Rises nobody wants to be around Cohn He is trying to be an all-

round guy and a Protestant gentleman (Berman 44) However Ron Berman refers to him

as a fake gentleman Melvin Backman argues that Cohn lacks any real identity (4)

26

Although Cohn tries to assimilate and be chivalrous nobody accepts his behavior as

authentic Hemingway portrays Cohn as still ldquotoo different to acceptrdquo (38) Cohn is also

a show-off and he likes to brag For example in winning a ldquoseveral hundred dollarsrdquo in

bridge ldquoIt made him rather vain of his bridge game and he talked several times of how a

man could always make a living at bridge if he were ever forced tordquo (17) In another

instance Cohn likes to brag about his relationship with Brett ldquoHe was being confidential

now and it was giving him pleasure to be able to talk with the understanding that I knew

there was something between him and Brettrdquo (106) Moreover Cohnrsquos believed and

perceived superiority is offensive to Jakersquos friend Bill Gorton One time Bill Gorton

says of the approaching Cohn ldquoWell let him not get superior and Jewishrdquo (Sun 102)

This perceived superiority makes Jake extremely dislike Cohn

Why I felt that impulse to devil him I do not know Of course I do know I was

blind unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to him The fact that I took it

as a matter of course did not alter that any I certainly did hate him I do not

think I ever really hated him until he had that little spell of superiority at lunchmdash

that and when he went through all that barbering (105)

According to Dearborn the character of Bill Gorton is a combination of Bill

Smith and Don Ogden Stewart In the novel Bill really doesnrsquot like Jews Bill says of

his Jewish friends adding of Cohn ldquoOh yes Irsquove got some darbs But not alongside of

this Robert Cohn But hersquos just so awfulrdquo (107) Bill is blatantly anti-Semitic He

asks Jake of Brett and Cohn ldquoWhy didnrsquot she go off with some of her own peoplerdquo

(107) Mike adds to this criticism later when he comments ldquoBrettrsquos gone off with men

27

But they werenrsquot ever Jews and they didnrsquot come and hang around afterwardrdquo (148) Bill

Gorton makes a number of anti-Semitic slurs Before their fishing trip Bill says to Jake

ldquoAnd as for this Robert Cohn he makes me sick and he can go to hell and Irsquom damn

glad hersquos staying here so we wonrsquot have him fishing with usrdquo to which Jake agrees (108)

In another case Hemingway likens Cohn to an animal a steer Cohn likes to tag-

along with Brett (141) After a bull fight Cohn says ldquoItrsquos no life being a steerrdquo (145)

Mike sarcastically replies ldquoDonrsquot you think so I would have thought yoursquod loved

being a steer Robertrdquo (146) Being likened to a steer makes Cohn mad Mike partially

drunk says ldquoIs Robert Cohn going to follow Brett around like a steer all the timerdquo

(146) These demeaning remarks imply that Jews are sub-human

At one point Mike intimates that Cohnrsquos Jewishness disqualifies him from being

a part of the group ldquoDo you think you amount to something Cohn Do you think you

belong here among usrdquo (181) Mike says to Cohn ldquoIrsquom not one of your literary chaps

Irsquom not clever But I do know when Irsquom not wanted Why donrsquot you see when

yoursquore not wanted Cohn Go away Go away for Godrsquos sake Take that sad Jewish

face away Donrsquot you think Irsquom rightrdquo (181) In another instance when Cohn tells Brett

that he will stay with her Brett replies ldquoOh donrsquot For Godrsquos sake go off

somewhererdquo (184) Cohn is portrayed as leech-like a clinger similar to Jews accused of

usury bleeding people dry With the eternal theme of Jewish suffering Brett says of

Cohn ldquoI hate him too I hate his damned sufferingrdquo (186)

In his short story ldquoGod Rest You Merry Gentlemenrdquo published in 1933

Hemingway takes a less anti-Semitic approach to Jews In this story there are two

28

doctors Dr Wilcox and Dr Fischer Dr Wilcox is Christian while Dr Fischer is Jewish

A sixteen-year-old boy comes into the hospital and says that he wants to be castrated

because he is struggling with lust The boy is religious and to him lust is a problem Dr

Fischer is compassionate with the boy and genuinely seems interested in his predicament

Dr Fischer converses with the boy and finally tells him ldquoTherersquos nothing wrong with

you Thatrsquos the way yoursquore supposed to be Therersquos nothing wrong with thatrdquo (Short

Stories 299) The boy still sees himself as sinning Dr Fischer tells the boy that what he

is going through is natural and that later he will think himself fortunate (300) The boy

is adamant that he is wrong He doesnrsquot want to listen to Dr Fischerrsquos explanations

Logically Dr Fischer explains to the boy that there is nothing wrong with his body that

he has a good body and that if he is religious then in the future his body can help him

consummate the sacrament of matrimony (300)

Dr Wilcox takes a different approach He calls the boy a fool (300) Then the

boy leaves when he finds out that nobody will castrate him Dr Wilcox rudely says to

the boy ldquoOh go andmdashrdquo (300) Horst Kruse interprets the absence as meaning ldquojack-

offrdquo (62) The boy leaves and later he does try to castrate himself amputating himself

in the process When the boy returns to the hospital with life-threatening injuries Dr

Wilcox ironically isnrsquot in a hurry to try to save the boy as he doesnrsquot see the condition as

an emergency In the story it is Dr Fischer who has shown mercy on the boy not Dr

Wilcox Kruse sees Doc Fischer as the moral center of the story and suggests that

Hemingwayrsquos portrayal of Dr Fischerrsquos knowledgeable insight and humanity might be an

attempt to try to ldquoatone for his former anti-Semitismrdquo (72) Kruse argues that Dr Fischer

29

might even be seen as a Christ-figure a fisher of men (65) Other scholars speculate that

this story might have been an attempt for Hemingway to apologize for the way he treated

Harold Loebrsquos alter-ego Robert Cohn (Kruse 73) But this interpretation is problematic

AE Hotchner once asked Hemingway if he had remorse about the way he had portrayed

Loeb and the others in The Sun Also Rises (Blume 237) Hotchner asked Hemingway

ldquoso if you had it to do over would you have been softerrdquo (237) Hemingway replied to

Hotchner ldquoOh hell nordquo (237) Despite this possible attempt at atonement Hemingway

continued to make anti-Semitic statements after this story first came out

30

CHAPTER 3

HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY

Ernest Hemingway was a born on July 21 1899 in Oak Park Illinois then a

Protestant conservative bastion There in his earliest years Hemingwayrsquos maternal

grandfather Ernest Hall led his family and their servants after breakfast on their knees

in morning prayer (Dearborn 11 Hemingway-Sanford 14) Unlike the others

Grandfather Hall did not pray with his eyes closed nor his head bowed (Pawley 22)

Instead he prayed with his head upraised and ldquowith his arms stretched upward as if

locked in a face-to-face with Godrdquo (Dearborn 11) He also prayed in a thundering voice

(Pawley 22) Ernestrsquos older sister Marcelline Hemingway-Sanford noted that she liked

to peak out at Grandfather Hall through her fingers ldquobecause he seemed so surely to be

talking right to his friend Godrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 15) Marcelline suggested that

Grandfather Hall knew God intimately (14) In addition Grandfather Hall led daily

devotions for the household with the book Daily Strength for Daily Needs (Isabelle 2

Hemingway-Sanford 14) Even the cook and the maid were present at these family

gatherings Grandfather Hall also led grace at the table (Isabelle 2) and he would lead

the family in worship (Hemingway-Sanford 15) He was Episcopalian and he liked to be

referred to in the biblical term ldquoAbbardquo which refers to God as in ldquoAbba fatherrdquo (Isabelle

2 Mark 1436) Marcelline referred to Grandfather Hall as being a very religious man

(Hemingway-Sanford 14) Every Sunday he would go to Grace Episcopal Church

where kneeling on the Brussels carpet he would lead the church in evening prayer

31

(Pawley 21) He once said of his grandson Ernest to his mother Grace ldquothis boy is

going to be heard from someday If he uses his imagination for good purposes hersquoll be

famous but if he starts the wrong way with all his energy hersquoll end in jail and its up to

you which way he goesrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 12)

Ernestrsquos paternal grandfather Anson Hemingway converted to Christianity in

1859 (Dearborn 13) Anson was a descendent of Ralph Hemingway ldquowho came to

America with the Great Migration and through him from a line of Puritan and

Congregationalist ministersrdquo (12) Anson Hemingway was friends with the great

evangelist DL Moody and he closely worked with him (for a while) as the general

secretary at the Chicago YMCA (Dearborn 13 Hemingway-Sanford 18) Ernest idolized

his grandfather Hemingway (Pawley 21) Ernestrsquos mother whom Ernest came to hate

once wrote Ernest ldquoNot for nothing are you the great great grandson of that noble

Christian Rev William Edward Miller and the grandson of the finest purest noblest man

I have ever known Ernest Hallrdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 103-04) In fact

Ernest Miller Hemingway was named after his grandfather and the Miller line of Gracersquos

family Grace wrote to Ernest ldquoYou are born of a race of gentlemen who were clean

mouthed chivalrous to all women grateful and generous You were named for the two

finest and noblest gentleman I have ever known See to it that you do not disgrace their

memoriesrdquo (qtd in M Reynolds Young Hemingway 138) Ernestrsquos family were such

churchgoers that they had their own pews at the First Congregational Church

(Hemingway-Sanford 147)

32

On the flip side Ernestrsquos father was rigid (Pawley 23) In disciplining his

children Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often forced his ldquochildren on their knees to pray

to God for forgivenessrdquo (Isabelle 4) Sometimes Ernest mockingly referred to his father

as ldquothe Great Physicianrdquo a title that Jesus also holds as a healer of people (Hemingway-

Sanford 127) According to a Hemingway biographer (no name given)

Sin scared the life out of Ernest At night he prayed that he had been a good boy

during the day The trouble was a boy could never be sure if he had been good

he might have done something bad and not known it was bad It was so hard to

obey every rule so hard to please his mother his father his teachers his minister

his God so hard that sometimes it wasnrsquot worth trying and a boy felt like giving

up (qtd in Pawley 23)

Ernest grew up then with a great spiritual legacy and upbringing that he found at times

challenging and problematic

On Easter in 1911 at the Third Congregational Church Ernest and his sister

Marcelline were confirmed and they received their First Communionrdquo (Dearborn 33) It

was at this church that Ernestrsquos mother was the choir director she even had Ernestmdasha

sopranomdashand Marcelline sing in the choir (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 108 L

Hemingway 28) In his youth Ernest Hemingway and Marcelline joined a contest put on

by the adult advisor of the Christian Endeavor Society Mr Sweeney to see who could

read the entire King James Bible first (Dearborn 37 Hemingway-Sanford 135) It was

Mr Sweeneyrsquos idea and he offered a prize (Hemingway-Sanford 135) Although Ernest

did not win he and Marcelline did complete the reading of the whole Bible (Dearborn

33

37) In addition Ernest and Marcelline passed a comprehensive test on what they had

read (Pawley 24) Additionally as a youth Ernest was given ldquoan allowance of one penny

per year of age each weekrdquo out of which he gave a tithe to the Sunday school (24) At

the age of fourteen Ernest starred in a Sunday school play at the Third Congregational

Church (24) After his parents transferred their membership to the First Congregational

Church Hemingway and Marcelline joined the Plymouth League where Ernest often led

Sunday afternoon services (Dearborn 33 Isabelle 7-8 Pawley 24 Hemingway-Sanford

147) Marcelline notes that ldquothe refreshments served after the meetings were quite an

attraction for the high school membersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 147) For the Plymouth

League Ernest took turns at being the treasurer the program chairman and sometimes

the speaker at the meetings At church Ernest and Marcelline also played in the church

orchestra Once Ernest and his four brothers and sisters dressed as Chinese and Japanese

citizens in order to phonetically sing the Japanese national anthem (147-48) Yet when

Hemingway went to Italy for World War I he saw and experienced the horrors of war

Perhaps because of this and through his teenage years Hemingway went astray from

his religious upbringing While in Italy Ernest met and fell in love with a nurse Agnes

von Kurowsky He loved her and wanted to start a new life with her in America

Hemingway wrote to William D Horne Jr about this on March 30 1919 ldquoBut Bill Irsquove

loved Ag Shersquos been my ideal and Bill I forgot all about religion and everything else-

because I had Ag to worship All I wanted was Ag and happinessrdquo (Hemingway in

Katakis XXV) This letter shows Hemingway distancing himself from religion in Italy

and replacing it with the woman he loved This is similar to how Catherine Barkley

34

made her lover Frederic Henry her religion in A Farewell to Arms (452) Unfortunately

for his parents Hemingway became a prodigal son and he never returned to the faith of

his youth (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 139)

Despite having turned away from his faith Hemingway could never entirely get

away from his upbringing and Oak Park mores For instance in his first marriage to

Hadley Richardson Hemingway was sometimes shocked by Hadleyrsquos language In fact

despite the fact that Hemingway used those very same words he didnrsquot think it proper for

a woman to use them (163) Hemingway still prayed ldquowhen he was courting Hadley

[he] asked her if she would pray with him in the Milan cathedral as Agnes would notrdquo

(Stoneback 110-11) Hadley responded that she would ldquoI am doing the best thing a

woman can do for a man Bringing you back to religionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 125-26)

Stoneback asserts that there is abundant evidence that Hemingway ldquoliked to pray in

Catholic churches and cathedrals years before he met Paulinerdquo (113)

Before going to World War I Hemingway worked for the Kansas City Star

While there Hemingwayrsquos mother learned that Ernest ldquohad stopped going to churchrdquo and

she sent off an angry letter to him (Reef 24) In one of his letters to his mother

Hemingway wrote ldquoYou know I donrsquot rave about religion but am as sincere a Christian

as I can be I believe in God and Jesus Christ have hopes for a hereafter and creeds

donrsquot matterrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) In addition prior to going to the Great War Ernestrsquos

father encouraged Ernest to associate with strong Christian YMCA men (M Reynolds

Young Hemingway 128) In his letters to Ernest Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often

sounded like a minister (171)

35

Upon his return to Oak Park after the war Hemingway wore his war uniform

around for four months and gave talks of his war experience Marcelline Hemingway

says that this was because Ernestrsquos long boots helped support his injured and weakened

legs Yet Hemingway lied and embellished his wartime experience This behavior is

just like that of Harold Krebs in Hemingwayrsquos short story ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

would lie and attribute ldquoto himself things other men had seen done or heard of and

stating as facts certain apocryphal incidents familiar to all soldiersrdquo (Short Stories 111-

12) In an essay in Ernest Hemingway Artifacts from Life Tom Putnam surmises that

Krebs in embellishing his war record to impress those around him ldquogrows more

disillusionedmdashfinding himself becoming a fraudrdquo (Putnam 184) Hemingway may have

disillusioned himself with his lies too In one instance Hemingway once gave a version

of his fictitious war stories in a talk to an audience at the First Baptist Church (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 56) So Hemingway lied in front of a church Proverbs

1222 reads ldquoLying lips are an abomination to the Lord but those who act faithfully are

his delightrdquo (English Standard Version)

Back in Oak Park Hemingway turned to alcohol for his comfort He stayed in

bed day after day and hid the liquor from his parents (Pawley 25) Staying in bed

helped his aching legs But he didnrsquot stay in bed more than half the day (Hemingway-

Sanford 178) According to Marcelline there were also times when Ernest had ldquoalmost

depressed intervals when he retired to his room away from the well-wishers and curiosity

seekersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 183) Hemingway used the alcohol to cope with the pain

of his war wounds (Pawley 25) One day Marcelline was upset about something and

36

when she came to Ernestrsquos room he noticed this and asked her what was wrong

(Hemingway-Sanford 183) Then he offered her a drink She tasted it Then he said to

her

Donrsquot be afraid Drink it up Sis it canrsquot hurt you Therersquos great comfort in

that little bottle not just for itself But it relaxes you when the pain gets bad

Mazaween donrsquot be afraid to taste all the other things in life that arenrsquot here in

Oak Park Taste everything Sis Donrsquot be afraid to try new things just

because they are new (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 184)

Ernest later wrote of an experience of drinking ldquoand the rhum (sic) enters into us like the

Holy Spiritrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 17) God was not Hemingwayrsquos comfort alcohol

was After that night Marcelline wondered to herself whether Ernest would ever be

happy again at home (Hemingway-Sanford 184) She noted a difference in him upon his

return to Oak Park Marcelline writes ldquoBut Ernest wasnrsquot the same old friend and

playmate I had knownrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178) adding that ldquoa lifetime of new

experiences war death agony new people a new language and love had crowded into

Ernestrsquos liferdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178)

After recovering from his wounds Ernest still didnrsquot get a job or show any

interest in college He had no plans at all Instead he went to Michigan to enjoy life with

his friends (Hemingway-Sanford 198) In Michigan according to Marcelline ldquoThough

Mother implored Ernestrsquos help and tried to talk to him about the family situation he

blithely ignored her appeals and managed to leave immediately after meals with his

friends or go fishing when something needed to be done he promised vaguely to help

37

lsquosome other timerdquo (205) His parents were very worried about his ldquolack of adult

responsibilityrdquo and ldquohis rudeness and his willingness to let both Mrs Charles Bill

Smithrsquos aunt and our family go on providing for him [led Mother to decide that]

something drastic had to be done to wake him uprdquo (205) Leicester Hemingway says that

ldquoOur parents had harbored definite hopes that this fling at soldiering had taught him

[Ernest] a lesson that now he would suddenly show a keen interest in some lsquosensiblersquo

way of liferdquo (L Hemingway 56)

The entire situation is similar to that of Harold Krebs in ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

returns from World War I with his Methodist faith shattered (Pawley 25) Krebs is

unemployed but his mother encourages him ldquorsquoGod has some work for everyone to do

There can be no idle hands in His Kingdomrsquordquo (Short Stories 115) Krebsrsquo mother adds

his fatherrsquos opinion ldquoAll work is honorable as he says But yoursquove got to make a start at

somethingrdquo (115) When Krebsrsquo mother asks Harold if he would kneel and pray with her

Krebs says that he canrsquot Krebsrsquo mother encourages him to try then she asks him if he

wants her to pray for him Krebs consents (116)

Of Ernestrsquos free-loading loafing time Leicester Hemingway writes ldquoAbout the

only thing I really understood of that first summer after the war was that Ernest was in an

agitated state and being around the family did not calm him at allrdquo (59) In the end

Ernestrsquos mother wrote Ernest a letter in which she said that Ernest had overdrawn his

account with her and that he was not welcome back at the family vacation home of

Windemere in Michigan (Dearborn 90) This action got Ernest out of the house looking

for a job on his own It also added to his resentment towards his mother In ldquoSoldierrsquos

38

Homerdquo Krebs tells his mother that he doesnrsquot love her Putnam suggests that Krebs has

forgotten how to love (Putnam 184) In Ernestrsquos case it is quite possible that he didnrsquot

love his mother It is known for sure that he didnrsquot like his mother When married to his

fourth wife Mary Welsh Ernest would sometimes rant about his mother blaming her for

making life hell for his father contributing to his fatherrsquos suicide and referring to his

mother as ldquothat bitchrdquo (qtd in Di Robilant 55) Perhaps his motherrsquos ultimatum pushed

him further away from his Protestant upbringing Although Hemingway didnrsquot like his

mother Hawkins argues that he inherited his volatile temper from her as she held grudges

against people Hawkins writes of Grace Hemingway ldquoGrace had a tendency to store up

injustices done to her so that on occasion even the smallest thing triggered a litany of

perceived wrongsrdquo (34) In addition to his motherrsquos ultimatum Ernestrsquos parents didnrsquot

seem to accept writing as a viable career for Ernest (M Reynolds My Brother 63) No

matter like Harold Krebs Hemingway did abandon his childhood faith after World War

I

Hemingway became interested in Catholicism during his service in Italy during

World War I There he served in the Red Cross Ambulance Corps of Unit 4 as driver for

the Italian Army (Hemingway-Sanford 157) After a few days in Italy Ernest and Bill

Horne found the place dull So hearing of the chance to volunteer ldquofor a special branch

the Red Cross Rolling Canteen Servicerdquo they applied and were accepted (160) This

Service operated all the way up to front linesmdashwhich was right where Hemingway

wanted to be in the midst of the action He ldquohad volunteered to be one of the bicycle

riders who distributed mail chocolate and tobacco to the soldiers in the trenches at the

39

frontrdquo (160) At that time the attack on the Piave River had started and the Austrians

were shelling around only fifty yards away on the other side of the river There making

his rounds in Fossalta Hemingway was wounded by an Austrian Trench Mortar as he

handed an Italian soldier a cigarette and chocolate (161) People thought that

Hemingway was going to die During this time Hemingway later claimed that he was

baptized by a priest ldquoAt Fornaci Ernest and the other wounded soldiers were

administered extreme unction by a chaplain with the Italian army Don Giuseppe

Bianchirdquo (Dearborn 59-60)

Michael Reynolds claims that the priestrsquos absolution of sins and anointment of oil

was an epiphanic moment for Hemingway (M Reynolds The Paris Years 346)

However it is unknown if Hemingway was really absolved of his sins by a Catholic

priest HR Stoneback notes that battlefield baptism and extreme unction did not

produce a ldquoformal process of reconciliation or conversionrdquo (109) On March 10 1927

Hemingway divorced Hadley Richardson to marry his new flame the Catholic Pauline

Pfeiffer This divorce devastated Hemingwayrsquos parents In fact Leicester Hemingway

overheard his dad say of Ernestrsquos divorce ldquoNo Itrsquos the disgrace Id rather see him in his

graverdquo (L Hemingway 103) Leicester Hemingway recalls that one morning while

digging for worms with Dr Hemingway the doctor says ldquoYou know of course that

your brother has brought great shame on our family by divorcing Hadley dont yourdquo

(103) Dr Hemingway laments the fact that there hadnrsquot been a divorce in the

Hemingway family for seventy years While in the process of trying to marry Pauline

Ernest returned to Italy searching for this priest Don Giuseppe Bianchi in order to

40

ascertain if this priest had actually performed an emergency baptism on him thus making

him Catholic (Dearborn 236) According to Hawkins Ernest found and visited with

Bianchi (71) Hawkins notes that as a rule priests during the First World War did not

ldquohand out baptismal certificates as they moved through hospital wards to anoint the

woundedrdquo (71) Despite the fact that there is ldquono evidence that Ernest returned with a

baptismal certificaterdquo he did swear to it (236) With this baptism he was allowed to

marry Pauline (M Reynolds American Homecoming 121) According to some scholars

death-bed baptism led Hemingway to become interested in Catholicism In addition

some scholars go so far as to say that this event marks the point when Hemingway started

to be Catholic Perhaps Ernestrsquos near-death experience infused a seed of Catholicism in

his heart

Michael Reynolds notes that ldquowhen an eighteen-year-old kid thinks hes dying a

Catholic priest can make a lasting impressionrdquo (The Paris Years 346) Reynolds claims

that long before Pauline the ceremony the ritual and the mystery of the Catholic Church

were a strong attraction to Hemingway Even if Pauline had not entered his life

Hemingway would have eventually turned Catholic Pauline simply accelerated this

process Later some found Hemingwayrsquos Catholic conversion to be suspect specious

and very convenient (345-46) Yet ldquonone of these doubters seriously thought of

Hemingway as a Protestant and he himself never looked back on his Congregational

training which he associated with Oak Park hypocrisy his fatherrsquos unbearable piety and

his motherrsquos church politics of who would rule the choir loftrdquo (346)

41

Hemingwayrsquos second wife Pauline Pfeiffer converted him to Catholicism In

fact Pfeiffer was such a serious Catholic that she caused Hemingway ldquo to take seriously

doctrine especially of sin and observance especially of prayerrdquo (Berman 33) Before

their marriage Pfeiffer had misgivings about marrying a married man and cutting him off

from his wife and child (Dearborn 229) For Pauline ldquoTo do so would be not only to

invite the damnation of her soul but also the unforgiving wrath of her Catholic parentsrdquo

(M Reynolds The Paris Years 318) If Pauline committed adultery she believed that

she would have been ldquosinning so mortally their souls were in jeopardyrdquo (318) Reynolds

wryly observes that ldquo[o]ne could not remain a devout Catholic and an ardent adulteressrdquo

(318)

For his part Ernest considered ldquoconverting to Catholicism in order to marry

Pauline in the Churchrdquo (Dearborn 221) Dearborn adds ldquoNo doubt Pauline was

researching the Churchrsquos requirements for marriage to a divorced manrdquo (221) In order to

marry Pauline Hemingway had to provide proof that his first marriage to Hadley was

outside the Church and so unofficial null and void (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 114) So since Hemingway ldquotestified that he had been baptized during the

war in Italy and that his first marriage was outside the Church [he] received on April

25 the necessary dispensation from the Archbishop of Paris which removed the last

obstacle to the ceremonyrdquo (121) Yet Hemingwayrsquos friend Ada MacLeish did not

attend Ernestrsquos and Paulinersquos wedding because she was disgusted by the Catholic

Churchrsquos solemnization of the new couplersquos bond and thought it a farce (Dearborn 237)

Ada

42

was completely disgusted with Ernestrsquos efforts to persuade the Catholic Church

that he had been baptized by a priest who walked between aisles of wounded men

in an Italian hospitalmdashtherefore Ernest was a Catholic and Hadley never had been

his wife and Bumby was a bastard To see this farce solemnized by the Catholic

Church was more than we [Archie and Ada] could take (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 124)

In his quest to marry Pauline Hemingway openly and formally embraced

Catholicism Hemingway wrote to Ernest Walsh about his rediscovered Catholicity

If I am anything I am a Catholic Had extreme unction administered to me as such

in July 1918 and recovered So guess I am a super-catholic It is most

certainly the most comfortable religion for anyone soldiering Am not what is

called a ldquogoodrdquo catholic But cannot imagine taking any other religion

seriously (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 345)

It is unknown whether Ernest ever mailed this letter

Ruth A Hawkins suggests that Hemingway ardently became a true Catholic

believer after he was cured of his temporary sexual problems after his marriage to

Pauline Hemingway told AE Hotchner that he and Pauline had had a good sex life

during their affair yet after they got married Hemingway experienced problems with

impotence (Hawkins 86) To try to alleviate this problem Hemingway saw doctors and a

mystic Nothing worked Pauline was patient and understanding Ernest was

discouraged so she encouraged him to go to the church a few blocks away and pray

Ernest recounts ldquoI went there and said a short prayer Then I went back to our room

43

Pauline was in bed waiting I undressed and got in bed and we made love like we

invented it We never had any trouble again Thatrsquos when I became a Catholicrdquo (qtd in

Hawkins 86)

Throughout his literary career Hemingway writes a number of stories involving

Catholics His short story ldquoThe Wine of Wyomingrdquo is about a French Catholic

bootlegging couple and is based upon a real-life Catholic couple that he met in Sheridan

Wyoming (Dearborn 263) Hemingway also writes about Catholicism in The Sun Also

Rises However Hemingway doesnrsquot write so much about Catholicism but rather of

Catholics themselves in their day-to-day lives (Hertzel 78) In The Sun Also Rises Jake

Barnes is nominally Catholic He basically lives the way that he wants to prays and

goes to church occasionally This is kind of like Hemingway who although not a

nominal Catholic lived the way that he wanted to while still claiming to be Catholic and

following some rituals In The Sun Also Rises Jake talks of going to church ldquoa couple of

times once with Brettrdquo (Sun 154) Although Jake prays regularly including for his

friends he also prays for mundane things like the upcoming bullfights and the Festival of

San Fermiacuten ldquoI wondered if there was anything else I might pray for and I thought I

would like to have some money so I prayed that I would make a lot of moneyrdquo (103)

While praying Jake gets distracted and he begins to think about other things ldquoas

all the time I was kneeling with my forehead on the wood in front of me and was

thinking of myself as praying I was a little ashamed and regretted that I was such a rotten

Catholicrdquo (103) Of his bad example as a Catholic Jake realizes that ldquothere was nothing I

could do about it at least for a while and maybe never but that anyway it was a grand

44

religion and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next timerdquo (103) One

critic asserts that The Sun Also Rises ldquois a novel about spiritual bankruptcyrdquo (Djos) Jake

is spiritually bankrupt but he tries to go about things in another way He drinks in order

escape the pain of the war and his impotency So alcohol might be said to be Jakersquos

primary spiritual comfort like it was a comfort for Hemingway Carlos Baker

categorizes The Sun Also Rises as a tale of Wastelanders (Berman 44) Moreover Jake

once thinks ldquoTo hell with people The Catholic Church had an awfully good way of

handling all thatrdquo (Sun 39) Jake believes that the Catholic Church has a good way of

sending people to hell purgatory or heaven to whatever fate the individual deserves

In addition Catholicism is referenced in Hemingwayrsquos A Farewell to Arms with

its protagonist Frederic Henry Unlike the nominally Catholic Jake Barnes Frederic has

no religion whatsoever (Farewell 279) However there is a priest in Fredericrsquos Italian

army unit that Frederic likes a lot Yet Frederic thinks the priest dull (33) According to

Frederic he and the priest share many of the same tastes yet there is a difference

between them (12) Frederic is a man of the world who does not believe in religion per

se and he loves women The priest is a man of God he loves God above all he doesnrsquot

pursue women When Frederic is recovering from his war wound in the hospital the

priest comes to visit him Frederic tells the priest that he does not love God (62) He

adds that he is ldquoafraid of Him in the night sometimesrdquo (62) Gary Sloan argues that

Fredericrsquos girlfriend Catherine ldquowill be his [Fredericrsquos] religion even as he she says is

hersrdquo (452) Michael Reynolds points out that ldquoCatherine sounded a lot like [Ernestrsquos

second wife] Pauline who had made Ernest her religion risking her soul on the promise

45

of his loverdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 216) This is also the case when

Ernest made his first girlfriend Agnes von Kurowsky his religion over organized

religion

Although Frederic is not religious in desperate times he seems to temporarily

become religious When he first receives his war injury he cries out to God ldquoget me out

of hererdquo (48) When his and Catherine Barkleyrsquos baby dies Frederic thinks of the baby

and thinks that it should have been baptized (279) Faced with the possibility of

Catherine dying Frederic prays ldquoEverything was gone inside of me I did not think I

could not think I knew she was going to die and I prayed that she would not Donrsquot let

her die Oh God please donrsquot let her die Irsquoll do anything for you if you wonrsquot let her

dierdquo (282) Hertzel points out that some of Hemingwayrsquos characters pray frequently

However it is also important to note that the prayers never get answered (79) For

example in Hemingwayrsquos posthumously published Islands in the Stream Thomas

Hudsonrsquos son David makes this comment about prayer ldquoYou canrsquot tell Audrey You

never know when it [prayer] may [do good] I donrsquot mean that Mr Davis needs to be

prayed for I just mean about prayer technicallyrdquo (186) In Frederick Henryrsquos case both

his baby and Catherine die Apparently in Hemingwayrsquos mind there was no

supernatural realm and prayers go nowhere Frederick asks Catherine on her death bed

ldquoDo you want me to get a priest or anyone to come and see yourdquo (Farewell 282)

Catherine just wants Frederic to stay with her Frederic says that his only religious feeling

comes at night (227) So the spiritual connection of sex is a religious experience to

Frederic

46

Hemingway does not present a supernatural dimension to Catholicism (Hertzel

78) In The Sun Also Rises as Jake and Brett leave a chapel in Pamplona he thinks that

ldquo[t]he praying had not been much of a successrdquo (212) Brett also portrays religion as

being uselessmdashat least for her saying ldquoDonrsquot know why I get so nervy in church

Never does me any goodrdquo (212) Brett says that praying never does her any good and

that she has never gotten anything that she prayed for (213) Jake does say that he has

gotten things that he has prayed for Brett replies of prayer ldquoMaybe it works for some

peoplerdquo (213) Jake considers himself ldquopretty religiousrdquo (213) Hemingway himself

prayed but apparently after the Spanish Civil War his view on prayer changed In The

Dangerous Summer he says ldquo[I] never [prayed] for myself during the Spanish Civil

War when I saw the terrible things that happened to other people and I felt that to pray for

oneself was selfish and egotisticalrdquo (142) In a June 19 1945 letter to Thomas Welsh

Hemingway expounded

In first war really scared after wounded and very devout at the end Fear of

death Belief in personal salvation or maybe just preservation through prayers for

intercession of Our Lady and various saints that prayed to with almost tribal faith

Spanish war seemed so selfish to pray for self when such things being done to all

people by people sponsored by Church that never prayed for self But missed

Ghostly comfort This war [Spanish Civil War] got through without praying

once Times a little bad sometimes too But felt that having forfeited any right to

ask for these intercessions would be absolutely crooked to ask for same no matter

how scared (qtd in Stoneback 128)

47

Consequently Hemingway only prayed for others after the Spanish Civil War In The

Dangerous Summer Hemingway writes of praying for others in Spain ldquoI prayed for all

those I had in hock to Fortune for all friends with cancer for all girls living and dead

and that Antonio would have good bulls that afternoonrdquo (69) Yet it is unknown if any

of Hemingwayrsquos prayers were ever answered In fact Hemingway wondered if his

prayers ever got anywhere

In case my prayers were invalid as they well might have been and to make sure

someone competent was doing it I took out a membership in the Jesuit Seminary

Fund Association at New Orleans for Carmen and Antonio [Ordoacutentildeez bullfighter]

There was a class graduating who when they were ordained would pray for them

each day (142)

So Hemingway got others to pray for his friends family and others in case that his

prayers were going nowhere In Hemingwayrsquos works instead of offering a supernatural

element to the Catholic Church he presents the Church as a solely human institution

Hertzel writes that Hemingway treats the Catholic Church as ldquoa colorful institution with

richness tradition ritual and discipline but it provides no convenient miraclesrdquo (78-79)

Consequently Hemingway uses Catholicism as a literary motif to add texture to his

writings (79)

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway seems to make fun of the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit that according to Christians is the method by which the Bible was

written Hemingwayrsquos example is silly Hemingway mockingly describes the writing

process of Waldo Frank the author of Virgin Spain He ldquolay naked in his bed in the night

48

and God sent him things to write how he lsquowas in touch ecstatically with the plunging and

immobile allrdquo (53) Moreover

After God sent it he wrote it The result was that unavoidable mysticism of a

man who writes a language so badly he cannot make a clear statement

complicated by whatever pseudo-scientific jargon is in style at the moment God

sent him some wonderful stuff about Spain during his short stay there

preparatory to writing of the soul of the country but it is often nonsense (53)

Hemingway wrote more generally of the religion of the Lost Generation again

with a touch of mockery

There will be many new salvations brought forward My generation in France for

example in two years sought salvation in first the Catholic Church 2nd DaDaism

third the movies fourth Royalism fifth the Catholic Church again There may be

another and better war But none of it will matter particularly to this generation

because to them the things that are given to people to happen have already

happened (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 327)

In his books Hemingway also seems to make fun of religion in order to try to be

comedic In his ficto-biography True at First Light Hemingway asks the interpreter

ldquoDid you not like the Mission School Remember God is listening He hears your every

wordrdquo (182) Later Hemingway asks GC ldquoAnd will you carry these principles into

Life sonrdquo (204) GC responds ldquoDrink your beer Billy Grahamrdquo (204) Ironically

years later Billy Graham would use Ernest Hemingway as a sermon illustration More

comedy follows in True at First Light when Hemingway talks about a new religion that

49

he created for the Africans He said that his African helpers Ngui and Mthuka and

himself ldquocould decide what was a sin and what was notrdquo (281) Hemingway also talks

about the ldquoHappy Hunting Groundsrdquo as if it were some sort of heaven

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway is comedic through the character of Bill

Gorton Walking down a boulevard with Jake Bill spots a taxidermistrsquos shop and

jokingly tries to get Jake to buy a stuffed dog Jake knows that it is a joke and just tries

to keep Bill moving down the boulevard After Jake promises to get a stuffed dog on the

way back Bill Gorton says ldquoAll right Have it your own way Road to hell paved with

unbought stuffed dogs Not my faultrdquo (78) Hemingway also does this with the priest in

A Farewell to Arms in order to try to infuse comedy into this novel when the captain at

the soldiersrsquo mess keep joking with the priest as the butt of the joke ldquoPriest to-day with

girlsrdquo (7) The captain adds ldquoPriest every night five against onerdquo (7)

On the train to Bayonne Bill Gorton says of some pilgrims on the train with

them ldquoGoddam Puritansrdquo (Sun 91) In the train compartment with Jake and Bill is a man

from Montana with his wife and son The man says to Jake and Bill of getting a meal

while pretending to be pilgrims ldquoThey thought we were snappers all right It

certainly shows you the power of the Catholic Church Itrsquos a pity you boys ainrsquot

Catholics You could get a meal then all rightrdquo (93) Frustrated by the situation Jake

assures him that he is Catholic When Bill Gorton corners a priest returning from a meal

with the pilgrims Bill asks him when the Protestants will get a chance to eat The priest

says that he doesnrsquot know and Gorton replies ldquoItrsquos enough to make a man join the Klanrdquo

(93)

50

After fishing along the Irati River Jake and Bill meet to have lunch After talking

about William Jennings Bryan and which came first the chicken or the egg Bill mocks

religion and the question of whether the chicken or the egg comes first ldquoOh how

should we know We should not question Our stay on earth is not for long Let us

rejoice and believe and give thanksrdquo (126) Holding a drumstick perhaps like a mock

scepter and a bottle of wine Bill tries to be mockingly funny ldquoLet us rejoice in our

blessings Let us utilize the fowls of the air Let us utilize the product of the vine Will

you utilize a little brotherrdquo (126) Handing Jake the bottle Bill says ldquoUtilize a little

brother Let us not doubt brother Let us not pry into the holy mysteries of the

hencoop with simian fingers Let us accept on faithrdquo (127) Then pointing at a

drumstick Bill says ldquoLet me tell you We will say and I for one am proud to saymdashand I

want you to say with me on your knees brother Let no man be ashamed to kneel here in

the great out-of-doors Remember the woods were Godrsquos first templesrdquo (127) They

uncork another bottle Before they take a nap Bill asks Jake if he is really a Catholic

(128) Jake replies that he is technically a Catholic When asked what that means Jake

says that he doesnrsquot know (129) Even though the Eucharist is mocked Jake and Bill are

seemingly reborn as they fish in nature So nature provides a chance at rest and

regeneration

Just like Hemingway in most of his life some of his characters are not religious

although they have religious influences Robert Jordan is one example His father was

religious But his fatherrsquos religion turned Robert off In one instance as a younger man

when Robert is about to leave on a train his father gets emotional and says a prayer over

51

him In response ldquoRobert Jordan had been so embarrassed by all of it [his fatherrsquos

emotionalism] the damp religious sound of the prayer and by his father kissing him

good-by that he had felt suddenly so much older than his father and sorry for him that he

could hardly bear itrdquo (For Whom Bell Tolls 405-406) This would seem similar to

Ernestrsquos leaving home for the first time en route to Kansas City (Hemingway-Sanford

154) In this instance Hemingwayrsquos father bought him the ticket and saw him off (154)

Maybe Dr Hemingway did cry when he saw Ernest off for he really loved his son

While Ernest was in Italy Marcelline notes that her ldquoDad had always loved Ernest

especially dearly and he missed him and prayed for him dailyrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford

160) To compound all this like Hemingwayrsquos father Robertrsquos religious father later

ldquoshot himselfrdquo in a suicide in the same manner as Robert Jordanrsquos father (For Whom Bell

Tolls 66) Robert ldquounderstood his father and he forgave him everything and he pitied him

but he was ashamed of himrdquo (340) Perhaps Hemingway was ashamed of his father after

his fatherrsquos sad suicide This shame and embarrassment of his late father and his

perceived cowardice may have pushed Robert away from religion (338) In addition it is

quite probable that the suicide of Hemingways father additionally pushed him away from

the Protestant tradition of his father as his father had been a deacon and a very upright

and religious man (Reynolds M American Homecoming 211) Yet Daniel Pawley notes

that Hemingway loved his father more than anyone else in the world At one point in For

Whom the Bell Tolls Robert says ldquoI do not believe in ogres nor soothsayers nor in the

supernatural thingsrdquo (250) When Pilar tells Robert that she cares about him Robert tells

52

Pilar that he doesnrsquot want her love He qualifies ldquoNi tu ni Diosrdquo (Neither yours nor

Godrsquos) (387) Robert doesnrsquot want Godrsquos love either

48

CHAPTER 4

HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY

According to Michael Reynolds Hemingway liked all things ancient and

medieval and that included the Catholic Church In fact Hemingway liked visiting

medieval cathedrals among them Chartres He ldquoliked the ritual the mystery the odors of

age and incense He liked its permanence in stonerdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 325)

Hadley Richardson liked to refer to the chivalric Hemingway as her ldquogentil parfit

knightrdquo an allusion to Chaucerrsquos description of the knight in The Canterbury Tales (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 223) and he liked to wear a scapular This scapular has

ldquogot an image of Christ on it suspended from a brown shoestring-like loop At home in

Key West friends have observed him with the scapular and how hersquoll make the sign of

the cross before he goes in swimmingrdquo (Hendrickson 28)

Hemingway would come back to the Bible in his later years in his search for

literary titles Hemingway alludes to Ecclesiastes 14-7 in his title of The Sun Also Rises

The Scriptural passage was used to signify that basically the Lost Generation would

pass away but that the earth would abide forever Moreover Hemingway gave the Bible

credit for teaching him how to write (Blume 213)

In his youth Hemingway idolized his missionary uncle to China Willoughby (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 110) Willoughby had a medical mission there In fact

Ernestrsquos father Dr Clarence Hemingway inspired by his brother had wanted to be a

medical missionary to Guam but his wife had dissuaded him from it (Pawley 24) Dr

49

Hemingway also had an offer for a medical mission in Greenland (L Hemingway 21)

Grace refused to go Ernest Hemingwayrsquos life might have had a much different outcome

if his mother would have supported his father in becoming a medical missionary to Guam

or even Greenland Years later when Hemingway was living in Cuba Hemingwayrsquos

sister Ursala visited and she and Ernest reminisced about their Uncle Willoughby

recalling his visits and together they sang ldquolsquoJesus Loves Mersquo in Chinese until the tears

rolled down their cheeksrdquo (25) Upon the death of his father Ernest returned home to

Oak Park where he openly displayed his new-found Catholic faith Marcelline says that

upon his arrival Ernest ldquotold us that he had had a Mass saidrdquo for their dad (Dearborn 268

M Reynolds American Homecoming 211 Hemingway-Sanford 233) With Dr

Hemingwayrsquos body lying in repose in the music room Ernest now leader of his family

led his family in the Lordrsquos Prayer This echoes back to the time in Ernestrsquos youth when

his Grandfather Hall would lead his family in the Lordrsquos prayer ldquohis eyes directed

heavenwardrdquo (Dearborn 268) However during this time of mourning Ernestrsquos

Catholicism angered some peoplemdashespecially Marcelline

Relying on Catholic teaching Ernest believed that his father had gone to

purgatory since suicide was a mortal sin (M Reynolds American Homecoming 211) In

addition Ernest mentioned that since his family was a Heathen Family ldquoit was

impossible to offer enough prayers to get his [Dr Hemingwayrsquos] soul into heavenrdquo

(Dearborn 268) Marcelline thought that Ernestrsquos idea of praying their father out of

purgatory was disgusting Ernest told his kid brother Leicester Hemingway to ldquopray as

hard as he could for his fatherrsquos soul to be released from purgatoryrdquo as ldquothings go right on

50

from hererdquo (Dearborn 268 My Brother 111) Despite the waves that Ernest made with

his family he showed genuine care concern and distress in his belief that his late father

was in purgatory (Dearborn 268) In this instance Hemingway definitely took Catholic

doctrine seriously

Dearborn paints Ernest Hemingway as a practicing Catholic one who would go to

Mass and fast on Good Friday She suggests that during this trying time Hemingway

turned to his faith in order to anchor himself through his grief She further suggests that

Ernestrsquos claim that his father was in purgatory was a way for him to assert his patriarchal

dominance over the family and to show that he was in charge Marcelline as the eldest

had tried to claim this role but in her struggle with Ernest she had lost (269)

In Chicago a Dominican priest wrote to Hemingway to thank him for saving his

friend Don Stewart in the bull ring at Pamplona (M Reynolds American Homecoming

156) This priest had heard of Hemingwayrsquos conversion to Catholicism within that year

1927 and he urged Hemingway to become a writer for the Dominican cause in order to

defend the Church and its ldquocause of Truthrdquo (156) In response Hemingway wrote

I have been a Catholic for many years although I feel very badly and did not go to

communion for over 8 years However I have gone regularly to mass for the last

two years and absolutely set my house in order within the year However I have

always had more faith than intelligence or knowledge and I have never wanted to

be known as a Catholic writer because I know the importance of setting an

examplemdashand I have never set a good example Also I am a dumb Catholic

and I have so much faith that I hate to examine itmdashbut I am trying to lead a good

51

life and to write well and truly and it is easier to do the first than the second (qtd

in M Reynolds American Homecoming 156)

In a 1940 Valentinersquos Day letter to his editor Maxwell Perkins Hemingway wrote ldquoI am

not a Catholic writer nor a party writer nor even an American writer but just a writer

meant to rise above injusticerdquo (qtd in Isabelle 51)

Despite his Catholicism Hemingwayrsquos faith didnrsquot help him to change into a

better man Although he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not

transform him nor even make him Christ-like Hemingway did not have a salvation

experience Nor was his faith life-altering Stoneback agrees that ldquoHemingway did not

turn to the church for instant deliverancerdquo (Stoneback 122) As a Catholic

Hemingway continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Ernestrsquos

Catholicism did not translate into his personal life Hemingwayrsquos religious life was one

solely of Catholic rituals He did not change his behavior or his vices He did not

overcome his problems Unfortunately in the end Hemingwayrsquos problems overcame

him

Despite his personal shortcomings Hemingway did at times take Catholicism

seriously After one of his African safaris he returned to Paris and saw his friend Ned

Calmer Calmer was a reporter and an aspiring novelist There Hemingway learned that

Calmerrsquos daughter had not been baptized (Hendrickson 44) This was unconscionable to

Hemingway Years later Calmer wrote that ldquoErnest seemed genuinely concerned

The attitude was this will never do He came along to the church of St Sulpice in Paris

52

as sponsor at the ceremonyrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 44) where Calmerrsquos daughter was

baptized

Hemingwayrsquos faith affected him in other ways too During the Spanish Civil

War his Catholicism would give him ldquosympathy with the conservative traditionalist side

in Spain at least in the early days of this unrestrdquo (Dearborn 303) Later Hemingway

would switch his allegiance to the anti-Franco anti-fascist communist-supported side of

the conflict Unfortunately this shift caused many family disputes with his wife Pauline

(Isabelle 25) However it was Hemingwayrsquos belief that politics and religion should not

mix (Stoneback 117) After the Spanish Civil War and in Cuba Hemingway used to

worry that the FBI were Roman Catholics and thus consequently Franco sympathizers

(N Reynolds 127) In fact Hemingway liked to refer to the FBI as ldquolsquoFrancorsquos Bastard

Irishrsquo and lsquoFrancorsquos Iron Cavalryrsquordquo (127) Nicholas Reynolds suggests that Hemingway

was paranoid about the FBI because he had signed on to be a spy with the Russian

Narodny Kommisariat Vnutrennikh Del (Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs)

better known as the NKVD Yet Hemingway never actually did anything for them His

code name was ldquoArgordquo Dearborn notes that ldquo[d]espite his professed Catholicism Ernest

was impatient with religion over philosophizing and what we would call today self-

helprdquo (320) Dorothy Parker makes a different claim about Hemingway ldquoThere is no

more than a thin line of moss to stamp the spot where Robert Benchley and Ernest

Hemingway had that big philosophical discussion about the meaning of liferdquo (qtd in M

Reynolds American Homecoming 106) Philosopher Ralph Withington Church ldquorecalls

his conversations with Hemingway about the lsquoproblem of redemptionrsquo and

53

Malebranchersquos lsquotheory of gracersquordquo (Stoneback 121) Ernest also had his own privately-

held opinions about Catholicism For example Hemingway told one of his daughters-in-

law that unlike the Catholic Churchrsquos teaching that animals donrsquot have souls he believed

that animals did (Dearborn 516) Secondly Ernest seems to have taken on or been

influenced by his motherrsquos mystic spiritualist bent Ernest believed in superstitions and

in some types of psychic phenomena (518)

Later in his life Ernest seems to have some misgivings about Catholicism He

consistently said when Paulinersquos name surfaced that ldquoher Catholic faith had wrecked the

marriagerdquo (Dearborn 406) Pauline had been advised by her doctor not to have any more

children The fear was that Pauline would get pregnant and die from the pregnancy

(Hawkins 141) Since Catholicism only permitted the birth control method of

withdrawal Ernestrsquos pleasure was significantly diminished by this technique and

consequently doomed their marriage Hemingway had also wanted to have a daughter

but this dream was never realized Paulinersquos second son Gregory who became a doctor

contends that all that his father would have had to have done to retain his pleasure would

have been to abstain from intercourse on Paulinersquos fertile days According to Gregrsquos

reasoning this ldquowould have been obvious to lsquoany foolrsquordquo (qtd in Dearborn 406)

According to Leicester Hemingway Ernest wanted nothing to do with the Catholic

church after Pauline and he asked for ldquothe address of an uncle William E Miller who

had written many hymns in the Episcopalian hymnalrdquo (Isabelle 58-59) Moreover Ernest

was concerned about his sons Patrick and Gregory attending a Catholic school Ernest

feared that this school Canterbury was affecting Patrick gradually and insidiously

54

(Dearborn 480) In fact Ernest hated this school and he referred to it as ldquoone of lsquothose

snot schoolsrsquordquo (480)

Paulinersquos and Hemingwayrsquos second son Gregory had a troubled life Over time

he came to like to dress up as a woman In Los Angeles this caught up with him when

he tried to enter the womenrsquos restroom of a theater in drag (Hendrickson 297) Pauline

cabled Hemingway that Gregory was in trouble Hemingway called back Pauline was in

a lot of pain but went to the phone anyway to tell Hemingway about the problem On the

phone Hemingway said ldquoItrsquos all your fault see how yoursquove brought him up yoursquore

corrupt and hersquos corruptrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 297) Hemingway intimated that perhaps

Gregoryrsquos Catholic upbringing had pushed Gregory into transgenderism Gregory had

served as an altar-boy at Saint Mary Star of the Sea (386)

That night Pauline went to bed in tears Unfortunately the heated accusative

argument with Ernest had set Pauline off At the time Pauline had been staying at her

sisterrsquos Virginia residence in Los Angeles In the early morning Virginia and her

friend Laura awakened to what they described as a ldquohorrendous screamrdquo from Paulinersquos

room Pauline was taken to the hospital where her blood pressure skyrocketed dropped

to zero and caused ldquoher to die of shock on the operating tablerdquo (Hawkins 271) Later

Hemingway blamed Paulinersquos death on Gregory Yet Gregory became a doctor and

researched his motherrsquos death more thoroughly Through an autopsy report Gregory

learned that his mother had died of a ldquorare tumor of the adrenal glandrdquo also known as

pheochromocytoma (275) This type of tumor secretes large quantities of adrenaline

causing blood pressure to spikemdasheven to the point where arteries can rupture Pauline

55

had had only an intermittent tumor that would secrete during times of stress Gregory

informed his father of his findings in a letter in the summer of 1960 Gregory wrote that

Hemingwayrsquos argument with Pauline had set Pauline off ldquocausing a blood vessel to

rupturerdquo after which her blood pressure dropped to zero with the resulting shock killing

her on the operating table (275) So Gregory blamed Hemingway for Paulinersquos early

death from shock due to the ruptured blood vessel and the drop of her blood pressure to

zero

In 1947 Hemingwayrsquos son Patrick had a spiritual crisis of his own Due to his

Catholic mother Patrick had been schooled in Catholic schools In 1947 Patrick had

been studying for the College Board exams at Hemingwayrsquos home the Finca in Cuba

However when Gregory had a spring vacation Patrick decided to join him in Key West

In 1945 Pauline had bought herself a sports car (Dearborn 497) In 1947 in Key West

Patrick was newly licensed and Patrick let Gregory drive the sports car Gregory drove

off the road and hit a tree near Casa Marina

In the process Patrick and Gregory seemed to suffer only minor injuries

Gregory ldquoreceived a minor knee injuryrdquo while Patrick ldquosuffered a cut on his chin and

slight headacherdquo (Hawkins 251) Yet Patrick had suffered a severe concussion (Di

Robilant 7) At first the boys didnrsquot seem to have any ill effects from the accident and

they arrived back at the Finca However shortly after his arrival Patrick started acting

strangely (Dearborn 497) At the Finca Patrick asked ldquofor a pot of hot water and some

teardquo (497) When Reneacute Villarreal brought the hot water and tea to the little house

ldquoPatrick complained that the water was dirtyrdquo (497) Then Patrick commenced shouting

56

loudly at the cook Ramoacuten who wasnrsquot even there Next at the main house Ernest

placed Patrick ldquoon a wicker chaise and stroked his headrdquo (497) In Havana the next day

Patrick was able to take the College Board exams but as the day progressed he grew

increasingly agitated So Ernest called for a doctor The doctor ldquosedated Patrick but the

next day he was delirious and soon became violent and it was necessary to restrain himrdquo

(497) Andrea Di Robilant believes that Patrick had a complete breakdown (7) His loss

of normalcy became a terrible ordeal for the Hemingway family in which his future his

sanity and his life hung in the balance (Dearborn 497)

In response Ernest placed Patrick in his own bed at the Finca and slept on a straw

mat in the living room just outside the door of his bedroom taking care of Patrick around

the clock (Dearborn 497-98 Hawkins 251) Ernest did this for the next three months

(Dearborn 498) It was hoped that Patrick would recover and be well within a couple of

weeks Yet it didnrsquot turn out this way Doctors from all over Cuba were called in Dr

Herrera deemed Patrick to be ldquopredementialrdquo a condition either set off from the exams or

by a crisis of his Catholic faith (498) Religion was a big portion of Patrickrsquos delirium

the other subject being putas whores A local priest named Don Andreacutes became one of

Patrickrsquos chief caretakers Surprisingly due to the spiritual nature of Patrickrsquos condition

this priest was unable to enter Patrickrsquos room without being accused of being the devil

incarnate Consequently this priest became known as the Black Priest

Patrick was so delusional that Ernest and his doctors were concerned about being

near Patrick because they were afraid that they would be scratched or bitten Patrick

remained bedridden for weeks and ldquohe moved in and out of consciousnessrdquo (Di Robilant

57

7) However Patrickrsquos condition did not improve he only worsened and became more

violentmdashhaving to be constantly restrained (Dearborn 498) At first the doctors wanted

Ernest to put Patrick in a hospital but Ernest was determined to keep Patrick at home

Patrick was so delirious that he wouldnrsquot eat When Patrick did eat he stuffed the food in

his mouth like a hamster to spit out at his caretakers Patrick even couldnrsquot swallow his

own saliva Considering that Patrick would probably rip out feeding tubes it was

decided to feed him rectally under restraint and under heavy sedation Patrick had not

eaten since his illness had begun five days prior It would take a full hour and a half to

feed Patrick rectally Despite this procedure Patrick dropped to eighty-eight pounds by

the start of August He had become psychotic

Given the limited means and the early days of psychiatric diagnoses in that time

and age it seemed like Patrick was schizophrenic perhaps even needing a lifetime of

institutionalized care (499) In July a new physician suggested that Patrick undergo

shock treatments In those days the only options were lobotomy and electroshock

therapy (499-500) So seeing no other viable option Patrickrsquos parents relented to the

electroshock therapy (500) In the outbuilding of the Finca Patrick received his first

shock treatment After only around ten minutes Patrick was reported as being ldquolucidrdquo

Fortunately Patrickrsquos electroshock therapy brought him back

The Hemingways remembered how the shock treatments had brought Patrick

back from the brink of hopelessness However when electroshock treatments were tried

years later on Ernest himself because of his traumatic brain injuries and compounding

depression they had the opposite effect For Ernest Hemingway electroshock treatments

58

wiped out his memory and he could no longer write take pride in himself and support

himself financially by the only means he knew how The shock treatments pushed

Hemingway further into depression

After his marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer Hemingway had misgivings about his

Catholic faith However HR Stoneback asserts that Hemingway never entirely gave up

his Catholicism and that he continued to go to Mass pray support the church and regard

himself as Catholic (114) Despite all this Hemingway had some bitterness toward the

Catholic Church Yet it still played an influence in his life Lloyd Arnold says of

Hemingwayrsquos last twenty years of life ldquoI did not know Papa as a man without Godrdquo (qtd

in Stoneback 105-06) Even after his marriage to Pauline Hemingway did put some

stock in Catholicism His divorce from Pauline made him excommunicated from the

Catholic Churchmdashhe could not receive communionmdashbut he still did visit Catholic

churches and pray inside During his marriage to Pauline Hemingway had faithfully and

regularly attended Mass Of his post-Pauline years Hemingway friend and biographer

AE Hotchner noted that in 1954 Hemingway on his way to Madrid stopped into the

cathedral at Burgos where he kneeled and prayed (Stoneback 106) According to

Hotchner in 1958 Hemingway paid for a new roof for the Catholic Church in Hailey

Idaho Then he gave an address to that parishrsquos young people admonishing them not to

work on Sunday as it was ldquovery back luckrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106)

Actor Gary Cooper who had played the role of Robert Jordan in the 1943 film

version of For Whom the Bell Tolls converted to Catholicism himself in 1958 In

response Hemingway ldquotalked sympathetically with Gary Cooper aboutrdquo it (Stoneback

59

106) In 1959 Hemingway was pickpocketed in Spain so in response he put an ad in

the newspaper asking the Spanish pickpocket to return his billfold as he cared mostly for

ldquogetting back the ldquoimage of St Christopher in itrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106) Throughout

his lifetime Hemingway named a son after a pope ldquodisplayed great pride in Patrickrsquos

confirmation mastery of the catechism gave money and support to the churchrdquo (110)

Ernest even taught his oldest son Bumby how to pray (L Hemingway 99) When

Hemingway received his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 he gave the medal to the

Virgen of Cobra Shrine in Cuba (Isabelle 52)

In a conversation with his fourth and final wife Mary Welsh Hemingway says to

her ldquoReligion is superstition and I believe in superstitionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 118)

Ernest adds that it is his ldquoTribal heritagerdquo (118) Mary wrote to Stoneback of Ernest that

when they would visit cathedrals in France Italy or Spain Hemingway would light

candles in honor of the memory of his friends Stoneback writes that with Ernest Mary

Hemingway had to live through a Catholic prism With Ernest Mary had to eat fish on

Fridays observe Lent do the Christmas traditions celebrate Ernestrsquos saintrsquos day have

masses and prayers said for family and friends observe holy days and Catholic feasts

drive miles off course to visit and revisit cathedrals and churches and to attend religious

processions (119) Mary Hemingway would later say that Hemingway ldquoadmiredrdquo the

Catholic church and that he ldquothought of himself always as Catholicrdquo (qtd in 119) Mary

Hemingway said of Ernestrsquos friend the Black Priest Don Andreacutes that he and

Hemingway would talk alone and that Ernest regarded him ldquoas his lsquopersonal priest and

confessorrsquo that they prayed together and for each otherrdquo (120) According to Toby

60

Bruce Hemingway and the Black Priest were very good friends they talked quite a lot

and that when Don Andreacutes died in 1955 Hemingway had masses said for him (132)

Mary said of Ernest ldquoWhen he said he was Catholic he meant itrdquo (qtd in 120)

Mary added that Ernest tried very hard at being Catholic Allen Tate said that

Hemingway was ldquovery Catholicrdquo and that his attitude towards sports was ldquorooted in

religious sensibilityrdquo (120) Tate added that it was the ritual of sport that Hemingway

liked RW Church says that Hemingwayrsquos ldquotalk during these late hours at Lips made

evident his conviction that Sport and bull-fighting in particular afforded a major way to

the redemption of manrdquo (135) Stoneback argues that for Hemingway sport is a

redemptive ritual that is central to his life and work (136) The renowned sportsman

George Leonard Herter said that although Hemingway was a strong Catholic

his ldquoreligion came mainly from the Apparitions of the Virgin Maryrdquo (121) Herter said

that Hemingway was almost obsessed with the apparitions and talked about them often

(134) Hemingway thought that they were important Hemingway did not understand

why the Catholic church did not publicize the apparitions Hemingway was amazed that

most brothers nuns and priests were ignorant of the apparitions and seemed to care even

less Herter said that he had heard Hemingway speak of the apparitions including

Lourdes Fatima and others ldquoat one time or anotherrdquo (qtd in 134) Herter says that

Hemingway believed that if there was no Bible ldquono man-made church lawsrdquo then the

apparitions conclusively proved that the Catholic church was the true church (134-35)

Herter adds that ldquoHemingway knew all the apparitions The ones at Pontmain

61

Pellivoisin Allyrod greatly impressed himrdquo (134-35) In addition Hemingway basically

believed that the Virgin Mary was earthrsquos listening post for Jesus and God (135)

Reynolds Price suggested that ldquoHemingwayrsquos lsquolifelong subjectrsquo was

lsquosaintlinessrsquordquo (121) Stoneback asserts a spiritual order to Hemingwayrsquos works in which

Hemingway examines the conscience through a Catholic lens (122) Stoneback

summarizes an October 18 1933 letter to Pauline Hemingway

tells Pauline that the proofs of Winner Take Nothing have arrived and though it is

a ldquodamned goodrdquo book itrsquos too much to expect the church will stand for it As he

sees it considering his writing the church would have two choices either kick

him out or prove he has no right to be in Either one would be bad because he

couldnrsquot tell them to ldquogo to the devilrdquo because of the ldquoItalian complicationsrdquo At

least hersquoll be able to say his prayers participate in the Mass support and

contribute to the church and wherever they donrsquot know him he can go to

confession He does not want to seem to be seeking ldquoappuirdquo as a ldquoCatholic

writerrdquo He says that he has no right to write the way he does and be ldquolsquoofficially

of the Churchrsquordquo Everything is fine with his conscience however he adds that

therersquos nothing wrong with the church (Stoneback 129-30)

Stoneback summarizes an interview with Fraser Drew As Stoneback

summarizes Hemingway told Drew

I [Hemingway] like to think that Irsquom a Catholic as far as I can be I can still go to

Mass although many things have happenedmdashthe divorces the marriages He

spoke with admiration of Catholicism and then of his friend the Basque priest

62

whom he had known in Spain [Don Andreacutes] and who now lived in San Francisco

de Paula He comes here a great deal said EH He prays for me every day as I

do for him I canrsquot pray for myself any more Perhaps itrsquos because in some way I

have become hardened Or perhaps it is because the self becomes less important

and others become more important But that Time article was bad He referred to

a recent article in Time which had commented that he had been born a

Congregationalist had become a Roman Catholic and now no longer went to

church This conversation with EH confirms my earlier feeling that he is a

religious man with respect for the religions of others (Stoneback 131)

Toby Bruce said of Hemingway and religion ldquoIrsquod say he was very religious Always

went to Mass especially when he was here still with Pauline And afterwards toordquo (qtd

in 132) Bruce added ldquoHe was a real Catholic and I think he tried very hard to be a good

Catholic Who knows for sure Yes he was he planned to donate a considerable sum

toward the restoration of the Mary Immaculate Convent Donrsquot know if he did I guess

Irsquod say he was a good Catholic Donrsquot know what the church would say about itrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 132-33)

Hemingway would cross himselfmdasheven after the 1930s (133) George Herter

wrote ldquoHemingway was a Catholic in those days when the Catholic Church was a church

instead of a mass of confusion The fact that he had been a steady marrying and divorce

type didnrsquot bother Ernest at all in his views on Catholicism I knew Ernest only had

his religion in his very shaky worldrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) George Herter responded

to HR Stoneback in a letter about Hemingway ldquoI repeat he was a very strong Catholic

63

He had complete faith in God Jesus the Virgin Holy Ghost guardian angels Much

more so than nearly all Catholics I have known He was a traditional Catholic as we

all were at the timerdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) In another letter from Herter to Stoneback

dated February 23 1978 Herter writes ldquoHemingway was a strong Catholic He had a

very good knowledge of early Christianity He did not attend Mass regularly He

believed the churchrsquos stand on divorce was right although he was divorced many times

He often stated that he was a poor example of a Catholic but offered no excusesrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 134-35) Stoneback asked a Key West resident what he thought of

Hemingwayrsquos religion The man responded ldquoHemingway was very religious went to

Mass early in the morning with Pauline You could tell he was religious when he fed

the cats the way he looked at the skyrdquo (136)

Yet in his last years of life Hemingway said some very anti-Catholic and anti-

Christian things For instance married to his last wife Mary Ernest said in an interview

to Lillian Ross of the possibility of an afterlife ldquoOnly suckers worry about saving their

soulsrdquo (qtd in Ross 50) Hemingway continued ldquoWho the hell should care about saving

his soul when it is a manrsquos duty to lose it intelligently the way you would sell a position

you were not defending if you could not hold it as expensively as possible trying to

make it the most expensive position that was ever soldrdquo (50) Gregory Hemingway

recounted something similar Gregory said that his father didnrsquot genuinely believe in

organized religion and that his father ldquomade it clear he didnrsquot believe in an afterlife He

did finally believe in a superior beingrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 186) Although Hemingway

didnrsquot believe that it was necessary to save onersquos soul he did contemplate the soul As a

64

boy Hemingway had thought that his soul had blown out of him once and it had returned

to his body (First Light 172) Hemingway claimed ignorance of the soul and he didnrsquot

know if it existed nor if anyone he knew anything about it Hemingway ponders the

soul ldquoProbably a spring of clear fresh water that never diminished in drought and never

froze in the winter was closest to what we had instead of the soul they all talked aboutrdquo

(172) As a boy Hemingway assumed that he had a soul but as he grew older and jaded

he wasnrsquot sure anymore Hemingway thinks that death ends things Yet he ponders that

perhaps only really religious people have souls (172-173) Of a belief in an afterlife for

the soul as heaven or hell Hemingway had his own opinions of that On July 1 1925

Hemingway creatively wrote to F Scott Fitzgerald of his vision of heaven

To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a

trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in and two lovely

houses in the town one where I would have my wife and children and be

monogamous and love them truly and well and the other where I would have my

nine beautiful mistresses on 9 different floors Then there would be a fine

church like in Pamplona where I could go and be confessed on the way from one

house to the other and I would get on my horse and ride out with my son to my

bull ranch named Hacienda Hadley and toss coins to all my illegitimate children

that lined the road I would write out at the Hacienda and send my son in to lock

the chastity belts onto my mistresses because someone had just galloped up with

the news that a notorious monogamist named Fitzgerald had been seen riding

65

toward the town at the head of a company of strolling drinkers (Hemingway in

Katakis 37)

However after his World War I injury Ernest wrote his family

You know they say there isnrsquot anything funny about this war and there isnrsquot I

wouldnrsquot say that it was hell because thatrsquos been a bit overworked since General

Shermanrsquos time but there have been about eight times when I would have

welcomed hell just on a chance it couldnrsquot come up to the phase of war I was

experiencing (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 166-67)

So if there was a hell Hemingway didnrsquot believe that it was worse than the horrors of

war Of his past Hemingway did have regrets He wrote ldquoThis past was never my past

life which truly bores me to think about and is often very distasteful due to the mistakes

that I have made and the casualties to various human beings involvedrdquo (Hemingway in

White 466)

The question of the soul comes up continually in the works of Hemingway In

ldquoNow I Lay Merdquo Nick Adams tries not to go to sleep at night because he is afraid like

Hemingway was that his soul is going to leave his body in the dark This all stems from

a battlefield injury and experience that Nick had when his soul temporarily left his body

Nick relates ldquoI had been that way [not sleeping at night] for a long time ever since I had

been blown up at night and felt it [his soul] go out of me and go off and then come back

I tried never to think about it but it had started to go since in the nights just at the

moment of going off to sleep and I could only stop it by a very great effortrdquo (Short

Stories 276)

66

Yet Nick doesnrsquot fear his soul leaving him during the day time Hemingway also

had a similar experience with his wounding at Fossalta According to Leicester

Hemingway Ernest once told Guy Hickok of this near-death experience ldquoI felt my soul

or something coming right out of my body like yoursquod pull a silk handkerchief out of a

pocket by one corner It flew around and then came back and went in again and I wasnrsquot

dead any morerdquo (56) Hemingway gives Frederic Henry the same experience in A

Farewell to Arms After the explosion that caused his wounding Henry says that

I tried to breathe but my breath would not come and I felt myself rush bodily out

of myself and out and out and out and all the time bodily in the wind I went out

swiftly all of myself and I knew I was dead and that it had all been a mistake to

think you just died Then I floated and instead of going on I felt myself slide

back I breathed and I was back (47)

Hemingway later referred to his Christian upbringing as ldquothat ton of shit we are

all fed when we are youngrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) Michael Reynolds makes the claim that

in Ernestrsquos youth fishing was his religion (118) However Archie MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoActually he was one of the most profoundly and spiritually powerful

creatures I have ever knownrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 158)

In The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway paints the old man Santiago as a

Christ figure There is so much Christian symbolism in this tale that the story can be

thought of as a parable The name Santiago literally means Saint James in Spanish

(Baker 293) In the Bible James was one of Jesusrsquo brothers Baker says of Santiago that

he ldquoshows in his own right certain qualities of mind and heart which are clearly

67

associated with the character and personality of Jesus Christ in the Gospel storiesrdquo (299)

Like Christ Santiago is able to ldquoignore physical painrdquo while focusing on the larger

objective goal to be gained in the end (299) There is an allusion to Christ on the cross

when Santiago in fighting for his prize ldquosettled comfortably against the wood and took

his suffering as it camerdquo (Old Man Sea 64) Like a horizontal cross-beam across Christrsquos

back Santiago has the cord tightened taught across his back (Backman 10 Old Man Sea

67) Santiago carries the burdensome weight of the fish on his back and he is even

burned by the cord because of it (Old Man Sea 82) The wood the suffering and

Santiagorsquos gentleness according to Melvin Backman blends ldquomagically into an image of

Christ on the crossrdquo (10) Three other Christ-like qualities that Santiago has are his

compassion his humility and his natural piety (Baker 299-300) Santiago has

compassion on certain animals that he encounters and of some fish that he catchesmdashlike

the giant marlin In his struggle with the marlin Santiago says ldquoI love you and respect

you very much But I will kill you dead before this day endsrdquo (Old Man Sea 54) After

he has killed the fish Santiago thinks ldquoYou loved him when he was alive and you loved

him after If you love him it is not a sin to kill himrdquo (105) Before killing the fish

Santiago ponders ldquoI wish I could feed the fish He is my brother But I must kill him

and keep strong to do itrdquo (59) Santiago thinks of his humility ldquoHe was too simple to

wonder when he had attained humility But he knew he had attained it and he knew it

was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true priderdquo (13-14) Santiago demonstrates

his pride when his disciple Manolo touts him as the best fisherman and he plays it down

by saying that he knows of better ones (23) Manolo claims ldquoQueacute va [No way] But

68

there is only yourdquo (23) Santiagorsquos piety is observed in that he prays when he feels and

senses the need and that his prayers are never oaths For example in trying to catch the

giant marlin Santiago says aloud ldquoNow that I have him coming so beautifully God help

me endure Irsquoll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys But I cannot say

them nowrdquo (87) Santiagorsquos prayers are never careless nor does he make them profane

He is reverent

As Christ had disciples so Santiago has his disciple Manolo Like Christ

Santiago is a teacher in that he was taught Manolo how to fish Christ was a fisher of

men Santiago is a traditional fisherman Manolo loves Santiago because of his teaching

Manolo how to fish and he admires and looks up to Santiago as a second father figure

Before Santiago goes out on his big marlin hunt Manolo says to him ldquoIf I cannot fish

with you I would like to serve in some wayrdquo (12) Manolo wants to be loyal to Santiago

Before his big marlin catch Santiago had had two previous eighty-seven day periods

where he went without a fish After the first period Santiago and Manolo had caught big

fish every day for three weeks GR Wilson Jr likens these three weeks to Christrsquos three

years of ministry where he fished for men and taught his disciples to fish for men (370)

At the start of Old Man Santiago had not caught a fish for eighty-four days The Old

Man and the Sea takes place over three days so this makes the second eighty-seven day

period In the Bible Christ demonstrated his divine authority by performing miracles

Wilson notes that Manolo has faith in the old man stemming from the miracle of the

three weeksrsquo bounty that he and Santiago had caught In addition according to Isabelle

Santiago ldquohooks the fish at noon and at noon of third day he kills itrdquo (77) This is just

69

like Christ who died and in three days rose again Isabelle adds that the marlin was

ldquolanded on the seventh attemptrdquo and that ldquoseven sharks were killedrdquo in the fishrsquos defense

(78) The number seven is a sacred and significant number recurring in the Bible After

the seventh day of creation God rested there are seven days in a week et cetera

(Easton) The number seven is also seen as symbolizing perfection and rest

Another similarity of Santiago with Christ are the wounds that he receives on his

hands On the cross Christ was pierced in each hand to help keep him pinned to the

cross In his battle with the fish Santiago receives bad cutsmdashstigmatamdashon his hands

Santiago sees his hands as brothers and he often talks to them Carlos Baker explains that

Santiago ldquospeaks to them [his hands] as to fellow-sufferers wills them to do the work

they must do and makes due allowances for them as if they were what he once calls

them lsquomy brothersrsquordquo (313) Once he says aloud ldquoHersquos [the fish] coming up Come

on hand Please come onrdquo (Old Man Sea 62) The hands also represent good and bad

The right hand is good and the left hand is bad Santiagorsquos hands are compared to the

criminals on the crosses to the left and right of Jesus who was on his own cross in the

center Santiagorsquos right hand is his good one Santiago thought that his left hand ldquohad

always been a traitor and would not do what he called on it to do and he did not trust itrdquo

(71) Luke 2339 reads ldquoOne of the criminals who were hanged railed at him [Jesus]

saying lsquoAre you not the Christ Save yourself and usrsquordquo (English Standard Version) So

Santiagorsquos left hand is untrustworthy Santiagorsquos right hand is so reliable that he quit

arm-wrestling despite being ldquoEl Campeoacutenrdquo in order to keep his right hand in good

condition as a tool of his trade fishing (70-71) The thief on Jesusrsquo right rebukes the

70

other criminal Then in Luke 2342 the thief on the right of Jesus asks Jesus ldquoJesus

remember me when you come into your kingdomrdquo (English Standard Version) Jesus

assures this repentant thief that that day the thief will be with him in paradise

Santiagorsquos right hand is like the penitent thief on the cross to Jesusrsquo right This analogy

can also be applied to the Last Judgment At the Last Judgment the saved will be on the

right hand of the Savior while those who are rejected and damned will be on his left

(Baker 314)

When Santiago sees two sharks approaching he says ldquoAyrdquo (Old Man Sea 107)

Hemingway explains of this exclamation that ldquoThere is no translation for this word and

perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make involuntarily feeling the nail go

through his hands and into the woodrdquo (107) Given his affinity and brotherhood with the

marlin when Santiago sees his prize catch eaten by the sharks it is a mortifying terrible

and crucifying experience for him Through Santiagorsquos crucifixion experience he is

transfigured Baker says that Santiagorsquos experience is also a form of martyrdom

although Santiago doesnrsquot see himself as a martyr (315) Baker also suggests that

Santiagorsquos experience also renders to him a form of apotheosis (316) Backman suggests

that Santiago triumphs (11) On his return voyage to Cuba Santiago ldquocould hardly

breathe now and he felt a strange taste in his mouth It was coppery and sweet and he

was afraid of it for a moment But there was not much of itrdquo (Old Man Sea 119) This

can be likened to Christ when he receives and drinks the ldquosponge filled with vinegarrdquo or

sour wine in Matthew 2748 (Baker 319) When Santiago returns to Cuba he has dried

blood on his face reminiscent of the blood on Christrsquos face because of the crown of

71

thorns Having arrived back everybody is asleep and nobody is there to greet or help

him He only sees a meandering cat Like Christ on the cross when God forsook him

because of the load of sin that he was carrying Santiago is alone in his suffering ldquoThere

was no one to help him so he pulled the boat up as far as he couldrdquo (Old Man Sea 120)

Removing the mast and sail Santiago ldquoshouldered the mast and started to climbrdquo (121)

This is like Christ carrying the heavy cross (Backman 11) Santiago ldquostarted to climb

again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder He

tried to get up But it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder and

looked at the roadrdquo (Old Man Sea 121) This is similar to Christ stumbling and falling as

he carried his cross on the Via Dolorosa on the way to his crucifixion at Golgotha Like

Christ Santiago falls under the burden he is bearing

Back at his shack Santiago lays down to sleep ldquoHe pulled the blanket over his

shoulders and then over his back and legs and he slept face down on the newspapers with

his arms out straight and the palms of his hands uprdquo (121-22) Baker notes that Santiago

sleeps in a cruciform position that sums up ldquothe symbolic position naturally assumed all

the suffering through which he has passedrdquo (320) In his return Santiago also brings

evidence of his epic battlegood work to increase the faith of his disciple Manolo

(Wilson 371) Wilson asserts that Santiago is on his death-bed when Manolo finds him

(372) The eighty-seventh day of this second period ends on Ascension Day as it began

on Ash Wednesday and ldquoconstitutes all but the last ten days of the Easter Cycle from

Lent through Paschal tiderdquo (369-70) As Mary cried over Christ at the tomb Manolo

returns to Santiagorsquos shanty sees the old manrsquos hands and starts to cry (Old Man Sea

72

122) Wilson also asserts that Santiago matches up with Joseph Campbellrsquos archetypal

model for a ldquohero with a thousand facesrdquo (372) For example Santiago starts out on his

journey or calling with the aid of the helper Manolo Santiago ldquocrosses the threshold of

adventure and meets a trial that can take many forms including the brother-battle

dragon-battle crucifixion and a night-sea journey all of which can be seen as applying

in some way to the old fishermanrdquo (372) The mythic-like story culminates in a ldquosacred

marriagerdquo between Santiago and his prize marlin (372) Fellow writer William Although

Hemingway was not a good nor a professing Christian and for most of his life claimed to

be Catholic he was not a reformed believer Hemingway still continued to be

Hemingway Despite all this according to Carlos Baker ldquoThe consciousness of God is

in his booksrdquo (328)

73

74

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

Hemingway wanted to be a good man and a great writer but unfortunately he

did not turn out to be a good manmdashalthough he had his moments of goodness Although

he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not transform him He did not

have a salvation experience nor was his faith life-altering As a Catholic Hemingway

continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Hemingwayrsquos religious

life was one solely of Catholic rituals He did not overcome his problems In the end his

problems overcame him Hemingway himself said of his heart ldquoActually in regard to the

innermost contents of my heart probably a most foul place I would rather have a good

cardiograph reportrdquo (Hemingway in White 459) Hemingway added ldquoNo one of us lives

by as rigid standards nor has a good ethics as we planned but an attempt is maderdquo (461)

Hemingway was vindictive against his critics Hemingway viewed most fellow

writers as enemies if they were not officially his enemy he eventually went about to

convert them into his enemies Hemingway wanted to be the top dog of everythingmdash

especially the writing scenemdashand he didnrsquot want to share the spotlight with anyone else

Ernest felt ldquothat anyone elsersquos success diminished his ownrdquo (Hawkins 61) Hemingwayrsquos

writer friend Sherwood Anderson was the one in Chicago to suggest that Hemingway

and his newly-married first wife Hadley Richardson go to Paris instead of their planned

destination of Italy Anderson told the young Hemingway that Paris was where the

literary world was at that time and that it was also the place to get published This advice

75

was instrumental into turning Hemingway into the famed writer that he became Had it

not been for Anderson and his encouragement and faith in Hemingway Hemingway may

have never became a Nobel Prize winning writer Anderson gave Hemingway letters of

introduction to Gertrude Stein Sylvia Beach Ezra Pound and F Scott Fitzgerald Like

Harold Loeb Anderson also helped in getting Hemingwayrsquos In Our Time published

stressing its importance to Boni amp Liveright (Dearborn 177) Since Anderson pushed In

Our Time Boni amp Liveright did not want to upset itrsquos star writer so they agreed to

publish it (Hawkins 39)

However after all was said and done Hemingway wrote his satire Torrents of

Spring mocking Andersonrsquos writing style in order to try to get laughs and in order to get

out of his contract with his publisher Boni amp Liveright It worked Torrents of Spring

was rejected by Boni amp Liveright because Anderson was the companyrsquos star writer So

in lieu of this Hemingway was able to sign with Max Perkins and the publisher

Scribnerrsquos and Sons Yet in the process Hemingway had burned his bridge of friendship

with Anderson who had been so generous and helpful with the young budding writer

Others who knew of Andersonrsquos graciousness and kindness to Hemingway were appalled

by Torrents of Spring (Hawkins 44)

Hemingway was anti-Semitic mean and demeaning to people he berated them

and belittled them He thought that all guys should be macho Hemingway was not pure

evil but the evil produced by his unpredictable and uncontrollable temper pushed a lot of

peoplemdasheven one-time friendsmdashaway from him Archibald MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoHe was wonderful irreplaceable but an impossible friend a man you

76

couldnt get along with a man you couldnt get along withoutrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 167)

Robert Capa once told Leicester Hemingway ldquoPapa can be more severe than God on

a rough day when the whole human race is misbehavingrdquo (192) Hemingway was his

own worst enemy

Hemingway was not a good Catholic He was married four times and even

divorced a Catholic woman whom he later called his best wife (L Hemingway 271) It

is speculated that Hemingway had affairs with multiple women Hemingway would have

affairs before marrying his last two or three wives Hemingwayrsquos son Jack ldquoBumbyrdquo

Hemingway surmised that Hemingway had an affair with the beautiful blond Jane

Mason in 1933 (Hawkins 152) According to Jack ldquoErnest bragged to him that Jane

liked climbing through the transom to his [Hemingwayrsquos] room at the Ambos Mundos

Hotelrdquo (153) Moreover a prostitute was known to have visited the Finca Vigiacutea

Although Hemingway was Catholic he didnrsquot really change his behavior to live

in sync with the Bible or all Catholic teachings He followed the rituals of the Church

not so much a personal transformative side Yet claiming to be Catholic Hemingway

lived by his own code In the end although Hemingway was not a good person he had

some good memories of a childhood growing up and some good experiences as an adult

Even with his bad experiences Hemingway was able to incorporate them into his

literature Hemingwayrsquos keen insight his precise powers of observation his absorption

of the knowledge gained from others and the Protestant work ethic of his youth paid off

as Hemingway put all of his being into trying to be an honest writer writing one true

sentence at a time and helping his audience to see the world through open and honest

77

eyes to help his readers see feel and almost literally experience first-hand what he was

writing aboutmdashthe good the bad and the ugly Though a flawed human being

Hemingway was a brilliant writer and his brilliance lives on through his works of

literature

WORKS CITED

75

WORKS CITED

Backman Melvin ldquoHemingway The Matador and the Crucifiedrdquo Modern Fiction

Studies 13 (1955) 2-11

Baker Carlos Hemingway the Writer as Artist Princeton Princeton University Press

1963 Print

Berman Ron ldquoProtestant Catholic Jew The Sun Also Risesrdquo The Hemingway

Review 181 (1998) 33 Web

Blume Lesley MM Everybody Behaves Badly the True Story Behind Hemingwayrsquos

Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises Boston Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016

Print

Cohn-Sherbok Dan Anti-Semitism Brimscombe Port Stroud The History Press 2002

Print

Dearborn Mary V Ernest Hemingway a Biography New York Alfred A Knopf

2017 Print

Di Robilant Andrea Autumn in Venice Ernest Hemingway and his Last Muse New

York Alfred A Knopf 2018 Print

Djos Matts ldquoAlcoholism in Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises A Wine and Roses

Perspective on the Lost Generationrdquo The Hemingway Review 142 (1995) 64

Easton MG Illustrated Bible Dictionary 3rd ed Thomas Nelson 1897 Bible Study

Toolscom Web 1 Dec 2018

ESV Study Bible English Standard Version Wheaton Crossway Bibles 2008 Print

3

Representations In addition Foucault seemed to learn from this group Foucaultrsquos

ldquomost identifiable legacy in American literary studiesrdquo was new historicism (370)

New historicism claims to represent the real by defining the real as the textual

(360) According to Harpham ldquoLiterature is traditionally said to produce an lsquoethicalrsquo

effect through its ability to transcend its historical momentrdquo (374) Harpham says that the

real is defined as the local the material and the specific He also notes that ldquoA lsquonewrsquo

historicism promises knowledge of the past that really is knowledge that discloses the

object as in itself it really was that is not simply a reflex or internal mirroring of

contemporary self-awarenessrdquo (362) It is the goal of the new historicist to be objective

instead of subjective For instance the subjective seeks to define history through

personal tastes feelings and opinions New historicism is the opposed to this New

historicism seeks to present the past as it really was without the modern biases and

prejudices of those currently researching it New historicism tries to see through the eyes

and minds of the people who actually lived through and experienced history It tries to

understand the mindset and the feelings of the people of the time period in question

What people thought and how people thought is important Todayrsquos current beliefs

should be left out of the mix Past beliefs are essential to understanding the thinking

processes of the past

4

The Cultural Context and Overview of the Chapters To Follow

Ernest Hemingway was a man of his times Like many of his Lost Generation

after the Great War (in particular) he abandoned the faith of his youth although he quite

possibly did earlier World War I cemented this rejection In Hemingwayrsquos twenties he

married and then committed adultery According to Hemingway biographer Mary V

Dearborn he liked to marry those with whom he slept Hemingway started attending

religious services again after his second marriage to the rich Catholic Pauline Pfeiffer

Hemingway lived as an expat in Paris during the Roaring 20s Hemingwayrsquos friends

were newspapermen artists and writers Paris was hedonistic in those days After the

carnage and terror of World War I the returning Lost Generation just wanted to live life

to the utmost and the fullest In early-twentieth-century Paris Hemingway lived in an

atmosphere of lax morals Anything went In consequence he conformed to the culture

around him Some of Hemingwayrsquos literary friends were anti-Semitic Perhaps they

influenced him but Hemingway eventually showed signs of anti-Semitism too

Moreover some of the authors that Hemingway read especially as he was trying to

become a better writer were anti-Semitic themselves Living in predominantly Catholic

France converting to Catholicism at the insistence of his second wife was an easy task

for Hemingway Many of his friends were CatholicmdashJames Joyce being one At the

time Hemingway was just a conforming product of the culture and attitudes of those

around him He wanted to fit it inmdashhe wanted to be one of the boysmdashyet throughout his

life and his writing he was haunted by death and he wanted to find a spiritual solution to

his many struggles

5

Chapter 2 investigates Hemingway and Judaism and Chapter 3 centers on

Hemingway and Christianity In Chapter 4 the author argues that although he didnrsquot turn

out to be a good person and was vindictive against fellow writers critics and others

Hemingway was a good writer and used all his experiences good and bad to bring across

the truth and reality of life in his works of literature Hemingwayrsquos last novel Old Man

and the Sea provides the clearest statement of his spiritual and religious perspective

6

CHAPTER 2

HEMINGWAY AND JUDIASM

Historical Overview of Judaism

Anti-Semitism or hatred of Jews has been around since the rise of Judaism In

the Old Testament Pharaoh was the first political leader known to persecute the Jews

Pharaoh was concerned with the growing Jewish population and their loyalty Among

many other things he tried to kill Jewish ldquofirst-born sonsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 13) Next in

the Old Testament Haman tried to have the Jews killed off under Queen Esther

However most scholars agree that anti-Semitism came into its own in the years after

Christ left this earth For example Dan Cohn-Sherbok argues that ldquoit was only when

Christianity emerged in the first century CE that Jews came to be viewed as contemptible

and demonicrdquo (17)

Unfortunately the intensity of anti-Semitism in Christianity was mainly due to

misinterpretation In earlier centuries AD people could not read Scripture for themselves

and they were consequently misled In those days people had faith in and trusted the

Catholic Church seeing the pope as infallible Some misinterpreted Scripture to say that

the Jews were responsible for Christrsquos death However Scripture emphasizes that Christ

died for all so consequently he died for everyone If one looks at it from that point of

view then everyone past present and future were are and will be responsible for

Christrsquos death Yet some didnrsquot look at it that way In fact the Apostle Paul went out of

his way to preach and try to reach Jews first

7

Paul wrote in Romans 116 ldquoFor I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the

power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the

Greekrdquo (English Standard Version) John 422 reads ldquoYou worship what you do not

know we [Jews] worship what we know for salvation is from the Jewsrdquo In Romans

1117-18 Paul suggests that Gentile believers are just grafted into the Jewish promise ldquoIf

some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive were grafted in

among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree [then] do

not be arrogant toward the branches but if you are arrogant remember that it is not you

who supports the root but the root supports yourdquo Unfortunately some uninformed

early Christians did not put two and two together For some it was believed that the

Christian Church took the place of Israel which isnrsquot accurate Some believed that ldquothe

Church was the true inheritor of Godrsquos promisesrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 45) It was

believed that Jews no longer had a covenant with God and that Christians had completely

overshadowed and replaced Israel in that covenant This is not true

Acts 1346 reads of preaching to the Jews first ldquoIt was necessary that the word of

God be spoken to you firstrdquo Jesus also a Jew promoted preaching to the Jews first In

Matthew 125-6 Jesus says to the twelve disciples ldquoGo nowhere among the Gentiles and

enter no town of the Samaritans but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israelrdquo

(English Standard Version) In Matthew 1524 Jesus says ldquoI was sent only to the lost

sheep of the house of Israelrdquo (English Standard Version) The first Christians were a

group of Jews Jews were different so eventually urban legends sprang up without

accurate facts and the knowledge of Judaismrsquos teachings some people latched onto these

8

false assumptions and believed the lies that others were propagating about the Jews For

instance Jews were accused of murdering Christian children and then using their blood

for ritual practices It was believed that Jews used the blood of murdered Christian

children ldquoin the preparation of unleavened bread for Passoverrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 54) The

ritual murder charge was a misunderstanding (81) In fact in the fourteenth century

Jews were accused of bringing about the Black Death by poisoning the wells and springs

(60 67) This assertion first gained credence in southern France (81) Yet Jews suffered

and died under the Black Death as well This is an example of the Jews being blamed as

scapegoats

In the early Church the Bishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom accused the

early Hebrews of sacrificing ldquotheir sons and daughters to demons andrdquo eating their own

children (37 47) Chrysostom said of synagogues ldquoto go there was no better than

visiting a brothel a robberrsquos den or any indecent place [it is] a theatre a house of

prostitution and domicile of the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom said that the Jews ldquohave

surpassed the ferocity of wild beasts since they murder their offspring and immolate

them to the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom also accused the Jews of worshipping the devil Yet

Jeremiah 313b reads in reference to Israel ldquoI have loved you with an everlasting love

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to yourdquo (English Standard Version) If so-

called Christians would have accurately read this during this period they would have

seen that God loves his people and his nation Israel But some Christians thought that

the Christian Church entirely replaced Godrsquos Covenant with the Jews Consequently

Chrysostom said that Christians must hate the Jews (Cohn-Sherbok 47) Yet hatred is an

9

anti-Christian doctrine In Matthew 544 Jesus says ldquoBut I say to you Love your

enemies and pray for those who persecute

yourdquo (English Standard Version)

False conceptions of the Jews even seemed to be found among some of the

Church Fathers Some of the Church Fathers were frustrated that the Jews would not

convert to Christianity nor would they renounce their Judaism In some cases the quest

for converts became a competition Cohn-Sherbok writes ldquoDuring the same period

Tertullian the African Church Father called the synagogues of his day lsquofountains of

persecution of Christiansrsquordquo (46) Justin Martyr ldquorelated that Jews laugh curse and insult

Jesusrdquo (46) Jerome referred to Jews as Judases (47) In fact Judas was thought to be

ldquosymbolic of the Jewish peoplerdquo (84) In the New Testament ldquothe figure of Judas

was associated in the public mind with deviousness and treacheryrdquo (83)

Desecration of the communion host became another false charge against the Jews

as the then-Christians believed in the doctrine of transubstantiation In the doctrine of

transubstantiation the communion bread and wine (of the Eucharist) literally becomes

the body and blood of Jesus During this time it was believed that Jews stole the host in

order ldquoto assault it and thereby torture Christrdquo (80) The charge of desecration of the

Host was a hallucinatory fantasy (82) However the Jews did not believe in the Doctrine

of Transubstantiation which was affirmed at Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 (80) Only

Catholics believe this doctrine today Since the Jews did not believe in

transubstantiation they would in all likelihood not have attacked the host because they

10

couldnrsquot believe that they were actually attacking Christ in the process Desecration of

the Host was a wild belief and a total fantasy

In some cases the Talmud was burned because it was believed to be anti-

Christian Agobard Archbishop of Lyons believed that Jews stole Christian children

and sold them to Arabs (64) He also believed that Jews seduced Christian women All

sorts of wild beliefs developed about Jews many without factual basis It was all

conjecture and imagination In Germany ldquoa French monk Radulph went about preaching

that Jews were enemies of God and should be persecutedrdquo (65) As previously

mentioned the Jews were scapegoats they were blamed for everything During the

witch-hunting crazed days of the fifteenth century Jews were seen as being in cahoots

with witches and the devil (71) During this time it was believed that the Jews were born

misshapen hemorrhoidal and both sexes afflicted with menstruation In Trnava

Slovakia it was believed that Christian blood was an excellent means by which ldquoto cure

the wound produced by circumcisionrdquo (71)

For the duration of the Middle Ages ldquoChristians viewed Jews as sorcerers able to

cast spells against their enemiesrdquo (72) It was believed consequently that the Jews were

capable of working magic against Christians During the Black Death it was also

believed that Jews wanted to poison Christians In fact ldquoJews were accused of using

Christian blood for magical purposesrdquo (73) The little contact that these early Christians

had with Jews also led to their paranoia viewing the Jews as an alien mysterious and

strange people (74) Urban legends seemed to sprout up due to the lack of knowledge

Ignorance of Jews reigned

11

Jewish medicine too became suspect It was claimed that high rulers were killed

off through Jewish medicine During the Middle Ages the Vienna Faculty of Medicine

thought that ldquothe private code of Jewish doctors required them to murder one patient in

tenrdquo (77) Jews were eventually thought to possess attributes of the devil The Jews

ldquowere perceived as having horns tails and the beard of a goat and could be recognized

by their noxious smell the foetor judaiumlcusrdquo (79) Consequently the Jews were seen as

sub-human It was believed that Jews lacked morality anything went with them Jews

were so despised that they were exiled from countries At different times Spain France

and England expelled their Jewish populations In some instances they were invited

back

The charges against Jews were grotesque fantasies Tracts were written against

the Jews One such read of the Jews ldquolsquoDemons from hell race of the Jews detestable

men more accursed than Lucifer and more wicked than all the devils cruel tigers be

gone unworthy as you are to live among us when you thirst so for bloodrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 86)

Martin Luther at first favored the Jews writing a pamphlet That Christ was Born

a Jew However after he was unable to convert the Jews to his Protestant Reformed

Christian faith he became anti-Semitic So ldquoLuther stressed that they [the Jews] are the

most contemptible of all peoplesrdquo (90) Luther wrote ldquorsquomake no mistake that aside from

the Devil you have no enemy more venomous more desperate more bitter than a true

Jew who truly seeks to be a Jewrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90) Moreover ldquoMartin Luther

speculated that if the Jews could kill Christians they would gladly do sordquo (73)

12

Of the Jews Luther believed that ldquoThose who tolerate them [the Jews] will incur

great loss lsquoWhoever wishes to accept venomous serpents desperate enemies of the Lord

and to honour them to let himself be robbed pillaged corrupted and cursed by them

need only turn to the Jewsrsquordquo (90) Luther suggested of the Jews ldquoTheir synagogues

should be set on fire and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over

with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of itrdquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 90) Luther wrote ldquoTheir [Jewsrsquo] homes should likewise be broken down and

destroyed For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues

they should be deprived of their prayerbooks [sic] and Talmud in which idolatry lies

cursing and blasphemy are taught their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death

to teach any morerdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther also wrote ldquoPassport and travelling privileges should be absolutely

forbidden to the Jews They ought to be stopped from usury Let the young and

strong Jews and Jewesses be given the flail the axe the hoe the spade the distaff and

spindle and let them earn their bread by the sweat of their browrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok

90) Luther called the Jews an ldquoinsufferable devilish burdenrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther said that Jews were ldquochildren of the Devil condemned to the flames of hellrdquo (qtd

in Cohn-Sherbok 91) Luther believed that the Jews should be despised Luther even

thought that ldquothe Jews are worse than the devilsrdquo (91) Luther saw the Jews as

ldquoinstigators of social and economic corruptionrdquo (94) Luther thought that the Jews

wanted to ldquodestroy Christian civilizationrdquo (95)

13

Luther saw himself in a fight against Satan in the Jews Despite Lutherrsquos anti-

Semitism a good thing did emerge out of the Protestant Reformation Scripture was

translated into the common vernacular so that literate people could see what the Bible

said for themselves instead taking a priestrsquos or a popersquos word for it This led to literate

Christians seeing the Jews through the lens of Scripture instead of through anti-Jewish

sermons and hear-say from church leaders

In Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century the Jews were seen as favoring political

revolution and as having played a role in the revolutionary activities of the era (231)

This viewpoint started after the revolutions of 1848 (244) and it is not entirely off the

mark For example Karl Marx was a Jew Although not all Jews were revolutionaries

Nicholas Reynolds says that ldquoMore than a few Russian revolutionaries were Jewish one

reaction to the state-sanctioned anti-Semitism and the resulting pogroms that occurred

with frightening regularityrdquo (Writer Sailor Solider Spy 72) Capitalism also came to be

associated with the Jewsmdashparticularly its vices (Cohn-Sherbok 248) In the United

States the Jews were blamed for the Russian Revolution (231) There was fear of the

Jews or Judaeophobia A writer that Hemingway read was the anti-Semitic Fyodor

Dostoyevsky Perhaps this helped to influence Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

Dostoyevsky wrote ldquoLike a vast tightening net the power of assimilated Jewry stretches

over the whole world and no matter where we set foot we are caught in it We must

struggle to our last drop of blood against the insidious Judaization of Europe and

especially of Germanismrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 232)

14

In 1912 the Marconi Affair hit Great Britain Two leading Jewish politicians

Rufus Isaacs and Herbert Samuels were implicated in this corruption scandal

Eyewitness reported ldquoIsaacsrsquo brother is the president of the Marconi Company Isaacs

and Samuels have privately arranged to have the British people pay the Marconi

Company a considerable sum of money through the intermediary of Samuels and for

Isaacsrsquo benefitrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 236) In wake of the Marconi Affair one of

Hemingwayrsquos early favorite writers Rudyard Kipling ldquodedicated a hymn of hate to the

affairrdquo (236) Like the biblical greedy and crafty servant (of the prophet Elisha) Gehazi

who is punished with leprosy for his sins Kiplingrsquos poem ldquowas intended to illustrate the

cunning of these Jewish [Marconi] politiciansrdquo (236)

Once America made its foray into World War I ldquoJews were seen as participants

in international conspiracyrdquo (240) Americans thought that the Jews might be part of the

Russian Revolution In the literary world ldquoa number of writers commented on the evil

influence of Jewryrdquo (241) Hemingwayrsquos one-time-friend and literary mentor F Scott

Fitzgerald was one such example In fact Fitzgerald negatively portrayed New York

Jewish merchants in his novel The Beautiful and the Damned

Down in a tall busy street he read a dozen Jewish names on a line of stores In

the door of each stood a dark little man [Jew] watching the passersby with intent

eyes eyes gleaming with suspicion with pride with clarity with cupidity with

comprehension New Yorkmdashhe could not dissociate it now from the slow

upward creep of this people The little stores growing expanding consolidating

15

moving watched over with hawkrsquos eyes and a beersquos attention to detail (qtd in

Cohn-Sherbok 241)

This anti-Semitic view of Jews could have influenced Hemingway whether he read the

book or if Fitzgerald made his anti-Semitic views known to Hemingway The same

could be said of Ezra Pound Ezra Pound was a big anti-Semite and one of Hemingwayrsquos

friends It could be questioned if Ezra Pound influenced Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

In July of 1943 Pound was indicted for treason due to his anti-Semitic pro-Fascist radio

broadcasts from Italy (Dearborn 491) Poundrsquos radio broadcasts ldquowere shocking even

vilemdashhe recommended The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf he spoke of

the lsquo60 kikes who started this warrsquo and asserted lsquoThe Jew is a savagersquordquo (491) Later

due to Hemingwayrsquos suggestion Pound pleaded insanity and spent several years in an

Institution Hemingwayrsquos one-time friend Donald Ogden Stewart who was present for

the Pamplona bull fights in 1925 ldquotook the blame for having been the probable inspiration

for Bill Gortonrsquos [a character in The Sun Also Rises] anti-Semitic remarks and

exclamationsrdquo (Blume 123) Stewart wrote that ldquoI have no doubt that I was really

basically anti-Semitic in those days as probably also was Hemingwayrdquo (123) Lesley

Blume stresses that Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism ldquowas not a deep-rooted hatred like

the variety that gave rise to Nazismrdquo (123) Stewart referred to Hemingwayrsquos anti-

Semitism as ldquoa form of social snobbishness something that people simply took for

granted [during that time]rdquo (Blume 123) One would think that after the Holocaust

Hemingway would cease his anti-Semitic comments but he still continued In

16

Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century ldquoAmerican literature repeatedly described Jews in the

most unsavoury (sic) termsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 249)

The French also saw the Jews as having played a part in the Russian Revolution

(241) In France where Hemingway lived part of his literary life Alphonse Toussenel

wrote ldquoThe Jews King of the Epoch [in which] he blamed the Jews for the ills afflicting

societyrdquo (248) In France ldquoAccording to Edouard-Adolphe Drumont in La France Juive

the [French] Revolution had benefited only the Jewsrdquo (248) Edouard-Adolphe Drumont

caricatured the Jews as being hook-nosed possessing ldquohuge ears soft hands and arms of

unequal lengthrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 248) In France the Dreyfus Affair of the

nineteenth century had ratcheted up the prominence and appeal of French anti-Semitism

Yet the logical consequence of anti-Semitism took place years later during World War II

when Hitler instituted the Holocaust Of course Hemingway knew of this deadly result

of anti-Semitism but it is unknown how much it changed his view of Jews as later he

did show some more anti-Semitic behavior Perhaps old habits die hard

Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in His Novels

Unfortunately Hemingway was an anti-Semite To what degree is unknown

Some say that Hemingway was mildly or casually anti-Semitic (Hendrickson 32)

However in fits of anger Hemingway would hurl anti-Semitic slurs at those he knew to

be Jews Yet ironically ldquoHemingway knew admired and imitated Jewsrdquo like his friend

and literary mentor Gertrude Stein (Berman 39) Hemingway was also friends with

Harold Loeb a Jewish man (Dearborn 192) Hemingway and Loeb had played tennis

17

boxed and wrestled together In The Sun Also Rises the character of Robert Cohn is

based upon Harold Loeb Hemingway once had good things to say of Loeb On March

4 1925 Hemingway wrote to William B Smith of Loeb ldquoA hell of a good guy

Loeb is a male you can wrestle wit He aint been throwed since he learned in Princeton-

only weighs 150 about Heavy weights cant throw him Hersquos never wrestled pros or of

course hersquos have got throwed Still he aint been throwed I tried to throw him and he

throwed me in no timerdquo (sic throughout Hemingway in Katakis 28) In The Sun Also

Rises the Loeb Robert Cohn character is also Jake Barnesrsquo tennis partner (13) Despite

all his anti-Semitism later Hemingway married the half-Jewish reporter and writer

Martha Gellhorn as his third wife (Stoneback 136) Unfortunately it is exactly unknown

why Hemingway was anti-Semitic It would seem that the times in which he lived played

a role

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway has a stereo-typical Jewish character Robert

Cohn that he portrays as a proud rich weak self-pitying self-doubting awkward

sniveling whining misbehaving mannerless undesirable unremarkable and

dysfunctional killjoy who is an outsider and a drag on everyonersquos spirits Cohn is

supposed to represent all Jews (Berman 39) In fact Hemingway goes so far as to write

that Jews are inferior Hemingway writes of Cohn ldquoHe cared nothing for boxing in fact

he disliked it but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of

inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princetonrdquo (Sun 11) Loeb

had also gone to Princeton

18

Hemingway based almost the entire book of The Sun Also Rises on a real life

event that happened when Loeb Lady Duff Twysden and Pat Guthrie (Lady Duffrsquos

cousin and boyfriend) joined him Hemingwayrsquos first wife Hadley Richardson Don

Stewart and Bill Smith in Pamplona for the Festival of San Fermiacuten in July of 1925

(Dearborn 188) In the novel this group goes to Pamplona to have fun They join in the

Spanish Festival of San Fermiacuten where they drink excessively party and watch

professional bullfights All this time the Harold Loeb character Robert Cohn follows

his former lover Lady Brett Ashely around like a lap-dog and from the perspective of

the other festival-goers makes everyone else miserable

Hemingwayrsquos publication of this event into fiction hurt many of the real-life

players in the memorable drama The real Lady Brett Ashley Lady Duff Twysden later

referred to the book as nothing more than ldquocheap reportingrdquo (qtd in Blume 206) Former

Hemingway friend Donald Ogden Stewart felt the same way In his 1975 memoir By a

Stroke of Luck Stewart still refused to give The Sun Also Rises ldquothe artistic stature that

others accorded itrdquo (Blume 230) Stewartrsquos son recalls that his dad would say ldquoThatrsquos

exactly what happened it was like a photographrdquo (qtd in Blume 230) So for Stewart

the novel was just a retelling of events it is did not utilize artistic narrative originality

Just as Robert Cohn had had an affair with Lady Brett Ashley so Loeb had had an

intimate relationship with Lady Duff Twysden Scholars are unsure as to whether

Hemingway had any serious relationship with Lady Duff however he was jealous He

liked her In his reasoning he had met Lady Duff first (Dearborn 188) ldquoEven though

[Hemingway] had no plans to sleep with Duff himself that didnrsquot mean according to his

19

logic that she was fair game for Harold [Loeb]rdquo (188) Hemingway was protective of

Lady Duff and Hemingway saw Loeb as a snake (189) Perhaps Loebrsquos success with

Lady Duff finally pushed Hemingway against him

Mary V Dearborn notes that Hemingway was also jealous that Loebrsquos book

Doodab was coming out before his ownmdashLoebrsquos in May Hemingwayrsquos in October

(191) Hemingway was very competitive in his writing career In fact before

Hemingway made it as a fiction writer Harold Loeb had gone so far as to help

Hemingway get his first book of short stories In Our Time published (204) It is noted

that ldquoHarold [Loeb] rescued In Our Time from the returns pile at [Boni amp] Liveright [the

publishing company] he fought for the book and he was instrumental in getting it

publishedrdquo (192) Loeb had pleaded with Boni amp Liveright ldquoHold it Give it [In Our

Time] another reading I know what Irsquom talking aboutrdquo (Hawkins 39) In fact if it

were not for the persistence of his well-connected friends Hemingway may have quite

possibly never been published at all since his manuscripts had been repeatedly rejected

Unfortunately Hemingway did not like to give credit to others for helping him to rise in

his profession He wanted to take all the credit and the glory for himself He wanted to

be self-sufficient In addition having not gone to college Hemingway was leery of

college-educated men He felt inferior to them and he would try to compete with them in

order to make himself look and feel better Since Harold Loeb was a Princeton graduate

Hemingway was possibly disdainful of this and in all likelihood held it against Loeb

In trying to get In Our Time published Loeb took Hemingway to former Boni amp

Liveright vice president Leon Fleischmanrsquos Paris apartment (Blume 71) Previously

20

ldquoKitty Cannell [the Frances character in Sun] heard him [Hemingway] unthinkably use

lsquokikersquo with such casualness and scorn that she warned her Jewish lover Harold Loeb to

be careful with Hemingwayrdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 242) Kitty Cannell worried

that Hemingway ldquomight create a terrible scene in front of Fleischman and his wife

Helen She said as much to Loeb He brushed her offrdquo (Blume 71) After this meeting

with Fleischman Harold Loeb heard Hemingway malign Jews in his speech

Hemingway had a way of maligning making fun of and satirizing his friends and his

perceived enemies In the process he lost many friends and unnecessarily caused the

creation of many enemies In fact the release of The Sun Also Rises shocked Loeb as he

had thought that he and Hemingway were good friends (Dearborn 191-92)

Hemingway also turned on his former Jewish mentor Gertrude Stein

Hemingway got mad at Stein when she would not write a review for his new book In

Our Time Stein wanted to wait and see if Hemingway was going to be a success first

On November 8 1925 Hemingway commented to Ezra Pound of Stein ldquoWhat a lot of

safe playing kikesrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 38) Later in life after they broke with each

other Hemingway and Stein would arguemdashthrough writingmdashand trade barbs with one

another Hemingway would mock Stein In his article for Esquire in the April 1934

issue ldquoAD in Africa A Tanganyika Letterrdquo Hemingway wonders ldquohow much Buddha

at that age would resemble Gertrude Steinrdquo (Hemingway in White 159)

Hemingway was also against the troubled literary critic Dorothy Parker

(Dearborn 247) The half-Jewess Dorothy Parker was tough in her literary criticism yet

she gave Hemingway great reviews She adored Hemingway but Hemingway didnrsquot

21

return the feelings (Blume 155) Parker and Hemingway had met in New York In

Hemingway Parker thought that she had found a kindred spirit (156) During

Hemingwayrsquos New York visit Parker ldquobecame so engrossed in his tales of the Left Bank

that she shunted aside her skepticism and decided on the spot to move abroadrdquo (156)

Parker became for Hemingway a strong ally among literary critics Blume notes of

Parker ldquoIn years to come she would also pen several adoring Hemingway profiles and

book reviewsrdquo (156) Hemingway and Parker became so familiar that eventually

Hemingway started calling Parker ldquoDottyrdquo (156) Parker was so taken with Hemingway

that her ldquodevotion to him bordered on idolatryrdquo (158) But Parkerrsquos love for Hemingway

was a useful tool in Hemingwayrsquos arsenal

Unfortunately Parker was probably not stable She had tried to kill herself twice

within three years She confided in Hemingway ldquoabout a late-stage abortion she had

recently undergone about attempting suicide and about some other recent bad luck in

her liferdquo (qtd in Dearborn 247) During their conversation Hemingway discovered that

Parker did not like Spain For Parker ldquoPretty much everything about the countrymdashfrom

its treatment of animals to the rump-pinching habits of Spanish menmdashhad appalled herrdquo

(Blume 193) Moreover ldquoIn Barcelona she had walked out of a bullfight after a bull

gored a horse and declared that she found matadors disgustingrdquo (193) Back in Paris with

Hemingway ldquoParker had imparted these impressions to Hemingway for whom such

views amounted to sacrilegerdquo (193) Hemingway was offended by this and like other

things Hemingway took this personally to heart as he was an ardent Hispanophile loving

the Spanish country its people the slow pace of life and its culture (Dearborn 247)

22

Finally Hemingway ldquohad little sympathy for the self-inflicted wounds of a caustic and

comparatively pampered urbaniterdquo (Blume 194)

Later ldquoErnest wrote a long cruel poem about Parker not published until both

were dead called lsquoTo a Tragic Poetessrsquo revealing the personal details she had evidently

related during their most recent meetingrdquo (Dearborn 247-48) In the poem Hemingway

ldquoreferred to the dead fetus noted that she had all too conveniently failed in her suicide

attempts and mocked her failures with men He was pointedly mean about her being

Jewish referring to lsquothe Jewish cheeks of your plump assrsquordquo (248) The second half of

Hemingwayrsquos poem ldquoconsists of insults piled on Parker and others who out of ignorance

about it do not appreciate Spain (inevitably bullfighting comes up)rdquo (248) Pauline

Pfeiffer didnrsquot like this poem and referred to it as ldquoabout twelve tents [tenths] out of water

mayberdquo (Hawkins 59) Pauline thought the poem shrill In 1926 at the home of Archie

and Ada McLeish Ernest read this poem ldquoTo a Tragic Poetessrdquo to the assembled

gathering to try to get some laughs (Dearborn 248) No laughs came Donald Ogden

Stewart called the poem ldquoviciously unfair and unfunnyrdquo (qtd in Blume 194) Because of

the reading of the poem the Stewarts kept their distance from Hemingway from there on

out and Don Stewart was never close to Hemingway again (Dearborn 248) Ironically

since the poem was never published until after Parkerrsquos death ldquoParker never learned

about the existence of the poem [and] unaware of its existence she continued to write

wildly enthusiastic reviews of Hemingwayrsquos work in The New Yorker and called him one

of her favorite writersrdquo (Blume 194) Parker also called Hemingway ldquothe greatest living

American short story writerrdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 164)

23

There is also other evidence of Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism In his early years at

Lake Walloon the Point where the young people always liked to fish was sold ldquoto two

Jews who wanted to build a club houserdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 114) Bill

Smith later recalled that he and Ernest had planned to throw rotten fish down the Jewsrsquo

chimney at the lake (M Reynolds Paris Years 252) In the mid-1920s Hemingway

wrote Ezra Pound calling the aspiring poet Dave OrsquoNeil a ldquorsquoCelto-Kikersquordquo (Dearborn

134) Hemingway also wrote of his friend Nathan Asch ldquoYou couldnrsquot tell [of Asch

being a talented writer] Jews go bad quicklyrdquo (163) Later in Key West Hemingway

referred to the town as a ldquoJew administered phony of a townrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 154)

At the time that Hemingway wrote this Key West was for all intents and purposes

bankrupt ldquounable to collect enough taxes to pay its billsrdquo (N Reynolds 7) Under the

New Deal the town of Key West had ldquopetitioned the governor to take over the cityrdquo

(Hendrickson 154) As such ldquoThe Florida branch of Franklin Delano Rooseveltrsquos

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) stepped in and took overrdquo (N

Reynolds 7) Plus under the New Deal the plan was to turn Key West into a tourist

destination making Hemingwayrsquos home on Whitehead Street one of the attractions (8)

This would interfere with Hemingwayrsquos deeply coveted privacy (8) Moreover

Hemingway was disillusioned with the government after some World War I veterans

were killed during a hurricane that hit some of the Florida Keys

Later In Cuba in May 1955 The Old Man and the Sea film version of the novel

was to be filmed Hemingwayrsquos Jewish friend Peter Viertel who was writing the

screenplay joked with Hemingway in order to try to break up the tension between Ernest

24

and the film producer kidding ldquoabout Santiago going out on the eighty-fifth day and not

catching a fishrdquo (Dearborn 573) This made Hemingway mad Narrowing his eyes and

gritting his teeth he said ldquoThe Jews have always had a superior attitude toward fishingmdash

probably because fish has never been part of their dietrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573) This

Jewish comment in turn made Viertel mad and he said that ldquohe thought Ernest had

gotten beyond his anti-Semitism with The Sun Also Risesrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573)

Hemingway felt contrite that he had lashed out against his friend Viertel and he

ldquoassured Peter he had never been anti-Semitic and matters were smoothed overrdquo (573-

74)

Some Jews have the last name Stein Especially in his youth Hemingway like to

refer to himself as Hemingstein or Stein According to Dearborn Hemingway was

referring to a stein of beer in this case (39) Other nicknames he used were Hymenstein

or the Great Steinway (Hendrickson 266) Catherine Reef thinks that these nicknames

sound Jewish She writes

The last one [nickname] amused him [Ernest] most because it sounded like a

Jewish name Like many young people in narrow-minded Oak Park Ernest grew

up thinking it was all right to make fun of people of different faiths and

backgrounds and he never fully let go of this attitude As an adult he

occasionally called himself Hemingstein or just Stein and although he had

Jewish friends he sometimes mocked them behind their backs (14)

25

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway refers to himself as the great psychiatrist Dr

Hemingstein (53) In real life Hemingwayrsquos son Gregory ldquoGigirdquo for short was known

as the Irish Jew (Hendrickson 245)

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway gives Cohn boxing as his only strength

ldquoThere was a certain inner comfort in knowing he could knock down anybody who was

snooty to himrdquo (11) Because of boxing Hemingway goes so far as to portray Cohn with

the stereotypical Jewish nose In the novel Cohn gets his nose broken during a boxing

bout The narrator Jake Barnes says of Cohnrsquos reworked nose ldquoit certainly improved

his noserdquo (11) Ironically Hemingway threatened a similar situation later in his life In

Spain at the Hotel Florida after a serious shelling during the Spanish Civil War some of

the guests including the movie producer Herb Klein wanted to switch their rooms to the

safer rooms in the back of the hotel At this point in his life Hemingway would hold

people to a higher standard of bravery than his own (Dearborn 387) So Hemingway

intimidated and bullied those Hotel Florida guests into keeping their rooms in lieu of

switching them saying they ldquowould be running away from the enemy capitulating to the

Fascistsrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 387) However in fact Hemingway had his own room in one

of the safer back parts of the hotel Then ldquoaccording to one observer he rode up with

[Herb] Klein in the elevator called him a coward and lsquojostledrsquo him saying lsquoIrsquod like to

flatten your big Jewish nosersquordquo (388)

In The Sun Also Rises nobody wants to be around Cohn He is trying to be an all-

round guy and a Protestant gentleman (Berman 44) However Ron Berman refers to him

as a fake gentleman Melvin Backman argues that Cohn lacks any real identity (4)

26

Although Cohn tries to assimilate and be chivalrous nobody accepts his behavior as

authentic Hemingway portrays Cohn as still ldquotoo different to acceptrdquo (38) Cohn is also

a show-off and he likes to brag For example in winning a ldquoseveral hundred dollarsrdquo in

bridge ldquoIt made him rather vain of his bridge game and he talked several times of how a

man could always make a living at bridge if he were ever forced tordquo (17) In another

instance Cohn likes to brag about his relationship with Brett ldquoHe was being confidential

now and it was giving him pleasure to be able to talk with the understanding that I knew

there was something between him and Brettrdquo (106) Moreover Cohnrsquos believed and

perceived superiority is offensive to Jakersquos friend Bill Gorton One time Bill Gorton

says of the approaching Cohn ldquoWell let him not get superior and Jewishrdquo (Sun 102)

This perceived superiority makes Jake extremely dislike Cohn

Why I felt that impulse to devil him I do not know Of course I do know I was

blind unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to him The fact that I took it

as a matter of course did not alter that any I certainly did hate him I do not

think I ever really hated him until he had that little spell of superiority at lunchmdash

that and when he went through all that barbering (105)

According to Dearborn the character of Bill Gorton is a combination of Bill

Smith and Don Ogden Stewart In the novel Bill really doesnrsquot like Jews Bill says of

his Jewish friends adding of Cohn ldquoOh yes Irsquove got some darbs But not alongside of

this Robert Cohn But hersquos just so awfulrdquo (107) Bill is blatantly anti-Semitic He

asks Jake of Brett and Cohn ldquoWhy didnrsquot she go off with some of her own peoplerdquo

(107) Mike adds to this criticism later when he comments ldquoBrettrsquos gone off with men

27

But they werenrsquot ever Jews and they didnrsquot come and hang around afterwardrdquo (148) Bill

Gorton makes a number of anti-Semitic slurs Before their fishing trip Bill says to Jake

ldquoAnd as for this Robert Cohn he makes me sick and he can go to hell and Irsquom damn

glad hersquos staying here so we wonrsquot have him fishing with usrdquo to which Jake agrees (108)

In another case Hemingway likens Cohn to an animal a steer Cohn likes to tag-

along with Brett (141) After a bull fight Cohn says ldquoItrsquos no life being a steerrdquo (145)

Mike sarcastically replies ldquoDonrsquot you think so I would have thought yoursquod loved

being a steer Robertrdquo (146) Being likened to a steer makes Cohn mad Mike partially

drunk says ldquoIs Robert Cohn going to follow Brett around like a steer all the timerdquo

(146) These demeaning remarks imply that Jews are sub-human

At one point Mike intimates that Cohnrsquos Jewishness disqualifies him from being

a part of the group ldquoDo you think you amount to something Cohn Do you think you

belong here among usrdquo (181) Mike says to Cohn ldquoIrsquom not one of your literary chaps

Irsquom not clever But I do know when Irsquom not wanted Why donrsquot you see when

yoursquore not wanted Cohn Go away Go away for Godrsquos sake Take that sad Jewish

face away Donrsquot you think Irsquom rightrdquo (181) In another instance when Cohn tells Brett

that he will stay with her Brett replies ldquoOh donrsquot For Godrsquos sake go off

somewhererdquo (184) Cohn is portrayed as leech-like a clinger similar to Jews accused of

usury bleeding people dry With the eternal theme of Jewish suffering Brett says of

Cohn ldquoI hate him too I hate his damned sufferingrdquo (186)

In his short story ldquoGod Rest You Merry Gentlemenrdquo published in 1933

Hemingway takes a less anti-Semitic approach to Jews In this story there are two

28

doctors Dr Wilcox and Dr Fischer Dr Wilcox is Christian while Dr Fischer is Jewish

A sixteen-year-old boy comes into the hospital and says that he wants to be castrated

because he is struggling with lust The boy is religious and to him lust is a problem Dr

Fischer is compassionate with the boy and genuinely seems interested in his predicament

Dr Fischer converses with the boy and finally tells him ldquoTherersquos nothing wrong with

you Thatrsquos the way yoursquore supposed to be Therersquos nothing wrong with thatrdquo (Short

Stories 299) The boy still sees himself as sinning Dr Fischer tells the boy that what he

is going through is natural and that later he will think himself fortunate (300) The boy

is adamant that he is wrong He doesnrsquot want to listen to Dr Fischerrsquos explanations

Logically Dr Fischer explains to the boy that there is nothing wrong with his body that

he has a good body and that if he is religious then in the future his body can help him

consummate the sacrament of matrimony (300)

Dr Wilcox takes a different approach He calls the boy a fool (300) Then the

boy leaves when he finds out that nobody will castrate him Dr Wilcox rudely says to

the boy ldquoOh go andmdashrdquo (300) Horst Kruse interprets the absence as meaning ldquojack-

offrdquo (62) The boy leaves and later he does try to castrate himself amputating himself

in the process When the boy returns to the hospital with life-threatening injuries Dr

Wilcox ironically isnrsquot in a hurry to try to save the boy as he doesnrsquot see the condition as

an emergency In the story it is Dr Fischer who has shown mercy on the boy not Dr

Wilcox Kruse sees Doc Fischer as the moral center of the story and suggests that

Hemingwayrsquos portrayal of Dr Fischerrsquos knowledgeable insight and humanity might be an

attempt to try to ldquoatone for his former anti-Semitismrdquo (72) Kruse argues that Dr Fischer

29

might even be seen as a Christ-figure a fisher of men (65) Other scholars speculate that

this story might have been an attempt for Hemingway to apologize for the way he treated

Harold Loebrsquos alter-ego Robert Cohn (Kruse 73) But this interpretation is problematic

AE Hotchner once asked Hemingway if he had remorse about the way he had portrayed

Loeb and the others in The Sun Also Rises (Blume 237) Hotchner asked Hemingway

ldquoso if you had it to do over would you have been softerrdquo (237) Hemingway replied to

Hotchner ldquoOh hell nordquo (237) Despite this possible attempt at atonement Hemingway

continued to make anti-Semitic statements after this story first came out

30

CHAPTER 3

HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY

Ernest Hemingway was a born on July 21 1899 in Oak Park Illinois then a

Protestant conservative bastion There in his earliest years Hemingwayrsquos maternal

grandfather Ernest Hall led his family and their servants after breakfast on their knees

in morning prayer (Dearborn 11 Hemingway-Sanford 14) Unlike the others

Grandfather Hall did not pray with his eyes closed nor his head bowed (Pawley 22)

Instead he prayed with his head upraised and ldquowith his arms stretched upward as if

locked in a face-to-face with Godrdquo (Dearborn 11) He also prayed in a thundering voice

(Pawley 22) Ernestrsquos older sister Marcelline Hemingway-Sanford noted that she liked

to peak out at Grandfather Hall through her fingers ldquobecause he seemed so surely to be

talking right to his friend Godrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 15) Marcelline suggested that

Grandfather Hall knew God intimately (14) In addition Grandfather Hall led daily

devotions for the household with the book Daily Strength for Daily Needs (Isabelle 2

Hemingway-Sanford 14) Even the cook and the maid were present at these family

gatherings Grandfather Hall also led grace at the table (Isabelle 2) and he would lead

the family in worship (Hemingway-Sanford 15) He was Episcopalian and he liked to be

referred to in the biblical term ldquoAbbardquo which refers to God as in ldquoAbba fatherrdquo (Isabelle

2 Mark 1436) Marcelline referred to Grandfather Hall as being a very religious man

(Hemingway-Sanford 14) Every Sunday he would go to Grace Episcopal Church

where kneeling on the Brussels carpet he would lead the church in evening prayer

31

(Pawley 21) He once said of his grandson Ernest to his mother Grace ldquothis boy is

going to be heard from someday If he uses his imagination for good purposes hersquoll be

famous but if he starts the wrong way with all his energy hersquoll end in jail and its up to

you which way he goesrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 12)

Ernestrsquos paternal grandfather Anson Hemingway converted to Christianity in

1859 (Dearborn 13) Anson was a descendent of Ralph Hemingway ldquowho came to

America with the Great Migration and through him from a line of Puritan and

Congregationalist ministersrdquo (12) Anson Hemingway was friends with the great

evangelist DL Moody and he closely worked with him (for a while) as the general

secretary at the Chicago YMCA (Dearborn 13 Hemingway-Sanford 18) Ernest idolized

his grandfather Hemingway (Pawley 21) Ernestrsquos mother whom Ernest came to hate

once wrote Ernest ldquoNot for nothing are you the great great grandson of that noble

Christian Rev William Edward Miller and the grandson of the finest purest noblest man

I have ever known Ernest Hallrdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 103-04) In fact

Ernest Miller Hemingway was named after his grandfather and the Miller line of Gracersquos

family Grace wrote to Ernest ldquoYou are born of a race of gentlemen who were clean

mouthed chivalrous to all women grateful and generous You were named for the two

finest and noblest gentleman I have ever known See to it that you do not disgrace their

memoriesrdquo (qtd in M Reynolds Young Hemingway 138) Ernestrsquos family were such

churchgoers that they had their own pews at the First Congregational Church

(Hemingway-Sanford 147)

32

On the flip side Ernestrsquos father was rigid (Pawley 23) In disciplining his

children Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often forced his ldquochildren on their knees to pray

to God for forgivenessrdquo (Isabelle 4) Sometimes Ernest mockingly referred to his father

as ldquothe Great Physicianrdquo a title that Jesus also holds as a healer of people (Hemingway-

Sanford 127) According to a Hemingway biographer (no name given)

Sin scared the life out of Ernest At night he prayed that he had been a good boy

during the day The trouble was a boy could never be sure if he had been good

he might have done something bad and not known it was bad It was so hard to

obey every rule so hard to please his mother his father his teachers his minister

his God so hard that sometimes it wasnrsquot worth trying and a boy felt like giving

up (qtd in Pawley 23)

Ernest grew up then with a great spiritual legacy and upbringing that he found at times

challenging and problematic

On Easter in 1911 at the Third Congregational Church Ernest and his sister

Marcelline were confirmed and they received their First Communionrdquo (Dearborn 33) It

was at this church that Ernestrsquos mother was the choir director she even had Ernestmdasha

sopranomdashand Marcelline sing in the choir (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 108 L

Hemingway 28) In his youth Ernest Hemingway and Marcelline joined a contest put on

by the adult advisor of the Christian Endeavor Society Mr Sweeney to see who could

read the entire King James Bible first (Dearborn 37 Hemingway-Sanford 135) It was

Mr Sweeneyrsquos idea and he offered a prize (Hemingway-Sanford 135) Although Ernest

did not win he and Marcelline did complete the reading of the whole Bible (Dearborn

33

37) In addition Ernest and Marcelline passed a comprehensive test on what they had

read (Pawley 24) Additionally as a youth Ernest was given ldquoan allowance of one penny

per year of age each weekrdquo out of which he gave a tithe to the Sunday school (24) At

the age of fourteen Ernest starred in a Sunday school play at the Third Congregational

Church (24) After his parents transferred their membership to the First Congregational

Church Hemingway and Marcelline joined the Plymouth League where Ernest often led

Sunday afternoon services (Dearborn 33 Isabelle 7-8 Pawley 24 Hemingway-Sanford

147) Marcelline notes that ldquothe refreshments served after the meetings were quite an

attraction for the high school membersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 147) For the Plymouth

League Ernest took turns at being the treasurer the program chairman and sometimes

the speaker at the meetings At church Ernest and Marcelline also played in the church

orchestra Once Ernest and his four brothers and sisters dressed as Chinese and Japanese

citizens in order to phonetically sing the Japanese national anthem (147-48) Yet when

Hemingway went to Italy for World War I he saw and experienced the horrors of war

Perhaps because of this and through his teenage years Hemingway went astray from

his religious upbringing While in Italy Ernest met and fell in love with a nurse Agnes

von Kurowsky He loved her and wanted to start a new life with her in America

Hemingway wrote to William D Horne Jr about this on March 30 1919 ldquoBut Bill Irsquove

loved Ag Shersquos been my ideal and Bill I forgot all about religion and everything else-

because I had Ag to worship All I wanted was Ag and happinessrdquo (Hemingway in

Katakis XXV) This letter shows Hemingway distancing himself from religion in Italy

and replacing it with the woman he loved This is similar to how Catherine Barkley

34

made her lover Frederic Henry her religion in A Farewell to Arms (452) Unfortunately

for his parents Hemingway became a prodigal son and he never returned to the faith of

his youth (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 139)

Despite having turned away from his faith Hemingway could never entirely get

away from his upbringing and Oak Park mores For instance in his first marriage to

Hadley Richardson Hemingway was sometimes shocked by Hadleyrsquos language In fact

despite the fact that Hemingway used those very same words he didnrsquot think it proper for

a woman to use them (163) Hemingway still prayed ldquowhen he was courting Hadley

[he] asked her if she would pray with him in the Milan cathedral as Agnes would notrdquo

(Stoneback 110-11) Hadley responded that she would ldquoI am doing the best thing a

woman can do for a man Bringing you back to religionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 125-26)

Stoneback asserts that there is abundant evidence that Hemingway ldquoliked to pray in

Catholic churches and cathedrals years before he met Paulinerdquo (113)

Before going to World War I Hemingway worked for the Kansas City Star

While there Hemingwayrsquos mother learned that Ernest ldquohad stopped going to churchrdquo and

she sent off an angry letter to him (Reef 24) In one of his letters to his mother

Hemingway wrote ldquoYou know I donrsquot rave about religion but am as sincere a Christian

as I can be I believe in God and Jesus Christ have hopes for a hereafter and creeds

donrsquot matterrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) In addition prior to going to the Great War Ernestrsquos

father encouraged Ernest to associate with strong Christian YMCA men (M Reynolds

Young Hemingway 128) In his letters to Ernest Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often

sounded like a minister (171)

35

Upon his return to Oak Park after the war Hemingway wore his war uniform

around for four months and gave talks of his war experience Marcelline Hemingway

says that this was because Ernestrsquos long boots helped support his injured and weakened

legs Yet Hemingway lied and embellished his wartime experience This behavior is

just like that of Harold Krebs in Hemingwayrsquos short story ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

would lie and attribute ldquoto himself things other men had seen done or heard of and

stating as facts certain apocryphal incidents familiar to all soldiersrdquo (Short Stories 111-

12) In an essay in Ernest Hemingway Artifacts from Life Tom Putnam surmises that

Krebs in embellishing his war record to impress those around him ldquogrows more

disillusionedmdashfinding himself becoming a fraudrdquo (Putnam 184) Hemingway may have

disillusioned himself with his lies too In one instance Hemingway once gave a version

of his fictitious war stories in a talk to an audience at the First Baptist Church (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 56) So Hemingway lied in front of a church Proverbs

1222 reads ldquoLying lips are an abomination to the Lord but those who act faithfully are

his delightrdquo (English Standard Version)

Back in Oak Park Hemingway turned to alcohol for his comfort He stayed in

bed day after day and hid the liquor from his parents (Pawley 25) Staying in bed

helped his aching legs But he didnrsquot stay in bed more than half the day (Hemingway-

Sanford 178) According to Marcelline there were also times when Ernest had ldquoalmost

depressed intervals when he retired to his room away from the well-wishers and curiosity

seekersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 183) Hemingway used the alcohol to cope with the pain

of his war wounds (Pawley 25) One day Marcelline was upset about something and

36

when she came to Ernestrsquos room he noticed this and asked her what was wrong

(Hemingway-Sanford 183) Then he offered her a drink She tasted it Then he said to

her

Donrsquot be afraid Drink it up Sis it canrsquot hurt you Therersquos great comfort in

that little bottle not just for itself But it relaxes you when the pain gets bad

Mazaween donrsquot be afraid to taste all the other things in life that arenrsquot here in

Oak Park Taste everything Sis Donrsquot be afraid to try new things just

because they are new (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 184)

Ernest later wrote of an experience of drinking ldquoand the rhum (sic) enters into us like the

Holy Spiritrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 17) God was not Hemingwayrsquos comfort alcohol

was After that night Marcelline wondered to herself whether Ernest would ever be

happy again at home (Hemingway-Sanford 184) She noted a difference in him upon his

return to Oak Park Marcelline writes ldquoBut Ernest wasnrsquot the same old friend and

playmate I had knownrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178) adding that ldquoa lifetime of new

experiences war death agony new people a new language and love had crowded into

Ernestrsquos liferdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178)

After recovering from his wounds Ernest still didnrsquot get a job or show any

interest in college He had no plans at all Instead he went to Michigan to enjoy life with

his friends (Hemingway-Sanford 198) In Michigan according to Marcelline ldquoThough

Mother implored Ernestrsquos help and tried to talk to him about the family situation he

blithely ignored her appeals and managed to leave immediately after meals with his

friends or go fishing when something needed to be done he promised vaguely to help

37

lsquosome other timerdquo (205) His parents were very worried about his ldquolack of adult

responsibilityrdquo and ldquohis rudeness and his willingness to let both Mrs Charles Bill

Smithrsquos aunt and our family go on providing for him [led Mother to decide that]

something drastic had to be done to wake him uprdquo (205) Leicester Hemingway says that

ldquoOur parents had harbored definite hopes that this fling at soldiering had taught him

[Ernest] a lesson that now he would suddenly show a keen interest in some lsquosensiblersquo

way of liferdquo (L Hemingway 56)

The entire situation is similar to that of Harold Krebs in ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

returns from World War I with his Methodist faith shattered (Pawley 25) Krebs is

unemployed but his mother encourages him ldquorsquoGod has some work for everyone to do

There can be no idle hands in His Kingdomrsquordquo (Short Stories 115) Krebsrsquo mother adds

his fatherrsquos opinion ldquoAll work is honorable as he says But yoursquove got to make a start at

somethingrdquo (115) When Krebsrsquo mother asks Harold if he would kneel and pray with her

Krebs says that he canrsquot Krebsrsquo mother encourages him to try then she asks him if he

wants her to pray for him Krebs consents (116)

Of Ernestrsquos free-loading loafing time Leicester Hemingway writes ldquoAbout the

only thing I really understood of that first summer after the war was that Ernest was in an

agitated state and being around the family did not calm him at allrdquo (59) In the end

Ernestrsquos mother wrote Ernest a letter in which she said that Ernest had overdrawn his

account with her and that he was not welcome back at the family vacation home of

Windemere in Michigan (Dearborn 90) This action got Ernest out of the house looking

for a job on his own It also added to his resentment towards his mother In ldquoSoldierrsquos

38

Homerdquo Krebs tells his mother that he doesnrsquot love her Putnam suggests that Krebs has

forgotten how to love (Putnam 184) In Ernestrsquos case it is quite possible that he didnrsquot

love his mother It is known for sure that he didnrsquot like his mother When married to his

fourth wife Mary Welsh Ernest would sometimes rant about his mother blaming her for

making life hell for his father contributing to his fatherrsquos suicide and referring to his

mother as ldquothat bitchrdquo (qtd in Di Robilant 55) Perhaps his motherrsquos ultimatum pushed

him further away from his Protestant upbringing Although Hemingway didnrsquot like his

mother Hawkins argues that he inherited his volatile temper from her as she held grudges

against people Hawkins writes of Grace Hemingway ldquoGrace had a tendency to store up

injustices done to her so that on occasion even the smallest thing triggered a litany of

perceived wrongsrdquo (34) In addition to his motherrsquos ultimatum Ernestrsquos parents didnrsquot

seem to accept writing as a viable career for Ernest (M Reynolds My Brother 63) No

matter like Harold Krebs Hemingway did abandon his childhood faith after World War

I

Hemingway became interested in Catholicism during his service in Italy during

World War I There he served in the Red Cross Ambulance Corps of Unit 4 as driver for

the Italian Army (Hemingway-Sanford 157) After a few days in Italy Ernest and Bill

Horne found the place dull So hearing of the chance to volunteer ldquofor a special branch

the Red Cross Rolling Canteen Servicerdquo they applied and were accepted (160) This

Service operated all the way up to front linesmdashwhich was right where Hemingway

wanted to be in the midst of the action He ldquohad volunteered to be one of the bicycle

riders who distributed mail chocolate and tobacco to the soldiers in the trenches at the

39

frontrdquo (160) At that time the attack on the Piave River had started and the Austrians

were shelling around only fifty yards away on the other side of the river There making

his rounds in Fossalta Hemingway was wounded by an Austrian Trench Mortar as he

handed an Italian soldier a cigarette and chocolate (161) People thought that

Hemingway was going to die During this time Hemingway later claimed that he was

baptized by a priest ldquoAt Fornaci Ernest and the other wounded soldiers were

administered extreme unction by a chaplain with the Italian army Don Giuseppe

Bianchirdquo (Dearborn 59-60)

Michael Reynolds claims that the priestrsquos absolution of sins and anointment of oil

was an epiphanic moment for Hemingway (M Reynolds The Paris Years 346)

However it is unknown if Hemingway was really absolved of his sins by a Catholic

priest HR Stoneback notes that battlefield baptism and extreme unction did not

produce a ldquoformal process of reconciliation or conversionrdquo (109) On March 10 1927

Hemingway divorced Hadley Richardson to marry his new flame the Catholic Pauline

Pfeiffer This divorce devastated Hemingwayrsquos parents In fact Leicester Hemingway

overheard his dad say of Ernestrsquos divorce ldquoNo Itrsquos the disgrace Id rather see him in his

graverdquo (L Hemingway 103) Leicester Hemingway recalls that one morning while

digging for worms with Dr Hemingway the doctor says ldquoYou know of course that

your brother has brought great shame on our family by divorcing Hadley dont yourdquo

(103) Dr Hemingway laments the fact that there hadnrsquot been a divorce in the

Hemingway family for seventy years While in the process of trying to marry Pauline

Ernest returned to Italy searching for this priest Don Giuseppe Bianchi in order to

40

ascertain if this priest had actually performed an emergency baptism on him thus making

him Catholic (Dearborn 236) According to Hawkins Ernest found and visited with

Bianchi (71) Hawkins notes that as a rule priests during the First World War did not

ldquohand out baptismal certificates as they moved through hospital wards to anoint the

woundedrdquo (71) Despite the fact that there is ldquono evidence that Ernest returned with a

baptismal certificaterdquo he did swear to it (236) With this baptism he was allowed to

marry Pauline (M Reynolds American Homecoming 121) According to some scholars

death-bed baptism led Hemingway to become interested in Catholicism In addition

some scholars go so far as to say that this event marks the point when Hemingway started

to be Catholic Perhaps Ernestrsquos near-death experience infused a seed of Catholicism in

his heart

Michael Reynolds notes that ldquowhen an eighteen-year-old kid thinks hes dying a

Catholic priest can make a lasting impressionrdquo (The Paris Years 346) Reynolds claims

that long before Pauline the ceremony the ritual and the mystery of the Catholic Church

were a strong attraction to Hemingway Even if Pauline had not entered his life

Hemingway would have eventually turned Catholic Pauline simply accelerated this

process Later some found Hemingwayrsquos Catholic conversion to be suspect specious

and very convenient (345-46) Yet ldquonone of these doubters seriously thought of

Hemingway as a Protestant and he himself never looked back on his Congregational

training which he associated with Oak Park hypocrisy his fatherrsquos unbearable piety and

his motherrsquos church politics of who would rule the choir loftrdquo (346)

41

Hemingwayrsquos second wife Pauline Pfeiffer converted him to Catholicism In

fact Pfeiffer was such a serious Catholic that she caused Hemingway ldquo to take seriously

doctrine especially of sin and observance especially of prayerrdquo (Berman 33) Before

their marriage Pfeiffer had misgivings about marrying a married man and cutting him off

from his wife and child (Dearborn 229) For Pauline ldquoTo do so would be not only to

invite the damnation of her soul but also the unforgiving wrath of her Catholic parentsrdquo

(M Reynolds The Paris Years 318) If Pauline committed adultery she believed that

she would have been ldquosinning so mortally their souls were in jeopardyrdquo (318) Reynolds

wryly observes that ldquo[o]ne could not remain a devout Catholic and an ardent adulteressrdquo

(318)

For his part Ernest considered ldquoconverting to Catholicism in order to marry

Pauline in the Churchrdquo (Dearborn 221) Dearborn adds ldquoNo doubt Pauline was

researching the Churchrsquos requirements for marriage to a divorced manrdquo (221) In order to

marry Pauline Hemingway had to provide proof that his first marriage to Hadley was

outside the Church and so unofficial null and void (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 114) So since Hemingway ldquotestified that he had been baptized during the

war in Italy and that his first marriage was outside the Church [he] received on April

25 the necessary dispensation from the Archbishop of Paris which removed the last

obstacle to the ceremonyrdquo (121) Yet Hemingwayrsquos friend Ada MacLeish did not

attend Ernestrsquos and Paulinersquos wedding because she was disgusted by the Catholic

Churchrsquos solemnization of the new couplersquos bond and thought it a farce (Dearborn 237)

Ada

42

was completely disgusted with Ernestrsquos efforts to persuade the Catholic Church

that he had been baptized by a priest who walked between aisles of wounded men

in an Italian hospitalmdashtherefore Ernest was a Catholic and Hadley never had been

his wife and Bumby was a bastard To see this farce solemnized by the Catholic

Church was more than we [Archie and Ada] could take (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 124)

In his quest to marry Pauline Hemingway openly and formally embraced

Catholicism Hemingway wrote to Ernest Walsh about his rediscovered Catholicity

If I am anything I am a Catholic Had extreme unction administered to me as such

in July 1918 and recovered So guess I am a super-catholic It is most

certainly the most comfortable religion for anyone soldiering Am not what is

called a ldquogoodrdquo catholic But cannot imagine taking any other religion

seriously (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 345)

It is unknown whether Ernest ever mailed this letter

Ruth A Hawkins suggests that Hemingway ardently became a true Catholic

believer after he was cured of his temporary sexual problems after his marriage to

Pauline Hemingway told AE Hotchner that he and Pauline had had a good sex life

during their affair yet after they got married Hemingway experienced problems with

impotence (Hawkins 86) To try to alleviate this problem Hemingway saw doctors and a

mystic Nothing worked Pauline was patient and understanding Ernest was

discouraged so she encouraged him to go to the church a few blocks away and pray

Ernest recounts ldquoI went there and said a short prayer Then I went back to our room

43

Pauline was in bed waiting I undressed and got in bed and we made love like we

invented it We never had any trouble again Thatrsquos when I became a Catholicrdquo (qtd in

Hawkins 86)

Throughout his literary career Hemingway writes a number of stories involving

Catholics His short story ldquoThe Wine of Wyomingrdquo is about a French Catholic

bootlegging couple and is based upon a real-life Catholic couple that he met in Sheridan

Wyoming (Dearborn 263) Hemingway also writes about Catholicism in The Sun Also

Rises However Hemingway doesnrsquot write so much about Catholicism but rather of

Catholics themselves in their day-to-day lives (Hertzel 78) In The Sun Also Rises Jake

Barnes is nominally Catholic He basically lives the way that he wants to prays and

goes to church occasionally This is kind of like Hemingway who although not a

nominal Catholic lived the way that he wanted to while still claiming to be Catholic and

following some rituals In The Sun Also Rises Jake talks of going to church ldquoa couple of

times once with Brettrdquo (Sun 154) Although Jake prays regularly including for his

friends he also prays for mundane things like the upcoming bullfights and the Festival of

San Fermiacuten ldquoI wondered if there was anything else I might pray for and I thought I

would like to have some money so I prayed that I would make a lot of moneyrdquo (103)

While praying Jake gets distracted and he begins to think about other things ldquoas

all the time I was kneeling with my forehead on the wood in front of me and was

thinking of myself as praying I was a little ashamed and regretted that I was such a rotten

Catholicrdquo (103) Of his bad example as a Catholic Jake realizes that ldquothere was nothing I

could do about it at least for a while and maybe never but that anyway it was a grand

44

religion and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next timerdquo (103) One

critic asserts that The Sun Also Rises ldquois a novel about spiritual bankruptcyrdquo (Djos) Jake

is spiritually bankrupt but he tries to go about things in another way He drinks in order

escape the pain of the war and his impotency So alcohol might be said to be Jakersquos

primary spiritual comfort like it was a comfort for Hemingway Carlos Baker

categorizes The Sun Also Rises as a tale of Wastelanders (Berman 44) Moreover Jake

once thinks ldquoTo hell with people The Catholic Church had an awfully good way of

handling all thatrdquo (Sun 39) Jake believes that the Catholic Church has a good way of

sending people to hell purgatory or heaven to whatever fate the individual deserves

In addition Catholicism is referenced in Hemingwayrsquos A Farewell to Arms with

its protagonist Frederic Henry Unlike the nominally Catholic Jake Barnes Frederic has

no religion whatsoever (Farewell 279) However there is a priest in Fredericrsquos Italian

army unit that Frederic likes a lot Yet Frederic thinks the priest dull (33) According to

Frederic he and the priest share many of the same tastes yet there is a difference

between them (12) Frederic is a man of the world who does not believe in religion per

se and he loves women The priest is a man of God he loves God above all he doesnrsquot

pursue women When Frederic is recovering from his war wound in the hospital the

priest comes to visit him Frederic tells the priest that he does not love God (62) He

adds that he is ldquoafraid of Him in the night sometimesrdquo (62) Gary Sloan argues that

Fredericrsquos girlfriend Catherine ldquowill be his [Fredericrsquos] religion even as he she says is

hersrdquo (452) Michael Reynolds points out that ldquoCatherine sounded a lot like [Ernestrsquos

second wife] Pauline who had made Ernest her religion risking her soul on the promise

45

of his loverdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 216) This is also the case when

Ernest made his first girlfriend Agnes von Kurowsky his religion over organized

religion

Although Frederic is not religious in desperate times he seems to temporarily

become religious When he first receives his war injury he cries out to God ldquoget me out

of hererdquo (48) When his and Catherine Barkleyrsquos baby dies Frederic thinks of the baby

and thinks that it should have been baptized (279) Faced with the possibility of

Catherine dying Frederic prays ldquoEverything was gone inside of me I did not think I

could not think I knew she was going to die and I prayed that she would not Donrsquot let

her die Oh God please donrsquot let her die Irsquoll do anything for you if you wonrsquot let her

dierdquo (282) Hertzel points out that some of Hemingwayrsquos characters pray frequently

However it is also important to note that the prayers never get answered (79) For

example in Hemingwayrsquos posthumously published Islands in the Stream Thomas

Hudsonrsquos son David makes this comment about prayer ldquoYou canrsquot tell Audrey You

never know when it [prayer] may [do good] I donrsquot mean that Mr Davis needs to be

prayed for I just mean about prayer technicallyrdquo (186) In Frederick Henryrsquos case both

his baby and Catherine die Apparently in Hemingwayrsquos mind there was no

supernatural realm and prayers go nowhere Frederick asks Catherine on her death bed

ldquoDo you want me to get a priest or anyone to come and see yourdquo (Farewell 282)

Catherine just wants Frederic to stay with her Frederic says that his only religious feeling

comes at night (227) So the spiritual connection of sex is a religious experience to

Frederic

46

Hemingway does not present a supernatural dimension to Catholicism (Hertzel

78) In The Sun Also Rises as Jake and Brett leave a chapel in Pamplona he thinks that

ldquo[t]he praying had not been much of a successrdquo (212) Brett also portrays religion as

being uselessmdashat least for her saying ldquoDonrsquot know why I get so nervy in church

Never does me any goodrdquo (212) Brett says that praying never does her any good and

that she has never gotten anything that she prayed for (213) Jake does say that he has

gotten things that he has prayed for Brett replies of prayer ldquoMaybe it works for some

peoplerdquo (213) Jake considers himself ldquopretty religiousrdquo (213) Hemingway himself

prayed but apparently after the Spanish Civil War his view on prayer changed In The

Dangerous Summer he says ldquo[I] never [prayed] for myself during the Spanish Civil

War when I saw the terrible things that happened to other people and I felt that to pray for

oneself was selfish and egotisticalrdquo (142) In a June 19 1945 letter to Thomas Welsh

Hemingway expounded

In first war really scared after wounded and very devout at the end Fear of

death Belief in personal salvation or maybe just preservation through prayers for

intercession of Our Lady and various saints that prayed to with almost tribal faith

Spanish war seemed so selfish to pray for self when such things being done to all

people by people sponsored by Church that never prayed for self But missed

Ghostly comfort This war [Spanish Civil War] got through without praying

once Times a little bad sometimes too But felt that having forfeited any right to

ask for these intercessions would be absolutely crooked to ask for same no matter

how scared (qtd in Stoneback 128)

47

Consequently Hemingway only prayed for others after the Spanish Civil War In The

Dangerous Summer Hemingway writes of praying for others in Spain ldquoI prayed for all

those I had in hock to Fortune for all friends with cancer for all girls living and dead

and that Antonio would have good bulls that afternoonrdquo (69) Yet it is unknown if any

of Hemingwayrsquos prayers were ever answered In fact Hemingway wondered if his

prayers ever got anywhere

In case my prayers were invalid as they well might have been and to make sure

someone competent was doing it I took out a membership in the Jesuit Seminary

Fund Association at New Orleans for Carmen and Antonio [Ordoacutentildeez bullfighter]

There was a class graduating who when they were ordained would pray for them

each day (142)

So Hemingway got others to pray for his friends family and others in case that his

prayers were going nowhere In Hemingwayrsquos works instead of offering a supernatural

element to the Catholic Church he presents the Church as a solely human institution

Hertzel writes that Hemingway treats the Catholic Church as ldquoa colorful institution with

richness tradition ritual and discipline but it provides no convenient miraclesrdquo (78-79)

Consequently Hemingway uses Catholicism as a literary motif to add texture to his

writings (79)

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway seems to make fun of the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit that according to Christians is the method by which the Bible was

written Hemingwayrsquos example is silly Hemingway mockingly describes the writing

process of Waldo Frank the author of Virgin Spain He ldquolay naked in his bed in the night

48

and God sent him things to write how he lsquowas in touch ecstatically with the plunging and

immobile allrdquo (53) Moreover

After God sent it he wrote it The result was that unavoidable mysticism of a

man who writes a language so badly he cannot make a clear statement

complicated by whatever pseudo-scientific jargon is in style at the moment God

sent him some wonderful stuff about Spain during his short stay there

preparatory to writing of the soul of the country but it is often nonsense (53)

Hemingway wrote more generally of the religion of the Lost Generation again

with a touch of mockery

There will be many new salvations brought forward My generation in France for

example in two years sought salvation in first the Catholic Church 2nd DaDaism

third the movies fourth Royalism fifth the Catholic Church again There may be

another and better war But none of it will matter particularly to this generation

because to them the things that are given to people to happen have already

happened (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 327)

In his books Hemingway also seems to make fun of religion in order to try to be

comedic In his ficto-biography True at First Light Hemingway asks the interpreter

ldquoDid you not like the Mission School Remember God is listening He hears your every

wordrdquo (182) Later Hemingway asks GC ldquoAnd will you carry these principles into

Life sonrdquo (204) GC responds ldquoDrink your beer Billy Grahamrdquo (204) Ironically

years later Billy Graham would use Ernest Hemingway as a sermon illustration More

comedy follows in True at First Light when Hemingway talks about a new religion that

49

he created for the Africans He said that his African helpers Ngui and Mthuka and

himself ldquocould decide what was a sin and what was notrdquo (281) Hemingway also talks

about the ldquoHappy Hunting Groundsrdquo as if it were some sort of heaven

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway is comedic through the character of Bill

Gorton Walking down a boulevard with Jake Bill spots a taxidermistrsquos shop and

jokingly tries to get Jake to buy a stuffed dog Jake knows that it is a joke and just tries

to keep Bill moving down the boulevard After Jake promises to get a stuffed dog on the

way back Bill Gorton says ldquoAll right Have it your own way Road to hell paved with

unbought stuffed dogs Not my faultrdquo (78) Hemingway also does this with the priest in

A Farewell to Arms in order to try to infuse comedy into this novel when the captain at

the soldiersrsquo mess keep joking with the priest as the butt of the joke ldquoPriest to-day with

girlsrdquo (7) The captain adds ldquoPriest every night five against onerdquo (7)

On the train to Bayonne Bill Gorton says of some pilgrims on the train with

them ldquoGoddam Puritansrdquo (Sun 91) In the train compartment with Jake and Bill is a man

from Montana with his wife and son The man says to Jake and Bill of getting a meal

while pretending to be pilgrims ldquoThey thought we were snappers all right It

certainly shows you the power of the Catholic Church Itrsquos a pity you boys ainrsquot

Catholics You could get a meal then all rightrdquo (93) Frustrated by the situation Jake

assures him that he is Catholic When Bill Gorton corners a priest returning from a meal

with the pilgrims Bill asks him when the Protestants will get a chance to eat The priest

says that he doesnrsquot know and Gorton replies ldquoItrsquos enough to make a man join the Klanrdquo

(93)

50

After fishing along the Irati River Jake and Bill meet to have lunch After talking

about William Jennings Bryan and which came first the chicken or the egg Bill mocks

religion and the question of whether the chicken or the egg comes first ldquoOh how

should we know We should not question Our stay on earth is not for long Let us

rejoice and believe and give thanksrdquo (126) Holding a drumstick perhaps like a mock

scepter and a bottle of wine Bill tries to be mockingly funny ldquoLet us rejoice in our

blessings Let us utilize the fowls of the air Let us utilize the product of the vine Will

you utilize a little brotherrdquo (126) Handing Jake the bottle Bill says ldquoUtilize a little

brother Let us not doubt brother Let us not pry into the holy mysteries of the

hencoop with simian fingers Let us accept on faithrdquo (127) Then pointing at a

drumstick Bill says ldquoLet me tell you We will say and I for one am proud to saymdashand I

want you to say with me on your knees brother Let no man be ashamed to kneel here in

the great out-of-doors Remember the woods were Godrsquos first templesrdquo (127) They

uncork another bottle Before they take a nap Bill asks Jake if he is really a Catholic

(128) Jake replies that he is technically a Catholic When asked what that means Jake

says that he doesnrsquot know (129) Even though the Eucharist is mocked Jake and Bill are

seemingly reborn as they fish in nature So nature provides a chance at rest and

regeneration

Just like Hemingway in most of his life some of his characters are not religious

although they have religious influences Robert Jordan is one example His father was

religious But his fatherrsquos religion turned Robert off In one instance as a younger man

when Robert is about to leave on a train his father gets emotional and says a prayer over

51

him In response ldquoRobert Jordan had been so embarrassed by all of it [his fatherrsquos

emotionalism] the damp religious sound of the prayer and by his father kissing him

good-by that he had felt suddenly so much older than his father and sorry for him that he

could hardly bear itrdquo (For Whom Bell Tolls 405-406) This would seem similar to

Ernestrsquos leaving home for the first time en route to Kansas City (Hemingway-Sanford

154) In this instance Hemingwayrsquos father bought him the ticket and saw him off (154)

Maybe Dr Hemingway did cry when he saw Ernest off for he really loved his son

While Ernest was in Italy Marcelline notes that her ldquoDad had always loved Ernest

especially dearly and he missed him and prayed for him dailyrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford

160) To compound all this like Hemingwayrsquos father Robertrsquos religious father later

ldquoshot himselfrdquo in a suicide in the same manner as Robert Jordanrsquos father (For Whom Bell

Tolls 66) Robert ldquounderstood his father and he forgave him everything and he pitied him

but he was ashamed of himrdquo (340) Perhaps Hemingway was ashamed of his father after

his fatherrsquos sad suicide This shame and embarrassment of his late father and his

perceived cowardice may have pushed Robert away from religion (338) In addition it is

quite probable that the suicide of Hemingways father additionally pushed him away from

the Protestant tradition of his father as his father had been a deacon and a very upright

and religious man (Reynolds M American Homecoming 211) Yet Daniel Pawley notes

that Hemingway loved his father more than anyone else in the world At one point in For

Whom the Bell Tolls Robert says ldquoI do not believe in ogres nor soothsayers nor in the

supernatural thingsrdquo (250) When Pilar tells Robert that she cares about him Robert tells

52

Pilar that he doesnrsquot want her love He qualifies ldquoNi tu ni Diosrdquo (Neither yours nor

Godrsquos) (387) Robert doesnrsquot want Godrsquos love either

48

CHAPTER 4

HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY

According to Michael Reynolds Hemingway liked all things ancient and

medieval and that included the Catholic Church In fact Hemingway liked visiting

medieval cathedrals among them Chartres He ldquoliked the ritual the mystery the odors of

age and incense He liked its permanence in stonerdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 325)

Hadley Richardson liked to refer to the chivalric Hemingway as her ldquogentil parfit

knightrdquo an allusion to Chaucerrsquos description of the knight in The Canterbury Tales (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 223) and he liked to wear a scapular This scapular has

ldquogot an image of Christ on it suspended from a brown shoestring-like loop At home in

Key West friends have observed him with the scapular and how hersquoll make the sign of

the cross before he goes in swimmingrdquo (Hendrickson 28)

Hemingway would come back to the Bible in his later years in his search for

literary titles Hemingway alludes to Ecclesiastes 14-7 in his title of The Sun Also Rises

The Scriptural passage was used to signify that basically the Lost Generation would

pass away but that the earth would abide forever Moreover Hemingway gave the Bible

credit for teaching him how to write (Blume 213)

In his youth Hemingway idolized his missionary uncle to China Willoughby (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 110) Willoughby had a medical mission there In fact

Ernestrsquos father Dr Clarence Hemingway inspired by his brother had wanted to be a

medical missionary to Guam but his wife had dissuaded him from it (Pawley 24) Dr

49

Hemingway also had an offer for a medical mission in Greenland (L Hemingway 21)

Grace refused to go Ernest Hemingwayrsquos life might have had a much different outcome

if his mother would have supported his father in becoming a medical missionary to Guam

or even Greenland Years later when Hemingway was living in Cuba Hemingwayrsquos

sister Ursala visited and she and Ernest reminisced about their Uncle Willoughby

recalling his visits and together they sang ldquolsquoJesus Loves Mersquo in Chinese until the tears

rolled down their cheeksrdquo (25) Upon the death of his father Ernest returned home to

Oak Park where he openly displayed his new-found Catholic faith Marcelline says that

upon his arrival Ernest ldquotold us that he had had a Mass saidrdquo for their dad (Dearborn 268

M Reynolds American Homecoming 211 Hemingway-Sanford 233) With Dr

Hemingwayrsquos body lying in repose in the music room Ernest now leader of his family

led his family in the Lordrsquos Prayer This echoes back to the time in Ernestrsquos youth when

his Grandfather Hall would lead his family in the Lordrsquos prayer ldquohis eyes directed

heavenwardrdquo (Dearborn 268) However during this time of mourning Ernestrsquos

Catholicism angered some peoplemdashespecially Marcelline

Relying on Catholic teaching Ernest believed that his father had gone to

purgatory since suicide was a mortal sin (M Reynolds American Homecoming 211) In

addition Ernest mentioned that since his family was a Heathen Family ldquoit was

impossible to offer enough prayers to get his [Dr Hemingwayrsquos] soul into heavenrdquo

(Dearborn 268) Marcelline thought that Ernestrsquos idea of praying their father out of

purgatory was disgusting Ernest told his kid brother Leicester Hemingway to ldquopray as

hard as he could for his fatherrsquos soul to be released from purgatoryrdquo as ldquothings go right on

50

from hererdquo (Dearborn 268 My Brother 111) Despite the waves that Ernest made with

his family he showed genuine care concern and distress in his belief that his late father

was in purgatory (Dearborn 268) In this instance Hemingway definitely took Catholic

doctrine seriously

Dearborn paints Ernest Hemingway as a practicing Catholic one who would go to

Mass and fast on Good Friday She suggests that during this trying time Hemingway

turned to his faith in order to anchor himself through his grief She further suggests that

Ernestrsquos claim that his father was in purgatory was a way for him to assert his patriarchal

dominance over the family and to show that he was in charge Marcelline as the eldest

had tried to claim this role but in her struggle with Ernest she had lost (269)

In Chicago a Dominican priest wrote to Hemingway to thank him for saving his

friend Don Stewart in the bull ring at Pamplona (M Reynolds American Homecoming

156) This priest had heard of Hemingwayrsquos conversion to Catholicism within that year

1927 and he urged Hemingway to become a writer for the Dominican cause in order to

defend the Church and its ldquocause of Truthrdquo (156) In response Hemingway wrote

I have been a Catholic for many years although I feel very badly and did not go to

communion for over 8 years However I have gone regularly to mass for the last

two years and absolutely set my house in order within the year However I have

always had more faith than intelligence or knowledge and I have never wanted to

be known as a Catholic writer because I know the importance of setting an

examplemdashand I have never set a good example Also I am a dumb Catholic

and I have so much faith that I hate to examine itmdashbut I am trying to lead a good

51

life and to write well and truly and it is easier to do the first than the second (qtd

in M Reynolds American Homecoming 156)

In a 1940 Valentinersquos Day letter to his editor Maxwell Perkins Hemingway wrote ldquoI am

not a Catholic writer nor a party writer nor even an American writer but just a writer

meant to rise above injusticerdquo (qtd in Isabelle 51)

Despite his Catholicism Hemingwayrsquos faith didnrsquot help him to change into a

better man Although he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not

transform him nor even make him Christ-like Hemingway did not have a salvation

experience Nor was his faith life-altering Stoneback agrees that ldquoHemingway did not

turn to the church for instant deliverancerdquo (Stoneback 122) As a Catholic

Hemingway continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Ernestrsquos

Catholicism did not translate into his personal life Hemingwayrsquos religious life was one

solely of Catholic rituals He did not change his behavior or his vices He did not

overcome his problems Unfortunately in the end Hemingwayrsquos problems overcame

him

Despite his personal shortcomings Hemingway did at times take Catholicism

seriously After one of his African safaris he returned to Paris and saw his friend Ned

Calmer Calmer was a reporter and an aspiring novelist There Hemingway learned that

Calmerrsquos daughter had not been baptized (Hendrickson 44) This was unconscionable to

Hemingway Years later Calmer wrote that ldquoErnest seemed genuinely concerned

The attitude was this will never do He came along to the church of St Sulpice in Paris

52

as sponsor at the ceremonyrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 44) where Calmerrsquos daughter was

baptized

Hemingwayrsquos faith affected him in other ways too During the Spanish Civil

War his Catholicism would give him ldquosympathy with the conservative traditionalist side

in Spain at least in the early days of this unrestrdquo (Dearborn 303) Later Hemingway

would switch his allegiance to the anti-Franco anti-fascist communist-supported side of

the conflict Unfortunately this shift caused many family disputes with his wife Pauline

(Isabelle 25) However it was Hemingwayrsquos belief that politics and religion should not

mix (Stoneback 117) After the Spanish Civil War and in Cuba Hemingway used to

worry that the FBI were Roman Catholics and thus consequently Franco sympathizers

(N Reynolds 127) In fact Hemingway liked to refer to the FBI as ldquolsquoFrancorsquos Bastard

Irishrsquo and lsquoFrancorsquos Iron Cavalryrsquordquo (127) Nicholas Reynolds suggests that Hemingway

was paranoid about the FBI because he had signed on to be a spy with the Russian

Narodny Kommisariat Vnutrennikh Del (Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs)

better known as the NKVD Yet Hemingway never actually did anything for them His

code name was ldquoArgordquo Dearborn notes that ldquo[d]espite his professed Catholicism Ernest

was impatient with religion over philosophizing and what we would call today self-

helprdquo (320) Dorothy Parker makes a different claim about Hemingway ldquoThere is no

more than a thin line of moss to stamp the spot where Robert Benchley and Ernest

Hemingway had that big philosophical discussion about the meaning of liferdquo (qtd in M

Reynolds American Homecoming 106) Philosopher Ralph Withington Church ldquorecalls

his conversations with Hemingway about the lsquoproblem of redemptionrsquo and

53

Malebranchersquos lsquotheory of gracersquordquo (Stoneback 121) Ernest also had his own privately-

held opinions about Catholicism For example Hemingway told one of his daughters-in-

law that unlike the Catholic Churchrsquos teaching that animals donrsquot have souls he believed

that animals did (Dearborn 516) Secondly Ernest seems to have taken on or been

influenced by his motherrsquos mystic spiritualist bent Ernest believed in superstitions and

in some types of psychic phenomena (518)

Later in his life Ernest seems to have some misgivings about Catholicism He

consistently said when Paulinersquos name surfaced that ldquoher Catholic faith had wrecked the

marriagerdquo (Dearborn 406) Pauline had been advised by her doctor not to have any more

children The fear was that Pauline would get pregnant and die from the pregnancy

(Hawkins 141) Since Catholicism only permitted the birth control method of

withdrawal Ernestrsquos pleasure was significantly diminished by this technique and

consequently doomed their marriage Hemingway had also wanted to have a daughter

but this dream was never realized Paulinersquos second son Gregory who became a doctor

contends that all that his father would have had to have done to retain his pleasure would

have been to abstain from intercourse on Paulinersquos fertile days According to Gregrsquos

reasoning this ldquowould have been obvious to lsquoany foolrsquordquo (qtd in Dearborn 406)

According to Leicester Hemingway Ernest wanted nothing to do with the Catholic

church after Pauline and he asked for ldquothe address of an uncle William E Miller who

had written many hymns in the Episcopalian hymnalrdquo (Isabelle 58-59) Moreover Ernest

was concerned about his sons Patrick and Gregory attending a Catholic school Ernest

feared that this school Canterbury was affecting Patrick gradually and insidiously

54

(Dearborn 480) In fact Ernest hated this school and he referred to it as ldquoone of lsquothose

snot schoolsrsquordquo (480)

Paulinersquos and Hemingwayrsquos second son Gregory had a troubled life Over time

he came to like to dress up as a woman In Los Angeles this caught up with him when

he tried to enter the womenrsquos restroom of a theater in drag (Hendrickson 297) Pauline

cabled Hemingway that Gregory was in trouble Hemingway called back Pauline was in

a lot of pain but went to the phone anyway to tell Hemingway about the problem On the

phone Hemingway said ldquoItrsquos all your fault see how yoursquove brought him up yoursquore

corrupt and hersquos corruptrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 297) Hemingway intimated that perhaps

Gregoryrsquos Catholic upbringing had pushed Gregory into transgenderism Gregory had

served as an altar-boy at Saint Mary Star of the Sea (386)

That night Pauline went to bed in tears Unfortunately the heated accusative

argument with Ernest had set Pauline off At the time Pauline had been staying at her

sisterrsquos Virginia residence in Los Angeles In the early morning Virginia and her

friend Laura awakened to what they described as a ldquohorrendous screamrdquo from Paulinersquos

room Pauline was taken to the hospital where her blood pressure skyrocketed dropped

to zero and caused ldquoher to die of shock on the operating tablerdquo (Hawkins 271) Later

Hemingway blamed Paulinersquos death on Gregory Yet Gregory became a doctor and

researched his motherrsquos death more thoroughly Through an autopsy report Gregory

learned that his mother had died of a ldquorare tumor of the adrenal glandrdquo also known as

pheochromocytoma (275) This type of tumor secretes large quantities of adrenaline

causing blood pressure to spikemdasheven to the point where arteries can rupture Pauline

55

had had only an intermittent tumor that would secrete during times of stress Gregory

informed his father of his findings in a letter in the summer of 1960 Gregory wrote that

Hemingwayrsquos argument with Pauline had set Pauline off ldquocausing a blood vessel to

rupturerdquo after which her blood pressure dropped to zero with the resulting shock killing

her on the operating table (275) So Gregory blamed Hemingway for Paulinersquos early

death from shock due to the ruptured blood vessel and the drop of her blood pressure to

zero

In 1947 Hemingwayrsquos son Patrick had a spiritual crisis of his own Due to his

Catholic mother Patrick had been schooled in Catholic schools In 1947 Patrick had

been studying for the College Board exams at Hemingwayrsquos home the Finca in Cuba

However when Gregory had a spring vacation Patrick decided to join him in Key West

In 1945 Pauline had bought herself a sports car (Dearborn 497) In 1947 in Key West

Patrick was newly licensed and Patrick let Gregory drive the sports car Gregory drove

off the road and hit a tree near Casa Marina

In the process Patrick and Gregory seemed to suffer only minor injuries

Gregory ldquoreceived a minor knee injuryrdquo while Patrick ldquosuffered a cut on his chin and

slight headacherdquo (Hawkins 251) Yet Patrick had suffered a severe concussion (Di

Robilant 7) At first the boys didnrsquot seem to have any ill effects from the accident and

they arrived back at the Finca However shortly after his arrival Patrick started acting

strangely (Dearborn 497) At the Finca Patrick asked ldquofor a pot of hot water and some

teardquo (497) When Reneacute Villarreal brought the hot water and tea to the little house

ldquoPatrick complained that the water was dirtyrdquo (497) Then Patrick commenced shouting

56

loudly at the cook Ramoacuten who wasnrsquot even there Next at the main house Ernest

placed Patrick ldquoon a wicker chaise and stroked his headrdquo (497) In Havana the next day

Patrick was able to take the College Board exams but as the day progressed he grew

increasingly agitated So Ernest called for a doctor The doctor ldquosedated Patrick but the

next day he was delirious and soon became violent and it was necessary to restrain himrdquo

(497) Andrea Di Robilant believes that Patrick had a complete breakdown (7) His loss

of normalcy became a terrible ordeal for the Hemingway family in which his future his

sanity and his life hung in the balance (Dearborn 497)

In response Ernest placed Patrick in his own bed at the Finca and slept on a straw

mat in the living room just outside the door of his bedroom taking care of Patrick around

the clock (Dearborn 497-98 Hawkins 251) Ernest did this for the next three months

(Dearborn 498) It was hoped that Patrick would recover and be well within a couple of

weeks Yet it didnrsquot turn out this way Doctors from all over Cuba were called in Dr

Herrera deemed Patrick to be ldquopredementialrdquo a condition either set off from the exams or

by a crisis of his Catholic faith (498) Religion was a big portion of Patrickrsquos delirium

the other subject being putas whores A local priest named Don Andreacutes became one of

Patrickrsquos chief caretakers Surprisingly due to the spiritual nature of Patrickrsquos condition

this priest was unable to enter Patrickrsquos room without being accused of being the devil

incarnate Consequently this priest became known as the Black Priest

Patrick was so delusional that Ernest and his doctors were concerned about being

near Patrick because they were afraid that they would be scratched or bitten Patrick

remained bedridden for weeks and ldquohe moved in and out of consciousnessrdquo (Di Robilant

57

7) However Patrickrsquos condition did not improve he only worsened and became more

violentmdashhaving to be constantly restrained (Dearborn 498) At first the doctors wanted

Ernest to put Patrick in a hospital but Ernest was determined to keep Patrick at home

Patrick was so delirious that he wouldnrsquot eat When Patrick did eat he stuffed the food in

his mouth like a hamster to spit out at his caretakers Patrick even couldnrsquot swallow his

own saliva Considering that Patrick would probably rip out feeding tubes it was

decided to feed him rectally under restraint and under heavy sedation Patrick had not

eaten since his illness had begun five days prior It would take a full hour and a half to

feed Patrick rectally Despite this procedure Patrick dropped to eighty-eight pounds by

the start of August He had become psychotic

Given the limited means and the early days of psychiatric diagnoses in that time

and age it seemed like Patrick was schizophrenic perhaps even needing a lifetime of

institutionalized care (499) In July a new physician suggested that Patrick undergo

shock treatments In those days the only options were lobotomy and electroshock

therapy (499-500) So seeing no other viable option Patrickrsquos parents relented to the

electroshock therapy (500) In the outbuilding of the Finca Patrick received his first

shock treatment After only around ten minutes Patrick was reported as being ldquolucidrdquo

Fortunately Patrickrsquos electroshock therapy brought him back

The Hemingways remembered how the shock treatments had brought Patrick

back from the brink of hopelessness However when electroshock treatments were tried

years later on Ernest himself because of his traumatic brain injuries and compounding

depression they had the opposite effect For Ernest Hemingway electroshock treatments

58

wiped out his memory and he could no longer write take pride in himself and support

himself financially by the only means he knew how The shock treatments pushed

Hemingway further into depression

After his marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer Hemingway had misgivings about his

Catholic faith However HR Stoneback asserts that Hemingway never entirely gave up

his Catholicism and that he continued to go to Mass pray support the church and regard

himself as Catholic (114) Despite all this Hemingway had some bitterness toward the

Catholic Church Yet it still played an influence in his life Lloyd Arnold says of

Hemingwayrsquos last twenty years of life ldquoI did not know Papa as a man without Godrdquo (qtd

in Stoneback 105-06) Even after his marriage to Pauline Hemingway did put some

stock in Catholicism His divorce from Pauline made him excommunicated from the

Catholic Churchmdashhe could not receive communionmdashbut he still did visit Catholic

churches and pray inside During his marriage to Pauline Hemingway had faithfully and

regularly attended Mass Of his post-Pauline years Hemingway friend and biographer

AE Hotchner noted that in 1954 Hemingway on his way to Madrid stopped into the

cathedral at Burgos where he kneeled and prayed (Stoneback 106) According to

Hotchner in 1958 Hemingway paid for a new roof for the Catholic Church in Hailey

Idaho Then he gave an address to that parishrsquos young people admonishing them not to

work on Sunday as it was ldquovery back luckrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106)

Actor Gary Cooper who had played the role of Robert Jordan in the 1943 film

version of For Whom the Bell Tolls converted to Catholicism himself in 1958 In

response Hemingway ldquotalked sympathetically with Gary Cooper aboutrdquo it (Stoneback

59

106) In 1959 Hemingway was pickpocketed in Spain so in response he put an ad in

the newspaper asking the Spanish pickpocket to return his billfold as he cared mostly for

ldquogetting back the ldquoimage of St Christopher in itrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106) Throughout

his lifetime Hemingway named a son after a pope ldquodisplayed great pride in Patrickrsquos

confirmation mastery of the catechism gave money and support to the churchrdquo (110)

Ernest even taught his oldest son Bumby how to pray (L Hemingway 99) When

Hemingway received his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 he gave the medal to the

Virgen of Cobra Shrine in Cuba (Isabelle 52)

In a conversation with his fourth and final wife Mary Welsh Hemingway says to

her ldquoReligion is superstition and I believe in superstitionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 118)

Ernest adds that it is his ldquoTribal heritagerdquo (118) Mary wrote to Stoneback of Ernest that

when they would visit cathedrals in France Italy or Spain Hemingway would light

candles in honor of the memory of his friends Stoneback writes that with Ernest Mary

Hemingway had to live through a Catholic prism With Ernest Mary had to eat fish on

Fridays observe Lent do the Christmas traditions celebrate Ernestrsquos saintrsquos day have

masses and prayers said for family and friends observe holy days and Catholic feasts

drive miles off course to visit and revisit cathedrals and churches and to attend religious

processions (119) Mary Hemingway would later say that Hemingway ldquoadmiredrdquo the

Catholic church and that he ldquothought of himself always as Catholicrdquo (qtd in 119) Mary

Hemingway said of Ernestrsquos friend the Black Priest Don Andreacutes that he and

Hemingway would talk alone and that Ernest regarded him ldquoas his lsquopersonal priest and

confessorrsquo that they prayed together and for each otherrdquo (120) According to Toby

60

Bruce Hemingway and the Black Priest were very good friends they talked quite a lot

and that when Don Andreacutes died in 1955 Hemingway had masses said for him (132)

Mary said of Ernest ldquoWhen he said he was Catholic he meant itrdquo (qtd in 120)

Mary added that Ernest tried very hard at being Catholic Allen Tate said that

Hemingway was ldquovery Catholicrdquo and that his attitude towards sports was ldquorooted in

religious sensibilityrdquo (120) Tate added that it was the ritual of sport that Hemingway

liked RW Church says that Hemingwayrsquos ldquotalk during these late hours at Lips made

evident his conviction that Sport and bull-fighting in particular afforded a major way to

the redemption of manrdquo (135) Stoneback argues that for Hemingway sport is a

redemptive ritual that is central to his life and work (136) The renowned sportsman

George Leonard Herter said that although Hemingway was a strong Catholic

his ldquoreligion came mainly from the Apparitions of the Virgin Maryrdquo (121) Herter said

that Hemingway was almost obsessed with the apparitions and talked about them often

(134) Hemingway thought that they were important Hemingway did not understand

why the Catholic church did not publicize the apparitions Hemingway was amazed that

most brothers nuns and priests were ignorant of the apparitions and seemed to care even

less Herter said that he had heard Hemingway speak of the apparitions including

Lourdes Fatima and others ldquoat one time or anotherrdquo (qtd in 134) Herter says that

Hemingway believed that if there was no Bible ldquono man-made church lawsrdquo then the

apparitions conclusively proved that the Catholic church was the true church (134-35)

Herter adds that ldquoHemingway knew all the apparitions The ones at Pontmain

61

Pellivoisin Allyrod greatly impressed himrdquo (134-35) In addition Hemingway basically

believed that the Virgin Mary was earthrsquos listening post for Jesus and God (135)

Reynolds Price suggested that ldquoHemingwayrsquos lsquolifelong subjectrsquo was

lsquosaintlinessrsquordquo (121) Stoneback asserts a spiritual order to Hemingwayrsquos works in which

Hemingway examines the conscience through a Catholic lens (122) Stoneback

summarizes an October 18 1933 letter to Pauline Hemingway

tells Pauline that the proofs of Winner Take Nothing have arrived and though it is

a ldquodamned goodrdquo book itrsquos too much to expect the church will stand for it As he

sees it considering his writing the church would have two choices either kick

him out or prove he has no right to be in Either one would be bad because he

couldnrsquot tell them to ldquogo to the devilrdquo because of the ldquoItalian complicationsrdquo At

least hersquoll be able to say his prayers participate in the Mass support and

contribute to the church and wherever they donrsquot know him he can go to

confession He does not want to seem to be seeking ldquoappuirdquo as a ldquoCatholic

writerrdquo He says that he has no right to write the way he does and be ldquolsquoofficially

of the Churchrsquordquo Everything is fine with his conscience however he adds that

therersquos nothing wrong with the church (Stoneback 129-30)

Stoneback summarizes an interview with Fraser Drew As Stoneback

summarizes Hemingway told Drew

I [Hemingway] like to think that Irsquom a Catholic as far as I can be I can still go to

Mass although many things have happenedmdashthe divorces the marriages He

spoke with admiration of Catholicism and then of his friend the Basque priest

62

whom he had known in Spain [Don Andreacutes] and who now lived in San Francisco

de Paula He comes here a great deal said EH He prays for me every day as I

do for him I canrsquot pray for myself any more Perhaps itrsquos because in some way I

have become hardened Or perhaps it is because the self becomes less important

and others become more important But that Time article was bad He referred to

a recent article in Time which had commented that he had been born a

Congregationalist had become a Roman Catholic and now no longer went to

church This conversation with EH confirms my earlier feeling that he is a

religious man with respect for the religions of others (Stoneback 131)

Toby Bruce said of Hemingway and religion ldquoIrsquod say he was very religious Always

went to Mass especially when he was here still with Pauline And afterwards toordquo (qtd

in 132) Bruce added ldquoHe was a real Catholic and I think he tried very hard to be a good

Catholic Who knows for sure Yes he was he planned to donate a considerable sum

toward the restoration of the Mary Immaculate Convent Donrsquot know if he did I guess

Irsquod say he was a good Catholic Donrsquot know what the church would say about itrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 132-33)

Hemingway would cross himselfmdasheven after the 1930s (133) George Herter

wrote ldquoHemingway was a Catholic in those days when the Catholic Church was a church

instead of a mass of confusion The fact that he had been a steady marrying and divorce

type didnrsquot bother Ernest at all in his views on Catholicism I knew Ernest only had

his religion in his very shaky worldrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) George Herter responded

to HR Stoneback in a letter about Hemingway ldquoI repeat he was a very strong Catholic

63

He had complete faith in God Jesus the Virgin Holy Ghost guardian angels Much

more so than nearly all Catholics I have known He was a traditional Catholic as we

all were at the timerdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) In another letter from Herter to Stoneback

dated February 23 1978 Herter writes ldquoHemingway was a strong Catholic He had a

very good knowledge of early Christianity He did not attend Mass regularly He

believed the churchrsquos stand on divorce was right although he was divorced many times

He often stated that he was a poor example of a Catholic but offered no excusesrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 134-35) Stoneback asked a Key West resident what he thought of

Hemingwayrsquos religion The man responded ldquoHemingway was very religious went to

Mass early in the morning with Pauline You could tell he was religious when he fed

the cats the way he looked at the skyrdquo (136)

Yet in his last years of life Hemingway said some very anti-Catholic and anti-

Christian things For instance married to his last wife Mary Ernest said in an interview

to Lillian Ross of the possibility of an afterlife ldquoOnly suckers worry about saving their

soulsrdquo (qtd in Ross 50) Hemingway continued ldquoWho the hell should care about saving

his soul when it is a manrsquos duty to lose it intelligently the way you would sell a position

you were not defending if you could not hold it as expensively as possible trying to

make it the most expensive position that was ever soldrdquo (50) Gregory Hemingway

recounted something similar Gregory said that his father didnrsquot genuinely believe in

organized religion and that his father ldquomade it clear he didnrsquot believe in an afterlife He

did finally believe in a superior beingrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 186) Although Hemingway

didnrsquot believe that it was necessary to save onersquos soul he did contemplate the soul As a

64

boy Hemingway had thought that his soul had blown out of him once and it had returned

to his body (First Light 172) Hemingway claimed ignorance of the soul and he didnrsquot

know if it existed nor if anyone he knew anything about it Hemingway ponders the

soul ldquoProbably a spring of clear fresh water that never diminished in drought and never

froze in the winter was closest to what we had instead of the soul they all talked aboutrdquo

(172) As a boy Hemingway assumed that he had a soul but as he grew older and jaded

he wasnrsquot sure anymore Hemingway thinks that death ends things Yet he ponders that

perhaps only really religious people have souls (172-173) Of a belief in an afterlife for

the soul as heaven or hell Hemingway had his own opinions of that On July 1 1925

Hemingway creatively wrote to F Scott Fitzgerald of his vision of heaven

To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a

trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in and two lovely

houses in the town one where I would have my wife and children and be

monogamous and love them truly and well and the other where I would have my

nine beautiful mistresses on 9 different floors Then there would be a fine

church like in Pamplona where I could go and be confessed on the way from one

house to the other and I would get on my horse and ride out with my son to my

bull ranch named Hacienda Hadley and toss coins to all my illegitimate children

that lined the road I would write out at the Hacienda and send my son in to lock

the chastity belts onto my mistresses because someone had just galloped up with

the news that a notorious monogamist named Fitzgerald had been seen riding

65

toward the town at the head of a company of strolling drinkers (Hemingway in

Katakis 37)

However after his World War I injury Ernest wrote his family

You know they say there isnrsquot anything funny about this war and there isnrsquot I

wouldnrsquot say that it was hell because thatrsquos been a bit overworked since General

Shermanrsquos time but there have been about eight times when I would have

welcomed hell just on a chance it couldnrsquot come up to the phase of war I was

experiencing (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 166-67)

So if there was a hell Hemingway didnrsquot believe that it was worse than the horrors of

war Of his past Hemingway did have regrets He wrote ldquoThis past was never my past

life which truly bores me to think about and is often very distasteful due to the mistakes

that I have made and the casualties to various human beings involvedrdquo (Hemingway in

White 466)

The question of the soul comes up continually in the works of Hemingway In

ldquoNow I Lay Merdquo Nick Adams tries not to go to sleep at night because he is afraid like

Hemingway was that his soul is going to leave his body in the dark This all stems from

a battlefield injury and experience that Nick had when his soul temporarily left his body

Nick relates ldquoI had been that way [not sleeping at night] for a long time ever since I had

been blown up at night and felt it [his soul] go out of me and go off and then come back

I tried never to think about it but it had started to go since in the nights just at the

moment of going off to sleep and I could only stop it by a very great effortrdquo (Short

Stories 276)

66

Yet Nick doesnrsquot fear his soul leaving him during the day time Hemingway also

had a similar experience with his wounding at Fossalta According to Leicester

Hemingway Ernest once told Guy Hickok of this near-death experience ldquoI felt my soul

or something coming right out of my body like yoursquod pull a silk handkerchief out of a

pocket by one corner It flew around and then came back and went in again and I wasnrsquot

dead any morerdquo (56) Hemingway gives Frederic Henry the same experience in A

Farewell to Arms After the explosion that caused his wounding Henry says that

I tried to breathe but my breath would not come and I felt myself rush bodily out

of myself and out and out and out and all the time bodily in the wind I went out

swiftly all of myself and I knew I was dead and that it had all been a mistake to

think you just died Then I floated and instead of going on I felt myself slide

back I breathed and I was back (47)

Hemingway later referred to his Christian upbringing as ldquothat ton of shit we are

all fed when we are youngrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) Michael Reynolds makes the claim that

in Ernestrsquos youth fishing was his religion (118) However Archie MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoActually he was one of the most profoundly and spiritually powerful

creatures I have ever knownrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 158)

In The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway paints the old man Santiago as a

Christ figure There is so much Christian symbolism in this tale that the story can be

thought of as a parable The name Santiago literally means Saint James in Spanish

(Baker 293) In the Bible James was one of Jesusrsquo brothers Baker says of Santiago that

he ldquoshows in his own right certain qualities of mind and heart which are clearly

67

associated with the character and personality of Jesus Christ in the Gospel storiesrdquo (299)

Like Christ Santiago is able to ldquoignore physical painrdquo while focusing on the larger

objective goal to be gained in the end (299) There is an allusion to Christ on the cross

when Santiago in fighting for his prize ldquosettled comfortably against the wood and took

his suffering as it camerdquo (Old Man Sea 64) Like a horizontal cross-beam across Christrsquos

back Santiago has the cord tightened taught across his back (Backman 10 Old Man Sea

67) Santiago carries the burdensome weight of the fish on his back and he is even

burned by the cord because of it (Old Man Sea 82) The wood the suffering and

Santiagorsquos gentleness according to Melvin Backman blends ldquomagically into an image of

Christ on the crossrdquo (10) Three other Christ-like qualities that Santiago has are his

compassion his humility and his natural piety (Baker 299-300) Santiago has

compassion on certain animals that he encounters and of some fish that he catchesmdashlike

the giant marlin In his struggle with the marlin Santiago says ldquoI love you and respect

you very much But I will kill you dead before this day endsrdquo (Old Man Sea 54) After

he has killed the fish Santiago thinks ldquoYou loved him when he was alive and you loved

him after If you love him it is not a sin to kill himrdquo (105) Before killing the fish

Santiago ponders ldquoI wish I could feed the fish He is my brother But I must kill him

and keep strong to do itrdquo (59) Santiago thinks of his humility ldquoHe was too simple to

wonder when he had attained humility But he knew he had attained it and he knew it

was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true priderdquo (13-14) Santiago demonstrates

his pride when his disciple Manolo touts him as the best fisherman and he plays it down

by saying that he knows of better ones (23) Manolo claims ldquoQueacute va [No way] But

68

there is only yourdquo (23) Santiagorsquos piety is observed in that he prays when he feels and

senses the need and that his prayers are never oaths For example in trying to catch the

giant marlin Santiago says aloud ldquoNow that I have him coming so beautifully God help

me endure Irsquoll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys But I cannot say

them nowrdquo (87) Santiagorsquos prayers are never careless nor does he make them profane

He is reverent

As Christ had disciples so Santiago has his disciple Manolo Like Christ

Santiago is a teacher in that he was taught Manolo how to fish Christ was a fisher of

men Santiago is a traditional fisherman Manolo loves Santiago because of his teaching

Manolo how to fish and he admires and looks up to Santiago as a second father figure

Before Santiago goes out on his big marlin hunt Manolo says to him ldquoIf I cannot fish

with you I would like to serve in some wayrdquo (12) Manolo wants to be loyal to Santiago

Before his big marlin catch Santiago had had two previous eighty-seven day periods

where he went without a fish After the first period Santiago and Manolo had caught big

fish every day for three weeks GR Wilson Jr likens these three weeks to Christrsquos three

years of ministry where he fished for men and taught his disciples to fish for men (370)

At the start of Old Man Santiago had not caught a fish for eighty-four days The Old

Man and the Sea takes place over three days so this makes the second eighty-seven day

period In the Bible Christ demonstrated his divine authority by performing miracles

Wilson notes that Manolo has faith in the old man stemming from the miracle of the

three weeksrsquo bounty that he and Santiago had caught In addition according to Isabelle

Santiago ldquohooks the fish at noon and at noon of third day he kills itrdquo (77) This is just

69

like Christ who died and in three days rose again Isabelle adds that the marlin was

ldquolanded on the seventh attemptrdquo and that ldquoseven sharks were killedrdquo in the fishrsquos defense

(78) The number seven is a sacred and significant number recurring in the Bible After

the seventh day of creation God rested there are seven days in a week et cetera

(Easton) The number seven is also seen as symbolizing perfection and rest

Another similarity of Santiago with Christ are the wounds that he receives on his

hands On the cross Christ was pierced in each hand to help keep him pinned to the

cross In his battle with the fish Santiago receives bad cutsmdashstigmatamdashon his hands

Santiago sees his hands as brothers and he often talks to them Carlos Baker explains that

Santiago ldquospeaks to them [his hands] as to fellow-sufferers wills them to do the work

they must do and makes due allowances for them as if they were what he once calls

them lsquomy brothersrsquordquo (313) Once he says aloud ldquoHersquos [the fish] coming up Come

on hand Please come onrdquo (Old Man Sea 62) The hands also represent good and bad

The right hand is good and the left hand is bad Santiagorsquos hands are compared to the

criminals on the crosses to the left and right of Jesus who was on his own cross in the

center Santiagorsquos right hand is his good one Santiago thought that his left hand ldquohad

always been a traitor and would not do what he called on it to do and he did not trust itrdquo

(71) Luke 2339 reads ldquoOne of the criminals who were hanged railed at him [Jesus]

saying lsquoAre you not the Christ Save yourself and usrsquordquo (English Standard Version) So

Santiagorsquos left hand is untrustworthy Santiagorsquos right hand is so reliable that he quit

arm-wrestling despite being ldquoEl Campeoacutenrdquo in order to keep his right hand in good

condition as a tool of his trade fishing (70-71) The thief on Jesusrsquo right rebukes the

70

other criminal Then in Luke 2342 the thief on the right of Jesus asks Jesus ldquoJesus

remember me when you come into your kingdomrdquo (English Standard Version) Jesus

assures this repentant thief that that day the thief will be with him in paradise

Santiagorsquos right hand is like the penitent thief on the cross to Jesusrsquo right This analogy

can also be applied to the Last Judgment At the Last Judgment the saved will be on the

right hand of the Savior while those who are rejected and damned will be on his left

(Baker 314)

When Santiago sees two sharks approaching he says ldquoAyrdquo (Old Man Sea 107)

Hemingway explains of this exclamation that ldquoThere is no translation for this word and

perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make involuntarily feeling the nail go

through his hands and into the woodrdquo (107) Given his affinity and brotherhood with the

marlin when Santiago sees his prize catch eaten by the sharks it is a mortifying terrible

and crucifying experience for him Through Santiagorsquos crucifixion experience he is

transfigured Baker says that Santiagorsquos experience is also a form of martyrdom

although Santiago doesnrsquot see himself as a martyr (315) Baker also suggests that

Santiagorsquos experience also renders to him a form of apotheosis (316) Backman suggests

that Santiago triumphs (11) On his return voyage to Cuba Santiago ldquocould hardly

breathe now and he felt a strange taste in his mouth It was coppery and sweet and he

was afraid of it for a moment But there was not much of itrdquo (Old Man Sea 119) This

can be likened to Christ when he receives and drinks the ldquosponge filled with vinegarrdquo or

sour wine in Matthew 2748 (Baker 319) When Santiago returns to Cuba he has dried

blood on his face reminiscent of the blood on Christrsquos face because of the crown of

71

thorns Having arrived back everybody is asleep and nobody is there to greet or help

him He only sees a meandering cat Like Christ on the cross when God forsook him

because of the load of sin that he was carrying Santiago is alone in his suffering ldquoThere

was no one to help him so he pulled the boat up as far as he couldrdquo (Old Man Sea 120)

Removing the mast and sail Santiago ldquoshouldered the mast and started to climbrdquo (121)

This is like Christ carrying the heavy cross (Backman 11) Santiago ldquostarted to climb

again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder He

tried to get up But it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder and

looked at the roadrdquo (Old Man Sea 121) This is similar to Christ stumbling and falling as

he carried his cross on the Via Dolorosa on the way to his crucifixion at Golgotha Like

Christ Santiago falls under the burden he is bearing

Back at his shack Santiago lays down to sleep ldquoHe pulled the blanket over his

shoulders and then over his back and legs and he slept face down on the newspapers with

his arms out straight and the palms of his hands uprdquo (121-22) Baker notes that Santiago

sleeps in a cruciform position that sums up ldquothe symbolic position naturally assumed all

the suffering through which he has passedrdquo (320) In his return Santiago also brings

evidence of his epic battlegood work to increase the faith of his disciple Manolo

(Wilson 371) Wilson asserts that Santiago is on his death-bed when Manolo finds him

(372) The eighty-seventh day of this second period ends on Ascension Day as it began

on Ash Wednesday and ldquoconstitutes all but the last ten days of the Easter Cycle from

Lent through Paschal tiderdquo (369-70) As Mary cried over Christ at the tomb Manolo

returns to Santiagorsquos shanty sees the old manrsquos hands and starts to cry (Old Man Sea

72

122) Wilson also asserts that Santiago matches up with Joseph Campbellrsquos archetypal

model for a ldquohero with a thousand facesrdquo (372) For example Santiago starts out on his

journey or calling with the aid of the helper Manolo Santiago ldquocrosses the threshold of

adventure and meets a trial that can take many forms including the brother-battle

dragon-battle crucifixion and a night-sea journey all of which can be seen as applying

in some way to the old fishermanrdquo (372) The mythic-like story culminates in a ldquosacred

marriagerdquo between Santiago and his prize marlin (372) Fellow writer William Although

Hemingway was not a good nor a professing Christian and for most of his life claimed to

be Catholic he was not a reformed believer Hemingway still continued to be

Hemingway Despite all this according to Carlos Baker ldquoThe consciousness of God is

in his booksrdquo (328)

73

74

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

Hemingway wanted to be a good man and a great writer but unfortunately he

did not turn out to be a good manmdashalthough he had his moments of goodness Although

he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not transform him He did not

have a salvation experience nor was his faith life-altering As a Catholic Hemingway

continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Hemingwayrsquos religious

life was one solely of Catholic rituals He did not overcome his problems In the end his

problems overcame him Hemingway himself said of his heart ldquoActually in regard to the

innermost contents of my heart probably a most foul place I would rather have a good

cardiograph reportrdquo (Hemingway in White 459) Hemingway added ldquoNo one of us lives

by as rigid standards nor has a good ethics as we planned but an attempt is maderdquo (461)

Hemingway was vindictive against his critics Hemingway viewed most fellow

writers as enemies if they were not officially his enemy he eventually went about to

convert them into his enemies Hemingway wanted to be the top dog of everythingmdash

especially the writing scenemdashand he didnrsquot want to share the spotlight with anyone else

Ernest felt ldquothat anyone elsersquos success diminished his ownrdquo (Hawkins 61) Hemingwayrsquos

writer friend Sherwood Anderson was the one in Chicago to suggest that Hemingway

and his newly-married first wife Hadley Richardson go to Paris instead of their planned

destination of Italy Anderson told the young Hemingway that Paris was where the

literary world was at that time and that it was also the place to get published This advice

75

was instrumental into turning Hemingway into the famed writer that he became Had it

not been for Anderson and his encouragement and faith in Hemingway Hemingway may

have never became a Nobel Prize winning writer Anderson gave Hemingway letters of

introduction to Gertrude Stein Sylvia Beach Ezra Pound and F Scott Fitzgerald Like

Harold Loeb Anderson also helped in getting Hemingwayrsquos In Our Time published

stressing its importance to Boni amp Liveright (Dearborn 177) Since Anderson pushed In

Our Time Boni amp Liveright did not want to upset itrsquos star writer so they agreed to

publish it (Hawkins 39)

However after all was said and done Hemingway wrote his satire Torrents of

Spring mocking Andersonrsquos writing style in order to try to get laughs and in order to get

out of his contract with his publisher Boni amp Liveright It worked Torrents of Spring

was rejected by Boni amp Liveright because Anderson was the companyrsquos star writer So

in lieu of this Hemingway was able to sign with Max Perkins and the publisher

Scribnerrsquos and Sons Yet in the process Hemingway had burned his bridge of friendship

with Anderson who had been so generous and helpful with the young budding writer

Others who knew of Andersonrsquos graciousness and kindness to Hemingway were appalled

by Torrents of Spring (Hawkins 44)

Hemingway was anti-Semitic mean and demeaning to people he berated them

and belittled them He thought that all guys should be macho Hemingway was not pure

evil but the evil produced by his unpredictable and uncontrollable temper pushed a lot of

peoplemdasheven one-time friendsmdashaway from him Archibald MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoHe was wonderful irreplaceable but an impossible friend a man you

76

couldnt get along with a man you couldnt get along withoutrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 167)

Robert Capa once told Leicester Hemingway ldquoPapa can be more severe than God on

a rough day when the whole human race is misbehavingrdquo (192) Hemingway was his

own worst enemy

Hemingway was not a good Catholic He was married four times and even

divorced a Catholic woman whom he later called his best wife (L Hemingway 271) It

is speculated that Hemingway had affairs with multiple women Hemingway would have

affairs before marrying his last two or three wives Hemingwayrsquos son Jack ldquoBumbyrdquo

Hemingway surmised that Hemingway had an affair with the beautiful blond Jane

Mason in 1933 (Hawkins 152) According to Jack ldquoErnest bragged to him that Jane

liked climbing through the transom to his [Hemingwayrsquos] room at the Ambos Mundos

Hotelrdquo (153) Moreover a prostitute was known to have visited the Finca Vigiacutea

Although Hemingway was Catholic he didnrsquot really change his behavior to live

in sync with the Bible or all Catholic teachings He followed the rituals of the Church

not so much a personal transformative side Yet claiming to be Catholic Hemingway

lived by his own code In the end although Hemingway was not a good person he had

some good memories of a childhood growing up and some good experiences as an adult

Even with his bad experiences Hemingway was able to incorporate them into his

literature Hemingwayrsquos keen insight his precise powers of observation his absorption

of the knowledge gained from others and the Protestant work ethic of his youth paid off

as Hemingway put all of his being into trying to be an honest writer writing one true

sentence at a time and helping his audience to see the world through open and honest

77

eyes to help his readers see feel and almost literally experience first-hand what he was

writing aboutmdashthe good the bad and the ugly Though a flawed human being

Hemingway was a brilliant writer and his brilliance lives on through his works of

literature

WORKS CITED

75

WORKS CITED

Backman Melvin ldquoHemingway The Matador and the Crucifiedrdquo Modern Fiction

Studies 13 (1955) 2-11

Baker Carlos Hemingway the Writer as Artist Princeton Princeton University Press

1963 Print

Berman Ron ldquoProtestant Catholic Jew The Sun Also Risesrdquo The Hemingway

Review 181 (1998) 33 Web

Blume Lesley MM Everybody Behaves Badly the True Story Behind Hemingwayrsquos

Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises Boston Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016

Print

Cohn-Sherbok Dan Anti-Semitism Brimscombe Port Stroud The History Press 2002

Print

Dearborn Mary V Ernest Hemingway a Biography New York Alfred A Knopf

2017 Print

Di Robilant Andrea Autumn in Venice Ernest Hemingway and his Last Muse New

York Alfred A Knopf 2018 Print

Djos Matts ldquoAlcoholism in Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises A Wine and Roses

Perspective on the Lost Generationrdquo The Hemingway Review 142 (1995) 64

Easton MG Illustrated Bible Dictionary 3rd ed Thomas Nelson 1897 Bible Study

Toolscom Web 1 Dec 2018

ESV Study Bible English Standard Version Wheaton Crossway Bibles 2008 Print

4

The Cultural Context and Overview of the Chapters To Follow

Ernest Hemingway was a man of his times Like many of his Lost Generation

after the Great War (in particular) he abandoned the faith of his youth although he quite

possibly did earlier World War I cemented this rejection In Hemingwayrsquos twenties he

married and then committed adultery According to Hemingway biographer Mary V

Dearborn he liked to marry those with whom he slept Hemingway started attending

religious services again after his second marriage to the rich Catholic Pauline Pfeiffer

Hemingway lived as an expat in Paris during the Roaring 20s Hemingwayrsquos friends

were newspapermen artists and writers Paris was hedonistic in those days After the

carnage and terror of World War I the returning Lost Generation just wanted to live life

to the utmost and the fullest In early-twentieth-century Paris Hemingway lived in an

atmosphere of lax morals Anything went In consequence he conformed to the culture

around him Some of Hemingwayrsquos literary friends were anti-Semitic Perhaps they

influenced him but Hemingway eventually showed signs of anti-Semitism too

Moreover some of the authors that Hemingway read especially as he was trying to

become a better writer were anti-Semitic themselves Living in predominantly Catholic

France converting to Catholicism at the insistence of his second wife was an easy task

for Hemingway Many of his friends were CatholicmdashJames Joyce being one At the

time Hemingway was just a conforming product of the culture and attitudes of those

around him He wanted to fit it inmdashhe wanted to be one of the boysmdashyet throughout his

life and his writing he was haunted by death and he wanted to find a spiritual solution to

his many struggles

5

Chapter 2 investigates Hemingway and Judaism and Chapter 3 centers on

Hemingway and Christianity In Chapter 4 the author argues that although he didnrsquot turn

out to be a good person and was vindictive against fellow writers critics and others

Hemingway was a good writer and used all his experiences good and bad to bring across

the truth and reality of life in his works of literature Hemingwayrsquos last novel Old Man

and the Sea provides the clearest statement of his spiritual and religious perspective

6

CHAPTER 2

HEMINGWAY AND JUDIASM

Historical Overview of Judaism

Anti-Semitism or hatred of Jews has been around since the rise of Judaism In

the Old Testament Pharaoh was the first political leader known to persecute the Jews

Pharaoh was concerned with the growing Jewish population and their loyalty Among

many other things he tried to kill Jewish ldquofirst-born sonsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 13) Next in

the Old Testament Haman tried to have the Jews killed off under Queen Esther

However most scholars agree that anti-Semitism came into its own in the years after

Christ left this earth For example Dan Cohn-Sherbok argues that ldquoit was only when

Christianity emerged in the first century CE that Jews came to be viewed as contemptible

and demonicrdquo (17)

Unfortunately the intensity of anti-Semitism in Christianity was mainly due to

misinterpretation In earlier centuries AD people could not read Scripture for themselves

and they were consequently misled In those days people had faith in and trusted the

Catholic Church seeing the pope as infallible Some misinterpreted Scripture to say that

the Jews were responsible for Christrsquos death However Scripture emphasizes that Christ

died for all so consequently he died for everyone If one looks at it from that point of

view then everyone past present and future were are and will be responsible for

Christrsquos death Yet some didnrsquot look at it that way In fact the Apostle Paul went out of

his way to preach and try to reach Jews first

7

Paul wrote in Romans 116 ldquoFor I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the

power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the

Greekrdquo (English Standard Version) John 422 reads ldquoYou worship what you do not

know we [Jews] worship what we know for salvation is from the Jewsrdquo In Romans

1117-18 Paul suggests that Gentile believers are just grafted into the Jewish promise ldquoIf

some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive were grafted in

among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree [then] do

not be arrogant toward the branches but if you are arrogant remember that it is not you

who supports the root but the root supports yourdquo Unfortunately some uninformed

early Christians did not put two and two together For some it was believed that the

Christian Church took the place of Israel which isnrsquot accurate Some believed that ldquothe

Church was the true inheritor of Godrsquos promisesrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 45) It was

believed that Jews no longer had a covenant with God and that Christians had completely

overshadowed and replaced Israel in that covenant This is not true

Acts 1346 reads of preaching to the Jews first ldquoIt was necessary that the word of

God be spoken to you firstrdquo Jesus also a Jew promoted preaching to the Jews first In

Matthew 125-6 Jesus says to the twelve disciples ldquoGo nowhere among the Gentiles and

enter no town of the Samaritans but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israelrdquo

(English Standard Version) In Matthew 1524 Jesus says ldquoI was sent only to the lost

sheep of the house of Israelrdquo (English Standard Version) The first Christians were a

group of Jews Jews were different so eventually urban legends sprang up without

accurate facts and the knowledge of Judaismrsquos teachings some people latched onto these

8

false assumptions and believed the lies that others were propagating about the Jews For

instance Jews were accused of murdering Christian children and then using their blood

for ritual practices It was believed that Jews used the blood of murdered Christian

children ldquoin the preparation of unleavened bread for Passoverrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 54) The

ritual murder charge was a misunderstanding (81) In fact in the fourteenth century

Jews were accused of bringing about the Black Death by poisoning the wells and springs

(60 67) This assertion first gained credence in southern France (81) Yet Jews suffered

and died under the Black Death as well This is an example of the Jews being blamed as

scapegoats

In the early Church the Bishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom accused the

early Hebrews of sacrificing ldquotheir sons and daughters to demons andrdquo eating their own

children (37 47) Chrysostom said of synagogues ldquoto go there was no better than

visiting a brothel a robberrsquos den or any indecent place [it is] a theatre a house of

prostitution and domicile of the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom said that the Jews ldquohave

surpassed the ferocity of wild beasts since they murder their offspring and immolate

them to the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom also accused the Jews of worshipping the devil Yet

Jeremiah 313b reads in reference to Israel ldquoI have loved you with an everlasting love

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to yourdquo (English Standard Version) If so-

called Christians would have accurately read this during this period they would have

seen that God loves his people and his nation Israel But some Christians thought that

the Christian Church entirely replaced Godrsquos Covenant with the Jews Consequently

Chrysostom said that Christians must hate the Jews (Cohn-Sherbok 47) Yet hatred is an

9

anti-Christian doctrine In Matthew 544 Jesus says ldquoBut I say to you Love your

enemies and pray for those who persecute

yourdquo (English Standard Version)

False conceptions of the Jews even seemed to be found among some of the

Church Fathers Some of the Church Fathers were frustrated that the Jews would not

convert to Christianity nor would they renounce their Judaism In some cases the quest

for converts became a competition Cohn-Sherbok writes ldquoDuring the same period

Tertullian the African Church Father called the synagogues of his day lsquofountains of

persecution of Christiansrsquordquo (46) Justin Martyr ldquorelated that Jews laugh curse and insult

Jesusrdquo (46) Jerome referred to Jews as Judases (47) In fact Judas was thought to be

ldquosymbolic of the Jewish peoplerdquo (84) In the New Testament ldquothe figure of Judas

was associated in the public mind with deviousness and treacheryrdquo (83)

Desecration of the communion host became another false charge against the Jews

as the then-Christians believed in the doctrine of transubstantiation In the doctrine of

transubstantiation the communion bread and wine (of the Eucharist) literally becomes

the body and blood of Jesus During this time it was believed that Jews stole the host in

order ldquoto assault it and thereby torture Christrdquo (80) The charge of desecration of the

Host was a hallucinatory fantasy (82) However the Jews did not believe in the Doctrine

of Transubstantiation which was affirmed at Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 (80) Only

Catholics believe this doctrine today Since the Jews did not believe in

transubstantiation they would in all likelihood not have attacked the host because they

10

couldnrsquot believe that they were actually attacking Christ in the process Desecration of

the Host was a wild belief and a total fantasy

In some cases the Talmud was burned because it was believed to be anti-

Christian Agobard Archbishop of Lyons believed that Jews stole Christian children

and sold them to Arabs (64) He also believed that Jews seduced Christian women All

sorts of wild beliefs developed about Jews many without factual basis It was all

conjecture and imagination In Germany ldquoa French monk Radulph went about preaching

that Jews were enemies of God and should be persecutedrdquo (65) As previously

mentioned the Jews were scapegoats they were blamed for everything During the

witch-hunting crazed days of the fifteenth century Jews were seen as being in cahoots

with witches and the devil (71) During this time it was believed that the Jews were born

misshapen hemorrhoidal and both sexes afflicted with menstruation In Trnava

Slovakia it was believed that Christian blood was an excellent means by which ldquoto cure

the wound produced by circumcisionrdquo (71)

For the duration of the Middle Ages ldquoChristians viewed Jews as sorcerers able to

cast spells against their enemiesrdquo (72) It was believed consequently that the Jews were

capable of working magic against Christians During the Black Death it was also

believed that Jews wanted to poison Christians In fact ldquoJews were accused of using

Christian blood for magical purposesrdquo (73) The little contact that these early Christians

had with Jews also led to their paranoia viewing the Jews as an alien mysterious and

strange people (74) Urban legends seemed to sprout up due to the lack of knowledge

Ignorance of Jews reigned

11

Jewish medicine too became suspect It was claimed that high rulers were killed

off through Jewish medicine During the Middle Ages the Vienna Faculty of Medicine

thought that ldquothe private code of Jewish doctors required them to murder one patient in

tenrdquo (77) Jews were eventually thought to possess attributes of the devil The Jews

ldquowere perceived as having horns tails and the beard of a goat and could be recognized

by their noxious smell the foetor judaiumlcusrdquo (79) Consequently the Jews were seen as

sub-human It was believed that Jews lacked morality anything went with them Jews

were so despised that they were exiled from countries At different times Spain France

and England expelled their Jewish populations In some instances they were invited

back

The charges against Jews were grotesque fantasies Tracts were written against

the Jews One such read of the Jews ldquolsquoDemons from hell race of the Jews detestable

men more accursed than Lucifer and more wicked than all the devils cruel tigers be

gone unworthy as you are to live among us when you thirst so for bloodrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 86)

Martin Luther at first favored the Jews writing a pamphlet That Christ was Born

a Jew However after he was unable to convert the Jews to his Protestant Reformed

Christian faith he became anti-Semitic So ldquoLuther stressed that they [the Jews] are the

most contemptible of all peoplesrdquo (90) Luther wrote ldquorsquomake no mistake that aside from

the Devil you have no enemy more venomous more desperate more bitter than a true

Jew who truly seeks to be a Jewrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90) Moreover ldquoMartin Luther

speculated that if the Jews could kill Christians they would gladly do sordquo (73)

12

Of the Jews Luther believed that ldquoThose who tolerate them [the Jews] will incur

great loss lsquoWhoever wishes to accept venomous serpents desperate enemies of the Lord

and to honour them to let himself be robbed pillaged corrupted and cursed by them

need only turn to the Jewsrsquordquo (90) Luther suggested of the Jews ldquoTheir synagogues

should be set on fire and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over

with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of itrdquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 90) Luther wrote ldquoTheir [Jewsrsquo] homes should likewise be broken down and

destroyed For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues

they should be deprived of their prayerbooks [sic] and Talmud in which idolatry lies

cursing and blasphemy are taught their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death

to teach any morerdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther also wrote ldquoPassport and travelling privileges should be absolutely

forbidden to the Jews They ought to be stopped from usury Let the young and

strong Jews and Jewesses be given the flail the axe the hoe the spade the distaff and

spindle and let them earn their bread by the sweat of their browrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok

90) Luther called the Jews an ldquoinsufferable devilish burdenrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther said that Jews were ldquochildren of the Devil condemned to the flames of hellrdquo (qtd

in Cohn-Sherbok 91) Luther believed that the Jews should be despised Luther even

thought that ldquothe Jews are worse than the devilsrdquo (91) Luther saw the Jews as

ldquoinstigators of social and economic corruptionrdquo (94) Luther thought that the Jews

wanted to ldquodestroy Christian civilizationrdquo (95)

13

Luther saw himself in a fight against Satan in the Jews Despite Lutherrsquos anti-

Semitism a good thing did emerge out of the Protestant Reformation Scripture was

translated into the common vernacular so that literate people could see what the Bible

said for themselves instead taking a priestrsquos or a popersquos word for it This led to literate

Christians seeing the Jews through the lens of Scripture instead of through anti-Jewish

sermons and hear-say from church leaders

In Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century the Jews were seen as favoring political

revolution and as having played a role in the revolutionary activities of the era (231)

This viewpoint started after the revolutions of 1848 (244) and it is not entirely off the

mark For example Karl Marx was a Jew Although not all Jews were revolutionaries

Nicholas Reynolds says that ldquoMore than a few Russian revolutionaries were Jewish one

reaction to the state-sanctioned anti-Semitism and the resulting pogroms that occurred

with frightening regularityrdquo (Writer Sailor Solider Spy 72) Capitalism also came to be

associated with the Jewsmdashparticularly its vices (Cohn-Sherbok 248) In the United

States the Jews were blamed for the Russian Revolution (231) There was fear of the

Jews or Judaeophobia A writer that Hemingway read was the anti-Semitic Fyodor

Dostoyevsky Perhaps this helped to influence Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

Dostoyevsky wrote ldquoLike a vast tightening net the power of assimilated Jewry stretches

over the whole world and no matter where we set foot we are caught in it We must

struggle to our last drop of blood against the insidious Judaization of Europe and

especially of Germanismrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 232)

14

In 1912 the Marconi Affair hit Great Britain Two leading Jewish politicians

Rufus Isaacs and Herbert Samuels were implicated in this corruption scandal

Eyewitness reported ldquoIsaacsrsquo brother is the president of the Marconi Company Isaacs

and Samuels have privately arranged to have the British people pay the Marconi

Company a considerable sum of money through the intermediary of Samuels and for

Isaacsrsquo benefitrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 236) In wake of the Marconi Affair one of

Hemingwayrsquos early favorite writers Rudyard Kipling ldquodedicated a hymn of hate to the

affairrdquo (236) Like the biblical greedy and crafty servant (of the prophet Elisha) Gehazi

who is punished with leprosy for his sins Kiplingrsquos poem ldquowas intended to illustrate the

cunning of these Jewish [Marconi] politiciansrdquo (236)

Once America made its foray into World War I ldquoJews were seen as participants

in international conspiracyrdquo (240) Americans thought that the Jews might be part of the

Russian Revolution In the literary world ldquoa number of writers commented on the evil

influence of Jewryrdquo (241) Hemingwayrsquos one-time-friend and literary mentor F Scott

Fitzgerald was one such example In fact Fitzgerald negatively portrayed New York

Jewish merchants in his novel The Beautiful and the Damned

Down in a tall busy street he read a dozen Jewish names on a line of stores In

the door of each stood a dark little man [Jew] watching the passersby with intent

eyes eyes gleaming with suspicion with pride with clarity with cupidity with

comprehension New Yorkmdashhe could not dissociate it now from the slow

upward creep of this people The little stores growing expanding consolidating

15

moving watched over with hawkrsquos eyes and a beersquos attention to detail (qtd in

Cohn-Sherbok 241)

This anti-Semitic view of Jews could have influenced Hemingway whether he read the

book or if Fitzgerald made his anti-Semitic views known to Hemingway The same

could be said of Ezra Pound Ezra Pound was a big anti-Semite and one of Hemingwayrsquos

friends It could be questioned if Ezra Pound influenced Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

In July of 1943 Pound was indicted for treason due to his anti-Semitic pro-Fascist radio

broadcasts from Italy (Dearborn 491) Poundrsquos radio broadcasts ldquowere shocking even

vilemdashhe recommended The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf he spoke of

the lsquo60 kikes who started this warrsquo and asserted lsquoThe Jew is a savagersquordquo (491) Later

due to Hemingwayrsquos suggestion Pound pleaded insanity and spent several years in an

Institution Hemingwayrsquos one-time friend Donald Ogden Stewart who was present for

the Pamplona bull fights in 1925 ldquotook the blame for having been the probable inspiration

for Bill Gortonrsquos [a character in The Sun Also Rises] anti-Semitic remarks and

exclamationsrdquo (Blume 123) Stewart wrote that ldquoI have no doubt that I was really

basically anti-Semitic in those days as probably also was Hemingwayrdquo (123) Lesley

Blume stresses that Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism ldquowas not a deep-rooted hatred like

the variety that gave rise to Nazismrdquo (123) Stewart referred to Hemingwayrsquos anti-

Semitism as ldquoa form of social snobbishness something that people simply took for

granted [during that time]rdquo (Blume 123) One would think that after the Holocaust

Hemingway would cease his anti-Semitic comments but he still continued In

16

Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century ldquoAmerican literature repeatedly described Jews in the

most unsavoury (sic) termsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 249)

The French also saw the Jews as having played a part in the Russian Revolution

(241) In France where Hemingway lived part of his literary life Alphonse Toussenel

wrote ldquoThe Jews King of the Epoch [in which] he blamed the Jews for the ills afflicting

societyrdquo (248) In France ldquoAccording to Edouard-Adolphe Drumont in La France Juive

the [French] Revolution had benefited only the Jewsrdquo (248) Edouard-Adolphe Drumont

caricatured the Jews as being hook-nosed possessing ldquohuge ears soft hands and arms of

unequal lengthrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 248) In France the Dreyfus Affair of the

nineteenth century had ratcheted up the prominence and appeal of French anti-Semitism

Yet the logical consequence of anti-Semitism took place years later during World War II

when Hitler instituted the Holocaust Of course Hemingway knew of this deadly result

of anti-Semitism but it is unknown how much it changed his view of Jews as later he

did show some more anti-Semitic behavior Perhaps old habits die hard

Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in His Novels

Unfortunately Hemingway was an anti-Semite To what degree is unknown

Some say that Hemingway was mildly or casually anti-Semitic (Hendrickson 32)

However in fits of anger Hemingway would hurl anti-Semitic slurs at those he knew to

be Jews Yet ironically ldquoHemingway knew admired and imitated Jewsrdquo like his friend

and literary mentor Gertrude Stein (Berman 39) Hemingway was also friends with

Harold Loeb a Jewish man (Dearborn 192) Hemingway and Loeb had played tennis

17

boxed and wrestled together In The Sun Also Rises the character of Robert Cohn is

based upon Harold Loeb Hemingway once had good things to say of Loeb On March

4 1925 Hemingway wrote to William B Smith of Loeb ldquoA hell of a good guy

Loeb is a male you can wrestle wit He aint been throwed since he learned in Princeton-

only weighs 150 about Heavy weights cant throw him Hersquos never wrestled pros or of

course hersquos have got throwed Still he aint been throwed I tried to throw him and he

throwed me in no timerdquo (sic throughout Hemingway in Katakis 28) In The Sun Also

Rises the Loeb Robert Cohn character is also Jake Barnesrsquo tennis partner (13) Despite

all his anti-Semitism later Hemingway married the half-Jewish reporter and writer

Martha Gellhorn as his third wife (Stoneback 136) Unfortunately it is exactly unknown

why Hemingway was anti-Semitic It would seem that the times in which he lived played

a role

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway has a stereo-typical Jewish character Robert

Cohn that he portrays as a proud rich weak self-pitying self-doubting awkward

sniveling whining misbehaving mannerless undesirable unremarkable and

dysfunctional killjoy who is an outsider and a drag on everyonersquos spirits Cohn is

supposed to represent all Jews (Berman 39) In fact Hemingway goes so far as to write

that Jews are inferior Hemingway writes of Cohn ldquoHe cared nothing for boxing in fact

he disliked it but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of

inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princetonrdquo (Sun 11) Loeb

had also gone to Princeton

18

Hemingway based almost the entire book of The Sun Also Rises on a real life

event that happened when Loeb Lady Duff Twysden and Pat Guthrie (Lady Duffrsquos

cousin and boyfriend) joined him Hemingwayrsquos first wife Hadley Richardson Don

Stewart and Bill Smith in Pamplona for the Festival of San Fermiacuten in July of 1925

(Dearborn 188) In the novel this group goes to Pamplona to have fun They join in the

Spanish Festival of San Fermiacuten where they drink excessively party and watch

professional bullfights All this time the Harold Loeb character Robert Cohn follows

his former lover Lady Brett Ashely around like a lap-dog and from the perspective of

the other festival-goers makes everyone else miserable

Hemingwayrsquos publication of this event into fiction hurt many of the real-life

players in the memorable drama The real Lady Brett Ashley Lady Duff Twysden later

referred to the book as nothing more than ldquocheap reportingrdquo (qtd in Blume 206) Former

Hemingway friend Donald Ogden Stewart felt the same way In his 1975 memoir By a

Stroke of Luck Stewart still refused to give The Sun Also Rises ldquothe artistic stature that

others accorded itrdquo (Blume 230) Stewartrsquos son recalls that his dad would say ldquoThatrsquos

exactly what happened it was like a photographrdquo (qtd in Blume 230) So for Stewart

the novel was just a retelling of events it is did not utilize artistic narrative originality

Just as Robert Cohn had had an affair with Lady Brett Ashley so Loeb had had an

intimate relationship with Lady Duff Twysden Scholars are unsure as to whether

Hemingway had any serious relationship with Lady Duff however he was jealous He

liked her In his reasoning he had met Lady Duff first (Dearborn 188) ldquoEven though

[Hemingway] had no plans to sleep with Duff himself that didnrsquot mean according to his

19

logic that she was fair game for Harold [Loeb]rdquo (188) Hemingway was protective of

Lady Duff and Hemingway saw Loeb as a snake (189) Perhaps Loebrsquos success with

Lady Duff finally pushed Hemingway against him

Mary V Dearborn notes that Hemingway was also jealous that Loebrsquos book

Doodab was coming out before his ownmdashLoebrsquos in May Hemingwayrsquos in October

(191) Hemingway was very competitive in his writing career In fact before

Hemingway made it as a fiction writer Harold Loeb had gone so far as to help

Hemingway get his first book of short stories In Our Time published (204) It is noted

that ldquoHarold [Loeb] rescued In Our Time from the returns pile at [Boni amp] Liveright [the

publishing company] he fought for the book and he was instrumental in getting it

publishedrdquo (192) Loeb had pleaded with Boni amp Liveright ldquoHold it Give it [In Our

Time] another reading I know what Irsquom talking aboutrdquo (Hawkins 39) In fact if it

were not for the persistence of his well-connected friends Hemingway may have quite

possibly never been published at all since his manuscripts had been repeatedly rejected

Unfortunately Hemingway did not like to give credit to others for helping him to rise in

his profession He wanted to take all the credit and the glory for himself He wanted to

be self-sufficient In addition having not gone to college Hemingway was leery of

college-educated men He felt inferior to them and he would try to compete with them in

order to make himself look and feel better Since Harold Loeb was a Princeton graduate

Hemingway was possibly disdainful of this and in all likelihood held it against Loeb

In trying to get In Our Time published Loeb took Hemingway to former Boni amp

Liveright vice president Leon Fleischmanrsquos Paris apartment (Blume 71) Previously

20

ldquoKitty Cannell [the Frances character in Sun] heard him [Hemingway] unthinkably use

lsquokikersquo with such casualness and scorn that she warned her Jewish lover Harold Loeb to

be careful with Hemingwayrdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 242) Kitty Cannell worried

that Hemingway ldquomight create a terrible scene in front of Fleischman and his wife

Helen She said as much to Loeb He brushed her offrdquo (Blume 71) After this meeting

with Fleischman Harold Loeb heard Hemingway malign Jews in his speech

Hemingway had a way of maligning making fun of and satirizing his friends and his

perceived enemies In the process he lost many friends and unnecessarily caused the

creation of many enemies In fact the release of The Sun Also Rises shocked Loeb as he

had thought that he and Hemingway were good friends (Dearborn 191-92)

Hemingway also turned on his former Jewish mentor Gertrude Stein

Hemingway got mad at Stein when she would not write a review for his new book In

Our Time Stein wanted to wait and see if Hemingway was going to be a success first

On November 8 1925 Hemingway commented to Ezra Pound of Stein ldquoWhat a lot of

safe playing kikesrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 38) Later in life after they broke with each

other Hemingway and Stein would arguemdashthrough writingmdashand trade barbs with one

another Hemingway would mock Stein In his article for Esquire in the April 1934

issue ldquoAD in Africa A Tanganyika Letterrdquo Hemingway wonders ldquohow much Buddha

at that age would resemble Gertrude Steinrdquo (Hemingway in White 159)

Hemingway was also against the troubled literary critic Dorothy Parker

(Dearborn 247) The half-Jewess Dorothy Parker was tough in her literary criticism yet

she gave Hemingway great reviews She adored Hemingway but Hemingway didnrsquot

21

return the feelings (Blume 155) Parker and Hemingway had met in New York In

Hemingway Parker thought that she had found a kindred spirit (156) During

Hemingwayrsquos New York visit Parker ldquobecame so engrossed in his tales of the Left Bank

that she shunted aside her skepticism and decided on the spot to move abroadrdquo (156)

Parker became for Hemingway a strong ally among literary critics Blume notes of

Parker ldquoIn years to come she would also pen several adoring Hemingway profiles and

book reviewsrdquo (156) Hemingway and Parker became so familiar that eventually

Hemingway started calling Parker ldquoDottyrdquo (156) Parker was so taken with Hemingway

that her ldquodevotion to him bordered on idolatryrdquo (158) But Parkerrsquos love for Hemingway

was a useful tool in Hemingwayrsquos arsenal

Unfortunately Parker was probably not stable She had tried to kill herself twice

within three years She confided in Hemingway ldquoabout a late-stage abortion she had

recently undergone about attempting suicide and about some other recent bad luck in

her liferdquo (qtd in Dearborn 247) During their conversation Hemingway discovered that

Parker did not like Spain For Parker ldquoPretty much everything about the countrymdashfrom

its treatment of animals to the rump-pinching habits of Spanish menmdashhad appalled herrdquo

(Blume 193) Moreover ldquoIn Barcelona she had walked out of a bullfight after a bull

gored a horse and declared that she found matadors disgustingrdquo (193) Back in Paris with

Hemingway ldquoParker had imparted these impressions to Hemingway for whom such

views amounted to sacrilegerdquo (193) Hemingway was offended by this and like other

things Hemingway took this personally to heart as he was an ardent Hispanophile loving

the Spanish country its people the slow pace of life and its culture (Dearborn 247)

22

Finally Hemingway ldquohad little sympathy for the self-inflicted wounds of a caustic and

comparatively pampered urbaniterdquo (Blume 194)

Later ldquoErnest wrote a long cruel poem about Parker not published until both

were dead called lsquoTo a Tragic Poetessrsquo revealing the personal details she had evidently

related during their most recent meetingrdquo (Dearborn 247-48) In the poem Hemingway

ldquoreferred to the dead fetus noted that she had all too conveniently failed in her suicide

attempts and mocked her failures with men He was pointedly mean about her being

Jewish referring to lsquothe Jewish cheeks of your plump assrsquordquo (248) The second half of

Hemingwayrsquos poem ldquoconsists of insults piled on Parker and others who out of ignorance

about it do not appreciate Spain (inevitably bullfighting comes up)rdquo (248) Pauline

Pfeiffer didnrsquot like this poem and referred to it as ldquoabout twelve tents [tenths] out of water

mayberdquo (Hawkins 59) Pauline thought the poem shrill In 1926 at the home of Archie

and Ada McLeish Ernest read this poem ldquoTo a Tragic Poetessrdquo to the assembled

gathering to try to get some laughs (Dearborn 248) No laughs came Donald Ogden

Stewart called the poem ldquoviciously unfair and unfunnyrdquo (qtd in Blume 194) Because of

the reading of the poem the Stewarts kept their distance from Hemingway from there on

out and Don Stewart was never close to Hemingway again (Dearborn 248) Ironically

since the poem was never published until after Parkerrsquos death ldquoParker never learned

about the existence of the poem [and] unaware of its existence she continued to write

wildly enthusiastic reviews of Hemingwayrsquos work in The New Yorker and called him one

of her favorite writersrdquo (Blume 194) Parker also called Hemingway ldquothe greatest living

American short story writerrdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 164)

23

There is also other evidence of Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism In his early years at

Lake Walloon the Point where the young people always liked to fish was sold ldquoto two

Jews who wanted to build a club houserdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 114) Bill

Smith later recalled that he and Ernest had planned to throw rotten fish down the Jewsrsquo

chimney at the lake (M Reynolds Paris Years 252) In the mid-1920s Hemingway

wrote Ezra Pound calling the aspiring poet Dave OrsquoNeil a ldquorsquoCelto-Kikersquordquo (Dearborn

134) Hemingway also wrote of his friend Nathan Asch ldquoYou couldnrsquot tell [of Asch

being a talented writer] Jews go bad quicklyrdquo (163) Later in Key West Hemingway

referred to the town as a ldquoJew administered phony of a townrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 154)

At the time that Hemingway wrote this Key West was for all intents and purposes

bankrupt ldquounable to collect enough taxes to pay its billsrdquo (N Reynolds 7) Under the

New Deal the town of Key West had ldquopetitioned the governor to take over the cityrdquo

(Hendrickson 154) As such ldquoThe Florida branch of Franklin Delano Rooseveltrsquos

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) stepped in and took overrdquo (N

Reynolds 7) Plus under the New Deal the plan was to turn Key West into a tourist

destination making Hemingwayrsquos home on Whitehead Street one of the attractions (8)

This would interfere with Hemingwayrsquos deeply coveted privacy (8) Moreover

Hemingway was disillusioned with the government after some World War I veterans

were killed during a hurricane that hit some of the Florida Keys

Later In Cuba in May 1955 The Old Man and the Sea film version of the novel

was to be filmed Hemingwayrsquos Jewish friend Peter Viertel who was writing the

screenplay joked with Hemingway in order to try to break up the tension between Ernest

24

and the film producer kidding ldquoabout Santiago going out on the eighty-fifth day and not

catching a fishrdquo (Dearborn 573) This made Hemingway mad Narrowing his eyes and

gritting his teeth he said ldquoThe Jews have always had a superior attitude toward fishingmdash

probably because fish has never been part of their dietrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573) This

Jewish comment in turn made Viertel mad and he said that ldquohe thought Ernest had

gotten beyond his anti-Semitism with The Sun Also Risesrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573)

Hemingway felt contrite that he had lashed out against his friend Viertel and he

ldquoassured Peter he had never been anti-Semitic and matters were smoothed overrdquo (573-

74)

Some Jews have the last name Stein Especially in his youth Hemingway like to

refer to himself as Hemingstein or Stein According to Dearborn Hemingway was

referring to a stein of beer in this case (39) Other nicknames he used were Hymenstein

or the Great Steinway (Hendrickson 266) Catherine Reef thinks that these nicknames

sound Jewish She writes

The last one [nickname] amused him [Ernest] most because it sounded like a

Jewish name Like many young people in narrow-minded Oak Park Ernest grew

up thinking it was all right to make fun of people of different faiths and

backgrounds and he never fully let go of this attitude As an adult he

occasionally called himself Hemingstein or just Stein and although he had

Jewish friends he sometimes mocked them behind their backs (14)

25

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway refers to himself as the great psychiatrist Dr

Hemingstein (53) In real life Hemingwayrsquos son Gregory ldquoGigirdquo for short was known

as the Irish Jew (Hendrickson 245)

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway gives Cohn boxing as his only strength

ldquoThere was a certain inner comfort in knowing he could knock down anybody who was

snooty to himrdquo (11) Because of boxing Hemingway goes so far as to portray Cohn with

the stereotypical Jewish nose In the novel Cohn gets his nose broken during a boxing

bout The narrator Jake Barnes says of Cohnrsquos reworked nose ldquoit certainly improved

his noserdquo (11) Ironically Hemingway threatened a similar situation later in his life In

Spain at the Hotel Florida after a serious shelling during the Spanish Civil War some of

the guests including the movie producer Herb Klein wanted to switch their rooms to the

safer rooms in the back of the hotel At this point in his life Hemingway would hold

people to a higher standard of bravery than his own (Dearborn 387) So Hemingway

intimidated and bullied those Hotel Florida guests into keeping their rooms in lieu of

switching them saying they ldquowould be running away from the enemy capitulating to the

Fascistsrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 387) However in fact Hemingway had his own room in one

of the safer back parts of the hotel Then ldquoaccording to one observer he rode up with

[Herb] Klein in the elevator called him a coward and lsquojostledrsquo him saying lsquoIrsquod like to

flatten your big Jewish nosersquordquo (388)

In The Sun Also Rises nobody wants to be around Cohn He is trying to be an all-

round guy and a Protestant gentleman (Berman 44) However Ron Berman refers to him

as a fake gentleman Melvin Backman argues that Cohn lacks any real identity (4)

26

Although Cohn tries to assimilate and be chivalrous nobody accepts his behavior as

authentic Hemingway portrays Cohn as still ldquotoo different to acceptrdquo (38) Cohn is also

a show-off and he likes to brag For example in winning a ldquoseveral hundred dollarsrdquo in

bridge ldquoIt made him rather vain of his bridge game and he talked several times of how a

man could always make a living at bridge if he were ever forced tordquo (17) In another

instance Cohn likes to brag about his relationship with Brett ldquoHe was being confidential

now and it was giving him pleasure to be able to talk with the understanding that I knew

there was something between him and Brettrdquo (106) Moreover Cohnrsquos believed and

perceived superiority is offensive to Jakersquos friend Bill Gorton One time Bill Gorton

says of the approaching Cohn ldquoWell let him not get superior and Jewishrdquo (Sun 102)

This perceived superiority makes Jake extremely dislike Cohn

Why I felt that impulse to devil him I do not know Of course I do know I was

blind unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to him The fact that I took it

as a matter of course did not alter that any I certainly did hate him I do not

think I ever really hated him until he had that little spell of superiority at lunchmdash

that and when he went through all that barbering (105)

According to Dearborn the character of Bill Gorton is a combination of Bill

Smith and Don Ogden Stewart In the novel Bill really doesnrsquot like Jews Bill says of

his Jewish friends adding of Cohn ldquoOh yes Irsquove got some darbs But not alongside of

this Robert Cohn But hersquos just so awfulrdquo (107) Bill is blatantly anti-Semitic He

asks Jake of Brett and Cohn ldquoWhy didnrsquot she go off with some of her own peoplerdquo

(107) Mike adds to this criticism later when he comments ldquoBrettrsquos gone off with men

27

But they werenrsquot ever Jews and they didnrsquot come and hang around afterwardrdquo (148) Bill

Gorton makes a number of anti-Semitic slurs Before their fishing trip Bill says to Jake

ldquoAnd as for this Robert Cohn he makes me sick and he can go to hell and Irsquom damn

glad hersquos staying here so we wonrsquot have him fishing with usrdquo to which Jake agrees (108)

In another case Hemingway likens Cohn to an animal a steer Cohn likes to tag-

along with Brett (141) After a bull fight Cohn says ldquoItrsquos no life being a steerrdquo (145)

Mike sarcastically replies ldquoDonrsquot you think so I would have thought yoursquod loved

being a steer Robertrdquo (146) Being likened to a steer makes Cohn mad Mike partially

drunk says ldquoIs Robert Cohn going to follow Brett around like a steer all the timerdquo

(146) These demeaning remarks imply that Jews are sub-human

At one point Mike intimates that Cohnrsquos Jewishness disqualifies him from being

a part of the group ldquoDo you think you amount to something Cohn Do you think you

belong here among usrdquo (181) Mike says to Cohn ldquoIrsquom not one of your literary chaps

Irsquom not clever But I do know when Irsquom not wanted Why donrsquot you see when

yoursquore not wanted Cohn Go away Go away for Godrsquos sake Take that sad Jewish

face away Donrsquot you think Irsquom rightrdquo (181) In another instance when Cohn tells Brett

that he will stay with her Brett replies ldquoOh donrsquot For Godrsquos sake go off

somewhererdquo (184) Cohn is portrayed as leech-like a clinger similar to Jews accused of

usury bleeding people dry With the eternal theme of Jewish suffering Brett says of

Cohn ldquoI hate him too I hate his damned sufferingrdquo (186)

In his short story ldquoGod Rest You Merry Gentlemenrdquo published in 1933

Hemingway takes a less anti-Semitic approach to Jews In this story there are two

28

doctors Dr Wilcox and Dr Fischer Dr Wilcox is Christian while Dr Fischer is Jewish

A sixteen-year-old boy comes into the hospital and says that he wants to be castrated

because he is struggling with lust The boy is religious and to him lust is a problem Dr

Fischer is compassionate with the boy and genuinely seems interested in his predicament

Dr Fischer converses with the boy and finally tells him ldquoTherersquos nothing wrong with

you Thatrsquos the way yoursquore supposed to be Therersquos nothing wrong with thatrdquo (Short

Stories 299) The boy still sees himself as sinning Dr Fischer tells the boy that what he

is going through is natural and that later he will think himself fortunate (300) The boy

is adamant that he is wrong He doesnrsquot want to listen to Dr Fischerrsquos explanations

Logically Dr Fischer explains to the boy that there is nothing wrong with his body that

he has a good body and that if he is religious then in the future his body can help him

consummate the sacrament of matrimony (300)

Dr Wilcox takes a different approach He calls the boy a fool (300) Then the

boy leaves when he finds out that nobody will castrate him Dr Wilcox rudely says to

the boy ldquoOh go andmdashrdquo (300) Horst Kruse interprets the absence as meaning ldquojack-

offrdquo (62) The boy leaves and later he does try to castrate himself amputating himself

in the process When the boy returns to the hospital with life-threatening injuries Dr

Wilcox ironically isnrsquot in a hurry to try to save the boy as he doesnrsquot see the condition as

an emergency In the story it is Dr Fischer who has shown mercy on the boy not Dr

Wilcox Kruse sees Doc Fischer as the moral center of the story and suggests that

Hemingwayrsquos portrayal of Dr Fischerrsquos knowledgeable insight and humanity might be an

attempt to try to ldquoatone for his former anti-Semitismrdquo (72) Kruse argues that Dr Fischer

29

might even be seen as a Christ-figure a fisher of men (65) Other scholars speculate that

this story might have been an attempt for Hemingway to apologize for the way he treated

Harold Loebrsquos alter-ego Robert Cohn (Kruse 73) But this interpretation is problematic

AE Hotchner once asked Hemingway if he had remorse about the way he had portrayed

Loeb and the others in The Sun Also Rises (Blume 237) Hotchner asked Hemingway

ldquoso if you had it to do over would you have been softerrdquo (237) Hemingway replied to

Hotchner ldquoOh hell nordquo (237) Despite this possible attempt at atonement Hemingway

continued to make anti-Semitic statements after this story first came out

30

CHAPTER 3

HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY

Ernest Hemingway was a born on July 21 1899 in Oak Park Illinois then a

Protestant conservative bastion There in his earliest years Hemingwayrsquos maternal

grandfather Ernest Hall led his family and their servants after breakfast on their knees

in morning prayer (Dearborn 11 Hemingway-Sanford 14) Unlike the others

Grandfather Hall did not pray with his eyes closed nor his head bowed (Pawley 22)

Instead he prayed with his head upraised and ldquowith his arms stretched upward as if

locked in a face-to-face with Godrdquo (Dearborn 11) He also prayed in a thundering voice

(Pawley 22) Ernestrsquos older sister Marcelline Hemingway-Sanford noted that she liked

to peak out at Grandfather Hall through her fingers ldquobecause he seemed so surely to be

talking right to his friend Godrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 15) Marcelline suggested that

Grandfather Hall knew God intimately (14) In addition Grandfather Hall led daily

devotions for the household with the book Daily Strength for Daily Needs (Isabelle 2

Hemingway-Sanford 14) Even the cook and the maid were present at these family

gatherings Grandfather Hall also led grace at the table (Isabelle 2) and he would lead

the family in worship (Hemingway-Sanford 15) He was Episcopalian and he liked to be

referred to in the biblical term ldquoAbbardquo which refers to God as in ldquoAbba fatherrdquo (Isabelle

2 Mark 1436) Marcelline referred to Grandfather Hall as being a very religious man

(Hemingway-Sanford 14) Every Sunday he would go to Grace Episcopal Church

where kneeling on the Brussels carpet he would lead the church in evening prayer

31

(Pawley 21) He once said of his grandson Ernest to his mother Grace ldquothis boy is

going to be heard from someday If he uses his imagination for good purposes hersquoll be

famous but if he starts the wrong way with all his energy hersquoll end in jail and its up to

you which way he goesrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 12)

Ernestrsquos paternal grandfather Anson Hemingway converted to Christianity in

1859 (Dearborn 13) Anson was a descendent of Ralph Hemingway ldquowho came to

America with the Great Migration and through him from a line of Puritan and

Congregationalist ministersrdquo (12) Anson Hemingway was friends with the great

evangelist DL Moody and he closely worked with him (for a while) as the general

secretary at the Chicago YMCA (Dearborn 13 Hemingway-Sanford 18) Ernest idolized

his grandfather Hemingway (Pawley 21) Ernestrsquos mother whom Ernest came to hate

once wrote Ernest ldquoNot for nothing are you the great great grandson of that noble

Christian Rev William Edward Miller and the grandson of the finest purest noblest man

I have ever known Ernest Hallrdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 103-04) In fact

Ernest Miller Hemingway was named after his grandfather and the Miller line of Gracersquos

family Grace wrote to Ernest ldquoYou are born of a race of gentlemen who were clean

mouthed chivalrous to all women grateful and generous You were named for the two

finest and noblest gentleman I have ever known See to it that you do not disgrace their

memoriesrdquo (qtd in M Reynolds Young Hemingway 138) Ernestrsquos family were such

churchgoers that they had their own pews at the First Congregational Church

(Hemingway-Sanford 147)

32

On the flip side Ernestrsquos father was rigid (Pawley 23) In disciplining his

children Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often forced his ldquochildren on their knees to pray

to God for forgivenessrdquo (Isabelle 4) Sometimes Ernest mockingly referred to his father

as ldquothe Great Physicianrdquo a title that Jesus also holds as a healer of people (Hemingway-

Sanford 127) According to a Hemingway biographer (no name given)

Sin scared the life out of Ernest At night he prayed that he had been a good boy

during the day The trouble was a boy could never be sure if he had been good

he might have done something bad and not known it was bad It was so hard to

obey every rule so hard to please his mother his father his teachers his minister

his God so hard that sometimes it wasnrsquot worth trying and a boy felt like giving

up (qtd in Pawley 23)

Ernest grew up then with a great spiritual legacy and upbringing that he found at times

challenging and problematic

On Easter in 1911 at the Third Congregational Church Ernest and his sister

Marcelline were confirmed and they received their First Communionrdquo (Dearborn 33) It

was at this church that Ernestrsquos mother was the choir director she even had Ernestmdasha

sopranomdashand Marcelline sing in the choir (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 108 L

Hemingway 28) In his youth Ernest Hemingway and Marcelline joined a contest put on

by the adult advisor of the Christian Endeavor Society Mr Sweeney to see who could

read the entire King James Bible first (Dearborn 37 Hemingway-Sanford 135) It was

Mr Sweeneyrsquos idea and he offered a prize (Hemingway-Sanford 135) Although Ernest

did not win he and Marcelline did complete the reading of the whole Bible (Dearborn

33

37) In addition Ernest and Marcelline passed a comprehensive test on what they had

read (Pawley 24) Additionally as a youth Ernest was given ldquoan allowance of one penny

per year of age each weekrdquo out of which he gave a tithe to the Sunday school (24) At

the age of fourteen Ernest starred in a Sunday school play at the Third Congregational

Church (24) After his parents transferred their membership to the First Congregational

Church Hemingway and Marcelline joined the Plymouth League where Ernest often led

Sunday afternoon services (Dearborn 33 Isabelle 7-8 Pawley 24 Hemingway-Sanford

147) Marcelline notes that ldquothe refreshments served after the meetings were quite an

attraction for the high school membersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 147) For the Plymouth

League Ernest took turns at being the treasurer the program chairman and sometimes

the speaker at the meetings At church Ernest and Marcelline also played in the church

orchestra Once Ernest and his four brothers and sisters dressed as Chinese and Japanese

citizens in order to phonetically sing the Japanese national anthem (147-48) Yet when

Hemingway went to Italy for World War I he saw and experienced the horrors of war

Perhaps because of this and through his teenage years Hemingway went astray from

his religious upbringing While in Italy Ernest met and fell in love with a nurse Agnes

von Kurowsky He loved her and wanted to start a new life with her in America

Hemingway wrote to William D Horne Jr about this on March 30 1919 ldquoBut Bill Irsquove

loved Ag Shersquos been my ideal and Bill I forgot all about religion and everything else-

because I had Ag to worship All I wanted was Ag and happinessrdquo (Hemingway in

Katakis XXV) This letter shows Hemingway distancing himself from religion in Italy

and replacing it with the woman he loved This is similar to how Catherine Barkley

34

made her lover Frederic Henry her religion in A Farewell to Arms (452) Unfortunately

for his parents Hemingway became a prodigal son and he never returned to the faith of

his youth (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 139)

Despite having turned away from his faith Hemingway could never entirely get

away from his upbringing and Oak Park mores For instance in his first marriage to

Hadley Richardson Hemingway was sometimes shocked by Hadleyrsquos language In fact

despite the fact that Hemingway used those very same words he didnrsquot think it proper for

a woman to use them (163) Hemingway still prayed ldquowhen he was courting Hadley

[he] asked her if she would pray with him in the Milan cathedral as Agnes would notrdquo

(Stoneback 110-11) Hadley responded that she would ldquoI am doing the best thing a

woman can do for a man Bringing you back to religionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 125-26)

Stoneback asserts that there is abundant evidence that Hemingway ldquoliked to pray in

Catholic churches and cathedrals years before he met Paulinerdquo (113)

Before going to World War I Hemingway worked for the Kansas City Star

While there Hemingwayrsquos mother learned that Ernest ldquohad stopped going to churchrdquo and

she sent off an angry letter to him (Reef 24) In one of his letters to his mother

Hemingway wrote ldquoYou know I donrsquot rave about religion but am as sincere a Christian

as I can be I believe in God and Jesus Christ have hopes for a hereafter and creeds

donrsquot matterrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) In addition prior to going to the Great War Ernestrsquos

father encouraged Ernest to associate with strong Christian YMCA men (M Reynolds

Young Hemingway 128) In his letters to Ernest Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often

sounded like a minister (171)

35

Upon his return to Oak Park after the war Hemingway wore his war uniform

around for four months and gave talks of his war experience Marcelline Hemingway

says that this was because Ernestrsquos long boots helped support his injured and weakened

legs Yet Hemingway lied and embellished his wartime experience This behavior is

just like that of Harold Krebs in Hemingwayrsquos short story ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

would lie and attribute ldquoto himself things other men had seen done or heard of and

stating as facts certain apocryphal incidents familiar to all soldiersrdquo (Short Stories 111-

12) In an essay in Ernest Hemingway Artifacts from Life Tom Putnam surmises that

Krebs in embellishing his war record to impress those around him ldquogrows more

disillusionedmdashfinding himself becoming a fraudrdquo (Putnam 184) Hemingway may have

disillusioned himself with his lies too In one instance Hemingway once gave a version

of his fictitious war stories in a talk to an audience at the First Baptist Church (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 56) So Hemingway lied in front of a church Proverbs

1222 reads ldquoLying lips are an abomination to the Lord but those who act faithfully are

his delightrdquo (English Standard Version)

Back in Oak Park Hemingway turned to alcohol for his comfort He stayed in

bed day after day and hid the liquor from his parents (Pawley 25) Staying in bed

helped his aching legs But he didnrsquot stay in bed more than half the day (Hemingway-

Sanford 178) According to Marcelline there were also times when Ernest had ldquoalmost

depressed intervals when he retired to his room away from the well-wishers and curiosity

seekersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 183) Hemingway used the alcohol to cope with the pain

of his war wounds (Pawley 25) One day Marcelline was upset about something and

36

when she came to Ernestrsquos room he noticed this and asked her what was wrong

(Hemingway-Sanford 183) Then he offered her a drink She tasted it Then he said to

her

Donrsquot be afraid Drink it up Sis it canrsquot hurt you Therersquos great comfort in

that little bottle not just for itself But it relaxes you when the pain gets bad

Mazaween donrsquot be afraid to taste all the other things in life that arenrsquot here in

Oak Park Taste everything Sis Donrsquot be afraid to try new things just

because they are new (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 184)

Ernest later wrote of an experience of drinking ldquoand the rhum (sic) enters into us like the

Holy Spiritrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 17) God was not Hemingwayrsquos comfort alcohol

was After that night Marcelline wondered to herself whether Ernest would ever be

happy again at home (Hemingway-Sanford 184) She noted a difference in him upon his

return to Oak Park Marcelline writes ldquoBut Ernest wasnrsquot the same old friend and

playmate I had knownrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178) adding that ldquoa lifetime of new

experiences war death agony new people a new language and love had crowded into

Ernestrsquos liferdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178)

After recovering from his wounds Ernest still didnrsquot get a job or show any

interest in college He had no plans at all Instead he went to Michigan to enjoy life with

his friends (Hemingway-Sanford 198) In Michigan according to Marcelline ldquoThough

Mother implored Ernestrsquos help and tried to talk to him about the family situation he

blithely ignored her appeals and managed to leave immediately after meals with his

friends or go fishing when something needed to be done he promised vaguely to help

37

lsquosome other timerdquo (205) His parents were very worried about his ldquolack of adult

responsibilityrdquo and ldquohis rudeness and his willingness to let both Mrs Charles Bill

Smithrsquos aunt and our family go on providing for him [led Mother to decide that]

something drastic had to be done to wake him uprdquo (205) Leicester Hemingway says that

ldquoOur parents had harbored definite hopes that this fling at soldiering had taught him

[Ernest] a lesson that now he would suddenly show a keen interest in some lsquosensiblersquo

way of liferdquo (L Hemingway 56)

The entire situation is similar to that of Harold Krebs in ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

returns from World War I with his Methodist faith shattered (Pawley 25) Krebs is

unemployed but his mother encourages him ldquorsquoGod has some work for everyone to do

There can be no idle hands in His Kingdomrsquordquo (Short Stories 115) Krebsrsquo mother adds

his fatherrsquos opinion ldquoAll work is honorable as he says But yoursquove got to make a start at

somethingrdquo (115) When Krebsrsquo mother asks Harold if he would kneel and pray with her

Krebs says that he canrsquot Krebsrsquo mother encourages him to try then she asks him if he

wants her to pray for him Krebs consents (116)

Of Ernestrsquos free-loading loafing time Leicester Hemingway writes ldquoAbout the

only thing I really understood of that first summer after the war was that Ernest was in an

agitated state and being around the family did not calm him at allrdquo (59) In the end

Ernestrsquos mother wrote Ernest a letter in which she said that Ernest had overdrawn his

account with her and that he was not welcome back at the family vacation home of

Windemere in Michigan (Dearborn 90) This action got Ernest out of the house looking

for a job on his own It also added to his resentment towards his mother In ldquoSoldierrsquos

38

Homerdquo Krebs tells his mother that he doesnrsquot love her Putnam suggests that Krebs has

forgotten how to love (Putnam 184) In Ernestrsquos case it is quite possible that he didnrsquot

love his mother It is known for sure that he didnrsquot like his mother When married to his

fourth wife Mary Welsh Ernest would sometimes rant about his mother blaming her for

making life hell for his father contributing to his fatherrsquos suicide and referring to his

mother as ldquothat bitchrdquo (qtd in Di Robilant 55) Perhaps his motherrsquos ultimatum pushed

him further away from his Protestant upbringing Although Hemingway didnrsquot like his

mother Hawkins argues that he inherited his volatile temper from her as she held grudges

against people Hawkins writes of Grace Hemingway ldquoGrace had a tendency to store up

injustices done to her so that on occasion even the smallest thing triggered a litany of

perceived wrongsrdquo (34) In addition to his motherrsquos ultimatum Ernestrsquos parents didnrsquot

seem to accept writing as a viable career for Ernest (M Reynolds My Brother 63) No

matter like Harold Krebs Hemingway did abandon his childhood faith after World War

I

Hemingway became interested in Catholicism during his service in Italy during

World War I There he served in the Red Cross Ambulance Corps of Unit 4 as driver for

the Italian Army (Hemingway-Sanford 157) After a few days in Italy Ernest and Bill

Horne found the place dull So hearing of the chance to volunteer ldquofor a special branch

the Red Cross Rolling Canteen Servicerdquo they applied and were accepted (160) This

Service operated all the way up to front linesmdashwhich was right where Hemingway

wanted to be in the midst of the action He ldquohad volunteered to be one of the bicycle

riders who distributed mail chocolate and tobacco to the soldiers in the trenches at the

39

frontrdquo (160) At that time the attack on the Piave River had started and the Austrians

were shelling around only fifty yards away on the other side of the river There making

his rounds in Fossalta Hemingway was wounded by an Austrian Trench Mortar as he

handed an Italian soldier a cigarette and chocolate (161) People thought that

Hemingway was going to die During this time Hemingway later claimed that he was

baptized by a priest ldquoAt Fornaci Ernest and the other wounded soldiers were

administered extreme unction by a chaplain with the Italian army Don Giuseppe

Bianchirdquo (Dearborn 59-60)

Michael Reynolds claims that the priestrsquos absolution of sins and anointment of oil

was an epiphanic moment for Hemingway (M Reynolds The Paris Years 346)

However it is unknown if Hemingway was really absolved of his sins by a Catholic

priest HR Stoneback notes that battlefield baptism and extreme unction did not

produce a ldquoformal process of reconciliation or conversionrdquo (109) On March 10 1927

Hemingway divorced Hadley Richardson to marry his new flame the Catholic Pauline

Pfeiffer This divorce devastated Hemingwayrsquos parents In fact Leicester Hemingway

overheard his dad say of Ernestrsquos divorce ldquoNo Itrsquos the disgrace Id rather see him in his

graverdquo (L Hemingway 103) Leicester Hemingway recalls that one morning while

digging for worms with Dr Hemingway the doctor says ldquoYou know of course that

your brother has brought great shame on our family by divorcing Hadley dont yourdquo

(103) Dr Hemingway laments the fact that there hadnrsquot been a divorce in the

Hemingway family for seventy years While in the process of trying to marry Pauline

Ernest returned to Italy searching for this priest Don Giuseppe Bianchi in order to

40

ascertain if this priest had actually performed an emergency baptism on him thus making

him Catholic (Dearborn 236) According to Hawkins Ernest found and visited with

Bianchi (71) Hawkins notes that as a rule priests during the First World War did not

ldquohand out baptismal certificates as they moved through hospital wards to anoint the

woundedrdquo (71) Despite the fact that there is ldquono evidence that Ernest returned with a

baptismal certificaterdquo he did swear to it (236) With this baptism he was allowed to

marry Pauline (M Reynolds American Homecoming 121) According to some scholars

death-bed baptism led Hemingway to become interested in Catholicism In addition

some scholars go so far as to say that this event marks the point when Hemingway started

to be Catholic Perhaps Ernestrsquos near-death experience infused a seed of Catholicism in

his heart

Michael Reynolds notes that ldquowhen an eighteen-year-old kid thinks hes dying a

Catholic priest can make a lasting impressionrdquo (The Paris Years 346) Reynolds claims

that long before Pauline the ceremony the ritual and the mystery of the Catholic Church

were a strong attraction to Hemingway Even if Pauline had not entered his life

Hemingway would have eventually turned Catholic Pauline simply accelerated this

process Later some found Hemingwayrsquos Catholic conversion to be suspect specious

and very convenient (345-46) Yet ldquonone of these doubters seriously thought of

Hemingway as a Protestant and he himself never looked back on his Congregational

training which he associated with Oak Park hypocrisy his fatherrsquos unbearable piety and

his motherrsquos church politics of who would rule the choir loftrdquo (346)

41

Hemingwayrsquos second wife Pauline Pfeiffer converted him to Catholicism In

fact Pfeiffer was such a serious Catholic that she caused Hemingway ldquo to take seriously

doctrine especially of sin and observance especially of prayerrdquo (Berman 33) Before

their marriage Pfeiffer had misgivings about marrying a married man and cutting him off

from his wife and child (Dearborn 229) For Pauline ldquoTo do so would be not only to

invite the damnation of her soul but also the unforgiving wrath of her Catholic parentsrdquo

(M Reynolds The Paris Years 318) If Pauline committed adultery she believed that

she would have been ldquosinning so mortally their souls were in jeopardyrdquo (318) Reynolds

wryly observes that ldquo[o]ne could not remain a devout Catholic and an ardent adulteressrdquo

(318)

For his part Ernest considered ldquoconverting to Catholicism in order to marry

Pauline in the Churchrdquo (Dearborn 221) Dearborn adds ldquoNo doubt Pauline was

researching the Churchrsquos requirements for marriage to a divorced manrdquo (221) In order to

marry Pauline Hemingway had to provide proof that his first marriage to Hadley was

outside the Church and so unofficial null and void (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 114) So since Hemingway ldquotestified that he had been baptized during the

war in Italy and that his first marriage was outside the Church [he] received on April

25 the necessary dispensation from the Archbishop of Paris which removed the last

obstacle to the ceremonyrdquo (121) Yet Hemingwayrsquos friend Ada MacLeish did not

attend Ernestrsquos and Paulinersquos wedding because she was disgusted by the Catholic

Churchrsquos solemnization of the new couplersquos bond and thought it a farce (Dearborn 237)

Ada

42

was completely disgusted with Ernestrsquos efforts to persuade the Catholic Church

that he had been baptized by a priest who walked between aisles of wounded men

in an Italian hospitalmdashtherefore Ernest was a Catholic and Hadley never had been

his wife and Bumby was a bastard To see this farce solemnized by the Catholic

Church was more than we [Archie and Ada] could take (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 124)

In his quest to marry Pauline Hemingway openly and formally embraced

Catholicism Hemingway wrote to Ernest Walsh about his rediscovered Catholicity

If I am anything I am a Catholic Had extreme unction administered to me as such

in July 1918 and recovered So guess I am a super-catholic It is most

certainly the most comfortable religion for anyone soldiering Am not what is

called a ldquogoodrdquo catholic But cannot imagine taking any other religion

seriously (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 345)

It is unknown whether Ernest ever mailed this letter

Ruth A Hawkins suggests that Hemingway ardently became a true Catholic

believer after he was cured of his temporary sexual problems after his marriage to

Pauline Hemingway told AE Hotchner that he and Pauline had had a good sex life

during their affair yet after they got married Hemingway experienced problems with

impotence (Hawkins 86) To try to alleviate this problem Hemingway saw doctors and a

mystic Nothing worked Pauline was patient and understanding Ernest was

discouraged so she encouraged him to go to the church a few blocks away and pray

Ernest recounts ldquoI went there and said a short prayer Then I went back to our room

43

Pauline was in bed waiting I undressed and got in bed and we made love like we

invented it We never had any trouble again Thatrsquos when I became a Catholicrdquo (qtd in

Hawkins 86)

Throughout his literary career Hemingway writes a number of stories involving

Catholics His short story ldquoThe Wine of Wyomingrdquo is about a French Catholic

bootlegging couple and is based upon a real-life Catholic couple that he met in Sheridan

Wyoming (Dearborn 263) Hemingway also writes about Catholicism in The Sun Also

Rises However Hemingway doesnrsquot write so much about Catholicism but rather of

Catholics themselves in their day-to-day lives (Hertzel 78) In The Sun Also Rises Jake

Barnes is nominally Catholic He basically lives the way that he wants to prays and

goes to church occasionally This is kind of like Hemingway who although not a

nominal Catholic lived the way that he wanted to while still claiming to be Catholic and

following some rituals In The Sun Also Rises Jake talks of going to church ldquoa couple of

times once with Brettrdquo (Sun 154) Although Jake prays regularly including for his

friends he also prays for mundane things like the upcoming bullfights and the Festival of

San Fermiacuten ldquoI wondered if there was anything else I might pray for and I thought I

would like to have some money so I prayed that I would make a lot of moneyrdquo (103)

While praying Jake gets distracted and he begins to think about other things ldquoas

all the time I was kneeling with my forehead on the wood in front of me and was

thinking of myself as praying I was a little ashamed and regretted that I was such a rotten

Catholicrdquo (103) Of his bad example as a Catholic Jake realizes that ldquothere was nothing I

could do about it at least for a while and maybe never but that anyway it was a grand

44

religion and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next timerdquo (103) One

critic asserts that The Sun Also Rises ldquois a novel about spiritual bankruptcyrdquo (Djos) Jake

is spiritually bankrupt but he tries to go about things in another way He drinks in order

escape the pain of the war and his impotency So alcohol might be said to be Jakersquos

primary spiritual comfort like it was a comfort for Hemingway Carlos Baker

categorizes The Sun Also Rises as a tale of Wastelanders (Berman 44) Moreover Jake

once thinks ldquoTo hell with people The Catholic Church had an awfully good way of

handling all thatrdquo (Sun 39) Jake believes that the Catholic Church has a good way of

sending people to hell purgatory or heaven to whatever fate the individual deserves

In addition Catholicism is referenced in Hemingwayrsquos A Farewell to Arms with

its protagonist Frederic Henry Unlike the nominally Catholic Jake Barnes Frederic has

no religion whatsoever (Farewell 279) However there is a priest in Fredericrsquos Italian

army unit that Frederic likes a lot Yet Frederic thinks the priest dull (33) According to

Frederic he and the priest share many of the same tastes yet there is a difference

between them (12) Frederic is a man of the world who does not believe in religion per

se and he loves women The priest is a man of God he loves God above all he doesnrsquot

pursue women When Frederic is recovering from his war wound in the hospital the

priest comes to visit him Frederic tells the priest that he does not love God (62) He

adds that he is ldquoafraid of Him in the night sometimesrdquo (62) Gary Sloan argues that

Fredericrsquos girlfriend Catherine ldquowill be his [Fredericrsquos] religion even as he she says is

hersrdquo (452) Michael Reynolds points out that ldquoCatherine sounded a lot like [Ernestrsquos

second wife] Pauline who had made Ernest her religion risking her soul on the promise

45

of his loverdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 216) This is also the case when

Ernest made his first girlfriend Agnes von Kurowsky his religion over organized

religion

Although Frederic is not religious in desperate times he seems to temporarily

become religious When he first receives his war injury he cries out to God ldquoget me out

of hererdquo (48) When his and Catherine Barkleyrsquos baby dies Frederic thinks of the baby

and thinks that it should have been baptized (279) Faced with the possibility of

Catherine dying Frederic prays ldquoEverything was gone inside of me I did not think I

could not think I knew she was going to die and I prayed that she would not Donrsquot let

her die Oh God please donrsquot let her die Irsquoll do anything for you if you wonrsquot let her

dierdquo (282) Hertzel points out that some of Hemingwayrsquos characters pray frequently

However it is also important to note that the prayers never get answered (79) For

example in Hemingwayrsquos posthumously published Islands in the Stream Thomas

Hudsonrsquos son David makes this comment about prayer ldquoYou canrsquot tell Audrey You

never know when it [prayer] may [do good] I donrsquot mean that Mr Davis needs to be

prayed for I just mean about prayer technicallyrdquo (186) In Frederick Henryrsquos case both

his baby and Catherine die Apparently in Hemingwayrsquos mind there was no

supernatural realm and prayers go nowhere Frederick asks Catherine on her death bed

ldquoDo you want me to get a priest or anyone to come and see yourdquo (Farewell 282)

Catherine just wants Frederic to stay with her Frederic says that his only religious feeling

comes at night (227) So the spiritual connection of sex is a religious experience to

Frederic

46

Hemingway does not present a supernatural dimension to Catholicism (Hertzel

78) In The Sun Also Rises as Jake and Brett leave a chapel in Pamplona he thinks that

ldquo[t]he praying had not been much of a successrdquo (212) Brett also portrays religion as

being uselessmdashat least for her saying ldquoDonrsquot know why I get so nervy in church

Never does me any goodrdquo (212) Brett says that praying never does her any good and

that she has never gotten anything that she prayed for (213) Jake does say that he has

gotten things that he has prayed for Brett replies of prayer ldquoMaybe it works for some

peoplerdquo (213) Jake considers himself ldquopretty religiousrdquo (213) Hemingway himself

prayed but apparently after the Spanish Civil War his view on prayer changed In The

Dangerous Summer he says ldquo[I] never [prayed] for myself during the Spanish Civil

War when I saw the terrible things that happened to other people and I felt that to pray for

oneself was selfish and egotisticalrdquo (142) In a June 19 1945 letter to Thomas Welsh

Hemingway expounded

In first war really scared after wounded and very devout at the end Fear of

death Belief in personal salvation or maybe just preservation through prayers for

intercession of Our Lady and various saints that prayed to with almost tribal faith

Spanish war seemed so selfish to pray for self when such things being done to all

people by people sponsored by Church that never prayed for self But missed

Ghostly comfort This war [Spanish Civil War] got through without praying

once Times a little bad sometimes too But felt that having forfeited any right to

ask for these intercessions would be absolutely crooked to ask for same no matter

how scared (qtd in Stoneback 128)

47

Consequently Hemingway only prayed for others after the Spanish Civil War In The

Dangerous Summer Hemingway writes of praying for others in Spain ldquoI prayed for all

those I had in hock to Fortune for all friends with cancer for all girls living and dead

and that Antonio would have good bulls that afternoonrdquo (69) Yet it is unknown if any

of Hemingwayrsquos prayers were ever answered In fact Hemingway wondered if his

prayers ever got anywhere

In case my prayers were invalid as they well might have been and to make sure

someone competent was doing it I took out a membership in the Jesuit Seminary

Fund Association at New Orleans for Carmen and Antonio [Ordoacutentildeez bullfighter]

There was a class graduating who when they were ordained would pray for them

each day (142)

So Hemingway got others to pray for his friends family and others in case that his

prayers were going nowhere In Hemingwayrsquos works instead of offering a supernatural

element to the Catholic Church he presents the Church as a solely human institution

Hertzel writes that Hemingway treats the Catholic Church as ldquoa colorful institution with

richness tradition ritual and discipline but it provides no convenient miraclesrdquo (78-79)

Consequently Hemingway uses Catholicism as a literary motif to add texture to his

writings (79)

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway seems to make fun of the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit that according to Christians is the method by which the Bible was

written Hemingwayrsquos example is silly Hemingway mockingly describes the writing

process of Waldo Frank the author of Virgin Spain He ldquolay naked in his bed in the night

48

and God sent him things to write how he lsquowas in touch ecstatically with the plunging and

immobile allrdquo (53) Moreover

After God sent it he wrote it The result was that unavoidable mysticism of a

man who writes a language so badly he cannot make a clear statement

complicated by whatever pseudo-scientific jargon is in style at the moment God

sent him some wonderful stuff about Spain during his short stay there

preparatory to writing of the soul of the country but it is often nonsense (53)

Hemingway wrote more generally of the religion of the Lost Generation again

with a touch of mockery

There will be many new salvations brought forward My generation in France for

example in two years sought salvation in first the Catholic Church 2nd DaDaism

third the movies fourth Royalism fifth the Catholic Church again There may be

another and better war But none of it will matter particularly to this generation

because to them the things that are given to people to happen have already

happened (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 327)

In his books Hemingway also seems to make fun of religion in order to try to be

comedic In his ficto-biography True at First Light Hemingway asks the interpreter

ldquoDid you not like the Mission School Remember God is listening He hears your every

wordrdquo (182) Later Hemingway asks GC ldquoAnd will you carry these principles into

Life sonrdquo (204) GC responds ldquoDrink your beer Billy Grahamrdquo (204) Ironically

years later Billy Graham would use Ernest Hemingway as a sermon illustration More

comedy follows in True at First Light when Hemingway talks about a new religion that

49

he created for the Africans He said that his African helpers Ngui and Mthuka and

himself ldquocould decide what was a sin and what was notrdquo (281) Hemingway also talks

about the ldquoHappy Hunting Groundsrdquo as if it were some sort of heaven

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway is comedic through the character of Bill

Gorton Walking down a boulevard with Jake Bill spots a taxidermistrsquos shop and

jokingly tries to get Jake to buy a stuffed dog Jake knows that it is a joke and just tries

to keep Bill moving down the boulevard After Jake promises to get a stuffed dog on the

way back Bill Gorton says ldquoAll right Have it your own way Road to hell paved with

unbought stuffed dogs Not my faultrdquo (78) Hemingway also does this with the priest in

A Farewell to Arms in order to try to infuse comedy into this novel when the captain at

the soldiersrsquo mess keep joking with the priest as the butt of the joke ldquoPriest to-day with

girlsrdquo (7) The captain adds ldquoPriest every night five against onerdquo (7)

On the train to Bayonne Bill Gorton says of some pilgrims on the train with

them ldquoGoddam Puritansrdquo (Sun 91) In the train compartment with Jake and Bill is a man

from Montana with his wife and son The man says to Jake and Bill of getting a meal

while pretending to be pilgrims ldquoThey thought we were snappers all right It

certainly shows you the power of the Catholic Church Itrsquos a pity you boys ainrsquot

Catholics You could get a meal then all rightrdquo (93) Frustrated by the situation Jake

assures him that he is Catholic When Bill Gorton corners a priest returning from a meal

with the pilgrims Bill asks him when the Protestants will get a chance to eat The priest

says that he doesnrsquot know and Gorton replies ldquoItrsquos enough to make a man join the Klanrdquo

(93)

50

After fishing along the Irati River Jake and Bill meet to have lunch After talking

about William Jennings Bryan and which came first the chicken or the egg Bill mocks

religion and the question of whether the chicken or the egg comes first ldquoOh how

should we know We should not question Our stay on earth is not for long Let us

rejoice and believe and give thanksrdquo (126) Holding a drumstick perhaps like a mock

scepter and a bottle of wine Bill tries to be mockingly funny ldquoLet us rejoice in our

blessings Let us utilize the fowls of the air Let us utilize the product of the vine Will

you utilize a little brotherrdquo (126) Handing Jake the bottle Bill says ldquoUtilize a little

brother Let us not doubt brother Let us not pry into the holy mysteries of the

hencoop with simian fingers Let us accept on faithrdquo (127) Then pointing at a

drumstick Bill says ldquoLet me tell you We will say and I for one am proud to saymdashand I

want you to say with me on your knees brother Let no man be ashamed to kneel here in

the great out-of-doors Remember the woods were Godrsquos first templesrdquo (127) They

uncork another bottle Before they take a nap Bill asks Jake if he is really a Catholic

(128) Jake replies that he is technically a Catholic When asked what that means Jake

says that he doesnrsquot know (129) Even though the Eucharist is mocked Jake and Bill are

seemingly reborn as they fish in nature So nature provides a chance at rest and

regeneration

Just like Hemingway in most of his life some of his characters are not religious

although they have religious influences Robert Jordan is one example His father was

religious But his fatherrsquos religion turned Robert off In one instance as a younger man

when Robert is about to leave on a train his father gets emotional and says a prayer over

51

him In response ldquoRobert Jordan had been so embarrassed by all of it [his fatherrsquos

emotionalism] the damp religious sound of the prayer and by his father kissing him

good-by that he had felt suddenly so much older than his father and sorry for him that he

could hardly bear itrdquo (For Whom Bell Tolls 405-406) This would seem similar to

Ernestrsquos leaving home for the first time en route to Kansas City (Hemingway-Sanford

154) In this instance Hemingwayrsquos father bought him the ticket and saw him off (154)

Maybe Dr Hemingway did cry when he saw Ernest off for he really loved his son

While Ernest was in Italy Marcelline notes that her ldquoDad had always loved Ernest

especially dearly and he missed him and prayed for him dailyrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford

160) To compound all this like Hemingwayrsquos father Robertrsquos religious father later

ldquoshot himselfrdquo in a suicide in the same manner as Robert Jordanrsquos father (For Whom Bell

Tolls 66) Robert ldquounderstood his father and he forgave him everything and he pitied him

but he was ashamed of himrdquo (340) Perhaps Hemingway was ashamed of his father after

his fatherrsquos sad suicide This shame and embarrassment of his late father and his

perceived cowardice may have pushed Robert away from religion (338) In addition it is

quite probable that the suicide of Hemingways father additionally pushed him away from

the Protestant tradition of his father as his father had been a deacon and a very upright

and religious man (Reynolds M American Homecoming 211) Yet Daniel Pawley notes

that Hemingway loved his father more than anyone else in the world At one point in For

Whom the Bell Tolls Robert says ldquoI do not believe in ogres nor soothsayers nor in the

supernatural thingsrdquo (250) When Pilar tells Robert that she cares about him Robert tells

52

Pilar that he doesnrsquot want her love He qualifies ldquoNi tu ni Diosrdquo (Neither yours nor

Godrsquos) (387) Robert doesnrsquot want Godrsquos love either

48

CHAPTER 4

HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY

According to Michael Reynolds Hemingway liked all things ancient and

medieval and that included the Catholic Church In fact Hemingway liked visiting

medieval cathedrals among them Chartres He ldquoliked the ritual the mystery the odors of

age and incense He liked its permanence in stonerdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 325)

Hadley Richardson liked to refer to the chivalric Hemingway as her ldquogentil parfit

knightrdquo an allusion to Chaucerrsquos description of the knight in The Canterbury Tales (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 223) and he liked to wear a scapular This scapular has

ldquogot an image of Christ on it suspended from a brown shoestring-like loop At home in

Key West friends have observed him with the scapular and how hersquoll make the sign of

the cross before he goes in swimmingrdquo (Hendrickson 28)

Hemingway would come back to the Bible in his later years in his search for

literary titles Hemingway alludes to Ecclesiastes 14-7 in his title of The Sun Also Rises

The Scriptural passage was used to signify that basically the Lost Generation would

pass away but that the earth would abide forever Moreover Hemingway gave the Bible

credit for teaching him how to write (Blume 213)

In his youth Hemingway idolized his missionary uncle to China Willoughby (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 110) Willoughby had a medical mission there In fact

Ernestrsquos father Dr Clarence Hemingway inspired by his brother had wanted to be a

medical missionary to Guam but his wife had dissuaded him from it (Pawley 24) Dr

49

Hemingway also had an offer for a medical mission in Greenland (L Hemingway 21)

Grace refused to go Ernest Hemingwayrsquos life might have had a much different outcome

if his mother would have supported his father in becoming a medical missionary to Guam

or even Greenland Years later when Hemingway was living in Cuba Hemingwayrsquos

sister Ursala visited and she and Ernest reminisced about their Uncle Willoughby

recalling his visits and together they sang ldquolsquoJesus Loves Mersquo in Chinese until the tears

rolled down their cheeksrdquo (25) Upon the death of his father Ernest returned home to

Oak Park where he openly displayed his new-found Catholic faith Marcelline says that

upon his arrival Ernest ldquotold us that he had had a Mass saidrdquo for their dad (Dearborn 268

M Reynolds American Homecoming 211 Hemingway-Sanford 233) With Dr

Hemingwayrsquos body lying in repose in the music room Ernest now leader of his family

led his family in the Lordrsquos Prayer This echoes back to the time in Ernestrsquos youth when

his Grandfather Hall would lead his family in the Lordrsquos prayer ldquohis eyes directed

heavenwardrdquo (Dearborn 268) However during this time of mourning Ernestrsquos

Catholicism angered some peoplemdashespecially Marcelline

Relying on Catholic teaching Ernest believed that his father had gone to

purgatory since suicide was a mortal sin (M Reynolds American Homecoming 211) In

addition Ernest mentioned that since his family was a Heathen Family ldquoit was

impossible to offer enough prayers to get his [Dr Hemingwayrsquos] soul into heavenrdquo

(Dearborn 268) Marcelline thought that Ernestrsquos idea of praying their father out of

purgatory was disgusting Ernest told his kid brother Leicester Hemingway to ldquopray as

hard as he could for his fatherrsquos soul to be released from purgatoryrdquo as ldquothings go right on

50

from hererdquo (Dearborn 268 My Brother 111) Despite the waves that Ernest made with

his family he showed genuine care concern and distress in his belief that his late father

was in purgatory (Dearborn 268) In this instance Hemingway definitely took Catholic

doctrine seriously

Dearborn paints Ernest Hemingway as a practicing Catholic one who would go to

Mass and fast on Good Friday She suggests that during this trying time Hemingway

turned to his faith in order to anchor himself through his grief She further suggests that

Ernestrsquos claim that his father was in purgatory was a way for him to assert his patriarchal

dominance over the family and to show that he was in charge Marcelline as the eldest

had tried to claim this role but in her struggle with Ernest she had lost (269)

In Chicago a Dominican priest wrote to Hemingway to thank him for saving his

friend Don Stewart in the bull ring at Pamplona (M Reynolds American Homecoming

156) This priest had heard of Hemingwayrsquos conversion to Catholicism within that year

1927 and he urged Hemingway to become a writer for the Dominican cause in order to

defend the Church and its ldquocause of Truthrdquo (156) In response Hemingway wrote

I have been a Catholic for many years although I feel very badly and did not go to

communion for over 8 years However I have gone regularly to mass for the last

two years and absolutely set my house in order within the year However I have

always had more faith than intelligence or knowledge and I have never wanted to

be known as a Catholic writer because I know the importance of setting an

examplemdashand I have never set a good example Also I am a dumb Catholic

and I have so much faith that I hate to examine itmdashbut I am trying to lead a good

51

life and to write well and truly and it is easier to do the first than the second (qtd

in M Reynolds American Homecoming 156)

In a 1940 Valentinersquos Day letter to his editor Maxwell Perkins Hemingway wrote ldquoI am

not a Catholic writer nor a party writer nor even an American writer but just a writer

meant to rise above injusticerdquo (qtd in Isabelle 51)

Despite his Catholicism Hemingwayrsquos faith didnrsquot help him to change into a

better man Although he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not

transform him nor even make him Christ-like Hemingway did not have a salvation

experience Nor was his faith life-altering Stoneback agrees that ldquoHemingway did not

turn to the church for instant deliverancerdquo (Stoneback 122) As a Catholic

Hemingway continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Ernestrsquos

Catholicism did not translate into his personal life Hemingwayrsquos religious life was one

solely of Catholic rituals He did not change his behavior or his vices He did not

overcome his problems Unfortunately in the end Hemingwayrsquos problems overcame

him

Despite his personal shortcomings Hemingway did at times take Catholicism

seriously After one of his African safaris he returned to Paris and saw his friend Ned

Calmer Calmer was a reporter and an aspiring novelist There Hemingway learned that

Calmerrsquos daughter had not been baptized (Hendrickson 44) This was unconscionable to

Hemingway Years later Calmer wrote that ldquoErnest seemed genuinely concerned

The attitude was this will never do He came along to the church of St Sulpice in Paris

52

as sponsor at the ceremonyrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 44) where Calmerrsquos daughter was

baptized

Hemingwayrsquos faith affected him in other ways too During the Spanish Civil

War his Catholicism would give him ldquosympathy with the conservative traditionalist side

in Spain at least in the early days of this unrestrdquo (Dearborn 303) Later Hemingway

would switch his allegiance to the anti-Franco anti-fascist communist-supported side of

the conflict Unfortunately this shift caused many family disputes with his wife Pauline

(Isabelle 25) However it was Hemingwayrsquos belief that politics and religion should not

mix (Stoneback 117) After the Spanish Civil War and in Cuba Hemingway used to

worry that the FBI were Roman Catholics and thus consequently Franco sympathizers

(N Reynolds 127) In fact Hemingway liked to refer to the FBI as ldquolsquoFrancorsquos Bastard

Irishrsquo and lsquoFrancorsquos Iron Cavalryrsquordquo (127) Nicholas Reynolds suggests that Hemingway

was paranoid about the FBI because he had signed on to be a spy with the Russian

Narodny Kommisariat Vnutrennikh Del (Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs)

better known as the NKVD Yet Hemingway never actually did anything for them His

code name was ldquoArgordquo Dearborn notes that ldquo[d]espite his professed Catholicism Ernest

was impatient with religion over philosophizing and what we would call today self-

helprdquo (320) Dorothy Parker makes a different claim about Hemingway ldquoThere is no

more than a thin line of moss to stamp the spot where Robert Benchley and Ernest

Hemingway had that big philosophical discussion about the meaning of liferdquo (qtd in M

Reynolds American Homecoming 106) Philosopher Ralph Withington Church ldquorecalls

his conversations with Hemingway about the lsquoproblem of redemptionrsquo and

53

Malebranchersquos lsquotheory of gracersquordquo (Stoneback 121) Ernest also had his own privately-

held opinions about Catholicism For example Hemingway told one of his daughters-in-

law that unlike the Catholic Churchrsquos teaching that animals donrsquot have souls he believed

that animals did (Dearborn 516) Secondly Ernest seems to have taken on or been

influenced by his motherrsquos mystic spiritualist bent Ernest believed in superstitions and

in some types of psychic phenomena (518)

Later in his life Ernest seems to have some misgivings about Catholicism He

consistently said when Paulinersquos name surfaced that ldquoher Catholic faith had wrecked the

marriagerdquo (Dearborn 406) Pauline had been advised by her doctor not to have any more

children The fear was that Pauline would get pregnant and die from the pregnancy

(Hawkins 141) Since Catholicism only permitted the birth control method of

withdrawal Ernestrsquos pleasure was significantly diminished by this technique and

consequently doomed their marriage Hemingway had also wanted to have a daughter

but this dream was never realized Paulinersquos second son Gregory who became a doctor

contends that all that his father would have had to have done to retain his pleasure would

have been to abstain from intercourse on Paulinersquos fertile days According to Gregrsquos

reasoning this ldquowould have been obvious to lsquoany foolrsquordquo (qtd in Dearborn 406)

According to Leicester Hemingway Ernest wanted nothing to do with the Catholic

church after Pauline and he asked for ldquothe address of an uncle William E Miller who

had written many hymns in the Episcopalian hymnalrdquo (Isabelle 58-59) Moreover Ernest

was concerned about his sons Patrick and Gregory attending a Catholic school Ernest

feared that this school Canterbury was affecting Patrick gradually and insidiously

54

(Dearborn 480) In fact Ernest hated this school and he referred to it as ldquoone of lsquothose

snot schoolsrsquordquo (480)

Paulinersquos and Hemingwayrsquos second son Gregory had a troubled life Over time

he came to like to dress up as a woman In Los Angeles this caught up with him when

he tried to enter the womenrsquos restroom of a theater in drag (Hendrickson 297) Pauline

cabled Hemingway that Gregory was in trouble Hemingway called back Pauline was in

a lot of pain but went to the phone anyway to tell Hemingway about the problem On the

phone Hemingway said ldquoItrsquos all your fault see how yoursquove brought him up yoursquore

corrupt and hersquos corruptrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 297) Hemingway intimated that perhaps

Gregoryrsquos Catholic upbringing had pushed Gregory into transgenderism Gregory had

served as an altar-boy at Saint Mary Star of the Sea (386)

That night Pauline went to bed in tears Unfortunately the heated accusative

argument with Ernest had set Pauline off At the time Pauline had been staying at her

sisterrsquos Virginia residence in Los Angeles In the early morning Virginia and her

friend Laura awakened to what they described as a ldquohorrendous screamrdquo from Paulinersquos

room Pauline was taken to the hospital where her blood pressure skyrocketed dropped

to zero and caused ldquoher to die of shock on the operating tablerdquo (Hawkins 271) Later

Hemingway blamed Paulinersquos death on Gregory Yet Gregory became a doctor and

researched his motherrsquos death more thoroughly Through an autopsy report Gregory

learned that his mother had died of a ldquorare tumor of the adrenal glandrdquo also known as

pheochromocytoma (275) This type of tumor secretes large quantities of adrenaline

causing blood pressure to spikemdasheven to the point where arteries can rupture Pauline

55

had had only an intermittent tumor that would secrete during times of stress Gregory

informed his father of his findings in a letter in the summer of 1960 Gregory wrote that

Hemingwayrsquos argument with Pauline had set Pauline off ldquocausing a blood vessel to

rupturerdquo after which her blood pressure dropped to zero with the resulting shock killing

her on the operating table (275) So Gregory blamed Hemingway for Paulinersquos early

death from shock due to the ruptured blood vessel and the drop of her blood pressure to

zero

In 1947 Hemingwayrsquos son Patrick had a spiritual crisis of his own Due to his

Catholic mother Patrick had been schooled in Catholic schools In 1947 Patrick had

been studying for the College Board exams at Hemingwayrsquos home the Finca in Cuba

However when Gregory had a spring vacation Patrick decided to join him in Key West

In 1945 Pauline had bought herself a sports car (Dearborn 497) In 1947 in Key West

Patrick was newly licensed and Patrick let Gregory drive the sports car Gregory drove

off the road and hit a tree near Casa Marina

In the process Patrick and Gregory seemed to suffer only minor injuries

Gregory ldquoreceived a minor knee injuryrdquo while Patrick ldquosuffered a cut on his chin and

slight headacherdquo (Hawkins 251) Yet Patrick had suffered a severe concussion (Di

Robilant 7) At first the boys didnrsquot seem to have any ill effects from the accident and

they arrived back at the Finca However shortly after his arrival Patrick started acting

strangely (Dearborn 497) At the Finca Patrick asked ldquofor a pot of hot water and some

teardquo (497) When Reneacute Villarreal brought the hot water and tea to the little house

ldquoPatrick complained that the water was dirtyrdquo (497) Then Patrick commenced shouting

56

loudly at the cook Ramoacuten who wasnrsquot even there Next at the main house Ernest

placed Patrick ldquoon a wicker chaise and stroked his headrdquo (497) In Havana the next day

Patrick was able to take the College Board exams but as the day progressed he grew

increasingly agitated So Ernest called for a doctor The doctor ldquosedated Patrick but the

next day he was delirious and soon became violent and it was necessary to restrain himrdquo

(497) Andrea Di Robilant believes that Patrick had a complete breakdown (7) His loss

of normalcy became a terrible ordeal for the Hemingway family in which his future his

sanity and his life hung in the balance (Dearborn 497)

In response Ernest placed Patrick in his own bed at the Finca and slept on a straw

mat in the living room just outside the door of his bedroom taking care of Patrick around

the clock (Dearborn 497-98 Hawkins 251) Ernest did this for the next three months

(Dearborn 498) It was hoped that Patrick would recover and be well within a couple of

weeks Yet it didnrsquot turn out this way Doctors from all over Cuba were called in Dr

Herrera deemed Patrick to be ldquopredementialrdquo a condition either set off from the exams or

by a crisis of his Catholic faith (498) Religion was a big portion of Patrickrsquos delirium

the other subject being putas whores A local priest named Don Andreacutes became one of

Patrickrsquos chief caretakers Surprisingly due to the spiritual nature of Patrickrsquos condition

this priest was unable to enter Patrickrsquos room without being accused of being the devil

incarnate Consequently this priest became known as the Black Priest

Patrick was so delusional that Ernest and his doctors were concerned about being

near Patrick because they were afraid that they would be scratched or bitten Patrick

remained bedridden for weeks and ldquohe moved in and out of consciousnessrdquo (Di Robilant

57

7) However Patrickrsquos condition did not improve he only worsened and became more

violentmdashhaving to be constantly restrained (Dearborn 498) At first the doctors wanted

Ernest to put Patrick in a hospital but Ernest was determined to keep Patrick at home

Patrick was so delirious that he wouldnrsquot eat When Patrick did eat he stuffed the food in

his mouth like a hamster to spit out at his caretakers Patrick even couldnrsquot swallow his

own saliva Considering that Patrick would probably rip out feeding tubes it was

decided to feed him rectally under restraint and under heavy sedation Patrick had not

eaten since his illness had begun five days prior It would take a full hour and a half to

feed Patrick rectally Despite this procedure Patrick dropped to eighty-eight pounds by

the start of August He had become psychotic

Given the limited means and the early days of psychiatric diagnoses in that time

and age it seemed like Patrick was schizophrenic perhaps even needing a lifetime of

institutionalized care (499) In July a new physician suggested that Patrick undergo

shock treatments In those days the only options were lobotomy and electroshock

therapy (499-500) So seeing no other viable option Patrickrsquos parents relented to the

electroshock therapy (500) In the outbuilding of the Finca Patrick received his first

shock treatment After only around ten minutes Patrick was reported as being ldquolucidrdquo

Fortunately Patrickrsquos electroshock therapy brought him back

The Hemingways remembered how the shock treatments had brought Patrick

back from the brink of hopelessness However when electroshock treatments were tried

years later on Ernest himself because of his traumatic brain injuries and compounding

depression they had the opposite effect For Ernest Hemingway electroshock treatments

58

wiped out his memory and he could no longer write take pride in himself and support

himself financially by the only means he knew how The shock treatments pushed

Hemingway further into depression

After his marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer Hemingway had misgivings about his

Catholic faith However HR Stoneback asserts that Hemingway never entirely gave up

his Catholicism and that he continued to go to Mass pray support the church and regard

himself as Catholic (114) Despite all this Hemingway had some bitterness toward the

Catholic Church Yet it still played an influence in his life Lloyd Arnold says of

Hemingwayrsquos last twenty years of life ldquoI did not know Papa as a man without Godrdquo (qtd

in Stoneback 105-06) Even after his marriage to Pauline Hemingway did put some

stock in Catholicism His divorce from Pauline made him excommunicated from the

Catholic Churchmdashhe could not receive communionmdashbut he still did visit Catholic

churches and pray inside During his marriage to Pauline Hemingway had faithfully and

regularly attended Mass Of his post-Pauline years Hemingway friend and biographer

AE Hotchner noted that in 1954 Hemingway on his way to Madrid stopped into the

cathedral at Burgos where he kneeled and prayed (Stoneback 106) According to

Hotchner in 1958 Hemingway paid for a new roof for the Catholic Church in Hailey

Idaho Then he gave an address to that parishrsquos young people admonishing them not to

work on Sunday as it was ldquovery back luckrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106)

Actor Gary Cooper who had played the role of Robert Jordan in the 1943 film

version of For Whom the Bell Tolls converted to Catholicism himself in 1958 In

response Hemingway ldquotalked sympathetically with Gary Cooper aboutrdquo it (Stoneback

59

106) In 1959 Hemingway was pickpocketed in Spain so in response he put an ad in

the newspaper asking the Spanish pickpocket to return his billfold as he cared mostly for

ldquogetting back the ldquoimage of St Christopher in itrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106) Throughout

his lifetime Hemingway named a son after a pope ldquodisplayed great pride in Patrickrsquos

confirmation mastery of the catechism gave money and support to the churchrdquo (110)

Ernest even taught his oldest son Bumby how to pray (L Hemingway 99) When

Hemingway received his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 he gave the medal to the

Virgen of Cobra Shrine in Cuba (Isabelle 52)

In a conversation with his fourth and final wife Mary Welsh Hemingway says to

her ldquoReligion is superstition and I believe in superstitionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 118)

Ernest adds that it is his ldquoTribal heritagerdquo (118) Mary wrote to Stoneback of Ernest that

when they would visit cathedrals in France Italy or Spain Hemingway would light

candles in honor of the memory of his friends Stoneback writes that with Ernest Mary

Hemingway had to live through a Catholic prism With Ernest Mary had to eat fish on

Fridays observe Lent do the Christmas traditions celebrate Ernestrsquos saintrsquos day have

masses and prayers said for family and friends observe holy days and Catholic feasts

drive miles off course to visit and revisit cathedrals and churches and to attend religious

processions (119) Mary Hemingway would later say that Hemingway ldquoadmiredrdquo the

Catholic church and that he ldquothought of himself always as Catholicrdquo (qtd in 119) Mary

Hemingway said of Ernestrsquos friend the Black Priest Don Andreacutes that he and

Hemingway would talk alone and that Ernest regarded him ldquoas his lsquopersonal priest and

confessorrsquo that they prayed together and for each otherrdquo (120) According to Toby

60

Bruce Hemingway and the Black Priest were very good friends they talked quite a lot

and that when Don Andreacutes died in 1955 Hemingway had masses said for him (132)

Mary said of Ernest ldquoWhen he said he was Catholic he meant itrdquo (qtd in 120)

Mary added that Ernest tried very hard at being Catholic Allen Tate said that

Hemingway was ldquovery Catholicrdquo and that his attitude towards sports was ldquorooted in

religious sensibilityrdquo (120) Tate added that it was the ritual of sport that Hemingway

liked RW Church says that Hemingwayrsquos ldquotalk during these late hours at Lips made

evident his conviction that Sport and bull-fighting in particular afforded a major way to

the redemption of manrdquo (135) Stoneback argues that for Hemingway sport is a

redemptive ritual that is central to his life and work (136) The renowned sportsman

George Leonard Herter said that although Hemingway was a strong Catholic

his ldquoreligion came mainly from the Apparitions of the Virgin Maryrdquo (121) Herter said

that Hemingway was almost obsessed with the apparitions and talked about them often

(134) Hemingway thought that they were important Hemingway did not understand

why the Catholic church did not publicize the apparitions Hemingway was amazed that

most brothers nuns and priests were ignorant of the apparitions and seemed to care even

less Herter said that he had heard Hemingway speak of the apparitions including

Lourdes Fatima and others ldquoat one time or anotherrdquo (qtd in 134) Herter says that

Hemingway believed that if there was no Bible ldquono man-made church lawsrdquo then the

apparitions conclusively proved that the Catholic church was the true church (134-35)

Herter adds that ldquoHemingway knew all the apparitions The ones at Pontmain

61

Pellivoisin Allyrod greatly impressed himrdquo (134-35) In addition Hemingway basically

believed that the Virgin Mary was earthrsquos listening post for Jesus and God (135)

Reynolds Price suggested that ldquoHemingwayrsquos lsquolifelong subjectrsquo was

lsquosaintlinessrsquordquo (121) Stoneback asserts a spiritual order to Hemingwayrsquos works in which

Hemingway examines the conscience through a Catholic lens (122) Stoneback

summarizes an October 18 1933 letter to Pauline Hemingway

tells Pauline that the proofs of Winner Take Nothing have arrived and though it is

a ldquodamned goodrdquo book itrsquos too much to expect the church will stand for it As he

sees it considering his writing the church would have two choices either kick

him out or prove he has no right to be in Either one would be bad because he

couldnrsquot tell them to ldquogo to the devilrdquo because of the ldquoItalian complicationsrdquo At

least hersquoll be able to say his prayers participate in the Mass support and

contribute to the church and wherever they donrsquot know him he can go to

confession He does not want to seem to be seeking ldquoappuirdquo as a ldquoCatholic

writerrdquo He says that he has no right to write the way he does and be ldquolsquoofficially

of the Churchrsquordquo Everything is fine with his conscience however he adds that

therersquos nothing wrong with the church (Stoneback 129-30)

Stoneback summarizes an interview with Fraser Drew As Stoneback

summarizes Hemingway told Drew

I [Hemingway] like to think that Irsquom a Catholic as far as I can be I can still go to

Mass although many things have happenedmdashthe divorces the marriages He

spoke with admiration of Catholicism and then of his friend the Basque priest

62

whom he had known in Spain [Don Andreacutes] and who now lived in San Francisco

de Paula He comes here a great deal said EH He prays for me every day as I

do for him I canrsquot pray for myself any more Perhaps itrsquos because in some way I

have become hardened Or perhaps it is because the self becomes less important

and others become more important But that Time article was bad He referred to

a recent article in Time which had commented that he had been born a

Congregationalist had become a Roman Catholic and now no longer went to

church This conversation with EH confirms my earlier feeling that he is a

religious man with respect for the religions of others (Stoneback 131)

Toby Bruce said of Hemingway and religion ldquoIrsquod say he was very religious Always

went to Mass especially when he was here still with Pauline And afterwards toordquo (qtd

in 132) Bruce added ldquoHe was a real Catholic and I think he tried very hard to be a good

Catholic Who knows for sure Yes he was he planned to donate a considerable sum

toward the restoration of the Mary Immaculate Convent Donrsquot know if he did I guess

Irsquod say he was a good Catholic Donrsquot know what the church would say about itrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 132-33)

Hemingway would cross himselfmdasheven after the 1930s (133) George Herter

wrote ldquoHemingway was a Catholic in those days when the Catholic Church was a church

instead of a mass of confusion The fact that he had been a steady marrying and divorce

type didnrsquot bother Ernest at all in his views on Catholicism I knew Ernest only had

his religion in his very shaky worldrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) George Herter responded

to HR Stoneback in a letter about Hemingway ldquoI repeat he was a very strong Catholic

63

He had complete faith in God Jesus the Virgin Holy Ghost guardian angels Much

more so than nearly all Catholics I have known He was a traditional Catholic as we

all were at the timerdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) In another letter from Herter to Stoneback

dated February 23 1978 Herter writes ldquoHemingway was a strong Catholic He had a

very good knowledge of early Christianity He did not attend Mass regularly He

believed the churchrsquos stand on divorce was right although he was divorced many times

He often stated that he was a poor example of a Catholic but offered no excusesrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 134-35) Stoneback asked a Key West resident what he thought of

Hemingwayrsquos religion The man responded ldquoHemingway was very religious went to

Mass early in the morning with Pauline You could tell he was religious when he fed

the cats the way he looked at the skyrdquo (136)

Yet in his last years of life Hemingway said some very anti-Catholic and anti-

Christian things For instance married to his last wife Mary Ernest said in an interview

to Lillian Ross of the possibility of an afterlife ldquoOnly suckers worry about saving their

soulsrdquo (qtd in Ross 50) Hemingway continued ldquoWho the hell should care about saving

his soul when it is a manrsquos duty to lose it intelligently the way you would sell a position

you were not defending if you could not hold it as expensively as possible trying to

make it the most expensive position that was ever soldrdquo (50) Gregory Hemingway

recounted something similar Gregory said that his father didnrsquot genuinely believe in

organized religion and that his father ldquomade it clear he didnrsquot believe in an afterlife He

did finally believe in a superior beingrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 186) Although Hemingway

didnrsquot believe that it was necessary to save onersquos soul he did contemplate the soul As a

64

boy Hemingway had thought that his soul had blown out of him once and it had returned

to his body (First Light 172) Hemingway claimed ignorance of the soul and he didnrsquot

know if it existed nor if anyone he knew anything about it Hemingway ponders the

soul ldquoProbably a spring of clear fresh water that never diminished in drought and never

froze in the winter was closest to what we had instead of the soul they all talked aboutrdquo

(172) As a boy Hemingway assumed that he had a soul but as he grew older and jaded

he wasnrsquot sure anymore Hemingway thinks that death ends things Yet he ponders that

perhaps only really religious people have souls (172-173) Of a belief in an afterlife for

the soul as heaven or hell Hemingway had his own opinions of that On July 1 1925

Hemingway creatively wrote to F Scott Fitzgerald of his vision of heaven

To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a

trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in and two lovely

houses in the town one where I would have my wife and children and be

monogamous and love them truly and well and the other where I would have my

nine beautiful mistresses on 9 different floors Then there would be a fine

church like in Pamplona where I could go and be confessed on the way from one

house to the other and I would get on my horse and ride out with my son to my

bull ranch named Hacienda Hadley and toss coins to all my illegitimate children

that lined the road I would write out at the Hacienda and send my son in to lock

the chastity belts onto my mistresses because someone had just galloped up with

the news that a notorious monogamist named Fitzgerald had been seen riding

65

toward the town at the head of a company of strolling drinkers (Hemingway in

Katakis 37)

However after his World War I injury Ernest wrote his family

You know they say there isnrsquot anything funny about this war and there isnrsquot I

wouldnrsquot say that it was hell because thatrsquos been a bit overworked since General

Shermanrsquos time but there have been about eight times when I would have

welcomed hell just on a chance it couldnrsquot come up to the phase of war I was

experiencing (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 166-67)

So if there was a hell Hemingway didnrsquot believe that it was worse than the horrors of

war Of his past Hemingway did have regrets He wrote ldquoThis past was never my past

life which truly bores me to think about and is often very distasteful due to the mistakes

that I have made and the casualties to various human beings involvedrdquo (Hemingway in

White 466)

The question of the soul comes up continually in the works of Hemingway In

ldquoNow I Lay Merdquo Nick Adams tries not to go to sleep at night because he is afraid like

Hemingway was that his soul is going to leave his body in the dark This all stems from

a battlefield injury and experience that Nick had when his soul temporarily left his body

Nick relates ldquoI had been that way [not sleeping at night] for a long time ever since I had

been blown up at night and felt it [his soul] go out of me and go off and then come back

I tried never to think about it but it had started to go since in the nights just at the

moment of going off to sleep and I could only stop it by a very great effortrdquo (Short

Stories 276)

66

Yet Nick doesnrsquot fear his soul leaving him during the day time Hemingway also

had a similar experience with his wounding at Fossalta According to Leicester

Hemingway Ernest once told Guy Hickok of this near-death experience ldquoI felt my soul

or something coming right out of my body like yoursquod pull a silk handkerchief out of a

pocket by one corner It flew around and then came back and went in again and I wasnrsquot

dead any morerdquo (56) Hemingway gives Frederic Henry the same experience in A

Farewell to Arms After the explosion that caused his wounding Henry says that

I tried to breathe but my breath would not come and I felt myself rush bodily out

of myself and out and out and out and all the time bodily in the wind I went out

swiftly all of myself and I knew I was dead and that it had all been a mistake to

think you just died Then I floated and instead of going on I felt myself slide

back I breathed and I was back (47)

Hemingway later referred to his Christian upbringing as ldquothat ton of shit we are

all fed when we are youngrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) Michael Reynolds makes the claim that

in Ernestrsquos youth fishing was his religion (118) However Archie MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoActually he was one of the most profoundly and spiritually powerful

creatures I have ever knownrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 158)

In The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway paints the old man Santiago as a

Christ figure There is so much Christian symbolism in this tale that the story can be

thought of as a parable The name Santiago literally means Saint James in Spanish

(Baker 293) In the Bible James was one of Jesusrsquo brothers Baker says of Santiago that

he ldquoshows in his own right certain qualities of mind and heart which are clearly

67

associated with the character and personality of Jesus Christ in the Gospel storiesrdquo (299)

Like Christ Santiago is able to ldquoignore physical painrdquo while focusing on the larger

objective goal to be gained in the end (299) There is an allusion to Christ on the cross

when Santiago in fighting for his prize ldquosettled comfortably against the wood and took

his suffering as it camerdquo (Old Man Sea 64) Like a horizontal cross-beam across Christrsquos

back Santiago has the cord tightened taught across his back (Backman 10 Old Man Sea

67) Santiago carries the burdensome weight of the fish on his back and he is even

burned by the cord because of it (Old Man Sea 82) The wood the suffering and

Santiagorsquos gentleness according to Melvin Backman blends ldquomagically into an image of

Christ on the crossrdquo (10) Three other Christ-like qualities that Santiago has are his

compassion his humility and his natural piety (Baker 299-300) Santiago has

compassion on certain animals that he encounters and of some fish that he catchesmdashlike

the giant marlin In his struggle with the marlin Santiago says ldquoI love you and respect

you very much But I will kill you dead before this day endsrdquo (Old Man Sea 54) After

he has killed the fish Santiago thinks ldquoYou loved him when he was alive and you loved

him after If you love him it is not a sin to kill himrdquo (105) Before killing the fish

Santiago ponders ldquoI wish I could feed the fish He is my brother But I must kill him

and keep strong to do itrdquo (59) Santiago thinks of his humility ldquoHe was too simple to

wonder when he had attained humility But he knew he had attained it and he knew it

was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true priderdquo (13-14) Santiago demonstrates

his pride when his disciple Manolo touts him as the best fisherman and he plays it down

by saying that he knows of better ones (23) Manolo claims ldquoQueacute va [No way] But

68

there is only yourdquo (23) Santiagorsquos piety is observed in that he prays when he feels and

senses the need and that his prayers are never oaths For example in trying to catch the

giant marlin Santiago says aloud ldquoNow that I have him coming so beautifully God help

me endure Irsquoll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys But I cannot say

them nowrdquo (87) Santiagorsquos prayers are never careless nor does he make them profane

He is reverent

As Christ had disciples so Santiago has his disciple Manolo Like Christ

Santiago is a teacher in that he was taught Manolo how to fish Christ was a fisher of

men Santiago is a traditional fisherman Manolo loves Santiago because of his teaching

Manolo how to fish and he admires and looks up to Santiago as a second father figure

Before Santiago goes out on his big marlin hunt Manolo says to him ldquoIf I cannot fish

with you I would like to serve in some wayrdquo (12) Manolo wants to be loyal to Santiago

Before his big marlin catch Santiago had had two previous eighty-seven day periods

where he went without a fish After the first period Santiago and Manolo had caught big

fish every day for three weeks GR Wilson Jr likens these three weeks to Christrsquos three

years of ministry where he fished for men and taught his disciples to fish for men (370)

At the start of Old Man Santiago had not caught a fish for eighty-four days The Old

Man and the Sea takes place over three days so this makes the second eighty-seven day

period In the Bible Christ demonstrated his divine authority by performing miracles

Wilson notes that Manolo has faith in the old man stemming from the miracle of the

three weeksrsquo bounty that he and Santiago had caught In addition according to Isabelle

Santiago ldquohooks the fish at noon and at noon of third day he kills itrdquo (77) This is just

69

like Christ who died and in three days rose again Isabelle adds that the marlin was

ldquolanded on the seventh attemptrdquo and that ldquoseven sharks were killedrdquo in the fishrsquos defense

(78) The number seven is a sacred and significant number recurring in the Bible After

the seventh day of creation God rested there are seven days in a week et cetera

(Easton) The number seven is also seen as symbolizing perfection and rest

Another similarity of Santiago with Christ are the wounds that he receives on his

hands On the cross Christ was pierced in each hand to help keep him pinned to the

cross In his battle with the fish Santiago receives bad cutsmdashstigmatamdashon his hands

Santiago sees his hands as brothers and he often talks to them Carlos Baker explains that

Santiago ldquospeaks to them [his hands] as to fellow-sufferers wills them to do the work

they must do and makes due allowances for them as if they were what he once calls

them lsquomy brothersrsquordquo (313) Once he says aloud ldquoHersquos [the fish] coming up Come

on hand Please come onrdquo (Old Man Sea 62) The hands also represent good and bad

The right hand is good and the left hand is bad Santiagorsquos hands are compared to the

criminals on the crosses to the left and right of Jesus who was on his own cross in the

center Santiagorsquos right hand is his good one Santiago thought that his left hand ldquohad

always been a traitor and would not do what he called on it to do and he did not trust itrdquo

(71) Luke 2339 reads ldquoOne of the criminals who were hanged railed at him [Jesus]

saying lsquoAre you not the Christ Save yourself and usrsquordquo (English Standard Version) So

Santiagorsquos left hand is untrustworthy Santiagorsquos right hand is so reliable that he quit

arm-wrestling despite being ldquoEl Campeoacutenrdquo in order to keep his right hand in good

condition as a tool of his trade fishing (70-71) The thief on Jesusrsquo right rebukes the

70

other criminal Then in Luke 2342 the thief on the right of Jesus asks Jesus ldquoJesus

remember me when you come into your kingdomrdquo (English Standard Version) Jesus

assures this repentant thief that that day the thief will be with him in paradise

Santiagorsquos right hand is like the penitent thief on the cross to Jesusrsquo right This analogy

can also be applied to the Last Judgment At the Last Judgment the saved will be on the

right hand of the Savior while those who are rejected and damned will be on his left

(Baker 314)

When Santiago sees two sharks approaching he says ldquoAyrdquo (Old Man Sea 107)

Hemingway explains of this exclamation that ldquoThere is no translation for this word and

perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make involuntarily feeling the nail go

through his hands and into the woodrdquo (107) Given his affinity and brotherhood with the

marlin when Santiago sees his prize catch eaten by the sharks it is a mortifying terrible

and crucifying experience for him Through Santiagorsquos crucifixion experience he is

transfigured Baker says that Santiagorsquos experience is also a form of martyrdom

although Santiago doesnrsquot see himself as a martyr (315) Baker also suggests that

Santiagorsquos experience also renders to him a form of apotheosis (316) Backman suggests

that Santiago triumphs (11) On his return voyage to Cuba Santiago ldquocould hardly

breathe now and he felt a strange taste in his mouth It was coppery and sweet and he

was afraid of it for a moment But there was not much of itrdquo (Old Man Sea 119) This

can be likened to Christ when he receives and drinks the ldquosponge filled with vinegarrdquo or

sour wine in Matthew 2748 (Baker 319) When Santiago returns to Cuba he has dried

blood on his face reminiscent of the blood on Christrsquos face because of the crown of

71

thorns Having arrived back everybody is asleep and nobody is there to greet or help

him He only sees a meandering cat Like Christ on the cross when God forsook him

because of the load of sin that he was carrying Santiago is alone in his suffering ldquoThere

was no one to help him so he pulled the boat up as far as he couldrdquo (Old Man Sea 120)

Removing the mast and sail Santiago ldquoshouldered the mast and started to climbrdquo (121)

This is like Christ carrying the heavy cross (Backman 11) Santiago ldquostarted to climb

again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder He

tried to get up But it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder and

looked at the roadrdquo (Old Man Sea 121) This is similar to Christ stumbling and falling as

he carried his cross on the Via Dolorosa on the way to his crucifixion at Golgotha Like

Christ Santiago falls under the burden he is bearing

Back at his shack Santiago lays down to sleep ldquoHe pulled the blanket over his

shoulders and then over his back and legs and he slept face down on the newspapers with

his arms out straight and the palms of his hands uprdquo (121-22) Baker notes that Santiago

sleeps in a cruciform position that sums up ldquothe symbolic position naturally assumed all

the suffering through which he has passedrdquo (320) In his return Santiago also brings

evidence of his epic battlegood work to increase the faith of his disciple Manolo

(Wilson 371) Wilson asserts that Santiago is on his death-bed when Manolo finds him

(372) The eighty-seventh day of this second period ends on Ascension Day as it began

on Ash Wednesday and ldquoconstitutes all but the last ten days of the Easter Cycle from

Lent through Paschal tiderdquo (369-70) As Mary cried over Christ at the tomb Manolo

returns to Santiagorsquos shanty sees the old manrsquos hands and starts to cry (Old Man Sea

72

122) Wilson also asserts that Santiago matches up with Joseph Campbellrsquos archetypal

model for a ldquohero with a thousand facesrdquo (372) For example Santiago starts out on his

journey or calling with the aid of the helper Manolo Santiago ldquocrosses the threshold of

adventure and meets a trial that can take many forms including the brother-battle

dragon-battle crucifixion and a night-sea journey all of which can be seen as applying

in some way to the old fishermanrdquo (372) The mythic-like story culminates in a ldquosacred

marriagerdquo between Santiago and his prize marlin (372) Fellow writer William Although

Hemingway was not a good nor a professing Christian and for most of his life claimed to

be Catholic he was not a reformed believer Hemingway still continued to be

Hemingway Despite all this according to Carlos Baker ldquoThe consciousness of God is

in his booksrdquo (328)

73

74

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

Hemingway wanted to be a good man and a great writer but unfortunately he

did not turn out to be a good manmdashalthough he had his moments of goodness Although

he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not transform him He did not

have a salvation experience nor was his faith life-altering As a Catholic Hemingway

continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Hemingwayrsquos religious

life was one solely of Catholic rituals He did not overcome his problems In the end his

problems overcame him Hemingway himself said of his heart ldquoActually in regard to the

innermost contents of my heart probably a most foul place I would rather have a good

cardiograph reportrdquo (Hemingway in White 459) Hemingway added ldquoNo one of us lives

by as rigid standards nor has a good ethics as we planned but an attempt is maderdquo (461)

Hemingway was vindictive against his critics Hemingway viewed most fellow

writers as enemies if they were not officially his enemy he eventually went about to

convert them into his enemies Hemingway wanted to be the top dog of everythingmdash

especially the writing scenemdashand he didnrsquot want to share the spotlight with anyone else

Ernest felt ldquothat anyone elsersquos success diminished his ownrdquo (Hawkins 61) Hemingwayrsquos

writer friend Sherwood Anderson was the one in Chicago to suggest that Hemingway

and his newly-married first wife Hadley Richardson go to Paris instead of their planned

destination of Italy Anderson told the young Hemingway that Paris was where the

literary world was at that time and that it was also the place to get published This advice

75

was instrumental into turning Hemingway into the famed writer that he became Had it

not been for Anderson and his encouragement and faith in Hemingway Hemingway may

have never became a Nobel Prize winning writer Anderson gave Hemingway letters of

introduction to Gertrude Stein Sylvia Beach Ezra Pound and F Scott Fitzgerald Like

Harold Loeb Anderson also helped in getting Hemingwayrsquos In Our Time published

stressing its importance to Boni amp Liveright (Dearborn 177) Since Anderson pushed In

Our Time Boni amp Liveright did not want to upset itrsquos star writer so they agreed to

publish it (Hawkins 39)

However after all was said and done Hemingway wrote his satire Torrents of

Spring mocking Andersonrsquos writing style in order to try to get laughs and in order to get

out of his contract with his publisher Boni amp Liveright It worked Torrents of Spring

was rejected by Boni amp Liveright because Anderson was the companyrsquos star writer So

in lieu of this Hemingway was able to sign with Max Perkins and the publisher

Scribnerrsquos and Sons Yet in the process Hemingway had burned his bridge of friendship

with Anderson who had been so generous and helpful with the young budding writer

Others who knew of Andersonrsquos graciousness and kindness to Hemingway were appalled

by Torrents of Spring (Hawkins 44)

Hemingway was anti-Semitic mean and demeaning to people he berated them

and belittled them He thought that all guys should be macho Hemingway was not pure

evil but the evil produced by his unpredictable and uncontrollable temper pushed a lot of

peoplemdasheven one-time friendsmdashaway from him Archibald MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoHe was wonderful irreplaceable but an impossible friend a man you

76

couldnt get along with a man you couldnt get along withoutrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 167)

Robert Capa once told Leicester Hemingway ldquoPapa can be more severe than God on

a rough day when the whole human race is misbehavingrdquo (192) Hemingway was his

own worst enemy

Hemingway was not a good Catholic He was married four times and even

divorced a Catholic woman whom he later called his best wife (L Hemingway 271) It

is speculated that Hemingway had affairs with multiple women Hemingway would have

affairs before marrying his last two or three wives Hemingwayrsquos son Jack ldquoBumbyrdquo

Hemingway surmised that Hemingway had an affair with the beautiful blond Jane

Mason in 1933 (Hawkins 152) According to Jack ldquoErnest bragged to him that Jane

liked climbing through the transom to his [Hemingwayrsquos] room at the Ambos Mundos

Hotelrdquo (153) Moreover a prostitute was known to have visited the Finca Vigiacutea

Although Hemingway was Catholic he didnrsquot really change his behavior to live

in sync with the Bible or all Catholic teachings He followed the rituals of the Church

not so much a personal transformative side Yet claiming to be Catholic Hemingway

lived by his own code In the end although Hemingway was not a good person he had

some good memories of a childhood growing up and some good experiences as an adult

Even with his bad experiences Hemingway was able to incorporate them into his

literature Hemingwayrsquos keen insight his precise powers of observation his absorption

of the knowledge gained from others and the Protestant work ethic of his youth paid off

as Hemingway put all of his being into trying to be an honest writer writing one true

sentence at a time and helping his audience to see the world through open and honest

77

eyes to help his readers see feel and almost literally experience first-hand what he was

writing aboutmdashthe good the bad and the ugly Though a flawed human being

Hemingway was a brilliant writer and his brilliance lives on through his works of

literature

WORKS CITED

75

WORKS CITED

Backman Melvin ldquoHemingway The Matador and the Crucifiedrdquo Modern Fiction

Studies 13 (1955) 2-11

Baker Carlos Hemingway the Writer as Artist Princeton Princeton University Press

1963 Print

Berman Ron ldquoProtestant Catholic Jew The Sun Also Risesrdquo The Hemingway

Review 181 (1998) 33 Web

Blume Lesley MM Everybody Behaves Badly the True Story Behind Hemingwayrsquos

Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises Boston Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016

Print

Cohn-Sherbok Dan Anti-Semitism Brimscombe Port Stroud The History Press 2002

Print

Dearborn Mary V Ernest Hemingway a Biography New York Alfred A Knopf

2017 Print

Di Robilant Andrea Autumn in Venice Ernest Hemingway and his Last Muse New

York Alfred A Knopf 2018 Print

Djos Matts ldquoAlcoholism in Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises A Wine and Roses

Perspective on the Lost Generationrdquo The Hemingway Review 142 (1995) 64

Easton MG Illustrated Bible Dictionary 3rd ed Thomas Nelson 1897 Bible Study

Toolscom Web 1 Dec 2018

ESV Study Bible English Standard Version Wheaton Crossway Bibles 2008 Print

5

Chapter 2 investigates Hemingway and Judaism and Chapter 3 centers on

Hemingway and Christianity In Chapter 4 the author argues that although he didnrsquot turn

out to be a good person and was vindictive against fellow writers critics and others

Hemingway was a good writer and used all his experiences good and bad to bring across

the truth and reality of life in his works of literature Hemingwayrsquos last novel Old Man

and the Sea provides the clearest statement of his spiritual and religious perspective

6

CHAPTER 2

HEMINGWAY AND JUDIASM

Historical Overview of Judaism

Anti-Semitism or hatred of Jews has been around since the rise of Judaism In

the Old Testament Pharaoh was the first political leader known to persecute the Jews

Pharaoh was concerned with the growing Jewish population and their loyalty Among

many other things he tried to kill Jewish ldquofirst-born sonsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 13) Next in

the Old Testament Haman tried to have the Jews killed off under Queen Esther

However most scholars agree that anti-Semitism came into its own in the years after

Christ left this earth For example Dan Cohn-Sherbok argues that ldquoit was only when

Christianity emerged in the first century CE that Jews came to be viewed as contemptible

and demonicrdquo (17)

Unfortunately the intensity of anti-Semitism in Christianity was mainly due to

misinterpretation In earlier centuries AD people could not read Scripture for themselves

and they were consequently misled In those days people had faith in and trusted the

Catholic Church seeing the pope as infallible Some misinterpreted Scripture to say that

the Jews were responsible for Christrsquos death However Scripture emphasizes that Christ

died for all so consequently he died for everyone If one looks at it from that point of

view then everyone past present and future were are and will be responsible for

Christrsquos death Yet some didnrsquot look at it that way In fact the Apostle Paul went out of

his way to preach and try to reach Jews first

7

Paul wrote in Romans 116 ldquoFor I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the

power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the

Greekrdquo (English Standard Version) John 422 reads ldquoYou worship what you do not

know we [Jews] worship what we know for salvation is from the Jewsrdquo In Romans

1117-18 Paul suggests that Gentile believers are just grafted into the Jewish promise ldquoIf

some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive were grafted in

among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree [then] do

not be arrogant toward the branches but if you are arrogant remember that it is not you

who supports the root but the root supports yourdquo Unfortunately some uninformed

early Christians did not put two and two together For some it was believed that the

Christian Church took the place of Israel which isnrsquot accurate Some believed that ldquothe

Church was the true inheritor of Godrsquos promisesrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 45) It was

believed that Jews no longer had a covenant with God and that Christians had completely

overshadowed and replaced Israel in that covenant This is not true

Acts 1346 reads of preaching to the Jews first ldquoIt was necessary that the word of

God be spoken to you firstrdquo Jesus also a Jew promoted preaching to the Jews first In

Matthew 125-6 Jesus says to the twelve disciples ldquoGo nowhere among the Gentiles and

enter no town of the Samaritans but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israelrdquo

(English Standard Version) In Matthew 1524 Jesus says ldquoI was sent only to the lost

sheep of the house of Israelrdquo (English Standard Version) The first Christians were a

group of Jews Jews were different so eventually urban legends sprang up without

accurate facts and the knowledge of Judaismrsquos teachings some people latched onto these

8

false assumptions and believed the lies that others were propagating about the Jews For

instance Jews were accused of murdering Christian children and then using their blood

for ritual practices It was believed that Jews used the blood of murdered Christian

children ldquoin the preparation of unleavened bread for Passoverrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 54) The

ritual murder charge was a misunderstanding (81) In fact in the fourteenth century

Jews were accused of bringing about the Black Death by poisoning the wells and springs

(60 67) This assertion first gained credence in southern France (81) Yet Jews suffered

and died under the Black Death as well This is an example of the Jews being blamed as

scapegoats

In the early Church the Bishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom accused the

early Hebrews of sacrificing ldquotheir sons and daughters to demons andrdquo eating their own

children (37 47) Chrysostom said of synagogues ldquoto go there was no better than

visiting a brothel a robberrsquos den or any indecent place [it is] a theatre a house of

prostitution and domicile of the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom said that the Jews ldquohave

surpassed the ferocity of wild beasts since they murder their offspring and immolate

them to the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom also accused the Jews of worshipping the devil Yet

Jeremiah 313b reads in reference to Israel ldquoI have loved you with an everlasting love

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to yourdquo (English Standard Version) If so-

called Christians would have accurately read this during this period they would have

seen that God loves his people and his nation Israel But some Christians thought that

the Christian Church entirely replaced Godrsquos Covenant with the Jews Consequently

Chrysostom said that Christians must hate the Jews (Cohn-Sherbok 47) Yet hatred is an

9

anti-Christian doctrine In Matthew 544 Jesus says ldquoBut I say to you Love your

enemies and pray for those who persecute

yourdquo (English Standard Version)

False conceptions of the Jews even seemed to be found among some of the

Church Fathers Some of the Church Fathers were frustrated that the Jews would not

convert to Christianity nor would they renounce their Judaism In some cases the quest

for converts became a competition Cohn-Sherbok writes ldquoDuring the same period

Tertullian the African Church Father called the synagogues of his day lsquofountains of

persecution of Christiansrsquordquo (46) Justin Martyr ldquorelated that Jews laugh curse and insult

Jesusrdquo (46) Jerome referred to Jews as Judases (47) In fact Judas was thought to be

ldquosymbolic of the Jewish peoplerdquo (84) In the New Testament ldquothe figure of Judas

was associated in the public mind with deviousness and treacheryrdquo (83)

Desecration of the communion host became another false charge against the Jews

as the then-Christians believed in the doctrine of transubstantiation In the doctrine of

transubstantiation the communion bread and wine (of the Eucharist) literally becomes

the body and blood of Jesus During this time it was believed that Jews stole the host in

order ldquoto assault it and thereby torture Christrdquo (80) The charge of desecration of the

Host was a hallucinatory fantasy (82) However the Jews did not believe in the Doctrine

of Transubstantiation which was affirmed at Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 (80) Only

Catholics believe this doctrine today Since the Jews did not believe in

transubstantiation they would in all likelihood not have attacked the host because they

10

couldnrsquot believe that they were actually attacking Christ in the process Desecration of

the Host was a wild belief and a total fantasy

In some cases the Talmud was burned because it was believed to be anti-

Christian Agobard Archbishop of Lyons believed that Jews stole Christian children

and sold them to Arabs (64) He also believed that Jews seduced Christian women All

sorts of wild beliefs developed about Jews many without factual basis It was all

conjecture and imagination In Germany ldquoa French monk Radulph went about preaching

that Jews were enemies of God and should be persecutedrdquo (65) As previously

mentioned the Jews were scapegoats they were blamed for everything During the

witch-hunting crazed days of the fifteenth century Jews were seen as being in cahoots

with witches and the devil (71) During this time it was believed that the Jews were born

misshapen hemorrhoidal and both sexes afflicted with menstruation In Trnava

Slovakia it was believed that Christian blood was an excellent means by which ldquoto cure

the wound produced by circumcisionrdquo (71)

For the duration of the Middle Ages ldquoChristians viewed Jews as sorcerers able to

cast spells against their enemiesrdquo (72) It was believed consequently that the Jews were

capable of working magic against Christians During the Black Death it was also

believed that Jews wanted to poison Christians In fact ldquoJews were accused of using

Christian blood for magical purposesrdquo (73) The little contact that these early Christians

had with Jews also led to their paranoia viewing the Jews as an alien mysterious and

strange people (74) Urban legends seemed to sprout up due to the lack of knowledge

Ignorance of Jews reigned

11

Jewish medicine too became suspect It was claimed that high rulers were killed

off through Jewish medicine During the Middle Ages the Vienna Faculty of Medicine

thought that ldquothe private code of Jewish doctors required them to murder one patient in

tenrdquo (77) Jews were eventually thought to possess attributes of the devil The Jews

ldquowere perceived as having horns tails and the beard of a goat and could be recognized

by their noxious smell the foetor judaiumlcusrdquo (79) Consequently the Jews were seen as

sub-human It was believed that Jews lacked morality anything went with them Jews

were so despised that they were exiled from countries At different times Spain France

and England expelled their Jewish populations In some instances they were invited

back

The charges against Jews were grotesque fantasies Tracts were written against

the Jews One such read of the Jews ldquolsquoDemons from hell race of the Jews detestable

men more accursed than Lucifer and more wicked than all the devils cruel tigers be

gone unworthy as you are to live among us when you thirst so for bloodrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 86)

Martin Luther at first favored the Jews writing a pamphlet That Christ was Born

a Jew However after he was unable to convert the Jews to his Protestant Reformed

Christian faith he became anti-Semitic So ldquoLuther stressed that they [the Jews] are the

most contemptible of all peoplesrdquo (90) Luther wrote ldquorsquomake no mistake that aside from

the Devil you have no enemy more venomous more desperate more bitter than a true

Jew who truly seeks to be a Jewrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90) Moreover ldquoMartin Luther

speculated that if the Jews could kill Christians they would gladly do sordquo (73)

12

Of the Jews Luther believed that ldquoThose who tolerate them [the Jews] will incur

great loss lsquoWhoever wishes to accept venomous serpents desperate enemies of the Lord

and to honour them to let himself be robbed pillaged corrupted and cursed by them

need only turn to the Jewsrsquordquo (90) Luther suggested of the Jews ldquoTheir synagogues

should be set on fire and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over

with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of itrdquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 90) Luther wrote ldquoTheir [Jewsrsquo] homes should likewise be broken down and

destroyed For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues

they should be deprived of their prayerbooks [sic] and Talmud in which idolatry lies

cursing and blasphemy are taught their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death

to teach any morerdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther also wrote ldquoPassport and travelling privileges should be absolutely

forbidden to the Jews They ought to be stopped from usury Let the young and

strong Jews and Jewesses be given the flail the axe the hoe the spade the distaff and

spindle and let them earn their bread by the sweat of their browrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok

90) Luther called the Jews an ldquoinsufferable devilish burdenrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther said that Jews were ldquochildren of the Devil condemned to the flames of hellrdquo (qtd

in Cohn-Sherbok 91) Luther believed that the Jews should be despised Luther even

thought that ldquothe Jews are worse than the devilsrdquo (91) Luther saw the Jews as

ldquoinstigators of social and economic corruptionrdquo (94) Luther thought that the Jews

wanted to ldquodestroy Christian civilizationrdquo (95)

13

Luther saw himself in a fight against Satan in the Jews Despite Lutherrsquos anti-

Semitism a good thing did emerge out of the Protestant Reformation Scripture was

translated into the common vernacular so that literate people could see what the Bible

said for themselves instead taking a priestrsquos or a popersquos word for it This led to literate

Christians seeing the Jews through the lens of Scripture instead of through anti-Jewish

sermons and hear-say from church leaders

In Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century the Jews were seen as favoring political

revolution and as having played a role in the revolutionary activities of the era (231)

This viewpoint started after the revolutions of 1848 (244) and it is not entirely off the

mark For example Karl Marx was a Jew Although not all Jews were revolutionaries

Nicholas Reynolds says that ldquoMore than a few Russian revolutionaries were Jewish one

reaction to the state-sanctioned anti-Semitism and the resulting pogroms that occurred

with frightening regularityrdquo (Writer Sailor Solider Spy 72) Capitalism also came to be

associated with the Jewsmdashparticularly its vices (Cohn-Sherbok 248) In the United

States the Jews were blamed for the Russian Revolution (231) There was fear of the

Jews or Judaeophobia A writer that Hemingway read was the anti-Semitic Fyodor

Dostoyevsky Perhaps this helped to influence Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

Dostoyevsky wrote ldquoLike a vast tightening net the power of assimilated Jewry stretches

over the whole world and no matter where we set foot we are caught in it We must

struggle to our last drop of blood against the insidious Judaization of Europe and

especially of Germanismrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 232)

14

In 1912 the Marconi Affair hit Great Britain Two leading Jewish politicians

Rufus Isaacs and Herbert Samuels were implicated in this corruption scandal

Eyewitness reported ldquoIsaacsrsquo brother is the president of the Marconi Company Isaacs

and Samuels have privately arranged to have the British people pay the Marconi

Company a considerable sum of money through the intermediary of Samuels and for

Isaacsrsquo benefitrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 236) In wake of the Marconi Affair one of

Hemingwayrsquos early favorite writers Rudyard Kipling ldquodedicated a hymn of hate to the

affairrdquo (236) Like the biblical greedy and crafty servant (of the prophet Elisha) Gehazi

who is punished with leprosy for his sins Kiplingrsquos poem ldquowas intended to illustrate the

cunning of these Jewish [Marconi] politiciansrdquo (236)

Once America made its foray into World War I ldquoJews were seen as participants

in international conspiracyrdquo (240) Americans thought that the Jews might be part of the

Russian Revolution In the literary world ldquoa number of writers commented on the evil

influence of Jewryrdquo (241) Hemingwayrsquos one-time-friend and literary mentor F Scott

Fitzgerald was one such example In fact Fitzgerald negatively portrayed New York

Jewish merchants in his novel The Beautiful and the Damned

Down in a tall busy street he read a dozen Jewish names on a line of stores In

the door of each stood a dark little man [Jew] watching the passersby with intent

eyes eyes gleaming with suspicion with pride with clarity with cupidity with

comprehension New Yorkmdashhe could not dissociate it now from the slow

upward creep of this people The little stores growing expanding consolidating

15

moving watched over with hawkrsquos eyes and a beersquos attention to detail (qtd in

Cohn-Sherbok 241)

This anti-Semitic view of Jews could have influenced Hemingway whether he read the

book or if Fitzgerald made his anti-Semitic views known to Hemingway The same

could be said of Ezra Pound Ezra Pound was a big anti-Semite and one of Hemingwayrsquos

friends It could be questioned if Ezra Pound influenced Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

In July of 1943 Pound was indicted for treason due to his anti-Semitic pro-Fascist radio

broadcasts from Italy (Dearborn 491) Poundrsquos radio broadcasts ldquowere shocking even

vilemdashhe recommended The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf he spoke of

the lsquo60 kikes who started this warrsquo and asserted lsquoThe Jew is a savagersquordquo (491) Later

due to Hemingwayrsquos suggestion Pound pleaded insanity and spent several years in an

Institution Hemingwayrsquos one-time friend Donald Ogden Stewart who was present for

the Pamplona bull fights in 1925 ldquotook the blame for having been the probable inspiration

for Bill Gortonrsquos [a character in The Sun Also Rises] anti-Semitic remarks and

exclamationsrdquo (Blume 123) Stewart wrote that ldquoI have no doubt that I was really

basically anti-Semitic in those days as probably also was Hemingwayrdquo (123) Lesley

Blume stresses that Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism ldquowas not a deep-rooted hatred like

the variety that gave rise to Nazismrdquo (123) Stewart referred to Hemingwayrsquos anti-

Semitism as ldquoa form of social snobbishness something that people simply took for

granted [during that time]rdquo (Blume 123) One would think that after the Holocaust

Hemingway would cease his anti-Semitic comments but he still continued In

16

Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century ldquoAmerican literature repeatedly described Jews in the

most unsavoury (sic) termsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 249)

The French also saw the Jews as having played a part in the Russian Revolution

(241) In France where Hemingway lived part of his literary life Alphonse Toussenel

wrote ldquoThe Jews King of the Epoch [in which] he blamed the Jews for the ills afflicting

societyrdquo (248) In France ldquoAccording to Edouard-Adolphe Drumont in La France Juive

the [French] Revolution had benefited only the Jewsrdquo (248) Edouard-Adolphe Drumont

caricatured the Jews as being hook-nosed possessing ldquohuge ears soft hands and arms of

unequal lengthrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 248) In France the Dreyfus Affair of the

nineteenth century had ratcheted up the prominence and appeal of French anti-Semitism

Yet the logical consequence of anti-Semitism took place years later during World War II

when Hitler instituted the Holocaust Of course Hemingway knew of this deadly result

of anti-Semitism but it is unknown how much it changed his view of Jews as later he

did show some more anti-Semitic behavior Perhaps old habits die hard

Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in His Novels

Unfortunately Hemingway was an anti-Semite To what degree is unknown

Some say that Hemingway was mildly or casually anti-Semitic (Hendrickson 32)

However in fits of anger Hemingway would hurl anti-Semitic slurs at those he knew to

be Jews Yet ironically ldquoHemingway knew admired and imitated Jewsrdquo like his friend

and literary mentor Gertrude Stein (Berman 39) Hemingway was also friends with

Harold Loeb a Jewish man (Dearborn 192) Hemingway and Loeb had played tennis

17

boxed and wrestled together In The Sun Also Rises the character of Robert Cohn is

based upon Harold Loeb Hemingway once had good things to say of Loeb On March

4 1925 Hemingway wrote to William B Smith of Loeb ldquoA hell of a good guy

Loeb is a male you can wrestle wit He aint been throwed since he learned in Princeton-

only weighs 150 about Heavy weights cant throw him Hersquos never wrestled pros or of

course hersquos have got throwed Still he aint been throwed I tried to throw him and he

throwed me in no timerdquo (sic throughout Hemingway in Katakis 28) In The Sun Also

Rises the Loeb Robert Cohn character is also Jake Barnesrsquo tennis partner (13) Despite

all his anti-Semitism later Hemingway married the half-Jewish reporter and writer

Martha Gellhorn as his third wife (Stoneback 136) Unfortunately it is exactly unknown

why Hemingway was anti-Semitic It would seem that the times in which he lived played

a role

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway has a stereo-typical Jewish character Robert

Cohn that he portrays as a proud rich weak self-pitying self-doubting awkward

sniveling whining misbehaving mannerless undesirable unremarkable and

dysfunctional killjoy who is an outsider and a drag on everyonersquos spirits Cohn is

supposed to represent all Jews (Berman 39) In fact Hemingway goes so far as to write

that Jews are inferior Hemingway writes of Cohn ldquoHe cared nothing for boxing in fact

he disliked it but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of

inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princetonrdquo (Sun 11) Loeb

had also gone to Princeton

18

Hemingway based almost the entire book of The Sun Also Rises on a real life

event that happened when Loeb Lady Duff Twysden and Pat Guthrie (Lady Duffrsquos

cousin and boyfriend) joined him Hemingwayrsquos first wife Hadley Richardson Don

Stewart and Bill Smith in Pamplona for the Festival of San Fermiacuten in July of 1925

(Dearborn 188) In the novel this group goes to Pamplona to have fun They join in the

Spanish Festival of San Fermiacuten where they drink excessively party and watch

professional bullfights All this time the Harold Loeb character Robert Cohn follows

his former lover Lady Brett Ashely around like a lap-dog and from the perspective of

the other festival-goers makes everyone else miserable

Hemingwayrsquos publication of this event into fiction hurt many of the real-life

players in the memorable drama The real Lady Brett Ashley Lady Duff Twysden later

referred to the book as nothing more than ldquocheap reportingrdquo (qtd in Blume 206) Former

Hemingway friend Donald Ogden Stewart felt the same way In his 1975 memoir By a

Stroke of Luck Stewart still refused to give The Sun Also Rises ldquothe artistic stature that

others accorded itrdquo (Blume 230) Stewartrsquos son recalls that his dad would say ldquoThatrsquos

exactly what happened it was like a photographrdquo (qtd in Blume 230) So for Stewart

the novel was just a retelling of events it is did not utilize artistic narrative originality

Just as Robert Cohn had had an affair with Lady Brett Ashley so Loeb had had an

intimate relationship with Lady Duff Twysden Scholars are unsure as to whether

Hemingway had any serious relationship with Lady Duff however he was jealous He

liked her In his reasoning he had met Lady Duff first (Dearborn 188) ldquoEven though

[Hemingway] had no plans to sleep with Duff himself that didnrsquot mean according to his

19

logic that she was fair game for Harold [Loeb]rdquo (188) Hemingway was protective of

Lady Duff and Hemingway saw Loeb as a snake (189) Perhaps Loebrsquos success with

Lady Duff finally pushed Hemingway against him

Mary V Dearborn notes that Hemingway was also jealous that Loebrsquos book

Doodab was coming out before his ownmdashLoebrsquos in May Hemingwayrsquos in October

(191) Hemingway was very competitive in his writing career In fact before

Hemingway made it as a fiction writer Harold Loeb had gone so far as to help

Hemingway get his first book of short stories In Our Time published (204) It is noted

that ldquoHarold [Loeb] rescued In Our Time from the returns pile at [Boni amp] Liveright [the

publishing company] he fought for the book and he was instrumental in getting it

publishedrdquo (192) Loeb had pleaded with Boni amp Liveright ldquoHold it Give it [In Our

Time] another reading I know what Irsquom talking aboutrdquo (Hawkins 39) In fact if it

were not for the persistence of his well-connected friends Hemingway may have quite

possibly never been published at all since his manuscripts had been repeatedly rejected

Unfortunately Hemingway did not like to give credit to others for helping him to rise in

his profession He wanted to take all the credit and the glory for himself He wanted to

be self-sufficient In addition having not gone to college Hemingway was leery of

college-educated men He felt inferior to them and he would try to compete with them in

order to make himself look and feel better Since Harold Loeb was a Princeton graduate

Hemingway was possibly disdainful of this and in all likelihood held it against Loeb

In trying to get In Our Time published Loeb took Hemingway to former Boni amp

Liveright vice president Leon Fleischmanrsquos Paris apartment (Blume 71) Previously

20

ldquoKitty Cannell [the Frances character in Sun] heard him [Hemingway] unthinkably use

lsquokikersquo with such casualness and scorn that she warned her Jewish lover Harold Loeb to

be careful with Hemingwayrdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 242) Kitty Cannell worried

that Hemingway ldquomight create a terrible scene in front of Fleischman and his wife

Helen She said as much to Loeb He brushed her offrdquo (Blume 71) After this meeting

with Fleischman Harold Loeb heard Hemingway malign Jews in his speech

Hemingway had a way of maligning making fun of and satirizing his friends and his

perceived enemies In the process he lost many friends and unnecessarily caused the

creation of many enemies In fact the release of The Sun Also Rises shocked Loeb as he

had thought that he and Hemingway were good friends (Dearborn 191-92)

Hemingway also turned on his former Jewish mentor Gertrude Stein

Hemingway got mad at Stein when she would not write a review for his new book In

Our Time Stein wanted to wait and see if Hemingway was going to be a success first

On November 8 1925 Hemingway commented to Ezra Pound of Stein ldquoWhat a lot of

safe playing kikesrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 38) Later in life after they broke with each

other Hemingway and Stein would arguemdashthrough writingmdashand trade barbs with one

another Hemingway would mock Stein In his article for Esquire in the April 1934

issue ldquoAD in Africa A Tanganyika Letterrdquo Hemingway wonders ldquohow much Buddha

at that age would resemble Gertrude Steinrdquo (Hemingway in White 159)

Hemingway was also against the troubled literary critic Dorothy Parker

(Dearborn 247) The half-Jewess Dorothy Parker was tough in her literary criticism yet

she gave Hemingway great reviews She adored Hemingway but Hemingway didnrsquot

21

return the feelings (Blume 155) Parker and Hemingway had met in New York In

Hemingway Parker thought that she had found a kindred spirit (156) During

Hemingwayrsquos New York visit Parker ldquobecame so engrossed in his tales of the Left Bank

that she shunted aside her skepticism and decided on the spot to move abroadrdquo (156)

Parker became for Hemingway a strong ally among literary critics Blume notes of

Parker ldquoIn years to come she would also pen several adoring Hemingway profiles and

book reviewsrdquo (156) Hemingway and Parker became so familiar that eventually

Hemingway started calling Parker ldquoDottyrdquo (156) Parker was so taken with Hemingway

that her ldquodevotion to him bordered on idolatryrdquo (158) But Parkerrsquos love for Hemingway

was a useful tool in Hemingwayrsquos arsenal

Unfortunately Parker was probably not stable She had tried to kill herself twice

within three years She confided in Hemingway ldquoabout a late-stage abortion she had

recently undergone about attempting suicide and about some other recent bad luck in

her liferdquo (qtd in Dearborn 247) During their conversation Hemingway discovered that

Parker did not like Spain For Parker ldquoPretty much everything about the countrymdashfrom

its treatment of animals to the rump-pinching habits of Spanish menmdashhad appalled herrdquo

(Blume 193) Moreover ldquoIn Barcelona she had walked out of a bullfight after a bull

gored a horse and declared that she found matadors disgustingrdquo (193) Back in Paris with

Hemingway ldquoParker had imparted these impressions to Hemingway for whom such

views amounted to sacrilegerdquo (193) Hemingway was offended by this and like other

things Hemingway took this personally to heart as he was an ardent Hispanophile loving

the Spanish country its people the slow pace of life and its culture (Dearborn 247)

22

Finally Hemingway ldquohad little sympathy for the self-inflicted wounds of a caustic and

comparatively pampered urbaniterdquo (Blume 194)

Later ldquoErnest wrote a long cruel poem about Parker not published until both

were dead called lsquoTo a Tragic Poetessrsquo revealing the personal details she had evidently

related during their most recent meetingrdquo (Dearborn 247-48) In the poem Hemingway

ldquoreferred to the dead fetus noted that she had all too conveniently failed in her suicide

attempts and mocked her failures with men He was pointedly mean about her being

Jewish referring to lsquothe Jewish cheeks of your plump assrsquordquo (248) The second half of

Hemingwayrsquos poem ldquoconsists of insults piled on Parker and others who out of ignorance

about it do not appreciate Spain (inevitably bullfighting comes up)rdquo (248) Pauline

Pfeiffer didnrsquot like this poem and referred to it as ldquoabout twelve tents [tenths] out of water

mayberdquo (Hawkins 59) Pauline thought the poem shrill In 1926 at the home of Archie

and Ada McLeish Ernest read this poem ldquoTo a Tragic Poetessrdquo to the assembled

gathering to try to get some laughs (Dearborn 248) No laughs came Donald Ogden

Stewart called the poem ldquoviciously unfair and unfunnyrdquo (qtd in Blume 194) Because of

the reading of the poem the Stewarts kept their distance from Hemingway from there on

out and Don Stewart was never close to Hemingway again (Dearborn 248) Ironically

since the poem was never published until after Parkerrsquos death ldquoParker never learned

about the existence of the poem [and] unaware of its existence she continued to write

wildly enthusiastic reviews of Hemingwayrsquos work in The New Yorker and called him one

of her favorite writersrdquo (Blume 194) Parker also called Hemingway ldquothe greatest living

American short story writerrdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 164)

23

There is also other evidence of Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism In his early years at

Lake Walloon the Point where the young people always liked to fish was sold ldquoto two

Jews who wanted to build a club houserdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 114) Bill

Smith later recalled that he and Ernest had planned to throw rotten fish down the Jewsrsquo

chimney at the lake (M Reynolds Paris Years 252) In the mid-1920s Hemingway

wrote Ezra Pound calling the aspiring poet Dave OrsquoNeil a ldquorsquoCelto-Kikersquordquo (Dearborn

134) Hemingway also wrote of his friend Nathan Asch ldquoYou couldnrsquot tell [of Asch

being a talented writer] Jews go bad quicklyrdquo (163) Later in Key West Hemingway

referred to the town as a ldquoJew administered phony of a townrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 154)

At the time that Hemingway wrote this Key West was for all intents and purposes

bankrupt ldquounable to collect enough taxes to pay its billsrdquo (N Reynolds 7) Under the

New Deal the town of Key West had ldquopetitioned the governor to take over the cityrdquo

(Hendrickson 154) As such ldquoThe Florida branch of Franklin Delano Rooseveltrsquos

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) stepped in and took overrdquo (N

Reynolds 7) Plus under the New Deal the plan was to turn Key West into a tourist

destination making Hemingwayrsquos home on Whitehead Street one of the attractions (8)

This would interfere with Hemingwayrsquos deeply coveted privacy (8) Moreover

Hemingway was disillusioned with the government after some World War I veterans

were killed during a hurricane that hit some of the Florida Keys

Later In Cuba in May 1955 The Old Man and the Sea film version of the novel

was to be filmed Hemingwayrsquos Jewish friend Peter Viertel who was writing the

screenplay joked with Hemingway in order to try to break up the tension between Ernest

24

and the film producer kidding ldquoabout Santiago going out on the eighty-fifth day and not

catching a fishrdquo (Dearborn 573) This made Hemingway mad Narrowing his eyes and

gritting his teeth he said ldquoThe Jews have always had a superior attitude toward fishingmdash

probably because fish has never been part of their dietrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573) This

Jewish comment in turn made Viertel mad and he said that ldquohe thought Ernest had

gotten beyond his anti-Semitism with The Sun Also Risesrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573)

Hemingway felt contrite that he had lashed out against his friend Viertel and he

ldquoassured Peter he had never been anti-Semitic and matters were smoothed overrdquo (573-

74)

Some Jews have the last name Stein Especially in his youth Hemingway like to

refer to himself as Hemingstein or Stein According to Dearborn Hemingway was

referring to a stein of beer in this case (39) Other nicknames he used were Hymenstein

or the Great Steinway (Hendrickson 266) Catherine Reef thinks that these nicknames

sound Jewish She writes

The last one [nickname] amused him [Ernest] most because it sounded like a

Jewish name Like many young people in narrow-minded Oak Park Ernest grew

up thinking it was all right to make fun of people of different faiths and

backgrounds and he never fully let go of this attitude As an adult he

occasionally called himself Hemingstein or just Stein and although he had

Jewish friends he sometimes mocked them behind their backs (14)

25

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway refers to himself as the great psychiatrist Dr

Hemingstein (53) In real life Hemingwayrsquos son Gregory ldquoGigirdquo for short was known

as the Irish Jew (Hendrickson 245)

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway gives Cohn boxing as his only strength

ldquoThere was a certain inner comfort in knowing he could knock down anybody who was

snooty to himrdquo (11) Because of boxing Hemingway goes so far as to portray Cohn with

the stereotypical Jewish nose In the novel Cohn gets his nose broken during a boxing

bout The narrator Jake Barnes says of Cohnrsquos reworked nose ldquoit certainly improved

his noserdquo (11) Ironically Hemingway threatened a similar situation later in his life In

Spain at the Hotel Florida after a serious shelling during the Spanish Civil War some of

the guests including the movie producer Herb Klein wanted to switch their rooms to the

safer rooms in the back of the hotel At this point in his life Hemingway would hold

people to a higher standard of bravery than his own (Dearborn 387) So Hemingway

intimidated and bullied those Hotel Florida guests into keeping their rooms in lieu of

switching them saying they ldquowould be running away from the enemy capitulating to the

Fascistsrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 387) However in fact Hemingway had his own room in one

of the safer back parts of the hotel Then ldquoaccording to one observer he rode up with

[Herb] Klein in the elevator called him a coward and lsquojostledrsquo him saying lsquoIrsquod like to

flatten your big Jewish nosersquordquo (388)

In The Sun Also Rises nobody wants to be around Cohn He is trying to be an all-

round guy and a Protestant gentleman (Berman 44) However Ron Berman refers to him

as a fake gentleman Melvin Backman argues that Cohn lacks any real identity (4)

26

Although Cohn tries to assimilate and be chivalrous nobody accepts his behavior as

authentic Hemingway portrays Cohn as still ldquotoo different to acceptrdquo (38) Cohn is also

a show-off and he likes to brag For example in winning a ldquoseveral hundred dollarsrdquo in

bridge ldquoIt made him rather vain of his bridge game and he talked several times of how a

man could always make a living at bridge if he were ever forced tordquo (17) In another

instance Cohn likes to brag about his relationship with Brett ldquoHe was being confidential

now and it was giving him pleasure to be able to talk with the understanding that I knew

there was something between him and Brettrdquo (106) Moreover Cohnrsquos believed and

perceived superiority is offensive to Jakersquos friend Bill Gorton One time Bill Gorton

says of the approaching Cohn ldquoWell let him not get superior and Jewishrdquo (Sun 102)

This perceived superiority makes Jake extremely dislike Cohn

Why I felt that impulse to devil him I do not know Of course I do know I was

blind unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to him The fact that I took it

as a matter of course did not alter that any I certainly did hate him I do not

think I ever really hated him until he had that little spell of superiority at lunchmdash

that and when he went through all that barbering (105)

According to Dearborn the character of Bill Gorton is a combination of Bill

Smith and Don Ogden Stewart In the novel Bill really doesnrsquot like Jews Bill says of

his Jewish friends adding of Cohn ldquoOh yes Irsquove got some darbs But not alongside of

this Robert Cohn But hersquos just so awfulrdquo (107) Bill is blatantly anti-Semitic He

asks Jake of Brett and Cohn ldquoWhy didnrsquot she go off with some of her own peoplerdquo

(107) Mike adds to this criticism later when he comments ldquoBrettrsquos gone off with men

27

But they werenrsquot ever Jews and they didnrsquot come and hang around afterwardrdquo (148) Bill

Gorton makes a number of anti-Semitic slurs Before their fishing trip Bill says to Jake

ldquoAnd as for this Robert Cohn he makes me sick and he can go to hell and Irsquom damn

glad hersquos staying here so we wonrsquot have him fishing with usrdquo to which Jake agrees (108)

In another case Hemingway likens Cohn to an animal a steer Cohn likes to tag-

along with Brett (141) After a bull fight Cohn says ldquoItrsquos no life being a steerrdquo (145)

Mike sarcastically replies ldquoDonrsquot you think so I would have thought yoursquod loved

being a steer Robertrdquo (146) Being likened to a steer makes Cohn mad Mike partially

drunk says ldquoIs Robert Cohn going to follow Brett around like a steer all the timerdquo

(146) These demeaning remarks imply that Jews are sub-human

At one point Mike intimates that Cohnrsquos Jewishness disqualifies him from being

a part of the group ldquoDo you think you amount to something Cohn Do you think you

belong here among usrdquo (181) Mike says to Cohn ldquoIrsquom not one of your literary chaps

Irsquom not clever But I do know when Irsquom not wanted Why donrsquot you see when

yoursquore not wanted Cohn Go away Go away for Godrsquos sake Take that sad Jewish

face away Donrsquot you think Irsquom rightrdquo (181) In another instance when Cohn tells Brett

that he will stay with her Brett replies ldquoOh donrsquot For Godrsquos sake go off

somewhererdquo (184) Cohn is portrayed as leech-like a clinger similar to Jews accused of

usury bleeding people dry With the eternal theme of Jewish suffering Brett says of

Cohn ldquoI hate him too I hate his damned sufferingrdquo (186)

In his short story ldquoGod Rest You Merry Gentlemenrdquo published in 1933

Hemingway takes a less anti-Semitic approach to Jews In this story there are two

28

doctors Dr Wilcox and Dr Fischer Dr Wilcox is Christian while Dr Fischer is Jewish

A sixteen-year-old boy comes into the hospital and says that he wants to be castrated

because he is struggling with lust The boy is religious and to him lust is a problem Dr

Fischer is compassionate with the boy and genuinely seems interested in his predicament

Dr Fischer converses with the boy and finally tells him ldquoTherersquos nothing wrong with

you Thatrsquos the way yoursquore supposed to be Therersquos nothing wrong with thatrdquo (Short

Stories 299) The boy still sees himself as sinning Dr Fischer tells the boy that what he

is going through is natural and that later he will think himself fortunate (300) The boy

is adamant that he is wrong He doesnrsquot want to listen to Dr Fischerrsquos explanations

Logically Dr Fischer explains to the boy that there is nothing wrong with his body that

he has a good body and that if he is religious then in the future his body can help him

consummate the sacrament of matrimony (300)

Dr Wilcox takes a different approach He calls the boy a fool (300) Then the

boy leaves when he finds out that nobody will castrate him Dr Wilcox rudely says to

the boy ldquoOh go andmdashrdquo (300) Horst Kruse interprets the absence as meaning ldquojack-

offrdquo (62) The boy leaves and later he does try to castrate himself amputating himself

in the process When the boy returns to the hospital with life-threatening injuries Dr

Wilcox ironically isnrsquot in a hurry to try to save the boy as he doesnrsquot see the condition as

an emergency In the story it is Dr Fischer who has shown mercy on the boy not Dr

Wilcox Kruse sees Doc Fischer as the moral center of the story and suggests that

Hemingwayrsquos portrayal of Dr Fischerrsquos knowledgeable insight and humanity might be an

attempt to try to ldquoatone for his former anti-Semitismrdquo (72) Kruse argues that Dr Fischer

29

might even be seen as a Christ-figure a fisher of men (65) Other scholars speculate that

this story might have been an attempt for Hemingway to apologize for the way he treated

Harold Loebrsquos alter-ego Robert Cohn (Kruse 73) But this interpretation is problematic

AE Hotchner once asked Hemingway if he had remorse about the way he had portrayed

Loeb and the others in The Sun Also Rises (Blume 237) Hotchner asked Hemingway

ldquoso if you had it to do over would you have been softerrdquo (237) Hemingway replied to

Hotchner ldquoOh hell nordquo (237) Despite this possible attempt at atonement Hemingway

continued to make anti-Semitic statements after this story first came out

30

CHAPTER 3

HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY

Ernest Hemingway was a born on July 21 1899 in Oak Park Illinois then a

Protestant conservative bastion There in his earliest years Hemingwayrsquos maternal

grandfather Ernest Hall led his family and their servants after breakfast on their knees

in morning prayer (Dearborn 11 Hemingway-Sanford 14) Unlike the others

Grandfather Hall did not pray with his eyes closed nor his head bowed (Pawley 22)

Instead he prayed with his head upraised and ldquowith his arms stretched upward as if

locked in a face-to-face with Godrdquo (Dearborn 11) He also prayed in a thundering voice

(Pawley 22) Ernestrsquos older sister Marcelline Hemingway-Sanford noted that she liked

to peak out at Grandfather Hall through her fingers ldquobecause he seemed so surely to be

talking right to his friend Godrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 15) Marcelline suggested that

Grandfather Hall knew God intimately (14) In addition Grandfather Hall led daily

devotions for the household with the book Daily Strength for Daily Needs (Isabelle 2

Hemingway-Sanford 14) Even the cook and the maid were present at these family

gatherings Grandfather Hall also led grace at the table (Isabelle 2) and he would lead

the family in worship (Hemingway-Sanford 15) He was Episcopalian and he liked to be

referred to in the biblical term ldquoAbbardquo which refers to God as in ldquoAbba fatherrdquo (Isabelle

2 Mark 1436) Marcelline referred to Grandfather Hall as being a very religious man

(Hemingway-Sanford 14) Every Sunday he would go to Grace Episcopal Church

where kneeling on the Brussels carpet he would lead the church in evening prayer

31

(Pawley 21) He once said of his grandson Ernest to his mother Grace ldquothis boy is

going to be heard from someday If he uses his imagination for good purposes hersquoll be

famous but if he starts the wrong way with all his energy hersquoll end in jail and its up to

you which way he goesrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 12)

Ernestrsquos paternal grandfather Anson Hemingway converted to Christianity in

1859 (Dearborn 13) Anson was a descendent of Ralph Hemingway ldquowho came to

America with the Great Migration and through him from a line of Puritan and

Congregationalist ministersrdquo (12) Anson Hemingway was friends with the great

evangelist DL Moody and he closely worked with him (for a while) as the general

secretary at the Chicago YMCA (Dearborn 13 Hemingway-Sanford 18) Ernest idolized

his grandfather Hemingway (Pawley 21) Ernestrsquos mother whom Ernest came to hate

once wrote Ernest ldquoNot for nothing are you the great great grandson of that noble

Christian Rev William Edward Miller and the grandson of the finest purest noblest man

I have ever known Ernest Hallrdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 103-04) In fact

Ernest Miller Hemingway was named after his grandfather and the Miller line of Gracersquos

family Grace wrote to Ernest ldquoYou are born of a race of gentlemen who were clean

mouthed chivalrous to all women grateful and generous You were named for the two

finest and noblest gentleman I have ever known See to it that you do not disgrace their

memoriesrdquo (qtd in M Reynolds Young Hemingway 138) Ernestrsquos family were such

churchgoers that they had their own pews at the First Congregational Church

(Hemingway-Sanford 147)

32

On the flip side Ernestrsquos father was rigid (Pawley 23) In disciplining his

children Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often forced his ldquochildren on their knees to pray

to God for forgivenessrdquo (Isabelle 4) Sometimes Ernest mockingly referred to his father

as ldquothe Great Physicianrdquo a title that Jesus also holds as a healer of people (Hemingway-

Sanford 127) According to a Hemingway biographer (no name given)

Sin scared the life out of Ernest At night he prayed that he had been a good boy

during the day The trouble was a boy could never be sure if he had been good

he might have done something bad and not known it was bad It was so hard to

obey every rule so hard to please his mother his father his teachers his minister

his God so hard that sometimes it wasnrsquot worth trying and a boy felt like giving

up (qtd in Pawley 23)

Ernest grew up then with a great spiritual legacy and upbringing that he found at times

challenging and problematic

On Easter in 1911 at the Third Congregational Church Ernest and his sister

Marcelline were confirmed and they received their First Communionrdquo (Dearborn 33) It

was at this church that Ernestrsquos mother was the choir director she even had Ernestmdasha

sopranomdashand Marcelline sing in the choir (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 108 L

Hemingway 28) In his youth Ernest Hemingway and Marcelline joined a contest put on

by the adult advisor of the Christian Endeavor Society Mr Sweeney to see who could

read the entire King James Bible first (Dearborn 37 Hemingway-Sanford 135) It was

Mr Sweeneyrsquos idea and he offered a prize (Hemingway-Sanford 135) Although Ernest

did not win he and Marcelline did complete the reading of the whole Bible (Dearborn

33

37) In addition Ernest and Marcelline passed a comprehensive test on what they had

read (Pawley 24) Additionally as a youth Ernest was given ldquoan allowance of one penny

per year of age each weekrdquo out of which he gave a tithe to the Sunday school (24) At

the age of fourteen Ernest starred in a Sunday school play at the Third Congregational

Church (24) After his parents transferred their membership to the First Congregational

Church Hemingway and Marcelline joined the Plymouth League where Ernest often led

Sunday afternoon services (Dearborn 33 Isabelle 7-8 Pawley 24 Hemingway-Sanford

147) Marcelline notes that ldquothe refreshments served after the meetings were quite an

attraction for the high school membersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 147) For the Plymouth

League Ernest took turns at being the treasurer the program chairman and sometimes

the speaker at the meetings At church Ernest and Marcelline also played in the church

orchestra Once Ernest and his four brothers and sisters dressed as Chinese and Japanese

citizens in order to phonetically sing the Japanese national anthem (147-48) Yet when

Hemingway went to Italy for World War I he saw and experienced the horrors of war

Perhaps because of this and through his teenage years Hemingway went astray from

his religious upbringing While in Italy Ernest met and fell in love with a nurse Agnes

von Kurowsky He loved her and wanted to start a new life with her in America

Hemingway wrote to William D Horne Jr about this on March 30 1919 ldquoBut Bill Irsquove

loved Ag Shersquos been my ideal and Bill I forgot all about religion and everything else-

because I had Ag to worship All I wanted was Ag and happinessrdquo (Hemingway in

Katakis XXV) This letter shows Hemingway distancing himself from religion in Italy

and replacing it with the woman he loved This is similar to how Catherine Barkley

34

made her lover Frederic Henry her religion in A Farewell to Arms (452) Unfortunately

for his parents Hemingway became a prodigal son and he never returned to the faith of

his youth (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 139)

Despite having turned away from his faith Hemingway could never entirely get

away from his upbringing and Oak Park mores For instance in his first marriage to

Hadley Richardson Hemingway was sometimes shocked by Hadleyrsquos language In fact

despite the fact that Hemingway used those very same words he didnrsquot think it proper for

a woman to use them (163) Hemingway still prayed ldquowhen he was courting Hadley

[he] asked her if she would pray with him in the Milan cathedral as Agnes would notrdquo

(Stoneback 110-11) Hadley responded that she would ldquoI am doing the best thing a

woman can do for a man Bringing you back to religionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 125-26)

Stoneback asserts that there is abundant evidence that Hemingway ldquoliked to pray in

Catholic churches and cathedrals years before he met Paulinerdquo (113)

Before going to World War I Hemingway worked for the Kansas City Star

While there Hemingwayrsquos mother learned that Ernest ldquohad stopped going to churchrdquo and

she sent off an angry letter to him (Reef 24) In one of his letters to his mother

Hemingway wrote ldquoYou know I donrsquot rave about religion but am as sincere a Christian

as I can be I believe in God and Jesus Christ have hopes for a hereafter and creeds

donrsquot matterrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) In addition prior to going to the Great War Ernestrsquos

father encouraged Ernest to associate with strong Christian YMCA men (M Reynolds

Young Hemingway 128) In his letters to Ernest Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often

sounded like a minister (171)

35

Upon his return to Oak Park after the war Hemingway wore his war uniform

around for four months and gave talks of his war experience Marcelline Hemingway

says that this was because Ernestrsquos long boots helped support his injured and weakened

legs Yet Hemingway lied and embellished his wartime experience This behavior is

just like that of Harold Krebs in Hemingwayrsquos short story ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

would lie and attribute ldquoto himself things other men had seen done or heard of and

stating as facts certain apocryphal incidents familiar to all soldiersrdquo (Short Stories 111-

12) In an essay in Ernest Hemingway Artifacts from Life Tom Putnam surmises that

Krebs in embellishing his war record to impress those around him ldquogrows more

disillusionedmdashfinding himself becoming a fraudrdquo (Putnam 184) Hemingway may have

disillusioned himself with his lies too In one instance Hemingway once gave a version

of his fictitious war stories in a talk to an audience at the First Baptist Church (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 56) So Hemingway lied in front of a church Proverbs

1222 reads ldquoLying lips are an abomination to the Lord but those who act faithfully are

his delightrdquo (English Standard Version)

Back in Oak Park Hemingway turned to alcohol for his comfort He stayed in

bed day after day and hid the liquor from his parents (Pawley 25) Staying in bed

helped his aching legs But he didnrsquot stay in bed more than half the day (Hemingway-

Sanford 178) According to Marcelline there were also times when Ernest had ldquoalmost

depressed intervals when he retired to his room away from the well-wishers and curiosity

seekersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 183) Hemingway used the alcohol to cope with the pain

of his war wounds (Pawley 25) One day Marcelline was upset about something and

36

when she came to Ernestrsquos room he noticed this and asked her what was wrong

(Hemingway-Sanford 183) Then he offered her a drink She tasted it Then he said to

her

Donrsquot be afraid Drink it up Sis it canrsquot hurt you Therersquos great comfort in

that little bottle not just for itself But it relaxes you when the pain gets bad

Mazaween donrsquot be afraid to taste all the other things in life that arenrsquot here in

Oak Park Taste everything Sis Donrsquot be afraid to try new things just

because they are new (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 184)

Ernest later wrote of an experience of drinking ldquoand the rhum (sic) enters into us like the

Holy Spiritrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 17) God was not Hemingwayrsquos comfort alcohol

was After that night Marcelline wondered to herself whether Ernest would ever be

happy again at home (Hemingway-Sanford 184) She noted a difference in him upon his

return to Oak Park Marcelline writes ldquoBut Ernest wasnrsquot the same old friend and

playmate I had knownrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178) adding that ldquoa lifetime of new

experiences war death agony new people a new language and love had crowded into

Ernestrsquos liferdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178)

After recovering from his wounds Ernest still didnrsquot get a job or show any

interest in college He had no plans at all Instead he went to Michigan to enjoy life with

his friends (Hemingway-Sanford 198) In Michigan according to Marcelline ldquoThough

Mother implored Ernestrsquos help and tried to talk to him about the family situation he

blithely ignored her appeals and managed to leave immediately after meals with his

friends or go fishing when something needed to be done he promised vaguely to help

37

lsquosome other timerdquo (205) His parents were very worried about his ldquolack of adult

responsibilityrdquo and ldquohis rudeness and his willingness to let both Mrs Charles Bill

Smithrsquos aunt and our family go on providing for him [led Mother to decide that]

something drastic had to be done to wake him uprdquo (205) Leicester Hemingway says that

ldquoOur parents had harbored definite hopes that this fling at soldiering had taught him

[Ernest] a lesson that now he would suddenly show a keen interest in some lsquosensiblersquo

way of liferdquo (L Hemingway 56)

The entire situation is similar to that of Harold Krebs in ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

returns from World War I with his Methodist faith shattered (Pawley 25) Krebs is

unemployed but his mother encourages him ldquorsquoGod has some work for everyone to do

There can be no idle hands in His Kingdomrsquordquo (Short Stories 115) Krebsrsquo mother adds

his fatherrsquos opinion ldquoAll work is honorable as he says But yoursquove got to make a start at

somethingrdquo (115) When Krebsrsquo mother asks Harold if he would kneel and pray with her

Krebs says that he canrsquot Krebsrsquo mother encourages him to try then she asks him if he

wants her to pray for him Krebs consents (116)

Of Ernestrsquos free-loading loafing time Leicester Hemingway writes ldquoAbout the

only thing I really understood of that first summer after the war was that Ernest was in an

agitated state and being around the family did not calm him at allrdquo (59) In the end

Ernestrsquos mother wrote Ernest a letter in which she said that Ernest had overdrawn his

account with her and that he was not welcome back at the family vacation home of

Windemere in Michigan (Dearborn 90) This action got Ernest out of the house looking

for a job on his own It also added to his resentment towards his mother In ldquoSoldierrsquos

38

Homerdquo Krebs tells his mother that he doesnrsquot love her Putnam suggests that Krebs has

forgotten how to love (Putnam 184) In Ernestrsquos case it is quite possible that he didnrsquot

love his mother It is known for sure that he didnrsquot like his mother When married to his

fourth wife Mary Welsh Ernest would sometimes rant about his mother blaming her for

making life hell for his father contributing to his fatherrsquos suicide and referring to his

mother as ldquothat bitchrdquo (qtd in Di Robilant 55) Perhaps his motherrsquos ultimatum pushed

him further away from his Protestant upbringing Although Hemingway didnrsquot like his

mother Hawkins argues that he inherited his volatile temper from her as she held grudges

against people Hawkins writes of Grace Hemingway ldquoGrace had a tendency to store up

injustices done to her so that on occasion even the smallest thing triggered a litany of

perceived wrongsrdquo (34) In addition to his motherrsquos ultimatum Ernestrsquos parents didnrsquot

seem to accept writing as a viable career for Ernest (M Reynolds My Brother 63) No

matter like Harold Krebs Hemingway did abandon his childhood faith after World War

I

Hemingway became interested in Catholicism during his service in Italy during

World War I There he served in the Red Cross Ambulance Corps of Unit 4 as driver for

the Italian Army (Hemingway-Sanford 157) After a few days in Italy Ernest and Bill

Horne found the place dull So hearing of the chance to volunteer ldquofor a special branch

the Red Cross Rolling Canteen Servicerdquo they applied and were accepted (160) This

Service operated all the way up to front linesmdashwhich was right where Hemingway

wanted to be in the midst of the action He ldquohad volunteered to be one of the bicycle

riders who distributed mail chocolate and tobacco to the soldiers in the trenches at the

39

frontrdquo (160) At that time the attack on the Piave River had started and the Austrians

were shelling around only fifty yards away on the other side of the river There making

his rounds in Fossalta Hemingway was wounded by an Austrian Trench Mortar as he

handed an Italian soldier a cigarette and chocolate (161) People thought that

Hemingway was going to die During this time Hemingway later claimed that he was

baptized by a priest ldquoAt Fornaci Ernest and the other wounded soldiers were

administered extreme unction by a chaplain with the Italian army Don Giuseppe

Bianchirdquo (Dearborn 59-60)

Michael Reynolds claims that the priestrsquos absolution of sins and anointment of oil

was an epiphanic moment for Hemingway (M Reynolds The Paris Years 346)

However it is unknown if Hemingway was really absolved of his sins by a Catholic

priest HR Stoneback notes that battlefield baptism and extreme unction did not

produce a ldquoformal process of reconciliation or conversionrdquo (109) On March 10 1927

Hemingway divorced Hadley Richardson to marry his new flame the Catholic Pauline

Pfeiffer This divorce devastated Hemingwayrsquos parents In fact Leicester Hemingway

overheard his dad say of Ernestrsquos divorce ldquoNo Itrsquos the disgrace Id rather see him in his

graverdquo (L Hemingway 103) Leicester Hemingway recalls that one morning while

digging for worms with Dr Hemingway the doctor says ldquoYou know of course that

your brother has brought great shame on our family by divorcing Hadley dont yourdquo

(103) Dr Hemingway laments the fact that there hadnrsquot been a divorce in the

Hemingway family for seventy years While in the process of trying to marry Pauline

Ernest returned to Italy searching for this priest Don Giuseppe Bianchi in order to

40

ascertain if this priest had actually performed an emergency baptism on him thus making

him Catholic (Dearborn 236) According to Hawkins Ernest found and visited with

Bianchi (71) Hawkins notes that as a rule priests during the First World War did not

ldquohand out baptismal certificates as they moved through hospital wards to anoint the

woundedrdquo (71) Despite the fact that there is ldquono evidence that Ernest returned with a

baptismal certificaterdquo he did swear to it (236) With this baptism he was allowed to

marry Pauline (M Reynolds American Homecoming 121) According to some scholars

death-bed baptism led Hemingway to become interested in Catholicism In addition

some scholars go so far as to say that this event marks the point when Hemingway started

to be Catholic Perhaps Ernestrsquos near-death experience infused a seed of Catholicism in

his heart

Michael Reynolds notes that ldquowhen an eighteen-year-old kid thinks hes dying a

Catholic priest can make a lasting impressionrdquo (The Paris Years 346) Reynolds claims

that long before Pauline the ceremony the ritual and the mystery of the Catholic Church

were a strong attraction to Hemingway Even if Pauline had not entered his life

Hemingway would have eventually turned Catholic Pauline simply accelerated this

process Later some found Hemingwayrsquos Catholic conversion to be suspect specious

and very convenient (345-46) Yet ldquonone of these doubters seriously thought of

Hemingway as a Protestant and he himself never looked back on his Congregational

training which he associated with Oak Park hypocrisy his fatherrsquos unbearable piety and

his motherrsquos church politics of who would rule the choir loftrdquo (346)

41

Hemingwayrsquos second wife Pauline Pfeiffer converted him to Catholicism In

fact Pfeiffer was such a serious Catholic that she caused Hemingway ldquo to take seriously

doctrine especially of sin and observance especially of prayerrdquo (Berman 33) Before

their marriage Pfeiffer had misgivings about marrying a married man and cutting him off

from his wife and child (Dearborn 229) For Pauline ldquoTo do so would be not only to

invite the damnation of her soul but also the unforgiving wrath of her Catholic parentsrdquo

(M Reynolds The Paris Years 318) If Pauline committed adultery she believed that

she would have been ldquosinning so mortally their souls were in jeopardyrdquo (318) Reynolds

wryly observes that ldquo[o]ne could not remain a devout Catholic and an ardent adulteressrdquo

(318)

For his part Ernest considered ldquoconverting to Catholicism in order to marry

Pauline in the Churchrdquo (Dearborn 221) Dearborn adds ldquoNo doubt Pauline was

researching the Churchrsquos requirements for marriage to a divorced manrdquo (221) In order to

marry Pauline Hemingway had to provide proof that his first marriage to Hadley was

outside the Church and so unofficial null and void (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 114) So since Hemingway ldquotestified that he had been baptized during the

war in Italy and that his first marriage was outside the Church [he] received on April

25 the necessary dispensation from the Archbishop of Paris which removed the last

obstacle to the ceremonyrdquo (121) Yet Hemingwayrsquos friend Ada MacLeish did not

attend Ernestrsquos and Paulinersquos wedding because she was disgusted by the Catholic

Churchrsquos solemnization of the new couplersquos bond and thought it a farce (Dearborn 237)

Ada

42

was completely disgusted with Ernestrsquos efforts to persuade the Catholic Church

that he had been baptized by a priest who walked between aisles of wounded men

in an Italian hospitalmdashtherefore Ernest was a Catholic and Hadley never had been

his wife and Bumby was a bastard To see this farce solemnized by the Catholic

Church was more than we [Archie and Ada] could take (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 124)

In his quest to marry Pauline Hemingway openly and formally embraced

Catholicism Hemingway wrote to Ernest Walsh about his rediscovered Catholicity

If I am anything I am a Catholic Had extreme unction administered to me as such

in July 1918 and recovered So guess I am a super-catholic It is most

certainly the most comfortable religion for anyone soldiering Am not what is

called a ldquogoodrdquo catholic But cannot imagine taking any other religion

seriously (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 345)

It is unknown whether Ernest ever mailed this letter

Ruth A Hawkins suggests that Hemingway ardently became a true Catholic

believer after he was cured of his temporary sexual problems after his marriage to

Pauline Hemingway told AE Hotchner that he and Pauline had had a good sex life

during their affair yet after they got married Hemingway experienced problems with

impotence (Hawkins 86) To try to alleviate this problem Hemingway saw doctors and a

mystic Nothing worked Pauline was patient and understanding Ernest was

discouraged so she encouraged him to go to the church a few blocks away and pray

Ernest recounts ldquoI went there and said a short prayer Then I went back to our room

43

Pauline was in bed waiting I undressed and got in bed and we made love like we

invented it We never had any trouble again Thatrsquos when I became a Catholicrdquo (qtd in

Hawkins 86)

Throughout his literary career Hemingway writes a number of stories involving

Catholics His short story ldquoThe Wine of Wyomingrdquo is about a French Catholic

bootlegging couple and is based upon a real-life Catholic couple that he met in Sheridan

Wyoming (Dearborn 263) Hemingway also writes about Catholicism in The Sun Also

Rises However Hemingway doesnrsquot write so much about Catholicism but rather of

Catholics themselves in their day-to-day lives (Hertzel 78) In The Sun Also Rises Jake

Barnes is nominally Catholic He basically lives the way that he wants to prays and

goes to church occasionally This is kind of like Hemingway who although not a

nominal Catholic lived the way that he wanted to while still claiming to be Catholic and

following some rituals In The Sun Also Rises Jake talks of going to church ldquoa couple of

times once with Brettrdquo (Sun 154) Although Jake prays regularly including for his

friends he also prays for mundane things like the upcoming bullfights and the Festival of

San Fermiacuten ldquoI wondered if there was anything else I might pray for and I thought I

would like to have some money so I prayed that I would make a lot of moneyrdquo (103)

While praying Jake gets distracted and he begins to think about other things ldquoas

all the time I was kneeling with my forehead on the wood in front of me and was

thinking of myself as praying I was a little ashamed and regretted that I was such a rotten

Catholicrdquo (103) Of his bad example as a Catholic Jake realizes that ldquothere was nothing I

could do about it at least for a while and maybe never but that anyway it was a grand

44

religion and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next timerdquo (103) One

critic asserts that The Sun Also Rises ldquois a novel about spiritual bankruptcyrdquo (Djos) Jake

is spiritually bankrupt but he tries to go about things in another way He drinks in order

escape the pain of the war and his impotency So alcohol might be said to be Jakersquos

primary spiritual comfort like it was a comfort for Hemingway Carlos Baker

categorizes The Sun Also Rises as a tale of Wastelanders (Berman 44) Moreover Jake

once thinks ldquoTo hell with people The Catholic Church had an awfully good way of

handling all thatrdquo (Sun 39) Jake believes that the Catholic Church has a good way of

sending people to hell purgatory or heaven to whatever fate the individual deserves

In addition Catholicism is referenced in Hemingwayrsquos A Farewell to Arms with

its protagonist Frederic Henry Unlike the nominally Catholic Jake Barnes Frederic has

no religion whatsoever (Farewell 279) However there is a priest in Fredericrsquos Italian

army unit that Frederic likes a lot Yet Frederic thinks the priest dull (33) According to

Frederic he and the priest share many of the same tastes yet there is a difference

between them (12) Frederic is a man of the world who does not believe in religion per

se and he loves women The priest is a man of God he loves God above all he doesnrsquot

pursue women When Frederic is recovering from his war wound in the hospital the

priest comes to visit him Frederic tells the priest that he does not love God (62) He

adds that he is ldquoafraid of Him in the night sometimesrdquo (62) Gary Sloan argues that

Fredericrsquos girlfriend Catherine ldquowill be his [Fredericrsquos] religion even as he she says is

hersrdquo (452) Michael Reynolds points out that ldquoCatherine sounded a lot like [Ernestrsquos

second wife] Pauline who had made Ernest her religion risking her soul on the promise

45

of his loverdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 216) This is also the case when

Ernest made his first girlfriend Agnes von Kurowsky his religion over organized

religion

Although Frederic is not religious in desperate times he seems to temporarily

become religious When he first receives his war injury he cries out to God ldquoget me out

of hererdquo (48) When his and Catherine Barkleyrsquos baby dies Frederic thinks of the baby

and thinks that it should have been baptized (279) Faced with the possibility of

Catherine dying Frederic prays ldquoEverything was gone inside of me I did not think I

could not think I knew she was going to die and I prayed that she would not Donrsquot let

her die Oh God please donrsquot let her die Irsquoll do anything for you if you wonrsquot let her

dierdquo (282) Hertzel points out that some of Hemingwayrsquos characters pray frequently

However it is also important to note that the prayers never get answered (79) For

example in Hemingwayrsquos posthumously published Islands in the Stream Thomas

Hudsonrsquos son David makes this comment about prayer ldquoYou canrsquot tell Audrey You

never know when it [prayer] may [do good] I donrsquot mean that Mr Davis needs to be

prayed for I just mean about prayer technicallyrdquo (186) In Frederick Henryrsquos case both

his baby and Catherine die Apparently in Hemingwayrsquos mind there was no

supernatural realm and prayers go nowhere Frederick asks Catherine on her death bed

ldquoDo you want me to get a priest or anyone to come and see yourdquo (Farewell 282)

Catherine just wants Frederic to stay with her Frederic says that his only religious feeling

comes at night (227) So the spiritual connection of sex is a religious experience to

Frederic

46

Hemingway does not present a supernatural dimension to Catholicism (Hertzel

78) In The Sun Also Rises as Jake and Brett leave a chapel in Pamplona he thinks that

ldquo[t]he praying had not been much of a successrdquo (212) Brett also portrays religion as

being uselessmdashat least for her saying ldquoDonrsquot know why I get so nervy in church

Never does me any goodrdquo (212) Brett says that praying never does her any good and

that she has never gotten anything that she prayed for (213) Jake does say that he has

gotten things that he has prayed for Brett replies of prayer ldquoMaybe it works for some

peoplerdquo (213) Jake considers himself ldquopretty religiousrdquo (213) Hemingway himself

prayed but apparently after the Spanish Civil War his view on prayer changed In The

Dangerous Summer he says ldquo[I] never [prayed] for myself during the Spanish Civil

War when I saw the terrible things that happened to other people and I felt that to pray for

oneself was selfish and egotisticalrdquo (142) In a June 19 1945 letter to Thomas Welsh

Hemingway expounded

In first war really scared after wounded and very devout at the end Fear of

death Belief in personal salvation or maybe just preservation through prayers for

intercession of Our Lady and various saints that prayed to with almost tribal faith

Spanish war seemed so selfish to pray for self when such things being done to all

people by people sponsored by Church that never prayed for self But missed

Ghostly comfort This war [Spanish Civil War] got through without praying

once Times a little bad sometimes too But felt that having forfeited any right to

ask for these intercessions would be absolutely crooked to ask for same no matter

how scared (qtd in Stoneback 128)

47

Consequently Hemingway only prayed for others after the Spanish Civil War In The

Dangerous Summer Hemingway writes of praying for others in Spain ldquoI prayed for all

those I had in hock to Fortune for all friends with cancer for all girls living and dead

and that Antonio would have good bulls that afternoonrdquo (69) Yet it is unknown if any

of Hemingwayrsquos prayers were ever answered In fact Hemingway wondered if his

prayers ever got anywhere

In case my prayers were invalid as they well might have been and to make sure

someone competent was doing it I took out a membership in the Jesuit Seminary

Fund Association at New Orleans for Carmen and Antonio [Ordoacutentildeez bullfighter]

There was a class graduating who when they were ordained would pray for them

each day (142)

So Hemingway got others to pray for his friends family and others in case that his

prayers were going nowhere In Hemingwayrsquos works instead of offering a supernatural

element to the Catholic Church he presents the Church as a solely human institution

Hertzel writes that Hemingway treats the Catholic Church as ldquoa colorful institution with

richness tradition ritual and discipline but it provides no convenient miraclesrdquo (78-79)

Consequently Hemingway uses Catholicism as a literary motif to add texture to his

writings (79)

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway seems to make fun of the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit that according to Christians is the method by which the Bible was

written Hemingwayrsquos example is silly Hemingway mockingly describes the writing

process of Waldo Frank the author of Virgin Spain He ldquolay naked in his bed in the night

48

and God sent him things to write how he lsquowas in touch ecstatically with the plunging and

immobile allrdquo (53) Moreover

After God sent it he wrote it The result was that unavoidable mysticism of a

man who writes a language so badly he cannot make a clear statement

complicated by whatever pseudo-scientific jargon is in style at the moment God

sent him some wonderful stuff about Spain during his short stay there

preparatory to writing of the soul of the country but it is often nonsense (53)

Hemingway wrote more generally of the religion of the Lost Generation again

with a touch of mockery

There will be many new salvations brought forward My generation in France for

example in two years sought salvation in first the Catholic Church 2nd DaDaism

third the movies fourth Royalism fifth the Catholic Church again There may be

another and better war But none of it will matter particularly to this generation

because to them the things that are given to people to happen have already

happened (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 327)

In his books Hemingway also seems to make fun of religion in order to try to be

comedic In his ficto-biography True at First Light Hemingway asks the interpreter

ldquoDid you not like the Mission School Remember God is listening He hears your every

wordrdquo (182) Later Hemingway asks GC ldquoAnd will you carry these principles into

Life sonrdquo (204) GC responds ldquoDrink your beer Billy Grahamrdquo (204) Ironically

years later Billy Graham would use Ernest Hemingway as a sermon illustration More

comedy follows in True at First Light when Hemingway talks about a new religion that

49

he created for the Africans He said that his African helpers Ngui and Mthuka and

himself ldquocould decide what was a sin and what was notrdquo (281) Hemingway also talks

about the ldquoHappy Hunting Groundsrdquo as if it were some sort of heaven

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway is comedic through the character of Bill

Gorton Walking down a boulevard with Jake Bill spots a taxidermistrsquos shop and

jokingly tries to get Jake to buy a stuffed dog Jake knows that it is a joke and just tries

to keep Bill moving down the boulevard After Jake promises to get a stuffed dog on the

way back Bill Gorton says ldquoAll right Have it your own way Road to hell paved with

unbought stuffed dogs Not my faultrdquo (78) Hemingway also does this with the priest in

A Farewell to Arms in order to try to infuse comedy into this novel when the captain at

the soldiersrsquo mess keep joking with the priest as the butt of the joke ldquoPriest to-day with

girlsrdquo (7) The captain adds ldquoPriest every night five against onerdquo (7)

On the train to Bayonne Bill Gorton says of some pilgrims on the train with

them ldquoGoddam Puritansrdquo (Sun 91) In the train compartment with Jake and Bill is a man

from Montana with his wife and son The man says to Jake and Bill of getting a meal

while pretending to be pilgrims ldquoThey thought we were snappers all right It

certainly shows you the power of the Catholic Church Itrsquos a pity you boys ainrsquot

Catholics You could get a meal then all rightrdquo (93) Frustrated by the situation Jake

assures him that he is Catholic When Bill Gorton corners a priest returning from a meal

with the pilgrims Bill asks him when the Protestants will get a chance to eat The priest

says that he doesnrsquot know and Gorton replies ldquoItrsquos enough to make a man join the Klanrdquo

(93)

50

After fishing along the Irati River Jake and Bill meet to have lunch After talking

about William Jennings Bryan and which came first the chicken or the egg Bill mocks

religion and the question of whether the chicken or the egg comes first ldquoOh how

should we know We should not question Our stay on earth is not for long Let us

rejoice and believe and give thanksrdquo (126) Holding a drumstick perhaps like a mock

scepter and a bottle of wine Bill tries to be mockingly funny ldquoLet us rejoice in our

blessings Let us utilize the fowls of the air Let us utilize the product of the vine Will

you utilize a little brotherrdquo (126) Handing Jake the bottle Bill says ldquoUtilize a little

brother Let us not doubt brother Let us not pry into the holy mysteries of the

hencoop with simian fingers Let us accept on faithrdquo (127) Then pointing at a

drumstick Bill says ldquoLet me tell you We will say and I for one am proud to saymdashand I

want you to say with me on your knees brother Let no man be ashamed to kneel here in

the great out-of-doors Remember the woods were Godrsquos first templesrdquo (127) They

uncork another bottle Before they take a nap Bill asks Jake if he is really a Catholic

(128) Jake replies that he is technically a Catholic When asked what that means Jake

says that he doesnrsquot know (129) Even though the Eucharist is mocked Jake and Bill are

seemingly reborn as they fish in nature So nature provides a chance at rest and

regeneration

Just like Hemingway in most of his life some of his characters are not religious

although they have religious influences Robert Jordan is one example His father was

religious But his fatherrsquos religion turned Robert off In one instance as a younger man

when Robert is about to leave on a train his father gets emotional and says a prayer over

51

him In response ldquoRobert Jordan had been so embarrassed by all of it [his fatherrsquos

emotionalism] the damp religious sound of the prayer and by his father kissing him

good-by that he had felt suddenly so much older than his father and sorry for him that he

could hardly bear itrdquo (For Whom Bell Tolls 405-406) This would seem similar to

Ernestrsquos leaving home for the first time en route to Kansas City (Hemingway-Sanford

154) In this instance Hemingwayrsquos father bought him the ticket and saw him off (154)

Maybe Dr Hemingway did cry when he saw Ernest off for he really loved his son

While Ernest was in Italy Marcelline notes that her ldquoDad had always loved Ernest

especially dearly and he missed him and prayed for him dailyrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford

160) To compound all this like Hemingwayrsquos father Robertrsquos religious father later

ldquoshot himselfrdquo in a suicide in the same manner as Robert Jordanrsquos father (For Whom Bell

Tolls 66) Robert ldquounderstood his father and he forgave him everything and he pitied him

but he was ashamed of himrdquo (340) Perhaps Hemingway was ashamed of his father after

his fatherrsquos sad suicide This shame and embarrassment of his late father and his

perceived cowardice may have pushed Robert away from religion (338) In addition it is

quite probable that the suicide of Hemingways father additionally pushed him away from

the Protestant tradition of his father as his father had been a deacon and a very upright

and religious man (Reynolds M American Homecoming 211) Yet Daniel Pawley notes

that Hemingway loved his father more than anyone else in the world At one point in For

Whom the Bell Tolls Robert says ldquoI do not believe in ogres nor soothsayers nor in the

supernatural thingsrdquo (250) When Pilar tells Robert that she cares about him Robert tells

52

Pilar that he doesnrsquot want her love He qualifies ldquoNi tu ni Diosrdquo (Neither yours nor

Godrsquos) (387) Robert doesnrsquot want Godrsquos love either

48

CHAPTER 4

HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY

According to Michael Reynolds Hemingway liked all things ancient and

medieval and that included the Catholic Church In fact Hemingway liked visiting

medieval cathedrals among them Chartres He ldquoliked the ritual the mystery the odors of

age and incense He liked its permanence in stonerdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 325)

Hadley Richardson liked to refer to the chivalric Hemingway as her ldquogentil parfit

knightrdquo an allusion to Chaucerrsquos description of the knight in The Canterbury Tales (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 223) and he liked to wear a scapular This scapular has

ldquogot an image of Christ on it suspended from a brown shoestring-like loop At home in

Key West friends have observed him with the scapular and how hersquoll make the sign of

the cross before he goes in swimmingrdquo (Hendrickson 28)

Hemingway would come back to the Bible in his later years in his search for

literary titles Hemingway alludes to Ecclesiastes 14-7 in his title of The Sun Also Rises

The Scriptural passage was used to signify that basically the Lost Generation would

pass away but that the earth would abide forever Moreover Hemingway gave the Bible

credit for teaching him how to write (Blume 213)

In his youth Hemingway idolized his missionary uncle to China Willoughby (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 110) Willoughby had a medical mission there In fact

Ernestrsquos father Dr Clarence Hemingway inspired by his brother had wanted to be a

medical missionary to Guam but his wife had dissuaded him from it (Pawley 24) Dr

49

Hemingway also had an offer for a medical mission in Greenland (L Hemingway 21)

Grace refused to go Ernest Hemingwayrsquos life might have had a much different outcome

if his mother would have supported his father in becoming a medical missionary to Guam

or even Greenland Years later when Hemingway was living in Cuba Hemingwayrsquos

sister Ursala visited and she and Ernest reminisced about their Uncle Willoughby

recalling his visits and together they sang ldquolsquoJesus Loves Mersquo in Chinese until the tears

rolled down their cheeksrdquo (25) Upon the death of his father Ernest returned home to

Oak Park where he openly displayed his new-found Catholic faith Marcelline says that

upon his arrival Ernest ldquotold us that he had had a Mass saidrdquo for their dad (Dearborn 268

M Reynolds American Homecoming 211 Hemingway-Sanford 233) With Dr

Hemingwayrsquos body lying in repose in the music room Ernest now leader of his family

led his family in the Lordrsquos Prayer This echoes back to the time in Ernestrsquos youth when

his Grandfather Hall would lead his family in the Lordrsquos prayer ldquohis eyes directed

heavenwardrdquo (Dearborn 268) However during this time of mourning Ernestrsquos

Catholicism angered some peoplemdashespecially Marcelline

Relying on Catholic teaching Ernest believed that his father had gone to

purgatory since suicide was a mortal sin (M Reynolds American Homecoming 211) In

addition Ernest mentioned that since his family was a Heathen Family ldquoit was

impossible to offer enough prayers to get his [Dr Hemingwayrsquos] soul into heavenrdquo

(Dearborn 268) Marcelline thought that Ernestrsquos idea of praying their father out of

purgatory was disgusting Ernest told his kid brother Leicester Hemingway to ldquopray as

hard as he could for his fatherrsquos soul to be released from purgatoryrdquo as ldquothings go right on

50

from hererdquo (Dearborn 268 My Brother 111) Despite the waves that Ernest made with

his family he showed genuine care concern and distress in his belief that his late father

was in purgatory (Dearborn 268) In this instance Hemingway definitely took Catholic

doctrine seriously

Dearborn paints Ernest Hemingway as a practicing Catholic one who would go to

Mass and fast on Good Friday She suggests that during this trying time Hemingway

turned to his faith in order to anchor himself through his grief She further suggests that

Ernestrsquos claim that his father was in purgatory was a way for him to assert his patriarchal

dominance over the family and to show that he was in charge Marcelline as the eldest

had tried to claim this role but in her struggle with Ernest she had lost (269)

In Chicago a Dominican priest wrote to Hemingway to thank him for saving his

friend Don Stewart in the bull ring at Pamplona (M Reynolds American Homecoming

156) This priest had heard of Hemingwayrsquos conversion to Catholicism within that year

1927 and he urged Hemingway to become a writer for the Dominican cause in order to

defend the Church and its ldquocause of Truthrdquo (156) In response Hemingway wrote

I have been a Catholic for many years although I feel very badly and did not go to

communion for over 8 years However I have gone regularly to mass for the last

two years and absolutely set my house in order within the year However I have

always had more faith than intelligence or knowledge and I have never wanted to

be known as a Catholic writer because I know the importance of setting an

examplemdashand I have never set a good example Also I am a dumb Catholic

and I have so much faith that I hate to examine itmdashbut I am trying to lead a good

51

life and to write well and truly and it is easier to do the first than the second (qtd

in M Reynolds American Homecoming 156)

In a 1940 Valentinersquos Day letter to his editor Maxwell Perkins Hemingway wrote ldquoI am

not a Catholic writer nor a party writer nor even an American writer but just a writer

meant to rise above injusticerdquo (qtd in Isabelle 51)

Despite his Catholicism Hemingwayrsquos faith didnrsquot help him to change into a

better man Although he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not

transform him nor even make him Christ-like Hemingway did not have a salvation

experience Nor was his faith life-altering Stoneback agrees that ldquoHemingway did not

turn to the church for instant deliverancerdquo (Stoneback 122) As a Catholic

Hemingway continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Ernestrsquos

Catholicism did not translate into his personal life Hemingwayrsquos religious life was one

solely of Catholic rituals He did not change his behavior or his vices He did not

overcome his problems Unfortunately in the end Hemingwayrsquos problems overcame

him

Despite his personal shortcomings Hemingway did at times take Catholicism

seriously After one of his African safaris he returned to Paris and saw his friend Ned

Calmer Calmer was a reporter and an aspiring novelist There Hemingway learned that

Calmerrsquos daughter had not been baptized (Hendrickson 44) This was unconscionable to

Hemingway Years later Calmer wrote that ldquoErnest seemed genuinely concerned

The attitude was this will never do He came along to the church of St Sulpice in Paris

52

as sponsor at the ceremonyrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 44) where Calmerrsquos daughter was

baptized

Hemingwayrsquos faith affected him in other ways too During the Spanish Civil

War his Catholicism would give him ldquosympathy with the conservative traditionalist side

in Spain at least in the early days of this unrestrdquo (Dearborn 303) Later Hemingway

would switch his allegiance to the anti-Franco anti-fascist communist-supported side of

the conflict Unfortunately this shift caused many family disputes with his wife Pauline

(Isabelle 25) However it was Hemingwayrsquos belief that politics and religion should not

mix (Stoneback 117) After the Spanish Civil War and in Cuba Hemingway used to

worry that the FBI were Roman Catholics and thus consequently Franco sympathizers

(N Reynolds 127) In fact Hemingway liked to refer to the FBI as ldquolsquoFrancorsquos Bastard

Irishrsquo and lsquoFrancorsquos Iron Cavalryrsquordquo (127) Nicholas Reynolds suggests that Hemingway

was paranoid about the FBI because he had signed on to be a spy with the Russian

Narodny Kommisariat Vnutrennikh Del (Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs)

better known as the NKVD Yet Hemingway never actually did anything for them His

code name was ldquoArgordquo Dearborn notes that ldquo[d]espite his professed Catholicism Ernest

was impatient with religion over philosophizing and what we would call today self-

helprdquo (320) Dorothy Parker makes a different claim about Hemingway ldquoThere is no

more than a thin line of moss to stamp the spot where Robert Benchley and Ernest

Hemingway had that big philosophical discussion about the meaning of liferdquo (qtd in M

Reynolds American Homecoming 106) Philosopher Ralph Withington Church ldquorecalls

his conversations with Hemingway about the lsquoproblem of redemptionrsquo and

53

Malebranchersquos lsquotheory of gracersquordquo (Stoneback 121) Ernest also had his own privately-

held opinions about Catholicism For example Hemingway told one of his daughters-in-

law that unlike the Catholic Churchrsquos teaching that animals donrsquot have souls he believed

that animals did (Dearborn 516) Secondly Ernest seems to have taken on or been

influenced by his motherrsquos mystic spiritualist bent Ernest believed in superstitions and

in some types of psychic phenomena (518)

Later in his life Ernest seems to have some misgivings about Catholicism He

consistently said when Paulinersquos name surfaced that ldquoher Catholic faith had wrecked the

marriagerdquo (Dearborn 406) Pauline had been advised by her doctor not to have any more

children The fear was that Pauline would get pregnant and die from the pregnancy

(Hawkins 141) Since Catholicism only permitted the birth control method of

withdrawal Ernestrsquos pleasure was significantly diminished by this technique and

consequently doomed their marriage Hemingway had also wanted to have a daughter

but this dream was never realized Paulinersquos second son Gregory who became a doctor

contends that all that his father would have had to have done to retain his pleasure would

have been to abstain from intercourse on Paulinersquos fertile days According to Gregrsquos

reasoning this ldquowould have been obvious to lsquoany foolrsquordquo (qtd in Dearborn 406)

According to Leicester Hemingway Ernest wanted nothing to do with the Catholic

church after Pauline and he asked for ldquothe address of an uncle William E Miller who

had written many hymns in the Episcopalian hymnalrdquo (Isabelle 58-59) Moreover Ernest

was concerned about his sons Patrick and Gregory attending a Catholic school Ernest

feared that this school Canterbury was affecting Patrick gradually and insidiously

54

(Dearborn 480) In fact Ernest hated this school and he referred to it as ldquoone of lsquothose

snot schoolsrsquordquo (480)

Paulinersquos and Hemingwayrsquos second son Gregory had a troubled life Over time

he came to like to dress up as a woman In Los Angeles this caught up with him when

he tried to enter the womenrsquos restroom of a theater in drag (Hendrickson 297) Pauline

cabled Hemingway that Gregory was in trouble Hemingway called back Pauline was in

a lot of pain but went to the phone anyway to tell Hemingway about the problem On the

phone Hemingway said ldquoItrsquos all your fault see how yoursquove brought him up yoursquore

corrupt and hersquos corruptrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 297) Hemingway intimated that perhaps

Gregoryrsquos Catholic upbringing had pushed Gregory into transgenderism Gregory had

served as an altar-boy at Saint Mary Star of the Sea (386)

That night Pauline went to bed in tears Unfortunately the heated accusative

argument with Ernest had set Pauline off At the time Pauline had been staying at her

sisterrsquos Virginia residence in Los Angeles In the early morning Virginia and her

friend Laura awakened to what they described as a ldquohorrendous screamrdquo from Paulinersquos

room Pauline was taken to the hospital where her blood pressure skyrocketed dropped

to zero and caused ldquoher to die of shock on the operating tablerdquo (Hawkins 271) Later

Hemingway blamed Paulinersquos death on Gregory Yet Gregory became a doctor and

researched his motherrsquos death more thoroughly Through an autopsy report Gregory

learned that his mother had died of a ldquorare tumor of the adrenal glandrdquo also known as

pheochromocytoma (275) This type of tumor secretes large quantities of adrenaline

causing blood pressure to spikemdasheven to the point where arteries can rupture Pauline

55

had had only an intermittent tumor that would secrete during times of stress Gregory

informed his father of his findings in a letter in the summer of 1960 Gregory wrote that

Hemingwayrsquos argument with Pauline had set Pauline off ldquocausing a blood vessel to

rupturerdquo after which her blood pressure dropped to zero with the resulting shock killing

her on the operating table (275) So Gregory blamed Hemingway for Paulinersquos early

death from shock due to the ruptured blood vessel and the drop of her blood pressure to

zero

In 1947 Hemingwayrsquos son Patrick had a spiritual crisis of his own Due to his

Catholic mother Patrick had been schooled in Catholic schools In 1947 Patrick had

been studying for the College Board exams at Hemingwayrsquos home the Finca in Cuba

However when Gregory had a spring vacation Patrick decided to join him in Key West

In 1945 Pauline had bought herself a sports car (Dearborn 497) In 1947 in Key West

Patrick was newly licensed and Patrick let Gregory drive the sports car Gregory drove

off the road and hit a tree near Casa Marina

In the process Patrick and Gregory seemed to suffer only minor injuries

Gregory ldquoreceived a minor knee injuryrdquo while Patrick ldquosuffered a cut on his chin and

slight headacherdquo (Hawkins 251) Yet Patrick had suffered a severe concussion (Di

Robilant 7) At first the boys didnrsquot seem to have any ill effects from the accident and

they arrived back at the Finca However shortly after his arrival Patrick started acting

strangely (Dearborn 497) At the Finca Patrick asked ldquofor a pot of hot water and some

teardquo (497) When Reneacute Villarreal brought the hot water and tea to the little house

ldquoPatrick complained that the water was dirtyrdquo (497) Then Patrick commenced shouting

56

loudly at the cook Ramoacuten who wasnrsquot even there Next at the main house Ernest

placed Patrick ldquoon a wicker chaise and stroked his headrdquo (497) In Havana the next day

Patrick was able to take the College Board exams but as the day progressed he grew

increasingly agitated So Ernest called for a doctor The doctor ldquosedated Patrick but the

next day he was delirious and soon became violent and it was necessary to restrain himrdquo

(497) Andrea Di Robilant believes that Patrick had a complete breakdown (7) His loss

of normalcy became a terrible ordeal for the Hemingway family in which his future his

sanity and his life hung in the balance (Dearborn 497)

In response Ernest placed Patrick in his own bed at the Finca and slept on a straw

mat in the living room just outside the door of his bedroom taking care of Patrick around

the clock (Dearborn 497-98 Hawkins 251) Ernest did this for the next three months

(Dearborn 498) It was hoped that Patrick would recover and be well within a couple of

weeks Yet it didnrsquot turn out this way Doctors from all over Cuba were called in Dr

Herrera deemed Patrick to be ldquopredementialrdquo a condition either set off from the exams or

by a crisis of his Catholic faith (498) Religion was a big portion of Patrickrsquos delirium

the other subject being putas whores A local priest named Don Andreacutes became one of

Patrickrsquos chief caretakers Surprisingly due to the spiritual nature of Patrickrsquos condition

this priest was unable to enter Patrickrsquos room without being accused of being the devil

incarnate Consequently this priest became known as the Black Priest

Patrick was so delusional that Ernest and his doctors were concerned about being

near Patrick because they were afraid that they would be scratched or bitten Patrick

remained bedridden for weeks and ldquohe moved in and out of consciousnessrdquo (Di Robilant

57

7) However Patrickrsquos condition did not improve he only worsened and became more

violentmdashhaving to be constantly restrained (Dearborn 498) At first the doctors wanted

Ernest to put Patrick in a hospital but Ernest was determined to keep Patrick at home

Patrick was so delirious that he wouldnrsquot eat When Patrick did eat he stuffed the food in

his mouth like a hamster to spit out at his caretakers Patrick even couldnrsquot swallow his

own saliva Considering that Patrick would probably rip out feeding tubes it was

decided to feed him rectally under restraint and under heavy sedation Patrick had not

eaten since his illness had begun five days prior It would take a full hour and a half to

feed Patrick rectally Despite this procedure Patrick dropped to eighty-eight pounds by

the start of August He had become psychotic

Given the limited means and the early days of psychiatric diagnoses in that time

and age it seemed like Patrick was schizophrenic perhaps even needing a lifetime of

institutionalized care (499) In July a new physician suggested that Patrick undergo

shock treatments In those days the only options were lobotomy and electroshock

therapy (499-500) So seeing no other viable option Patrickrsquos parents relented to the

electroshock therapy (500) In the outbuilding of the Finca Patrick received his first

shock treatment After only around ten minutes Patrick was reported as being ldquolucidrdquo

Fortunately Patrickrsquos electroshock therapy brought him back

The Hemingways remembered how the shock treatments had brought Patrick

back from the brink of hopelessness However when electroshock treatments were tried

years later on Ernest himself because of his traumatic brain injuries and compounding

depression they had the opposite effect For Ernest Hemingway electroshock treatments

58

wiped out his memory and he could no longer write take pride in himself and support

himself financially by the only means he knew how The shock treatments pushed

Hemingway further into depression

After his marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer Hemingway had misgivings about his

Catholic faith However HR Stoneback asserts that Hemingway never entirely gave up

his Catholicism and that he continued to go to Mass pray support the church and regard

himself as Catholic (114) Despite all this Hemingway had some bitterness toward the

Catholic Church Yet it still played an influence in his life Lloyd Arnold says of

Hemingwayrsquos last twenty years of life ldquoI did not know Papa as a man without Godrdquo (qtd

in Stoneback 105-06) Even after his marriage to Pauline Hemingway did put some

stock in Catholicism His divorce from Pauline made him excommunicated from the

Catholic Churchmdashhe could not receive communionmdashbut he still did visit Catholic

churches and pray inside During his marriage to Pauline Hemingway had faithfully and

regularly attended Mass Of his post-Pauline years Hemingway friend and biographer

AE Hotchner noted that in 1954 Hemingway on his way to Madrid stopped into the

cathedral at Burgos where he kneeled and prayed (Stoneback 106) According to

Hotchner in 1958 Hemingway paid for a new roof for the Catholic Church in Hailey

Idaho Then he gave an address to that parishrsquos young people admonishing them not to

work on Sunday as it was ldquovery back luckrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106)

Actor Gary Cooper who had played the role of Robert Jordan in the 1943 film

version of For Whom the Bell Tolls converted to Catholicism himself in 1958 In

response Hemingway ldquotalked sympathetically with Gary Cooper aboutrdquo it (Stoneback

59

106) In 1959 Hemingway was pickpocketed in Spain so in response he put an ad in

the newspaper asking the Spanish pickpocket to return his billfold as he cared mostly for

ldquogetting back the ldquoimage of St Christopher in itrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106) Throughout

his lifetime Hemingway named a son after a pope ldquodisplayed great pride in Patrickrsquos

confirmation mastery of the catechism gave money and support to the churchrdquo (110)

Ernest even taught his oldest son Bumby how to pray (L Hemingway 99) When

Hemingway received his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 he gave the medal to the

Virgen of Cobra Shrine in Cuba (Isabelle 52)

In a conversation with his fourth and final wife Mary Welsh Hemingway says to

her ldquoReligion is superstition and I believe in superstitionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 118)

Ernest adds that it is his ldquoTribal heritagerdquo (118) Mary wrote to Stoneback of Ernest that

when they would visit cathedrals in France Italy or Spain Hemingway would light

candles in honor of the memory of his friends Stoneback writes that with Ernest Mary

Hemingway had to live through a Catholic prism With Ernest Mary had to eat fish on

Fridays observe Lent do the Christmas traditions celebrate Ernestrsquos saintrsquos day have

masses and prayers said for family and friends observe holy days and Catholic feasts

drive miles off course to visit and revisit cathedrals and churches and to attend religious

processions (119) Mary Hemingway would later say that Hemingway ldquoadmiredrdquo the

Catholic church and that he ldquothought of himself always as Catholicrdquo (qtd in 119) Mary

Hemingway said of Ernestrsquos friend the Black Priest Don Andreacutes that he and

Hemingway would talk alone and that Ernest regarded him ldquoas his lsquopersonal priest and

confessorrsquo that they prayed together and for each otherrdquo (120) According to Toby

60

Bruce Hemingway and the Black Priest were very good friends they talked quite a lot

and that when Don Andreacutes died in 1955 Hemingway had masses said for him (132)

Mary said of Ernest ldquoWhen he said he was Catholic he meant itrdquo (qtd in 120)

Mary added that Ernest tried very hard at being Catholic Allen Tate said that

Hemingway was ldquovery Catholicrdquo and that his attitude towards sports was ldquorooted in

religious sensibilityrdquo (120) Tate added that it was the ritual of sport that Hemingway

liked RW Church says that Hemingwayrsquos ldquotalk during these late hours at Lips made

evident his conviction that Sport and bull-fighting in particular afforded a major way to

the redemption of manrdquo (135) Stoneback argues that for Hemingway sport is a

redemptive ritual that is central to his life and work (136) The renowned sportsman

George Leonard Herter said that although Hemingway was a strong Catholic

his ldquoreligion came mainly from the Apparitions of the Virgin Maryrdquo (121) Herter said

that Hemingway was almost obsessed with the apparitions and talked about them often

(134) Hemingway thought that they were important Hemingway did not understand

why the Catholic church did not publicize the apparitions Hemingway was amazed that

most brothers nuns and priests were ignorant of the apparitions and seemed to care even

less Herter said that he had heard Hemingway speak of the apparitions including

Lourdes Fatima and others ldquoat one time or anotherrdquo (qtd in 134) Herter says that

Hemingway believed that if there was no Bible ldquono man-made church lawsrdquo then the

apparitions conclusively proved that the Catholic church was the true church (134-35)

Herter adds that ldquoHemingway knew all the apparitions The ones at Pontmain

61

Pellivoisin Allyrod greatly impressed himrdquo (134-35) In addition Hemingway basically

believed that the Virgin Mary was earthrsquos listening post for Jesus and God (135)

Reynolds Price suggested that ldquoHemingwayrsquos lsquolifelong subjectrsquo was

lsquosaintlinessrsquordquo (121) Stoneback asserts a spiritual order to Hemingwayrsquos works in which

Hemingway examines the conscience through a Catholic lens (122) Stoneback

summarizes an October 18 1933 letter to Pauline Hemingway

tells Pauline that the proofs of Winner Take Nothing have arrived and though it is

a ldquodamned goodrdquo book itrsquos too much to expect the church will stand for it As he

sees it considering his writing the church would have two choices either kick

him out or prove he has no right to be in Either one would be bad because he

couldnrsquot tell them to ldquogo to the devilrdquo because of the ldquoItalian complicationsrdquo At

least hersquoll be able to say his prayers participate in the Mass support and

contribute to the church and wherever they donrsquot know him he can go to

confession He does not want to seem to be seeking ldquoappuirdquo as a ldquoCatholic

writerrdquo He says that he has no right to write the way he does and be ldquolsquoofficially

of the Churchrsquordquo Everything is fine with his conscience however he adds that

therersquos nothing wrong with the church (Stoneback 129-30)

Stoneback summarizes an interview with Fraser Drew As Stoneback

summarizes Hemingway told Drew

I [Hemingway] like to think that Irsquom a Catholic as far as I can be I can still go to

Mass although many things have happenedmdashthe divorces the marriages He

spoke with admiration of Catholicism and then of his friend the Basque priest

62

whom he had known in Spain [Don Andreacutes] and who now lived in San Francisco

de Paula He comes here a great deal said EH He prays for me every day as I

do for him I canrsquot pray for myself any more Perhaps itrsquos because in some way I

have become hardened Or perhaps it is because the self becomes less important

and others become more important But that Time article was bad He referred to

a recent article in Time which had commented that he had been born a

Congregationalist had become a Roman Catholic and now no longer went to

church This conversation with EH confirms my earlier feeling that he is a

religious man with respect for the religions of others (Stoneback 131)

Toby Bruce said of Hemingway and religion ldquoIrsquod say he was very religious Always

went to Mass especially when he was here still with Pauline And afterwards toordquo (qtd

in 132) Bruce added ldquoHe was a real Catholic and I think he tried very hard to be a good

Catholic Who knows for sure Yes he was he planned to donate a considerable sum

toward the restoration of the Mary Immaculate Convent Donrsquot know if he did I guess

Irsquod say he was a good Catholic Donrsquot know what the church would say about itrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 132-33)

Hemingway would cross himselfmdasheven after the 1930s (133) George Herter

wrote ldquoHemingway was a Catholic in those days when the Catholic Church was a church

instead of a mass of confusion The fact that he had been a steady marrying and divorce

type didnrsquot bother Ernest at all in his views on Catholicism I knew Ernest only had

his religion in his very shaky worldrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) George Herter responded

to HR Stoneback in a letter about Hemingway ldquoI repeat he was a very strong Catholic

63

He had complete faith in God Jesus the Virgin Holy Ghost guardian angels Much

more so than nearly all Catholics I have known He was a traditional Catholic as we

all were at the timerdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) In another letter from Herter to Stoneback

dated February 23 1978 Herter writes ldquoHemingway was a strong Catholic He had a

very good knowledge of early Christianity He did not attend Mass regularly He

believed the churchrsquos stand on divorce was right although he was divorced many times

He often stated that he was a poor example of a Catholic but offered no excusesrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 134-35) Stoneback asked a Key West resident what he thought of

Hemingwayrsquos religion The man responded ldquoHemingway was very religious went to

Mass early in the morning with Pauline You could tell he was religious when he fed

the cats the way he looked at the skyrdquo (136)

Yet in his last years of life Hemingway said some very anti-Catholic and anti-

Christian things For instance married to his last wife Mary Ernest said in an interview

to Lillian Ross of the possibility of an afterlife ldquoOnly suckers worry about saving their

soulsrdquo (qtd in Ross 50) Hemingway continued ldquoWho the hell should care about saving

his soul when it is a manrsquos duty to lose it intelligently the way you would sell a position

you were not defending if you could not hold it as expensively as possible trying to

make it the most expensive position that was ever soldrdquo (50) Gregory Hemingway

recounted something similar Gregory said that his father didnrsquot genuinely believe in

organized religion and that his father ldquomade it clear he didnrsquot believe in an afterlife He

did finally believe in a superior beingrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 186) Although Hemingway

didnrsquot believe that it was necessary to save onersquos soul he did contemplate the soul As a

64

boy Hemingway had thought that his soul had blown out of him once and it had returned

to his body (First Light 172) Hemingway claimed ignorance of the soul and he didnrsquot

know if it existed nor if anyone he knew anything about it Hemingway ponders the

soul ldquoProbably a spring of clear fresh water that never diminished in drought and never

froze in the winter was closest to what we had instead of the soul they all talked aboutrdquo

(172) As a boy Hemingway assumed that he had a soul but as he grew older and jaded

he wasnrsquot sure anymore Hemingway thinks that death ends things Yet he ponders that

perhaps only really religious people have souls (172-173) Of a belief in an afterlife for

the soul as heaven or hell Hemingway had his own opinions of that On July 1 1925

Hemingway creatively wrote to F Scott Fitzgerald of his vision of heaven

To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a

trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in and two lovely

houses in the town one where I would have my wife and children and be

monogamous and love them truly and well and the other where I would have my

nine beautiful mistresses on 9 different floors Then there would be a fine

church like in Pamplona where I could go and be confessed on the way from one

house to the other and I would get on my horse and ride out with my son to my

bull ranch named Hacienda Hadley and toss coins to all my illegitimate children

that lined the road I would write out at the Hacienda and send my son in to lock

the chastity belts onto my mistresses because someone had just galloped up with

the news that a notorious monogamist named Fitzgerald had been seen riding

65

toward the town at the head of a company of strolling drinkers (Hemingway in

Katakis 37)

However after his World War I injury Ernest wrote his family

You know they say there isnrsquot anything funny about this war and there isnrsquot I

wouldnrsquot say that it was hell because thatrsquos been a bit overworked since General

Shermanrsquos time but there have been about eight times when I would have

welcomed hell just on a chance it couldnrsquot come up to the phase of war I was

experiencing (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 166-67)

So if there was a hell Hemingway didnrsquot believe that it was worse than the horrors of

war Of his past Hemingway did have regrets He wrote ldquoThis past was never my past

life which truly bores me to think about and is often very distasteful due to the mistakes

that I have made and the casualties to various human beings involvedrdquo (Hemingway in

White 466)

The question of the soul comes up continually in the works of Hemingway In

ldquoNow I Lay Merdquo Nick Adams tries not to go to sleep at night because he is afraid like

Hemingway was that his soul is going to leave his body in the dark This all stems from

a battlefield injury and experience that Nick had when his soul temporarily left his body

Nick relates ldquoI had been that way [not sleeping at night] for a long time ever since I had

been blown up at night and felt it [his soul] go out of me and go off and then come back

I tried never to think about it but it had started to go since in the nights just at the

moment of going off to sleep and I could only stop it by a very great effortrdquo (Short

Stories 276)

66

Yet Nick doesnrsquot fear his soul leaving him during the day time Hemingway also

had a similar experience with his wounding at Fossalta According to Leicester

Hemingway Ernest once told Guy Hickok of this near-death experience ldquoI felt my soul

or something coming right out of my body like yoursquod pull a silk handkerchief out of a

pocket by one corner It flew around and then came back and went in again and I wasnrsquot

dead any morerdquo (56) Hemingway gives Frederic Henry the same experience in A

Farewell to Arms After the explosion that caused his wounding Henry says that

I tried to breathe but my breath would not come and I felt myself rush bodily out

of myself and out and out and out and all the time bodily in the wind I went out

swiftly all of myself and I knew I was dead and that it had all been a mistake to

think you just died Then I floated and instead of going on I felt myself slide

back I breathed and I was back (47)

Hemingway later referred to his Christian upbringing as ldquothat ton of shit we are

all fed when we are youngrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) Michael Reynolds makes the claim that

in Ernestrsquos youth fishing was his religion (118) However Archie MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoActually he was one of the most profoundly and spiritually powerful

creatures I have ever knownrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 158)

In The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway paints the old man Santiago as a

Christ figure There is so much Christian symbolism in this tale that the story can be

thought of as a parable The name Santiago literally means Saint James in Spanish

(Baker 293) In the Bible James was one of Jesusrsquo brothers Baker says of Santiago that

he ldquoshows in his own right certain qualities of mind and heart which are clearly

67

associated with the character and personality of Jesus Christ in the Gospel storiesrdquo (299)

Like Christ Santiago is able to ldquoignore physical painrdquo while focusing on the larger

objective goal to be gained in the end (299) There is an allusion to Christ on the cross

when Santiago in fighting for his prize ldquosettled comfortably against the wood and took

his suffering as it camerdquo (Old Man Sea 64) Like a horizontal cross-beam across Christrsquos

back Santiago has the cord tightened taught across his back (Backman 10 Old Man Sea

67) Santiago carries the burdensome weight of the fish on his back and he is even

burned by the cord because of it (Old Man Sea 82) The wood the suffering and

Santiagorsquos gentleness according to Melvin Backman blends ldquomagically into an image of

Christ on the crossrdquo (10) Three other Christ-like qualities that Santiago has are his

compassion his humility and his natural piety (Baker 299-300) Santiago has

compassion on certain animals that he encounters and of some fish that he catchesmdashlike

the giant marlin In his struggle with the marlin Santiago says ldquoI love you and respect

you very much But I will kill you dead before this day endsrdquo (Old Man Sea 54) After

he has killed the fish Santiago thinks ldquoYou loved him when he was alive and you loved

him after If you love him it is not a sin to kill himrdquo (105) Before killing the fish

Santiago ponders ldquoI wish I could feed the fish He is my brother But I must kill him

and keep strong to do itrdquo (59) Santiago thinks of his humility ldquoHe was too simple to

wonder when he had attained humility But he knew he had attained it and he knew it

was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true priderdquo (13-14) Santiago demonstrates

his pride when his disciple Manolo touts him as the best fisherman and he plays it down

by saying that he knows of better ones (23) Manolo claims ldquoQueacute va [No way] But

68

there is only yourdquo (23) Santiagorsquos piety is observed in that he prays when he feels and

senses the need and that his prayers are never oaths For example in trying to catch the

giant marlin Santiago says aloud ldquoNow that I have him coming so beautifully God help

me endure Irsquoll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys But I cannot say

them nowrdquo (87) Santiagorsquos prayers are never careless nor does he make them profane

He is reverent

As Christ had disciples so Santiago has his disciple Manolo Like Christ

Santiago is a teacher in that he was taught Manolo how to fish Christ was a fisher of

men Santiago is a traditional fisherman Manolo loves Santiago because of his teaching

Manolo how to fish and he admires and looks up to Santiago as a second father figure

Before Santiago goes out on his big marlin hunt Manolo says to him ldquoIf I cannot fish

with you I would like to serve in some wayrdquo (12) Manolo wants to be loyal to Santiago

Before his big marlin catch Santiago had had two previous eighty-seven day periods

where he went without a fish After the first period Santiago and Manolo had caught big

fish every day for three weeks GR Wilson Jr likens these three weeks to Christrsquos three

years of ministry where he fished for men and taught his disciples to fish for men (370)

At the start of Old Man Santiago had not caught a fish for eighty-four days The Old

Man and the Sea takes place over three days so this makes the second eighty-seven day

period In the Bible Christ demonstrated his divine authority by performing miracles

Wilson notes that Manolo has faith in the old man stemming from the miracle of the

three weeksrsquo bounty that he and Santiago had caught In addition according to Isabelle

Santiago ldquohooks the fish at noon and at noon of third day he kills itrdquo (77) This is just

69

like Christ who died and in three days rose again Isabelle adds that the marlin was

ldquolanded on the seventh attemptrdquo and that ldquoseven sharks were killedrdquo in the fishrsquos defense

(78) The number seven is a sacred and significant number recurring in the Bible After

the seventh day of creation God rested there are seven days in a week et cetera

(Easton) The number seven is also seen as symbolizing perfection and rest

Another similarity of Santiago with Christ are the wounds that he receives on his

hands On the cross Christ was pierced in each hand to help keep him pinned to the

cross In his battle with the fish Santiago receives bad cutsmdashstigmatamdashon his hands

Santiago sees his hands as brothers and he often talks to them Carlos Baker explains that

Santiago ldquospeaks to them [his hands] as to fellow-sufferers wills them to do the work

they must do and makes due allowances for them as if they were what he once calls

them lsquomy brothersrsquordquo (313) Once he says aloud ldquoHersquos [the fish] coming up Come

on hand Please come onrdquo (Old Man Sea 62) The hands also represent good and bad

The right hand is good and the left hand is bad Santiagorsquos hands are compared to the

criminals on the crosses to the left and right of Jesus who was on his own cross in the

center Santiagorsquos right hand is his good one Santiago thought that his left hand ldquohad

always been a traitor and would not do what he called on it to do and he did not trust itrdquo

(71) Luke 2339 reads ldquoOne of the criminals who were hanged railed at him [Jesus]

saying lsquoAre you not the Christ Save yourself and usrsquordquo (English Standard Version) So

Santiagorsquos left hand is untrustworthy Santiagorsquos right hand is so reliable that he quit

arm-wrestling despite being ldquoEl Campeoacutenrdquo in order to keep his right hand in good

condition as a tool of his trade fishing (70-71) The thief on Jesusrsquo right rebukes the

70

other criminal Then in Luke 2342 the thief on the right of Jesus asks Jesus ldquoJesus

remember me when you come into your kingdomrdquo (English Standard Version) Jesus

assures this repentant thief that that day the thief will be with him in paradise

Santiagorsquos right hand is like the penitent thief on the cross to Jesusrsquo right This analogy

can also be applied to the Last Judgment At the Last Judgment the saved will be on the

right hand of the Savior while those who are rejected and damned will be on his left

(Baker 314)

When Santiago sees two sharks approaching he says ldquoAyrdquo (Old Man Sea 107)

Hemingway explains of this exclamation that ldquoThere is no translation for this word and

perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make involuntarily feeling the nail go

through his hands and into the woodrdquo (107) Given his affinity and brotherhood with the

marlin when Santiago sees his prize catch eaten by the sharks it is a mortifying terrible

and crucifying experience for him Through Santiagorsquos crucifixion experience he is

transfigured Baker says that Santiagorsquos experience is also a form of martyrdom

although Santiago doesnrsquot see himself as a martyr (315) Baker also suggests that

Santiagorsquos experience also renders to him a form of apotheosis (316) Backman suggests

that Santiago triumphs (11) On his return voyage to Cuba Santiago ldquocould hardly

breathe now and he felt a strange taste in his mouth It was coppery and sweet and he

was afraid of it for a moment But there was not much of itrdquo (Old Man Sea 119) This

can be likened to Christ when he receives and drinks the ldquosponge filled with vinegarrdquo or

sour wine in Matthew 2748 (Baker 319) When Santiago returns to Cuba he has dried

blood on his face reminiscent of the blood on Christrsquos face because of the crown of

71

thorns Having arrived back everybody is asleep and nobody is there to greet or help

him He only sees a meandering cat Like Christ on the cross when God forsook him

because of the load of sin that he was carrying Santiago is alone in his suffering ldquoThere

was no one to help him so he pulled the boat up as far as he couldrdquo (Old Man Sea 120)

Removing the mast and sail Santiago ldquoshouldered the mast and started to climbrdquo (121)

This is like Christ carrying the heavy cross (Backman 11) Santiago ldquostarted to climb

again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder He

tried to get up But it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder and

looked at the roadrdquo (Old Man Sea 121) This is similar to Christ stumbling and falling as

he carried his cross on the Via Dolorosa on the way to his crucifixion at Golgotha Like

Christ Santiago falls under the burden he is bearing

Back at his shack Santiago lays down to sleep ldquoHe pulled the blanket over his

shoulders and then over his back and legs and he slept face down on the newspapers with

his arms out straight and the palms of his hands uprdquo (121-22) Baker notes that Santiago

sleeps in a cruciform position that sums up ldquothe symbolic position naturally assumed all

the suffering through which he has passedrdquo (320) In his return Santiago also brings

evidence of his epic battlegood work to increase the faith of his disciple Manolo

(Wilson 371) Wilson asserts that Santiago is on his death-bed when Manolo finds him

(372) The eighty-seventh day of this second period ends on Ascension Day as it began

on Ash Wednesday and ldquoconstitutes all but the last ten days of the Easter Cycle from

Lent through Paschal tiderdquo (369-70) As Mary cried over Christ at the tomb Manolo

returns to Santiagorsquos shanty sees the old manrsquos hands and starts to cry (Old Man Sea

72

122) Wilson also asserts that Santiago matches up with Joseph Campbellrsquos archetypal

model for a ldquohero with a thousand facesrdquo (372) For example Santiago starts out on his

journey or calling with the aid of the helper Manolo Santiago ldquocrosses the threshold of

adventure and meets a trial that can take many forms including the brother-battle

dragon-battle crucifixion and a night-sea journey all of which can be seen as applying

in some way to the old fishermanrdquo (372) The mythic-like story culminates in a ldquosacred

marriagerdquo between Santiago and his prize marlin (372) Fellow writer William Although

Hemingway was not a good nor a professing Christian and for most of his life claimed to

be Catholic he was not a reformed believer Hemingway still continued to be

Hemingway Despite all this according to Carlos Baker ldquoThe consciousness of God is

in his booksrdquo (328)

73

74

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

Hemingway wanted to be a good man and a great writer but unfortunately he

did not turn out to be a good manmdashalthough he had his moments of goodness Although

he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not transform him He did not

have a salvation experience nor was his faith life-altering As a Catholic Hemingway

continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Hemingwayrsquos religious

life was one solely of Catholic rituals He did not overcome his problems In the end his

problems overcame him Hemingway himself said of his heart ldquoActually in regard to the

innermost contents of my heart probably a most foul place I would rather have a good

cardiograph reportrdquo (Hemingway in White 459) Hemingway added ldquoNo one of us lives

by as rigid standards nor has a good ethics as we planned but an attempt is maderdquo (461)

Hemingway was vindictive against his critics Hemingway viewed most fellow

writers as enemies if they were not officially his enemy he eventually went about to

convert them into his enemies Hemingway wanted to be the top dog of everythingmdash

especially the writing scenemdashand he didnrsquot want to share the spotlight with anyone else

Ernest felt ldquothat anyone elsersquos success diminished his ownrdquo (Hawkins 61) Hemingwayrsquos

writer friend Sherwood Anderson was the one in Chicago to suggest that Hemingway

and his newly-married first wife Hadley Richardson go to Paris instead of their planned

destination of Italy Anderson told the young Hemingway that Paris was where the

literary world was at that time and that it was also the place to get published This advice

75

was instrumental into turning Hemingway into the famed writer that he became Had it

not been for Anderson and his encouragement and faith in Hemingway Hemingway may

have never became a Nobel Prize winning writer Anderson gave Hemingway letters of

introduction to Gertrude Stein Sylvia Beach Ezra Pound and F Scott Fitzgerald Like

Harold Loeb Anderson also helped in getting Hemingwayrsquos In Our Time published

stressing its importance to Boni amp Liveright (Dearborn 177) Since Anderson pushed In

Our Time Boni amp Liveright did not want to upset itrsquos star writer so they agreed to

publish it (Hawkins 39)

However after all was said and done Hemingway wrote his satire Torrents of

Spring mocking Andersonrsquos writing style in order to try to get laughs and in order to get

out of his contract with his publisher Boni amp Liveright It worked Torrents of Spring

was rejected by Boni amp Liveright because Anderson was the companyrsquos star writer So

in lieu of this Hemingway was able to sign with Max Perkins and the publisher

Scribnerrsquos and Sons Yet in the process Hemingway had burned his bridge of friendship

with Anderson who had been so generous and helpful with the young budding writer

Others who knew of Andersonrsquos graciousness and kindness to Hemingway were appalled

by Torrents of Spring (Hawkins 44)

Hemingway was anti-Semitic mean and demeaning to people he berated them

and belittled them He thought that all guys should be macho Hemingway was not pure

evil but the evil produced by his unpredictable and uncontrollable temper pushed a lot of

peoplemdasheven one-time friendsmdashaway from him Archibald MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoHe was wonderful irreplaceable but an impossible friend a man you

76

couldnt get along with a man you couldnt get along withoutrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 167)

Robert Capa once told Leicester Hemingway ldquoPapa can be more severe than God on

a rough day when the whole human race is misbehavingrdquo (192) Hemingway was his

own worst enemy

Hemingway was not a good Catholic He was married four times and even

divorced a Catholic woman whom he later called his best wife (L Hemingway 271) It

is speculated that Hemingway had affairs with multiple women Hemingway would have

affairs before marrying his last two or three wives Hemingwayrsquos son Jack ldquoBumbyrdquo

Hemingway surmised that Hemingway had an affair with the beautiful blond Jane

Mason in 1933 (Hawkins 152) According to Jack ldquoErnest bragged to him that Jane

liked climbing through the transom to his [Hemingwayrsquos] room at the Ambos Mundos

Hotelrdquo (153) Moreover a prostitute was known to have visited the Finca Vigiacutea

Although Hemingway was Catholic he didnrsquot really change his behavior to live

in sync with the Bible or all Catholic teachings He followed the rituals of the Church

not so much a personal transformative side Yet claiming to be Catholic Hemingway

lived by his own code In the end although Hemingway was not a good person he had

some good memories of a childhood growing up and some good experiences as an adult

Even with his bad experiences Hemingway was able to incorporate them into his

literature Hemingwayrsquos keen insight his precise powers of observation his absorption

of the knowledge gained from others and the Protestant work ethic of his youth paid off

as Hemingway put all of his being into trying to be an honest writer writing one true

sentence at a time and helping his audience to see the world through open and honest

77

eyes to help his readers see feel and almost literally experience first-hand what he was

writing aboutmdashthe good the bad and the ugly Though a flawed human being

Hemingway was a brilliant writer and his brilliance lives on through his works of

literature

WORKS CITED

75

WORKS CITED

Backman Melvin ldquoHemingway The Matador and the Crucifiedrdquo Modern Fiction

Studies 13 (1955) 2-11

Baker Carlos Hemingway the Writer as Artist Princeton Princeton University Press

1963 Print

Berman Ron ldquoProtestant Catholic Jew The Sun Also Risesrdquo The Hemingway

Review 181 (1998) 33 Web

Blume Lesley MM Everybody Behaves Badly the True Story Behind Hemingwayrsquos

Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises Boston Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016

Print

Cohn-Sherbok Dan Anti-Semitism Brimscombe Port Stroud The History Press 2002

Print

Dearborn Mary V Ernest Hemingway a Biography New York Alfred A Knopf

2017 Print

Di Robilant Andrea Autumn in Venice Ernest Hemingway and his Last Muse New

York Alfred A Knopf 2018 Print

Djos Matts ldquoAlcoholism in Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises A Wine and Roses

Perspective on the Lost Generationrdquo The Hemingway Review 142 (1995) 64

Easton MG Illustrated Bible Dictionary 3rd ed Thomas Nelson 1897 Bible Study

Toolscom Web 1 Dec 2018

ESV Study Bible English Standard Version Wheaton Crossway Bibles 2008 Print

6

CHAPTER 2

HEMINGWAY AND JUDIASM

Historical Overview of Judaism

Anti-Semitism or hatred of Jews has been around since the rise of Judaism In

the Old Testament Pharaoh was the first political leader known to persecute the Jews

Pharaoh was concerned with the growing Jewish population and their loyalty Among

many other things he tried to kill Jewish ldquofirst-born sonsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 13) Next in

the Old Testament Haman tried to have the Jews killed off under Queen Esther

However most scholars agree that anti-Semitism came into its own in the years after

Christ left this earth For example Dan Cohn-Sherbok argues that ldquoit was only when

Christianity emerged in the first century CE that Jews came to be viewed as contemptible

and demonicrdquo (17)

Unfortunately the intensity of anti-Semitism in Christianity was mainly due to

misinterpretation In earlier centuries AD people could not read Scripture for themselves

and they were consequently misled In those days people had faith in and trusted the

Catholic Church seeing the pope as infallible Some misinterpreted Scripture to say that

the Jews were responsible for Christrsquos death However Scripture emphasizes that Christ

died for all so consequently he died for everyone If one looks at it from that point of

view then everyone past present and future were are and will be responsible for

Christrsquos death Yet some didnrsquot look at it that way In fact the Apostle Paul went out of

his way to preach and try to reach Jews first

7

Paul wrote in Romans 116 ldquoFor I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the

power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the

Greekrdquo (English Standard Version) John 422 reads ldquoYou worship what you do not

know we [Jews] worship what we know for salvation is from the Jewsrdquo In Romans

1117-18 Paul suggests that Gentile believers are just grafted into the Jewish promise ldquoIf

some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive were grafted in

among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree [then] do

not be arrogant toward the branches but if you are arrogant remember that it is not you

who supports the root but the root supports yourdquo Unfortunately some uninformed

early Christians did not put two and two together For some it was believed that the

Christian Church took the place of Israel which isnrsquot accurate Some believed that ldquothe

Church was the true inheritor of Godrsquos promisesrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 45) It was

believed that Jews no longer had a covenant with God and that Christians had completely

overshadowed and replaced Israel in that covenant This is not true

Acts 1346 reads of preaching to the Jews first ldquoIt was necessary that the word of

God be spoken to you firstrdquo Jesus also a Jew promoted preaching to the Jews first In

Matthew 125-6 Jesus says to the twelve disciples ldquoGo nowhere among the Gentiles and

enter no town of the Samaritans but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israelrdquo

(English Standard Version) In Matthew 1524 Jesus says ldquoI was sent only to the lost

sheep of the house of Israelrdquo (English Standard Version) The first Christians were a

group of Jews Jews were different so eventually urban legends sprang up without

accurate facts and the knowledge of Judaismrsquos teachings some people latched onto these

8

false assumptions and believed the lies that others were propagating about the Jews For

instance Jews were accused of murdering Christian children and then using their blood

for ritual practices It was believed that Jews used the blood of murdered Christian

children ldquoin the preparation of unleavened bread for Passoverrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 54) The

ritual murder charge was a misunderstanding (81) In fact in the fourteenth century

Jews were accused of bringing about the Black Death by poisoning the wells and springs

(60 67) This assertion first gained credence in southern France (81) Yet Jews suffered

and died under the Black Death as well This is an example of the Jews being blamed as

scapegoats

In the early Church the Bishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom accused the

early Hebrews of sacrificing ldquotheir sons and daughters to demons andrdquo eating their own

children (37 47) Chrysostom said of synagogues ldquoto go there was no better than

visiting a brothel a robberrsquos den or any indecent place [it is] a theatre a house of

prostitution and domicile of the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom said that the Jews ldquohave

surpassed the ferocity of wild beasts since they murder their offspring and immolate

them to the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom also accused the Jews of worshipping the devil Yet

Jeremiah 313b reads in reference to Israel ldquoI have loved you with an everlasting love

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to yourdquo (English Standard Version) If so-

called Christians would have accurately read this during this period they would have

seen that God loves his people and his nation Israel But some Christians thought that

the Christian Church entirely replaced Godrsquos Covenant with the Jews Consequently

Chrysostom said that Christians must hate the Jews (Cohn-Sherbok 47) Yet hatred is an

9

anti-Christian doctrine In Matthew 544 Jesus says ldquoBut I say to you Love your

enemies and pray for those who persecute

yourdquo (English Standard Version)

False conceptions of the Jews even seemed to be found among some of the

Church Fathers Some of the Church Fathers were frustrated that the Jews would not

convert to Christianity nor would they renounce their Judaism In some cases the quest

for converts became a competition Cohn-Sherbok writes ldquoDuring the same period

Tertullian the African Church Father called the synagogues of his day lsquofountains of

persecution of Christiansrsquordquo (46) Justin Martyr ldquorelated that Jews laugh curse and insult

Jesusrdquo (46) Jerome referred to Jews as Judases (47) In fact Judas was thought to be

ldquosymbolic of the Jewish peoplerdquo (84) In the New Testament ldquothe figure of Judas

was associated in the public mind with deviousness and treacheryrdquo (83)

Desecration of the communion host became another false charge against the Jews

as the then-Christians believed in the doctrine of transubstantiation In the doctrine of

transubstantiation the communion bread and wine (of the Eucharist) literally becomes

the body and blood of Jesus During this time it was believed that Jews stole the host in

order ldquoto assault it and thereby torture Christrdquo (80) The charge of desecration of the

Host was a hallucinatory fantasy (82) However the Jews did not believe in the Doctrine

of Transubstantiation which was affirmed at Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 (80) Only

Catholics believe this doctrine today Since the Jews did not believe in

transubstantiation they would in all likelihood not have attacked the host because they

10

couldnrsquot believe that they were actually attacking Christ in the process Desecration of

the Host was a wild belief and a total fantasy

In some cases the Talmud was burned because it was believed to be anti-

Christian Agobard Archbishop of Lyons believed that Jews stole Christian children

and sold them to Arabs (64) He also believed that Jews seduced Christian women All

sorts of wild beliefs developed about Jews many without factual basis It was all

conjecture and imagination In Germany ldquoa French monk Radulph went about preaching

that Jews were enemies of God and should be persecutedrdquo (65) As previously

mentioned the Jews were scapegoats they were blamed for everything During the

witch-hunting crazed days of the fifteenth century Jews were seen as being in cahoots

with witches and the devil (71) During this time it was believed that the Jews were born

misshapen hemorrhoidal and both sexes afflicted with menstruation In Trnava

Slovakia it was believed that Christian blood was an excellent means by which ldquoto cure

the wound produced by circumcisionrdquo (71)

For the duration of the Middle Ages ldquoChristians viewed Jews as sorcerers able to

cast spells against their enemiesrdquo (72) It was believed consequently that the Jews were

capable of working magic against Christians During the Black Death it was also

believed that Jews wanted to poison Christians In fact ldquoJews were accused of using

Christian blood for magical purposesrdquo (73) The little contact that these early Christians

had with Jews also led to their paranoia viewing the Jews as an alien mysterious and

strange people (74) Urban legends seemed to sprout up due to the lack of knowledge

Ignorance of Jews reigned

11

Jewish medicine too became suspect It was claimed that high rulers were killed

off through Jewish medicine During the Middle Ages the Vienna Faculty of Medicine

thought that ldquothe private code of Jewish doctors required them to murder one patient in

tenrdquo (77) Jews were eventually thought to possess attributes of the devil The Jews

ldquowere perceived as having horns tails and the beard of a goat and could be recognized

by their noxious smell the foetor judaiumlcusrdquo (79) Consequently the Jews were seen as

sub-human It was believed that Jews lacked morality anything went with them Jews

were so despised that they were exiled from countries At different times Spain France

and England expelled their Jewish populations In some instances they were invited

back

The charges against Jews were grotesque fantasies Tracts were written against

the Jews One such read of the Jews ldquolsquoDemons from hell race of the Jews detestable

men more accursed than Lucifer and more wicked than all the devils cruel tigers be

gone unworthy as you are to live among us when you thirst so for bloodrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 86)

Martin Luther at first favored the Jews writing a pamphlet That Christ was Born

a Jew However after he was unable to convert the Jews to his Protestant Reformed

Christian faith he became anti-Semitic So ldquoLuther stressed that they [the Jews] are the

most contemptible of all peoplesrdquo (90) Luther wrote ldquorsquomake no mistake that aside from

the Devil you have no enemy more venomous more desperate more bitter than a true

Jew who truly seeks to be a Jewrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90) Moreover ldquoMartin Luther

speculated that if the Jews could kill Christians they would gladly do sordquo (73)

12

Of the Jews Luther believed that ldquoThose who tolerate them [the Jews] will incur

great loss lsquoWhoever wishes to accept venomous serpents desperate enemies of the Lord

and to honour them to let himself be robbed pillaged corrupted and cursed by them

need only turn to the Jewsrsquordquo (90) Luther suggested of the Jews ldquoTheir synagogues

should be set on fire and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over

with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of itrdquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 90) Luther wrote ldquoTheir [Jewsrsquo] homes should likewise be broken down and

destroyed For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues

they should be deprived of their prayerbooks [sic] and Talmud in which idolatry lies

cursing and blasphemy are taught their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death

to teach any morerdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther also wrote ldquoPassport and travelling privileges should be absolutely

forbidden to the Jews They ought to be stopped from usury Let the young and

strong Jews and Jewesses be given the flail the axe the hoe the spade the distaff and

spindle and let them earn their bread by the sweat of their browrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok

90) Luther called the Jews an ldquoinsufferable devilish burdenrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther said that Jews were ldquochildren of the Devil condemned to the flames of hellrdquo (qtd

in Cohn-Sherbok 91) Luther believed that the Jews should be despised Luther even

thought that ldquothe Jews are worse than the devilsrdquo (91) Luther saw the Jews as

ldquoinstigators of social and economic corruptionrdquo (94) Luther thought that the Jews

wanted to ldquodestroy Christian civilizationrdquo (95)

13

Luther saw himself in a fight against Satan in the Jews Despite Lutherrsquos anti-

Semitism a good thing did emerge out of the Protestant Reformation Scripture was

translated into the common vernacular so that literate people could see what the Bible

said for themselves instead taking a priestrsquos or a popersquos word for it This led to literate

Christians seeing the Jews through the lens of Scripture instead of through anti-Jewish

sermons and hear-say from church leaders

In Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century the Jews were seen as favoring political

revolution and as having played a role in the revolutionary activities of the era (231)

This viewpoint started after the revolutions of 1848 (244) and it is not entirely off the

mark For example Karl Marx was a Jew Although not all Jews were revolutionaries

Nicholas Reynolds says that ldquoMore than a few Russian revolutionaries were Jewish one

reaction to the state-sanctioned anti-Semitism and the resulting pogroms that occurred

with frightening regularityrdquo (Writer Sailor Solider Spy 72) Capitalism also came to be

associated with the Jewsmdashparticularly its vices (Cohn-Sherbok 248) In the United

States the Jews were blamed for the Russian Revolution (231) There was fear of the

Jews or Judaeophobia A writer that Hemingway read was the anti-Semitic Fyodor

Dostoyevsky Perhaps this helped to influence Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

Dostoyevsky wrote ldquoLike a vast tightening net the power of assimilated Jewry stretches

over the whole world and no matter where we set foot we are caught in it We must

struggle to our last drop of blood against the insidious Judaization of Europe and

especially of Germanismrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 232)

14

In 1912 the Marconi Affair hit Great Britain Two leading Jewish politicians

Rufus Isaacs and Herbert Samuels were implicated in this corruption scandal

Eyewitness reported ldquoIsaacsrsquo brother is the president of the Marconi Company Isaacs

and Samuels have privately arranged to have the British people pay the Marconi

Company a considerable sum of money through the intermediary of Samuels and for

Isaacsrsquo benefitrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 236) In wake of the Marconi Affair one of

Hemingwayrsquos early favorite writers Rudyard Kipling ldquodedicated a hymn of hate to the

affairrdquo (236) Like the biblical greedy and crafty servant (of the prophet Elisha) Gehazi

who is punished with leprosy for his sins Kiplingrsquos poem ldquowas intended to illustrate the

cunning of these Jewish [Marconi] politiciansrdquo (236)

Once America made its foray into World War I ldquoJews were seen as participants

in international conspiracyrdquo (240) Americans thought that the Jews might be part of the

Russian Revolution In the literary world ldquoa number of writers commented on the evil

influence of Jewryrdquo (241) Hemingwayrsquos one-time-friend and literary mentor F Scott

Fitzgerald was one such example In fact Fitzgerald negatively portrayed New York

Jewish merchants in his novel The Beautiful and the Damned

Down in a tall busy street he read a dozen Jewish names on a line of stores In

the door of each stood a dark little man [Jew] watching the passersby with intent

eyes eyes gleaming with suspicion with pride with clarity with cupidity with

comprehension New Yorkmdashhe could not dissociate it now from the slow

upward creep of this people The little stores growing expanding consolidating

15

moving watched over with hawkrsquos eyes and a beersquos attention to detail (qtd in

Cohn-Sherbok 241)

This anti-Semitic view of Jews could have influenced Hemingway whether he read the

book or if Fitzgerald made his anti-Semitic views known to Hemingway The same

could be said of Ezra Pound Ezra Pound was a big anti-Semite and one of Hemingwayrsquos

friends It could be questioned if Ezra Pound influenced Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

In July of 1943 Pound was indicted for treason due to his anti-Semitic pro-Fascist radio

broadcasts from Italy (Dearborn 491) Poundrsquos radio broadcasts ldquowere shocking even

vilemdashhe recommended The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf he spoke of

the lsquo60 kikes who started this warrsquo and asserted lsquoThe Jew is a savagersquordquo (491) Later

due to Hemingwayrsquos suggestion Pound pleaded insanity and spent several years in an

Institution Hemingwayrsquos one-time friend Donald Ogden Stewart who was present for

the Pamplona bull fights in 1925 ldquotook the blame for having been the probable inspiration

for Bill Gortonrsquos [a character in The Sun Also Rises] anti-Semitic remarks and

exclamationsrdquo (Blume 123) Stewart wrote that ldquoI have no doubt that I was really

basically anti-Semitic in those days as probably also was Hemingwayrdquo (123) Lesley

Blume stresses that Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism ldquowas not a deep-rooted hatred like

the variety that gave rise to Nazismrdquo (123) Stewart referred to Hemingwayrsquos anti-

Semitism as ldquoa form of social snobbishness something that people simply took for

granted [during that time]rdquo (Blume 123) One would think that after the Holocaust

Hemingway would cease his anti-Semitic comments but he still continued In

16

Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century ldquoAmerican literature repeatedly described Jews in the

most unsavoury (sic) termsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 249)

The French also saw the Jews as having played a part in the Russian Revolution

(241) In France where Hemingway lived part of his literary life Alphonse Toussenel

wrote ldquoThe Jews King of the Epoch [in which] he blamed the Jews for the ills afflicting

societyrdquo (248) In France ldquoAccording to Edouard-Adolphe Drumont in La France Juive

the [French] Revolution had benefited only the Jewsrdquo (248) Edouard-Adolphe Drumont

caricatured the Jews as being hook-nosed possessing ldquohuge ears soft hands and arms of

unequal lengthrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 248) In France the Dreyfus Affair of the

nineteenth century had ratcheted up the prominence and appeal of French anti-Semitism

Yet the logical consequence of anti-Semitism took place years later during World War II

when Hitler instituted the Holocaust Of course Hemingway knew of this deadly result

of anti-Semitism but it is unknown how much it changed his view of Jews as later he

did show some more anti-Semitic behavior Perhaps old habits die hard

Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in His Novels

Unfortunately Hemingway was an anti-Semite To what degree is unknown

Some say that Hemingway was mildly or casually anti-Semitic (Hendrickson 32)

However in fits of anger Hemingway would hurl anti-Semitic slurs at those he knew to

be Jews Yet ironically ldquoHemingway knew admired and imitated Jewsrdquo like his friend

and literary mentor Gertrude Stein (Berman 39) Hemingway was also friends with

Harold Loeb a Jewish man (Dearborn 192) Hemingway and Loeb had played tennis

17

boxed and wrestled together In The Sun Also Rises the character of Robert Cohn is

based upon Harold Loeb Hemingway once had good things to say of Loeb On March

4 1925 Hemingway wrote to William B Smith of Loeb ldquoA hell of a good guy

Loeb is a male you can wrestle wit He aint been throwed since he learned in Princeton-

only weighs 150 about Heavy weights cant throw him Hersquos never wrestled pros or of

course hersquos have got throwed Still he aint been throwed I tried to throw him and he

throwed me in no timerdquo (sic throughout Hemingway in Katakis 28) In The Sun Also

Rises the Loeb Robert Cohn character is also Jake Barnesrsquo tennis partner (13) Despite

all his anti-Semitism later Hemingway married the half-Jewish reporter and writer

Martha Gellhorn as his third wife (Stoneback 136) Unfortunately it is exactly unknown

why Hemingway was anti-Semitic It would seem that the times in which he lived played

a role

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway has a stereo-typical Jewish character Robert

Cohn that he portrays as a proud rich weak self-pitying self-doubting awkward

sniveling whining misbehaving mannerless undesirable unremarkable and

dysfunctional killjoy who is an outsider and a drag on everyonersquos spirits Cohn is

supposed to represent all Jews (Berman 39) In fact Hemingway goes so far as to write

that Jews are inferior Hemingway writes of Cohn ldquoHe cared nothing for boxing in fact

he disliked it but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of

inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princetonrdquo (Sun 11) Loeb

had also gone to Princeton

18

Hemingway based almost the entire book of The Sun Also Rises on a real life

event that happened when Loeb Lady Duff Twysden and Pat Guthrie (Lady Duffrsquos

cousin and boyfriend) joined him Hemingwayrsquos first wife Hadley Richardson Don

Stewart and Bill Smith in Pamplona for the Festival of San Fermiacuten in July of 1925

(Dearborn 188) In the novel this group goes to Pamplona to have fun They join in the

Spanish Festival of San Fermiacuten where they drink excessively party and watch

professional bullfights All this time the Harold Loeb character Robert Cohn follows

his former lover Lady Brett Ashely around like a lap-dog and from the perspective of

the other festival-goers makes everyone else miserable

Hemingwayrsquos publication of this event into fiction hurt many of the real-life

players in the memorable drama The real Lady Brett Ashley Lady Duff Twysden later

referred to the book as nothing more than ldquocheap reportingrdquo (qtd in Blume 206) Former

Hemingway friend Donald Ogden Stewart felt the same way In his 1975 memoir By a

Stroke of Luck Stewart still refused to give The Sun Also Rises ldquothe artistic stature that

others accorded itrdquo (Blume 230) Stewartrsquos son recalls that his dad would say ldquoThatrsquos

exactly what happened it was like a photographrdquo (qtd in Blume 230) So for Stewart

the novel was just a retelling of events it is did not utilize artistic narrative originality

Just as Robert Cohn had had an affair with Lady Brett Ashley so Loeb had had an

intimate relationship with Lady Duff Twysden Scholars are unsure as to whether

Hemingway had any serious relationship with Lady Duff however he was jealous He

liked her In his reasoning he had met Lady Duff first (Dearborn 188) ldquoEven though

[Hemingway] had no plans to sleep with Duff himself that didnrsquot mean according to his

19

logic that she was fair game for Harold [Loeb]rdquo (188) Hemingway was protective of

Lady Duff and Hemingway saw Loeb as a snake (189) Perhaps Loebrsquos success with

Lady Duff finally pushed Hemingway against him

Mary V Dearborn notes that Hemingway was also jealous that Loebrsquos book

Doodab was coming out before his ownmdashLoebrsquos in May Hemingwayrsquos in October

(191) Hemingway was very competitive in his writing career In fact before

Hemingway made it as a fiction writer Harold Loeb had gone so far as to help

Hemingway get his first book of short stories In Our Time published (204) It is noted

that ldquoHarold [Loeb] rescued In Our Time from the returns pile at [Boni amp] Liveright [the

publishing company] he fought for the book and he was instrumental in getting it

publishedrdquo (192) Loeb had pleaded with Boni amp Liveright ldquoHold it Give it [In Our

Time] another reading I know what Irsquom talking aboutrdquo (Hawkins 39) In fact if it

were not for the persistence of his well-connected friends Hemingway may have quite

possibly never been published at all since his manuscripts had been repeatedly rejected

Unfortunately Hemingway did not like to give credit to others for helping him to rise in

his profession He wanted to take all the credit and the glory for himself He wanted to

be self-sufficient In addition having not gone to college Hemingway was leery of

college-educated men He felt inferior to them and he would try to compete with them in

order to make himself look and feel better Since Harold Loeb was a Princeton graduate

Hemingway was possibly disdainful of this and in all likelihood held it against Loeb

In trying to get In Our Time published Loeb took Hemingway to former Boni amp

Liveright vice president Leon Fleischmanrsquos Paris apartment (Blume 71) Previously

20

ldquoKitty Cannell [the Frances character in Sun] heard him [Hemingway] unthinkably use

lsquokikersquo with such casualness and scorn that she warned her Jewish lover Harold Loeb to

be careful with Hemingwayrdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 242) Kitty Cannell worried

that Hemingway ldquomight create a terrible scene in front of Fleischman and his wife

Helen She said as much to Loeb He brushed her offrdquo (Blume 71) After this meeting

with Fleischman Harold Loeb heard Hemingway malign Jews in his speech

Hemingway had a way of maligning making fun of and satirizing his friends and his

perceived enemies In the process he lost many friends and unnecessarily caused the

creation of many enemies In fact the release of The Sun Also Rises shocked Loeb as he

had thought that he and Hemingway were good friends (Dearborn 191-92)

Hemingway also turned on his former Jewish mentor Gertrude Stein

Hemingway got mad at Stein when she would not write a review for his new book In

Our Time Stein wanted to wait and see if Hemingway was going to be a success first

On November 8 1925 Hemingway commented to Ezra Pound of Stein ldquoWhat a lot of

safe playing kikesrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 38) Later in life after they broke with each

other Hemingway and Stein would arguemdashthrough writingmdashand trade barbs with one

another Hemingway would mock Stein In his article for Esquire in the April 1934

issue ldquoAD in Africa A Tanganyika Letterrdquo Hemingway wonders ldquohow much Buddha

at that age would resemble Gertrude Steinrdquo (Hemingway in White 159)

Hemingway was also against the troubled literary critic Dorothy Parker

(Dearborn 247) The half-Jewess Dorothy Parker was tough in her literary criticism yet

she gave Hemingway great reviews She adored Hemingway but Hemingway didnrsquot

21

return the feelings (Blume 155) Parker and Hemingway had met in New York In

Hemingway Parker thought that she had found a kindred spirit (156) During

Hemingwayrsquos New York visit Parker ldquobecame so engrossed in his tales of the Left Bank

that she shunted aside her skepticism and decided on the spot to move abroadrdquo (156)

Parker became for Hemingway a strong ally among literary critics Blume notes of

Parker ldquoIn years to come she would also pen several adoring Hemingway profiles and

book reviewsrdquo (156) Hemingway and Parker became so familiar that eventually

Hemingway started calling Parker ldquoDottyrdquo (156) Parker was so taken with Hemingway

that her ldquodevotion to him bordered on idolatryrdquo (158) But Parkerrsquos love for Hemingway

was a useful tool in Hemingwayrsquos arsenal

Unfortunately Parker was probably not stable She had tried to kill herself twice

within three years She confided in Hemingway ldquoabout a late-stage abortion she had

recently undergone about attempting suicide and about some other recent bad luck in

her liferdquo (qtd in Dearborn 247) During their conversation Hemingway discovered that

Parker did not like Spain For Parker ldquoPretty much everything about the countrymdashfrom

its treatment of animals to the rump-pinching habits of Spanish menmdashhad appalled herrdquo

(Blume 193) Moreover ldquoIn Barcelona she had walked out of a bullfight after a bull

gored a horse and declared that she found matadors disgustingrdquo (193) Back in Paris with

Hemingway ldquoParker had imparted these impressions to Hemingway for whom such

views amounted to sacrilegerdquo (193) Hemingway was offended by this and like other

things Hemingway took this personally to heart as he was an ardent Hispanophile loving

the Spanish country its people the slow pace of life and its culture (Dearborn 247)

22

Finally Hemingway ldquohad little sympathy for the self-inflicted wounds of a caustic and

comparatively pampered urbaniterdquo (Blume 194)

Later ldquoErnest wrote a long cruel poem about Parker not published until both

were dead called lsquoTo a Tragic Poetessrsquo revealing the personal details she had evidently

related during their most recent meetingrdquo (Dearborn 247-48) In the poem Hemingway

ldquoreferred to the dead fetus noted that she had all too conveniently failed in her suicide

attempts and mocked her failures with men He was pointedly mean about her being

Jewish referring to lsquothe Jewish cheeks of your plump assrsquordquo (248) The second half of

Hemingwayrsquos poem ldquoconsists of insults piled on Parker and others who out of ignorance

about it do not appreciate Spain (inevitably bullfighting comes up)rdquo (248) Pauline

Pfeiffer didnrsquot like this poem and referred to it as ldquoabout twelve tents [tenths] out of water

mayberdquo (Hawkins 59) Pauline thought the poem shrill In 1926 at the home of Archie

and Ada McLeish Ernest read this poem ldquoTo a Tragic Poetessrdquo to the assembled

gathering to try to get some laughs (Dearborn 248) No laughs came Donald Ogden

Stewart called the poem ldquoviciously unfair and unfunnyrdquo (qtd in Blume 194) Because of

the reading of the poem the Stewarts kept their distance from Hemingway from there on

out and Don Stewart was never close to Hemingway again (Dearborn 248) Ironically

since the poem was never published until after Parkerrsquos death ldquoParker never learned

about the existence of the poem [and] unaware of its existence she continued to write

wildly enthusiastic reviews of Hemingwayrsquos work in The New Yorker and called him one

of her favorite writersrdquo (Blume 194) Parker also called Hemingway ldquothe greatest living

American short story writerrdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 164)

23

There is also other evidence of Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism In his early years at

Lake Walloon the Point where the young people always liked to fish was sold ldquoto two

Jews who wanted to build a club houserdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 114) Bill

Smith later recalled that he and Ernest had planned to throw rotten fish down the Jewsrsquo

chimney at the lake (M Reynolds Paris Years 252) In the mid-1920s Hemingway

wrote Ezra Pound calling the aspiring poet Dave OrsquoNeil a ldquorsquoCelto-Kikersquordquo (Dearborn

134) Hemingway also wrote of his friend Nathan Asch ldquoYou couldnrsquot tell [of Asch

being a talented writer] Jews go bad quicklyrdquo (163) Later in Key West Hemingway

referred to the town as a ldquoJew administered phony of a townrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 154)

At the time that Hemingway wrote this Key West was for all intents and purposes

bankrupt ldquounable to collect enough taxes to pay its billsrdquo (N Reynolds 7) Under the

New Deal the town of Key West had ldquopetitioned the governor to take over the cityrdquo

(Hendrickson 154) As such ldquoThe Florida branch of Franklin Delano Rooseveltrsquos

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) stepped in and took overrdquo (N

Reynolds 7) Plus under the New Deal the plan was to turn Key West into a tourist

destination making Hemingwayrsquos home on Whitehead Street one of the attractions (8)

This would interfere with Hemingwayrsquos deeply coveted privacy (8) Moreover

Hemingway was disillusioned with the government after some World War I veterans

were killed during a hurricane that hit some of the Florida Keys

Later In Cuba in May 1955 The Old Man and the Sea film version of the novel

was to be filmed Hemingwayrsquos Jewish friend Peter Viertel who was writing the

screenplay joked with Hemingway in order to try to break up the tension between Ernest

24

and the film producer kidding ldquoabout Santiago going out on the eighty-fifth day and not

catching a fishrdquo (Dearborn 573) This made Hemingway mad Narrowing his eyes and

gritting his teeth he said ldquoThe Jews have always had a superior attitude toward fishingmdash

probably because fish has never been part of their dietrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573) This

Jewish comment in turn made Viertel mad and he said that ldquohe thought Ernest had

gotten beyond his anti-Semitism with The Sun Also Risesrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573)

Hemingway felt contrite that he had lashed out against his friend Viertel and he

ldquoassured Peter he had never been anti-Semitic and matters were smoothed overrdquo (573-

74)

Some Jews have the last name Stein Especially in his youth Hemingway like to

refer to himself as Hemingstein or Stein According to Dearborn Hemingway was

referring to a stein of beer in this case (39) Other nicknames he used were Hymenstein

or the Great Steinway (Hendrickson 266) Catherine Reef thinks that these nicknames

sound Jewish She writes

The last one [nickname] amused him [Ernest] most because it sounded like a

Jewish name Like many young people in narrow-minded Oak Park Ernest grew

up thinking it was all right to make fun of people of different faiths and

backgrounds and he never fully let go of this attitude As an adult he

occasionally called himself Hemingstein or just Stein and although he had

Jewish friends he sometimes mocked them behind their backs (14)

25

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway refers to himself as the great psychiatrist Dr

Hemingstein (53) In real life Hemingwayrsquos son Gregory ldquoGigirdquo for short was known

as the Irish Jew (Hendrickson 245)

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway gives Cohn boxing as his only strength

ldquoThere was a certain inner comfort in knowing he could knock down anybody who was

snooty to himrdquo (11) Because of boxing Hemingway goes so far as to portray Cohn with

the stereotypical Jewish nose In the novel Cohn gets his nose broken during a boxing

bout The narrator Jake Barnes says of Cohnrsquos reworked nose ldquoit certainly improved

his noserdquo (11) Ironically Hemingway threatened a similar situation later in his life In

Spain at the Hotel Florida after a serious shelling during the Spanish Civil War some of

the guests including the movie producer Herb Klein wanted to switch their rooms to the

safer rooms in the back of the hotel At this point in his life Hemingway would hold

people to a higher standard of bravery than his own (Dearborn 387) So Hemingway

intimidated and bullied those Hotel Florida guests into keeping their rooms in lieu of

switching them saying they ldquowould be running away from the enemy capitulating to the

Fascistsrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 387) However in fact Hemingway had his own room in one

of the safer back parts of the hotel Then ldquoaccording to one observer he rode up with

[Herb] Klein in the elevator called him a coward and lsquojostledrsquo him saying lsquoIrsquod like to

flatten your big Jewish nosersquordquo (388)

In The Sun Also Rises nobody wants to be around Cohn He is trying to be an all-

round guy and a Protestant gentleman (Berman 44) However Ron Berman refers to him

as a fake gentleman Melvin Backman argues that Cohn lacks any real identity (4)

26

Although Cohn tries to assimilate and be chivalrous nobody accepts his behavior as

authentic Hemingway portrays Cohn as still ldquotoo different to acceptrdquo (38) Cohn is also

a show-off and he likes to brag For example in winning a ldquoseveral hundred dollarsrdquo in

bridge ldquoIt made him rather vain of his bridge game and he talked several times of how a

man could always make a living at bridge if he were ever forced tordquo (17) In another

instance Cohn likes to brag about his relationship with Brett ldquoHe was being confidential

now and it was giving him pleasure to be able to talk with the understanding that I knew

there was something between him and Brettrdquo (106) Moreover Cohnrsquos believed and

perceived superiority is offensive to Jakersquos friend Bill Gorton One time Bill Gorton

says of the approaching Cohn ldquoWell let him not get superior and Jewishrdquo (Sun 102)

This perceived superiority makes Jake extremely dislike Cohn

Why I felt that impulse to devil him I do not know Of course I do know I was

blind unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to him The fact that I took it

as a matter of course did not alter that any I certainly did hate him I do not

think I ever really hated him until he had that little spell of superiority at lunchmdash

that and when he went through all that barbering (105)

According to Dearborn the character of Bill Gorton is a combination of Bill

Smith and Don Ogden Stewart In the novel Bill really doesnrsquot like Jews Bill says of

his Jewish friends adding of Cohn ldquoOh yes Irsquove got some darbs But not alongside of

this Robert Cohn But hersquos just so awfulrdquo (107) Bill is blatantly anti-Semitic He

asks Jake of Brett and Cohn ldquoWhy didnrsquot she go off with some of her own peoplerdquo

(107) Mike adds to this criticism later when he comments ldquoBrettrsquos gone off with men

27

But they werenrsquot ever Jews and they didnrsquot come and hang around afterwardrdquo (148) Bill

Gorton makes a number of anti-Semitic slurs Before their fishing trip Bill says to Jake

ldquoAnd as for this Robert Cohn he makes me sick and he can go to hell and Irsquom damn

glad hersquos staying here so we wonrsquot have him fishing with usrdquo to which Jake agrees (108)

In another case Hemingway likens Cohn to an animal a steer Cohn likes to tag-

along with Brett (141) After a bull fight Cohn says ldquoItrsquos no life being a steerrdquo (145)

Mike sarcastically replies ldquoDonrsquot you think so I would have thought yoursquod loved

being a steer Robertrdquo (146) Being likened to a steer makes Cohn mad Mike partially

drunk says ldquoIs Robert Cohn going to follow Brett around like a steer all the timerdquo

(146) These demeaning remarks imply that Jews are sub-human

At one point Mike intimates that Cohnrsquos Jewishness disqualifies him from being

a part of the group ldquoDo you think you amount to something Cohn Do you think you

belong here among usrdquo (181) Mike says to Cohn ldquoIrsquom not one of your literary chaps

Irsquom not clever But I do know when Irsquom not wanted Why donrsquot you see when

yoursquore not wanted Cohn Go away Go away for Godrsquos sake Take that sad Jewish

face away Donrsquot you think Irsquom rightrdquo (181) In another instance when Cohn tells Brett

that he will stay with her Brett replies ldquoOh donrsquot For Godrsquos sake go off

somewhererdquo (184) Cohn is portrayed as leech-like a clinger similar to Jews accused of

usury bleeding people dry With the eternal theme of Jewish suffering Brett says of

Cohn ldquoI hate him too I hate his damned sufferingrdquo (186)

In his short story ldquoGod Rest You Merry Gentlemenrdquo published in 1933

Hemingway takes a less anti-Semitic approach to Jews In this story there are two

28

doctors Dr Wilcox and Dr Fischer Dr Wilcox is Christian while Dr Fischer is Jewish

A sixteen-year-old boy comes into the hospital and says that he wants to be castrated

because he is struggling with lust The boy is religious and to him lust is a problem Dr

Fischer is compassionate with the boy and genuinely seems interested in his predicament

Dr Fischer converses with the boy and finally tells him ldquoTherersquos nothing wrong with

you Thatrsquos the way yoursquore supposed to be Therersquos nothing wrong with thatrdquo (Short

Stories 299) The boy still sees himself as sinning Dr Fischer tells the boy that what he

is going through is natural and that later he will think himself fortunate (300) The boy

is adamant that he is wrong He doesnrsquot want to listen to Dr Fischerrsquos explanations

Logically Dr Fischer explains to the boy that there is nothing wrong with his body that

he has a good body and that if he is religious then in the future his body can help him

consummate the sacrament of matrimony (300)

Dr Wilcox takes a different approach He calls the boy a fool (300) Then the

boy leaves when he finds out that nobody will castrate him Dr Wilcox rudely says to

the boy ldquoOh go andmdashrdquo (300) Horst Kruse interprets the absence as meaning ldquojack-

offrdquo (62) The boy leaves and later he does try to castrate himself amputating himself

in the process When the boy returns to the hospital with life-threatening injuries Dr

Wilcox ironically isnrsquot in a hurry to try to save the boy as he doesnrsquot see the condition as

an emergency In the story it is Dr Fischer who has shown mercy on the boy not Dr

Wilcox Kruse sees Doc Fischer as the moral center of the story and suggests that

Hemingwayrsquos portrayal of Dr Fischerrsquos knowledgeable insight and humanity might be an

attempt to try to ldquoatone for his former anti-Semitismrdquo (72) Kruse argues that Dr Fischer

29

might even be seen as a Christ-figure a fisher of men (65) Other scholars speculate that

this story might have been an attempt for Hemingway to apologize for the way he treated

Harold Loebrsquos alter-ego Robert Cohn (Kruse 73) But this interpretation is problematic

AE Hotchner once asked Hemingway if he had remorse about the way he had portrayed

Loeb and the others in The Sun Also Rises (Blume 237) Hotchner asked Hemingway

ldquoso if you had it to do over would you have been softerrdquo (237) Hemingway replied to

Hotchner ldquoOh hell nordquo (237) Despite this possible attempt at atonement Hemingway

continued to make anti-Semitic statements after this story first came out

30

CHAPTER 3

HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY

Ernest Hemingway was a born on July 21 1899 in Oak Park Illinois then a

Protestant conservative bastion There in his earliest years Hemingwayrsquos maternal

grandfather Ernest Hall led his family and their servants after breakfast on their knees

in morning prayer (Dearborn 11 Hemingway-Sanford 14) Unlike the others

Grandfather Hall did not pray with his eyes closed nor his head bowed (Pawley 22)

Instead he prayed with his head upraised and ldquowith his arms stretched upward as if

locked in a face-to-face with Godrdquo (Dearborn 11) He also prayed in a thundering voice

(Pawley 22) Ernestrsquos older sister Marcelline Hemingway-Sanford noted that she liked

to peak out at Grandfather Hall through her fingers ldquobecause he seemed so surely to be

talking right to his friend Godrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 15) Marcelline suggested that

Grandfather Hall knew God intimately (14) In addition Grandfather Hall led daily

devotions for the household with the book Daily Strength for Daily Needs (Isabelle 2

Hemingway-Sanford 14) Even the cook and the maid were present at these family

gatherings Grandfather Hall also led grace at the table (Isabelle 2) and he would lead

the family in worship (Hemingway-Sanford 15) He was Episcopalian and he liked to be

referred to in the biblical term ldquoAbbardquo which refers to God as in ldquoAbba fatherrdquo (Isabelle

2 Mark 1436) Marcelline referred to Grandfather Hall as being a very religious man

(Hemingway-Sanford 14) Every Sunday he would go to Grace Episcopal Church

where kneeling on the Brussels carpet he would lead the church in evening prayer

31

(Pawley 21) He once said of his grandson Ernest to his mother Grace ldquothis boy is

going to be heard from someday If he uses his imagination for good purposes hersquoll be

famous but if he starts the wrong way with all his energy hersquoll end in jail and its up to

you which way he goesrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 12)

Ernestrsquos paternal grandfather Anson Hemingway converted to Christianity in

1859 (Dearborn 13) Anson was a descendent of Ralph Hemingway ldquowho came to

America with the Great Migration and through him from a line of Puritan and

Congregationalist ministersrdquo (12) Anson Hemingway was friends with the great

evangelist DL Moody and he closely worked with him (for a while) as the general

secretary at the Chicago YMCA (Dearborn 13 Hemingway-Sanford 18) Ernest idolized

his grandfather Hemingway (Pawley 21) Ernestrsquos mother whom Ernest came to hate

once wrote Ernest ldquoNot for nothing are you the great great grandson of that noble

Christian Rev William Edward Miller and the grandson of the finest purest noblest man

I have ever known Ernest Hallrdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 103-04) In fact

Ernest Miller Hemingway was named after his grandfather and the Miller line of Gracersquos

family Grace wrote to Ernest ldquoYou are born of a race of gentlemen who were clean

mouthed chivalrous to all women grateful and generous You were named for the two

finest and noblest gentleman I have ever known See to it that you do not disgrace their

memoriesrdquo (qtd in M Reynolds Young Hemingway 138) Ernestrsquos family were such

churchgoers that they had their own pews at the First Congregational Church

(Hemingway-Sanford 147)

32

On the flip side Ernestrsquos father was rigid (Pawley 23) In disciplining his

children Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often forced his ldquochildren on their knees to pray

to God for forgivenessrdquo (Isabelle 4) Sometimes Ernest mockingly referred to his father

as ldquothe Great Physicianrdquo a title that Jesus also holds as a healer of people (Hemingway-

Sanford 127) According to a Hemingway biographer (no name given)

Sin scared the life out of Ernest At night he prayed that he had been a good boy

during the day The trouble was a boy could never be sure if he had been good

he might have done something bad and not known it was bad It was so hard to

obey every rule so hard to please his mother his father his teachers his minister

his God so hard that sometimes it wasnrsquot worth trying and a boy felt like giving

up (qtd in Pawley 23)

Ernest grew up then with a great spiritual legacy and upbringing that he found at times

challenging and problematic

On Easter in 1911 at the Third Congregational Church Ernest and his sister

Marcelline were confirmed and they received their First Communionrdquo (Dearborn 33) It

was at this church that Ernestrsquos mother was the choir director she even had Ernestmdasha

sopranomdashand Marcelline sing in the choir (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 108 L

Hemingway 28) In his youth Ernest Hemingway and Marcelline joined a contest put on

by the adult advisor of the Christian Endeavor Society Mr Sweeney to see who could

read the entire King James Bible first (Dearborn 37 Hemingway-Sanford 135) It was

Mr Sweeneyrsquos idea and he offered a prize (Hemingway-Sanford 135) Although Ernest

did not win he and Marcelline did complete the reading of the whole Bible (Dearborn

33

37) In addition Ernest and Marcelline passed a comprehensive test on what they had

read (Pawley 24) Additionally as a youth Ernest was given ldquoan allowance of one penny

per year of age each weekrdquo out of which he gave a tithe to the Sunday school (24) At

the age of fourteen Ernest starred in a Sunday school play at the Third Congregational

Church (24) After his parents transferred their membership to the First Congregational

Church Hemingway and Marcelline joined the Plymouth League where Ernest often led

Sunday afternoon services (Dearborn 33 Isabelle 7-8 Pawley 24 Hemingway-Sanford

147) Marcelline notes that ldquothe refreshments served after the meetings were quite an

attraction for the high school membersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 147) For the Plymouth

League Ernest took turns at being the treasurer the program chairman and sometimes

the speaker at the meetings At church Ernest and Marcelline also played in the church

orchestra Once Ernest and his four brothers and sisters dressed as Chinese and Japanese

citizens in order to phonetically sing the Japanese national anthem (147-48) Yet when

Hemingway went to Italy for World War I he saw and experienced the horrors of war

Perhaps because of this and through his teenage years Hemingway went astray from

his religious upbringing While in Italy Ernest met and fell in love with a nurse Agnes

von Kurowsky He loved her and wanted to start a new life with her in America

Hemingway wrote to William D Horne Jr about this on March 30 1919 ldquoBut Bill Irsquove

loved Ag Shersquos been my ideal and Bill I forgot all about religion and everything else-

because I had Ag to worship All I wanted was Ag and happinessrdquo (Hemingway in

Katakis XXV) This letter shows Hemingway distancing himself from religion in Italy

and replacing it with the woman he loved This is similar to how Catherine Barkley

34

made her lover Frederic Henry her religion in A Farewell to Arms (452) Unfortunately

for his parents Hemingway became a prodigal son and he never returned to the faith of

his youth (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 139)

Despite having turned away from his faith Hemingway could never entirely get

away from his upbringing and Oak Park mores For instance in his first marriage to

Hadley Richardson Hemingway was sometimes shocked by Hadleyrsquos language In fact

despite the fact that Hemingway used those very same words he didnrsquot think it proper for

a woman to use them (163) Hemingway still prayed ldquowhen he was courting Hadley

[he] asked her if she would pray with him in the Milan cathedral as Agnes would notrdquo

(Stoneback 110-11) Hadley responded that she would ldquoI am doing the best thing a

woman can do for a man Bringing you back to religionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 125-26)

Stoneback asserts that there is abundant evidence that Hemingway ldquoliked to pray in

Catholic churches and cathedrals years before he met Paulinerdquo (113)

Before going to World War I Hemingway worked for the Kansas City Star

While there Hemingwayrsquos mother learned that Ernest ldquohad stopped going to churchrdquo and

she sent off an angry letter to him (Reef 24) In one of his letters to his mother

Hemingway wrote ldquoYou know I donrsquot rave about religion but am as sincere a Christian

as I can be I believe in God and Jesus Christ have hopes for a hereafter and creeds

donrsquot matterrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) In addition prior to going to the Great War Ernestrsquos

father encouraged Ernest to associate with strong Christian YMCA men (M Reynolds

Young Hemingway 128) In his letters to Ernest Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often

sounded like a minister (171)

35

Upon his return to Oak Park after the war Hemingway wore his war uniform

around for four months and gave talks of his war experience Marcelline Hemingway

says that this was because Ernestrsquos long boots helped support his injured and weakened

legs Yet Hemingway lied and embellished his wartime experience This behavior is

just like that of Harold Krebs in Hemingwayrsquos short story ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

would lie and attribute ldquoto himself things other men had seen done or heard of and

stating as facts certain apocryphal incidents familiar to all soldiersrdquo (Short Stories 111-

12) In an essay in Ernest Hemingway Artifacts from Life Tom Putnam surmises that

Krebs in embellishing his war record to impress those around him ldquogrows more

disillusionedmdashfinding himself becoming a fraudrdquo (Putnam 184) Hemingway may have

disillusioned himself with his lies too In one instance Hemingway once gave a version

of his fictitious war stories in a talk to an audience at the First Baptist Church (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 56) So Hemingway lied in front of a church Proverbs

1222 reads ldquoLying lips are an abomination to the Lord but those who act faithfully are

his delightrdquo (English Standard Version)

Back in Oak Park Hemingway turned to alcohol for his comfort He stayed in

bed day after day and hid the liquor from his parents (Pawley 25) Staying in bed

helped his aching legs But he didnrsquot stay in bed more than half the day (Hemingway-

Sanford 178) According to Marcelline there were also times when Ernest had ldquoalmost

depressed intervals when he retired to his room away from the well-wishers and curiosity

seekersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 183) Hemingway used the alcohol to cope with the pain

of his war wounds (Pawley 25) One day Marcelline was upset about something and

36

when she came to Ernestrsquos room he noticed this and asked her what was wrong

(Hemingway-Sanford 183) Then he offered her a drink She tasted it Then he said to

her

Donrsquot be afraid Drink it up Sis it canrsquot hurt you Therersquos great comfort in

that little bottle not just for itself But it relaxes you when the pain gets bad

Mazaween donrsquot be afraid to taste all the other things in life that arenrsquot here in

Oak Park Taste everything Sis Donrsquot be afraid to try new things just

because they are new (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 184)

Ernest later wrote of an experience of drinking ldquoand the rhum (sic) enters into us like the

Holy Spiritrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 17) God was not Hemingwayrsquos comfort alcohol

was After that night Marcelline wondered to herself whether Ernest would ever be

happy again at home (Hemingway-Sanford 184) She noted a difference in him upon his

return to Oak Park Marcelline writes ldquoBut Ernest wasnrsquot the same old friend and

playmate I had knownrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178) adding that ldquoa lifetime of new

experiences war death agony new people a new language and love had crowded into

Ernestrsquos liferdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178)

After recovering from his wounds Ernest still didnrsquot get a job or show any

interest in college He had no plans at all Instead he went to Michigan to enjoy life with

his friends (Hemingway-Sanford 198) In Michigan according to Marcelline ldquoThough

Mother implored Ernestrsquos help and tried to talk to him about the family situation he

blithely ignored her appeals and managed to leave immediately after meals with his

friends or go fishing when something needed to be done he promised vaguely to help

37

lsquosome other timerdquo (205) His parents were very worried about his ldquolack of adult

responsibilityrdquo and ldquohis rudeness and his willingness to let both Mrs Charles Bill

Smithrsquos aunt and our family go on providing for him [led Mother to decide that]

something drastic had to be done to wake him uprdquo (205) Leicester Hemingway says that

ldquoOur parents had harbored definite hopes that this fling at soldiering had taught him

[Ernest] a lesson that now he would suddenly show a keen interest in some lsquosensiblersquo

way of liferdquo (L Hemingway 56)

The entire situation is similar to that of Harold Krebs in ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

returns from World War I with his Methodist faith shattered (Pawley 25) Krebs is

unemployed but his mother encourages him ldquorsquoGod has some work for everyone to do

There can be no idle hands in His Kingdomrsquordquo (Short Stories 115) Krebsrsquo mother adds

his fatherrsquos opinion ldquoAll work is honorable as he says But yoursquove got to make a start at

somethingrdquo (115) When Krebsrsquo mother asks Harold if he would kneel and pray with her

Krebs says that he canrsquot Krebsrsquo mother encourages him to try then she asks him if he

wants her to pray for him Krebs consents (116)

Of Ernestrsquos free-loading loafing time Leicester Hemingway writes ldquoAbout the

only thing I really understood of that first summer after the war was that Ernest was in an

agitated state and being around the family did not calm him at allrdquo (59) In the end

Ernestrsquos mother wrote Ernest a letter in which she said that Ernest had overdrawn his

account with her and that he was not welcome back at the family vacation home of

Windemere in Michigan (Dearborn 90) This action got Ernest out of the house looking

for a job on his own It also added to his resentment towards his mother In ldquoSoldierrsquos

38

Homerdquo Krebs tells his mother that he doesnrsquot love her Putnam suggests that Krebs has

forgotten how to love (Putnam 184) In Ernestrsquos case it is quite possible that he didnrsquot

love his mother It is known for sure that he didnrsquot like his mother When married to his

fourth wife Mary Welsh Ernest would sometimes rant about his mother blaming her for

making life hell for his father contributing to his fatherrsquos suicide and referring to his

mother as ldquothat bitchrdquo (qtd in Di Robilant 55) Perhaps his motherrsquos ultimatum pushed

him further away from his Protestant upbringing Although Hemingway didnrsquot like his

mother Hawkins argues that he inherited his volatile temper from her as she held grudges

against people Hawkins writes of Grace Hemingway ldquoGrace had a tendency to store up

injustices done to her so that on occasion even the smallest thing triggered a litany of

perceived wrongsrdquo (34) In addition to his motherrsquos ultimatum Ernestrsquos parents didnrsquot

seem to accept writing as a viable career for Ernest (M Reynolds My Brother 63) No

matter like Harold Krebs Hemingway did abandon his childhood faith after World War

I

Hemingway became interested in Catholicism during his service in Italy during

World War I There he served in the Red Cross Ambulance Corps of Unit 4 as driver for

the Italian Army (Hemingway-Sanford 157) After a few days in Italy Ernest and Bill

Horne found the place dull So hearing of the chance to volunteer ldquofor a special branch

the Red Cross Rolling Canteen Servicerdquo they applied and were accepted (160) This

Service operated all the way up to front linesmdashwhich was right where Hemingway

wanted to be in the midst of the action He ldquohad volunteered to be one of the bicycle

riders who distributed mail chocolate and tobacco to the soldiers in the trenches at the

39

frontrdquo (160) At that time the attack on the Piave River had started and the Austrians

were shelling around only fifty yards away on the other side of the river There making

his rounds in Fossalta Hemingway was wounded by an Austrian Trench Mortar as he

handed an Italian soldier a cigarette and chocolate (161) People thought that

Hemingway was going to die During this time Hemingway later claimed that he was

baptized by a priest ldquoAt Fornaci Ernest and the other wounded soldiers were

administered extreme unction by a chaplain with the Italian army Don Giuseppe

Bianchirdquo (Dearborn 59-60)

Michael Reynolds claims that the priestrsquos absolution of sins and anointment of oil

was an epiphanic moment for Hemingway (M Reynolds The Paris Years 346)

However it is unknown if Hemingway was really absolved of his sins by a Catholic

priest HR Stoneback notes that battlefield baptism and extreme unction did not

produce a ldquoformal process of reconciliation or conversionrdquo (109) On March 10 1927

Hemingway divorced Hadley Richardson to marry his new flame the Catholic Pauline

Pfeiffer This divorce devastated Hemingwayrsquos parents In fact Leicester Hemingway

overheard his dad say of Ernestrsquos divorce ldquoNo Itrsquos the disgrace Id rather see him in his

graverdquo (L Hemingway 103) Leicester Hemingway recalls that one morning while

digging for worms with Dr Hemingway the doctor says ldquoYou know of course that

your brother has brought great shame on our family by divorcing Hadley dont yourdquo

(103) Dr Hemingway laments the fact that there hadnrsquot been a divorce in the

Hemingway family for seventy years While in the process of trying to marry Pauline

Ernest returned to Italy searching for this priest Don Giuseppe Bianchi in order to

40

ascertain if this priest had actually performed an emergency baptism on him thus making

him Catholic (Dearborn 236) According to Hawkins Ernest found and visited with

Bianchi (71) Hawkins notes that as a rule priests during the First World War did not

ldquohand out baptismal certificates as they moved through hospital wards to anoint the

woundedrdquo (71) Despite the fact that there is ldquono evidence that Ernest returned with a

baptismal certificaterdquo he did swear to it (236) With this baptism he was allowed to

marry Pauline (M Reynolds American Homecoming 121) According to some scholars

death-bed baptism led Hemingway to become interested in Catholicism In addition

some scholars go so far as to say that this event marks the point when Hemingway started

to be Catholic Perhaps Ernestrsquos near-death experience infused a seed of Catholicism in

his heart

Michael Reynolds notes that ldquowhen an eighteen-year-old kid thinks hes dying a

Catholic priest can make a lasting impressionrdquo (The Paris Years 346) Reynolds claims

that long before Pauline the ceremony the ritual and the mystery of the Catholic Church

were a strong attraction to Hemingway Even if Pauline had not entered his life

Hemingway would have eventually turned Catholic Pauline simply accelerated this

process Later some found Hemingwayrsquos Catholic conversion to be suspect specious

and very convenient (345-46) Yet ldquonone of these doubters seriously thought of

Hemingway as a Protestant and he himself never looked back on his Congregational

training which he associated with Oak Park hypocrisy his fatherrsquos unbearable piety and

his motherrsquos church politics of who would rule the choir loftrdquo (346)

41

Hemingwayrsquos second wife Pauline Pfeiffer converted him to Catholicism In

fact Pfeiffer was such a serious Catholic that she caused Hemingway ldquo to take seriously

doctrine especially of sin and observance especially of prayerrdquo (Berman 33) Before

their marriage Pfeiffer had misgivings about marrying a married man and cutting him off

from his wife and child (Dearborn 229) For Pauline ldquoTo do so would be not only to

invite the damnation of her soul but also the unforgiving wrath of her Catholic parentsrdquo

(M Reynolds The Paris Years 318) If Pauline committed adultery she believed that

she would have been ldquosinning so mortally their souls were in jeopardyrdquo (318) Reynolds

wryly observes that ldquo[o]ne could not remain a devout Catholic and an ardent adulteressrdquo

(318)

For his part Ernest considered ldquoconverting to Catholicism in order to marry

Pauline in the Churchrdquo (Dearborn 221) Dearborn adds ldquoNo doubt Pauline was

researching the Churchrsquos requirements for marriage to a divorced manrdquo (221) In order to

marry Pauline Hemingway had to provide proof that his first marriage to Hadley was

outside the Church and so unofficial null and void (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 114) So since Hemingway ldquotestified that he had been baptized during the

war in Italy and that his first marriage was outside the Church [he] received on April

25 the necessary dispensation from the Archbishop of Paris which removed the last

obstacle to the ceremonyrdquo (121) Yet Hemingwayrsquos friend Ada MacLeish did not

attend Ernestrsquos and Paulinersquos wedding because she was disgusted by the Catholic

Churchrsquos solemnization of the new couplersquos bond and thought it a farce (Dearborn 237)

Ada

42

was completely disgusted with Ernestrsquos efforts to persuade the Catholic Church

that he had been baptized by a priest who walked between aisles of wounded men

in an Italian hospitalmdashtherefore Ernest was a Catholic and Hadley never had been

his wife and Bumby was a bastard To see this farce solemnized by the Catholic

Church was more than we [Archie and Ada] could take (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 124)

In his quest to marry Pauline Hemingway openly and formally embraced

Catholicism Hemingway wrote to Ernest Walsh about his rediscovered Catholicity

If I am anything I am a Catholic Had extreme unction administered to me as such

in July 1918 and recovered So guess I am a super-catholic It is most

certainly the most comfortable religion for anyone soldiering Am not what is

called a ldquogoodrdquo catholic But cannot imagine taking any other religion

seriously (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 345)

It is unknown whether Ernest ever mailed this letter

Ruth A Hawkins suggests that Hemingway ardently became a true Catholic

believer after he was cured of his temporary sexual problems after his marriage to

Pauline Hemingway told AE Hotchner that he and Pauline had had a good sex life

during their affair yet after they got married Hemingway experienced problems with

impotence (Hawkins 86) To try to alleviate this problem Hemingway saw doctors and a

mystic Nothing worked Pauline was patient and understanding Ernest was

discouraged so she encouraged him to go to the church a few blocks away and pray

Ernest recounts ldquoI went there and said a short prayer Then I went back to our room

43

Pauline was in bed waiting I undressed and got in bed and we made love like we

invented it We never had any trouble again Thatrsquos when I became a Catholicrdquo (qtd in

Hawkins 86)

Throughout his literary career Hemingway writes a number of stories involving

Catholics His short story ldquoThe Wine of Wyomingrdquo is about a French Catholic

bootlegging couple and is based upon a real-life Catholic couple that he met in Sheridan

Wyoming (Dearborn 263) Hemingway also writes about Catholicism in The Sun Also

Rises However Hemingway doesnrsquot write so much about Catholicism but rather of

Catholics themselves in their day-to-day lives (Hertzel 78) In The Sun Also Rises Jake

Barnes is nominally Catholic He basically lives the way that he wants to prays and

goes to church occasionally This is kind of like Hemingway who although not a

nominal Catholic lived the way that he wanted to while still claiming to be Catholic and

following some rituals In The Sun Also Rises Jake talks of going to church ldquoa couple of

times once with Brettrdquo (Sun 154) Although Jake prays regularly including for his

friends he also prays for mundane things like the upcoming bullfights and the Festival of

San Fermiacuten ldquoI wondered if there was anything else I might pray for and I thought I

would like to have some money so I prayed that I would make a lot of moneyrdquo (103)

While praying Jake gets distracted and he begins to think about other things ldquoas

all the time I was kneeling with my forehead on the wood in front of me and was

thinking of myself as praying I was a little ashamed and regretted that I was such a rotten

Catholicrdquo (103) Of his bad example as a Catholic Jake realizes that ldquothere was nothing I

could do about it at least for a while and maybe never but that anyway it was a grand

44

religion and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next timerdquo (103) One

critic asserts that The Sun Also Rises ldquois a novel about spiritual bankruptcyrdquo (Djos) Jake

is spiritually bankrupt but he tries to go about things in another way He drinks in order

escape the pain of the war and his impotency So alcohol might be said to be Jakersquos

primary spiritual comfort like it was a comfort for Hemingway Carlos Baker

categorizes The Sun Also Rises as a tale of Wastelanders (Berman 44) Moreover Jake

once thinks ldquoTo hell with people The Catholic Church had an awfully good way of

handling all thatrdquo (Sun 39) Jake believes that the Catholic Church has a good way of

sending people to hell purgatory or heaven to whatever fate the individual deserves

In addition Catholicism is referenced in Hemingwayrsquos A Farewell to Arms with

its protagonist Frederic Henry Unlike the nominally Catholic Jake Barnes Frederic has

no religion whatsoever (Farewell 279) However there is a priest in Fredericrsquos Italian

army unit that Frederic likes a lot Yet Frederic thinks the priest dull (33) According to

Frederic he and the priest share many of the same tastes yet there is a difference

between them (12) Frederic is a man of the world who does not believe in religion per

se and he loves women The priest is a man of God he loves God above all he doesnrsquot

pursue women When Frederic is recovering from his war wound in the hospital the

priest comes to visit him Frederic tells the priest that he does not love God (62) He

adds that he is ldquoafraid of Him in the night sometimesrdquo (62) Gary Sloan argues that

Fredericrsquos girlfriend Catherine ldquowill be his [Fredericrsquos] religion even as he she says is

hersrdquo (452) Michael Reynolds points out that ldquoCatherine sounded a lot like [Ernestrsquos

second wife] Pauline who had made Ernest her religion risking her soul on the promise

45

of his loverdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 216) This is also the case when

Ernest made his first girlfriend Agnes von Kurowsky his religion over organized

religion

Although Frederic is not religious in desperate times he seems to temporarily

become religious When he first receives his war injury he cries out to God ldquoget me out

of hererdquo (48) When his and Catherine Barkleyrsquos baby dies Frederic thinks of the baby

and thinks that it should have been baptized (279) Faced with the possibility of

Catherine dying Frederic prays ldquoEverything was gone inside of me I did not think I

could not think I knew she was going to die and I prayed that she would not Donrsquot let

her die Oh God please donrsquot let her die Irsquoll do anything for you if you wonrsquot let her

dierdquo (282) Hertzel points out that some of Hemingwayrsquos characters pray frequently

However it is also important to note that the prayers never get answered (79) For

example in Hemingwayrsquos posthumously published Islands in the Stream Thomas

Hudsonrsquos son David makes this comment about prayer ldquoYou canrsquot tell Audrey You

never know when it [prayer] may [do good] I donrsquot mean that Mr Davis needs to be

prayed for I just mean about prayer technicallyrdquo (186) In Frederick Henryrsquos case both

his baby and Catherine die Apparently in Hemingwayrsquos mind there was no

supernatural realm and prayers go nowhere Frederick asks Catherine on her death bed

ldquoDo you want me to get a priest or anyone to come and see yourdquo (Farewell 282)

Catherine just wants Frederic to stay with her Frederic says that his only religious feeling

comes at night (227) So the spiritual connection of sex is a religious experience to

Frederic

46

Hemingway does not present a supernatural dimension to Catholicism (Hertzel

78) In The Sun Also Rises as Jake and Brett leave a chapel in Pamplona he thinks that

ldquo[t]he praying had not been much of a successrdquo (212) Brett also portrays religion as

being uselessmdashat least for her saying ldquoDonrsquot know why I get so nervy in church

Never does me any goodrdquo (212) Brett says that praying never does her any good and

that she has never gotten anything that she prayed for (213) Jake does say that he has

gotten things that he has prayed for Brett replies of prayer ldquoMaybe it works for some

peoplerdquo (213) Jake considers himself ldquopretty religiousrdquo (213) Hemingway himself

prayed but apparently after the Spanish Civil War his view on prayer changed In The

Dangerous Summer he says ldquo[I] never [prayed] for myself during the Spanish Civil

War when I saw the terrible things that happened to other people and I felt that to pray for

oneself was selfish and egotisticalrdquo (142) In a June 19 1945 letter to Thomas Welsh

Hemingway expounded

In first war really scared after wounded and very devout at the end Fear of

death Belief in personal salvation or maybe just preservation through prayers for

intercession of Our Lady and various saints that prayed to with almost tribal faith

Spanish war seemed so selfish to pray for self when such things being done to all

people by people sponsored by Church that never prayed for self But missed

Ghostly comfort This war [Spanish Civil War] got through without praying

once Times a little bad sometimes too But felt that having forfeited any right to

ask for these intercessions would be absolutely crooked to ask for same no matter

how scared (qtd in Stoneback 128)

47

Consequently Hemingway only prayed for others after the Spanish Civil War In The

Dangerous Summer Hemingway writes of praying for others in Spain ldquoI prayed for all

those I had in hock to Fortune for all friends with cancer for all girls living and dead

and that Antonio would have good bulls that afternoonrdquo (69) Yet it is unknown if any

of Hemingwayrsquos prayers were ever answered In fact Hemingway wondered if his

prayers ever got anywhere

In case my prayers were invalid as they well might have been and to make sure

someone competent was doing it I took out a membership in the Jesuit Seminary

Fund Association at New Orleans for Carmen and Antonio [Ordoacutentildeez bullfighter]

There was a class graduating who when they were ordained would pray for them

each day (142)

So Hemingway got others to pray for his friends family and others in case that his

prayers were going nowhere In Hemingwayrsquos works instead of offering a supernatural

element to the Catholic Church he presents the Church as a solely human institution

Hertzel writes that Hemingway treats the Catholic Church as ldquoa colorful institution with

richness tradition ritual and discipline but it provides no convenient miraclesrdquo (78-79)

Consequently Hemingway uses Catholicism as a literary motif to add texture to his

writings (79)

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway seems to make fun of the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit that according to Christians is the method by which the Bible was

written Hemingwayrsquos example is silly Hemingway mockingly describes the writing

process of Waldo Frank the author of Virgin Spain He ldquolay naked in his bed in the night

48

and God sent him things to write how he lsquowas in touch ecstatically with the plunging and

immobile allrdquo (53) Moreover

After God sent it he wrote it The result was that unavoidable mysticism of a

man who writes a language so badly he cannot make a clear statement

complicated by whatever pseudo-scientific jargon is in style at the moment God

sent him some wonderful stuff about Spain during his short stay there

preparatory to writing of the soul of the country but it is often nonsense (53)

Hemingway wrote more generally of the religion of the Lost Generation again

with a touch of mockery

There will be many new salvations brought forward My generation in France for

example in two years sought salvation in first the Catholic Church 2nd DaDaism

third the movies fourth Royalism fifth the Catholic Church again There may be

another and better war But none of it will matter particularly to this generation

because to them the things that are given to people to happen have already

happened (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 327)

In his books Hemingway also seems to make fun of religion in order to try to be

comedic In his ficto-biography True at First Light Hemingway asks the interpreter

ldquoDid you not like the Mission School Remember God is listening He hears your every

wordrdquo (182) Later Hemingway asks GC ldquoAnd will you carry these principles into

Life sonrdquo (204) GC responds ldquoDrink your beer Billy Grahamrdquo (204) Ironically

years later Billy Graham would use Ernest Hemingway as a sermon illustration More

comedy follows in True at First Light when Hemingway talks about a new religion that

49

he created for the Africans He said that his African helpers Ngui and Mthuka and

himself ldquocould decide what was a sin and what was notrdquo (281) Hemingway also talks

about the ldquoHappy Hunting Groundsrdquo as if it were some sort of heaven

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway is comedic through the character of Bill

Gorton Walking down a boulevard with Jake Bill spots a taxidermistrsquos shop and

jokingly tries to get Jake to buy a stuffed dog Jake knows that it is a joke and just tries

to keep Bill moving down the boulevard After Jake promises to get a stuffed dog on the

way back Bill Gorton says ldquoAll right Have it your own way Road to hell paved with

unbought stuffed dogs Not my faultrdquo (78) Hemingway also does this with the priest in

A Farewell to Arms in order to try to infuse comedy into this novel when the captain at

the soldiersrsquo mess keep joking with the priest as the butt of the joke ldquoPriest to-day with

girlsrdquo (7) The captain adds ldquoPriest every night five against onerdquo (7)

On the train to Bayonne Bill Gorton says of some pilgrims on the train with

them ldquoGoddam Puritansrdquo (Sun 91) In the train compartment with Jake and Bill is a man

from Montana with his wife and son The man says to Jake and Bill of getting a meal

while pretending to be pilgrims ldquoThey thought we were snappers all right It

certainly shows you the power of the Catholic Church Itrsquos a pity you boys ainrsquot

Catholics You could get a meal then all rightrdquo (93) Frustrated by the situation Jake

assures him that he is Catholic When Bill Gorton corners a priest returning from a meal

with the pilgrims Bill asks him when the Protestants will get a chance to eat The priest

says that he doesnrsquot know and Gorton replies ldquoItrsquos enough to make a man join the Klanrdquo

(93)

50

After fishing along the Irati River Jake and Bill meet to have lunch After talking

about William Jennings Bryan and which came first the chicken or the egg Bill mocks

religion and the question of whether the chicken or the egg comes first ldquoOh how

should we know We should not question Our stay on earth is not for long Let us

rejoice and believe and give thanksrdquo (126) Holding a drumstick perhaps like a mock

scepter and a bottle of wine Bill tries to be mockingly funny ldquoLet us rejoice in our

blessings Let us utilize the fowls of the air Let us utilize the product of the vine Will

you utilize a little brotherrdquo (126) Handing Jake the bottle Bill says ldquoUtilize a little

brother Let us not doubt brother Let us not pry into the holy mysteries of the

hencoop with simian fingers Let us accept on faithrdquo (127) Then pointing at a

drumstick Bill says ldquoLet me tell you We will say and I for one am proud to saymdashand I

want you to say with me on your knees brother Let no man be ashamed to kneel here in

the great out-of-doors Remember the woods were Godrsquos first templesrdquo (127) They

uncork another bottle Before they take a nap Bill asks Jake if he is really a Catholic

(128) Jake replies that he is technically a Catholic When asked what that means Jake

says that he doesnrsquot know (129) Even though the Eucharist is mocked Jake and Bill are

seemingly reborn as they fish in nature So nature provides a chance at rest and

regeneration

Just like Hemingway in most of his life some of his characters are not religious

although they have religious influences Robert Jordan is one example His father was

religious But his fatherrsquos religion turned Robert off In one instance as a younger man

when Robert is about to leave on a train his father gets emotional and says a prayer over

51

him In response ldquoRobert Jordan had been so embarrassed by all of it [his fatherrsquos

emotionalism] the damp religious sound of the prayer and by his father kissing him

good-by that he had felt suddenly so much older than his father and sorry for him that he

could hardly bear itrdquo (For Whom Bell Tolls 405-406) This would seem similar to

Ernestrsquos leaving home for the first time en route to Kansas City (Hemingway-Sanford

154) In this instance Hemingwayrsquos father bought him the ticket and saw him off (154)

Maybe Dr Hemingway did cry when he saw Ernest off for he really loved his son

While Ernest was in Italy Marcelline notes that her ldquoDad had always loved Ernest

especially dearly and he missed him and prayed for him dailyrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford

160) To compound all this like Hemingwayrsquos father Robertrsquos religious father later

ldquoshot himselfrdquo in a suicide in the same manner as Robert Jordanrsquos father (For Whom Bell

Tolls 66) Robert ldquounderstood his father and he forgave him everything and he pitied him

but he was ashamed of himrdquo (340) Perhaps Hemingway was ashamed of his father after

his fatherrsquos sad suicide This shame and embarrassment of his late father and his

perceived cowardice may have pushed Robert away from religion (338) In addition it is

quite probable that the suicide of Hemingways father additionally pushed him away from

the Protestant tradition of his father as his father had been a deacon and a very upright

and religious man (Reynolds M American Homecoming 211) Yet Daniel Pawley notes

that Hemingway loved his father more than anyone else in the world At one point in For

Whom the Bell Tolls Robert says ldquoI do not believe in ogres nor soothsayers nor in the

supernatural thingsrdquo (250) When Pilar tells Robert that she cares about him Robert tells

52

Pilar that he doesnrsquot want her love He qualifies ldquoNi tu ni Diosrdquo (Neither yours nor

Godrsquos) (387) Robert doesnrsquot want Godrsquos love either

48

CHAPTER 4

HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY

According to Michael Reynolds Hemingway liked all things ancient and

medieval and that included the Catholic Church In fact Hemingway liked visiting

medieval cathedrals among them Chartres He ldquoliked the ritual the mystery the odors of

age and incense He liked its permanence in stonerdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 325)

Hadley Richardson liked to refer to the chivalric Hemingway as her ldquogentil parfit

knightrdquo an allusion to Chaucerrsquos description of the knight in The Canterbury Tales (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 223) and he liked to wear a scapular This scapular has

ldquogot an image of Christ on it suspended from a brown shoestring-like loop At home in

Key West friends have observed him with the scapular and how hersquoll make the sign of

the cross before he goes in swimmingrdquo (Hendrickson 28)

Hemingway would come back to the Bible in his later years in his search for

literary titles Hemingway alludes to Ecclesiastes 14-7 in his title of The Sun Also Rises

The Scriptural passage was used to signify that basically the Lost Generation would

pass away but that the earth would abide forever Moreover Hemingway gave the Bible

credit for teaching him how to write (Blume 213)

In his youth Hemingway idolized his missionary uncle to China Willoughby (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 110) Willoughby had a medical mission there In fact

Ernestrsquos father Dr Clarence Hemingway inspired by his brother had wanted to be a

medical missionary to Guam but his wife had dissuaded him from it (Pawley 24) Dr

49

Hemingway also had an offer for a medical mission in Greenland (L Hemingway 21)

Grace refused to go Ernest Hemingwayrsquos life might have had a much different outcome

if his mother would have supported his father in becoming a medical missionary to Guam

or even Greenland Years later when Hemingway was living in Cuba Hemingwayrsquos

sister Ursala visited and she and Ernest reminisced about their Uncle Willoughby

recalling his visits and together they sang ldquolsquoJesus Loves Mersquo in Chinese until the tears

rolled down their cheeksrdquo (25) Upon the death of his father Ernest returned home to

Oak Park where he openly displayed his new-found Catholic faith Marcelline says that

upon his arrival Ernest ldquotold us that he had had a Mass saidrdquo for their dad (Dearborn 268

M Reynolds American Homecoming 211 Hemingway-Sanford 233) With Dr

Hemingwayrsquos body lying in repose in the music room Ernest now leader of his family

led his family in the Lordrsquos Prayer This echoes back to the time in Ernestrsquos youth when

his Grandfather Hall would lead his family in the Lordrsquos prayer ldquohis eyes directed

heavenwardrdquo (Dearborn 268) However during this time of mourning Ernestrsquos

Catholicism angered some peoplemdashespecially Marcelline

Relying on Catholic teaching Ernest believed that his father had gone to

purgatory since suicide was a mortal sin (M Reynolds American Homecoming 211) In

addition Ernest mentioned that since his family was a Heathen Family ldquoit was

impossible to offer enough prayers to get his [Dr Hemingwayrsquos] soul into heavenrdquo

(Dearborn 268) Marcelline thought that Ernestrsquos idea of praying their father out of

purgatory was disgusting Ernest told his kid brother Leicester Hemingway to ldquopray as

hard as he could for his fatherrsquos soul to be released from purgatoryrdquo as ldquothings go right on

50

from hererdquo (Dearborn 268 My Brother 111) Despite the waves that Ernest made with

his family he showed genuine care concern and distress in his belief that his late father

was in purgatory (Dearborn 268) In this instance Hemingway definitely took Catholic

doctrine seriously

Dearborn paints Ernest Hemingway as a practicing Catholic one who would go to

Mass and fast on Good Friday She suggests that during this trying time Hemingway

turned to his faith in order to anchor himself through his grief She further suggests that

Ernestrsquos claim that his father was in purgatory was a way for him to assert his patriarchal

dominance over the family and to show that he was in charge Marcelline as the eldest

had tried to claim this role but in her struggle with Ernest she had lost (269)

In Chicago a Dominican priest wrote to Hemingway to thank him for saving his

friend Don Stewart in the bull ring at Pamplona (M Reynolds American Homecoming

156) This priest had heard of Hemingwayrsquos conversion to Catholicism within that year

1927 and he urged Hemingway to become a writer for the Dominican cause in order to

defend the Church and its ldquocause of Truthrdquo (156) In response Hemingway wrote

I have been a Catholic for many years although I feel very badly and did not go to

communion for over 8 years However I have gone regularly to mass for the last

two years and absolutely set my house in order within the year However I have

always had more faith than intelligence or knowledge and I have never wanted to

be known as a Catholic writer because I know the importance of setting an

examplemdashand I have never set a good example Also I am a dumb Catholic

and I have so much faith that I hate to examine itmdashbut I am trying to lead a good

51

life and to write well and truly and it is easier to do the first than the second (qtd

in M Reynolds American Homecoming 156)

In a 1940 Valentinersquos Day letter to his editor Maxwell Perkins Hemingway wrote ldquoI am

not a Catholic writer nor a party writer nor even an American writer but just a writer

meant to rise above injusticerdquo (qtd in Isabelle 51)

Despite his Catholicism Hemingwayrsquos faith didnrsquot help him to change into a

better man Although he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not

transform him nor even make him Christ-like Hemingway did not have a salvation

experience Nor was his faith life-altering Stoneback agrees that ldquoHemingway did not

turn to the church for instant deliverancerdquo (Stoneback 122) As a Catholic

Hemingway continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Ernestrsquos

Catholicism did not translate into his personal life Hemingwayrsquos religious life was one

solely of Catholic rituals He did not change his behavior or his vices He did not

overcome his problems Unfortunately in the end Hemingwayrsquos problems overcame

him

Despite his personal shortcomings Hemingway did at times take Catholicism

seriously After one of his African safaris he returned to Paris and saw his friend Ned

Calmer Calmer was a reporter and an aspiring novelist There Hemingway learned that

Calmerrsquos daughter had not been baptized (Hendrickson 44) This was unconscionable to

Hemingway Years later Calmer wrote that ldquoErnest seemed genuinely concerned

The attitude was this will never do He came along to the church of St Sulpice in Paris

52

as sponsor at the ceremonyrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 44) where Calmerrsquos daughter was

baptized

Hemingwayrsquos faith affected him in other ways too During the Spanish Civil

War his Catholicism would give him ldquosympathy with the conservative traditionalist side

in Spain at least in the early days of this unrestrdquo (Dearborn 303) Later Hemingway

would switch his allegiance to the anti-Franco anti-fascist communist-supported side of

the conflict Unfortunately this shift caused many family disputes with his wife Pauline

(Isabelle 25) However it was Hemingwayrsquos belief that politics and religion should not

mix (Stoneback 117) After the Spanish Civil War and in Cuba Hemingway used to

worry that the FBI were Roman Catholics and thus consequently Franco sympathizers

(N Reynolds 127) In fact Hemingway liked to refer to the FBI as ldquolsquoFrancorsquos Bastard

Irishrsquo and lsquoFrancorsquos Iron Cavalryrsquordquo (127) Nicholas Reynolds suggests that Hemingway

was paranoid about the FBI because he had signed on to be a spy with the Russian

Narodny Kommisariat Vnutrennikh Del (Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs)

better known as the NKVD Yet Hemingway never actually did anything for them His

code name was ldquoArgordquo Dearborn notes that ldquo[d]espite his professed Catholicism Ernest

was impatient with religion over philosophizing and what we would call today self-

helprdquo (320) Dorothy Parker makes a different claim about Hemingway ldquoThere is no

more than a thin line of moss to stamp the spot where Robert Benchley and Ernest

Hemingway had that big philosophical discussion about the meaning of liferdquo (qtd in M

Reynolds American Homecoming 106) Philosopher Ralph Withington Church ldquorecalls

his conversations with Hemingway about the lsquoproblem of redemptionrsquo and

53

Malebranchersquos lsquotheory of gracersquordquo (Stoneback 121) Ernest also had his own privately-

held opinions about Catholicism For example Hemingway told one of his daughters-in-

law that unlike the Catholic Churchrsquos teaching that animals donrsquot have souls he believed

that animals did (Dearborn 516) Secondly Ernest seems to have taken on or been

influenced by his motherrsquos mystic spiritualist bent Ernest believed in superstitions and

in some types of psychic phenomena (518)

Later in his life Ernest seems to have some misgivings about Catholicism He

consistently said when Paulinersquos name surfaced that ldquoher Catholic faith had wrecked the

marriagerdquo (Dearborn 406) Pauline had been advised by her doctor not to have any more

children The fear was that Pauline would get pregnant and die from the pregnancy

(Hawkins 141) Since Catholicism only permitted the birth control method of

withdrawal Ernestrsquos pleasure was significantly diminished by this technique and

consequently doomed their marriage Hemingway had also wanted to have a daughter

but this dream was never realized Paulinersquos second son Gregory who became a doctor

contends that all that his father would have had to have done to retain his pleasure would

have been to abstain from intercourse on Paulinersquos fertile days According to Gregrsquos

reasoning this ldquowould have been obvious to lsquoany foolrsquordquo (qtd in Dearborn 406)

According to Leicester Hemingway Ernest wanted nothing to do with the Catholic

church after Pauline and he asked for ldquothe address of an uncle William E Miller who

had written many hymns in the Episcopalian hymnalrdquo (Isabelle 58-59) Moreover Ernest

was concerned about his sons Patrick and Gregory attending a Catholic school Ernest

feared that this school Canterbury was affecting Patrick gradually and insidiously

54

(Dearborn 480) In fact Ernest hated this school and he referred to it as ldquoone of lsquothose

snot schoolsrsquordquo (480)

Paulinersquos and Hemingwayrsquos second son Gregory had a troubled life Over time

he came to like to dress up as a woman In Los Angeles this caught up with him when

he tried to enter the womenrsquos restroom of a theater in drag (Hendrickson 297) Pauline

cabled Hemingway that Gregory was in trouble Hemingway called back Pauline was in

a lot of pain but went to the phone anyway to tell Hemingway about the problem On the

phone Hemingway said ldquoItrsquos all your fault see how yoursquove brought him up yoursquore

corrupt and hersquos corruptrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 297) Hemingway intimated that perhaps

Gregoryrsquos Catholic upbringing had pushed Gregory into transgenderism Gregory had

served as an altar-boy at Saint Mary Star of the Sea (386)

That night Pauline went to bed in tears Unfortunately the heated accusative

argument with Ernest had set Pauline off At the time Pauline had been staying at her

sisterrsquos Virginia residence in Los Angeles In the early morning Virginia and her

friend Laura awakened to what they described as a ldquohorrendous screamrdquo from Paulinersquos

room Pauline was taken to the hospital where her blood pressure skyrocketed dropped

to zero and caused ldquoher to die of shock on the operating tablerdquo (Hawkins 271) Later

Hemingway blamed Paulinersquos death on Gregory Yet Gregory became a doctor and

researched his motherrsquos death more thoroughly Through an autopsy report Gregory

learned that his mother had died of a ldquorare tumor of the adrenal glandrdquo also known as

pheochromocytoma (275) This type of tumor secretes large quantities of adrenaline

causing blood pressure to spikemdasheven to the point where arteries can rupture Pauline

55

had had only an intermittent tumor that would secrete during times of stress Gregory

informed his father of his findings in a letter in the summer of 1960 Gregory wrote that

Hemingwayrsquos argument with Pauline had set Pauline off ldquocausing a blood vessel to

rupturerdquo after which her blood pressure dropped to zero with the resulting shock killing

her on the operating table (275) So Gregory blamed Hemingway for Paulinersquos early

death from shock due to the ruptured blood vessel and the drop of her blood pressure to

zero

In 1947 Hemingwayrsquos son Patrick had a spiritual crisis of his own Due to his

Catholic mother Patrick had been schooled in Catholic schools In 1947 Patrick had

been studying for the College Board exams at Hemingwayrsquos home the Finca in Cuba

However when Gregory had a spring vacation Patrick decided to join him in Key West

In 1945 Pauline had bought herself a sports car (Dearborn 497) In 1947 in Key West

Patrick was newly licensed and Patrick let Gregory drive the sports car Gregory drove

off the road and hit a tree near Casa Marina

In the process Patrick and Gregory seemed to suffer only minor injuries

Gregory ldquoreceived a minor knee injuryrdquo while Patrick ldquosuffered a cut on his chin and

slight headacherdquo (Hawkins 251) Yet Patrick had suffered a severe concussion (Di

Robilant 7) At first the boys didnrsquot seem to have any ill effects from the accident and

they arrived back at the Finca However shortly after his arrival Patrick started acting

strangely (Dearborn 497) At the Finca Patrick asked ldquofor a pot of hot water and some

teardquo (497) When Reneacute Villarreal brought the hot water and tea to the little house

ldquoPatrick complained that the water was dirtyrdquo (497) Then Patrick commenced shouting

56

loudly at the cook Ramoacuten who wasnrsquot even there Next at the main house Ernest

placed Patrick ldquoon a wicker chaise and stroked his headrdquo (497) In Havana the next day

Patrick was able to take the College Board exams but as the day progressed he grew

increasingly agitated So Ernest called for a doctor The doctor ldquosedated Patrick but the

next day he was delirious and soon became violent and it was necessary to restrain himrdquo

(497) Andrea Di Robilant believes that Patrick had a complete breakdown (7) His loss

of normalcy became a terrible ordeal for the Hemingway family in which his future his

sanity and his life hung in the balance (Dearborn 497)

In response Ernest placed Patrick in his own bed at the Finca and slept on a straw

mat in the living room just outside the door of his bedroom taking care of Patrick around

the clock (Dearborn 497-98 Hawkins 251) Ernest did this for the next three months

(Dearborn 498) It was hoped that Patrick would recover and be well within a couple of

weeks Yet it didnrsquot turn out this way Doctors from all over Cuba were called in Dr

Herrera deemed Patrick to be ldquopredementialrdquo a condition either set off from the exams or

by a crisis of his Catholic faith (498) Religion was a big portion of Patrickrsquos delirium

the other subject being putas whores A local priest named Don Andreacutes became one of

Patrickrsquos chief caretakers Surprisingly due to the spiritual nature of Patrickrsquos condition

this priest was unable to enter Patrickrsquos room without being accused of being the devil

incarnate Consequently this priest became known as the Black Priest

Patrick was so delusional that Ernest and his doctors were concerned about being

near Patrick because they were afraid that they would be scratched or bitten Patrick

remained bedridden for weeks and ldquohe moved in and out of consciousnessrdquo (Di Robilant

57

7) However Patrickrsquos condition did not improve he only worsened and became more

violentmdashhaving to be constantly restrained (Dearborn 498) At first the doctors wanted

Ernest to put Patrick in a hospital but Ernest was determined to keep Patrick at home

Patrick was so delirious that he wouldnrsquot eat When Patrick did eat he stuffed the food in

his mouth like a hamster to spit out at his caretakers Patrick even couldnrsquot swallow his

own saliva Considering that Patrick would probably rip out feeding tubes it was

decided to feed him rectally under restraint and under heavy sedation Patrick had not

eaten since his illness had begun five days prior It would take a full hour and a half to

feed Patrick rectally Despite this procedure Patrick dropped to eighty-eight pounds by

the start of August He had become psychotic

Given the limited means and the early days of psychiatric diagnoses in that time

and age it seemed like Patrick was schizophrenic perhaps even needing a lifetime of

institutionalized care (499) In July a new physician suggested that Patrick undergo

shock treatments In those days the only options were lobotomy and electroshock

therapy (499-500) So seeing no other viable option Patrickrsquos parents relented to the

electroshock therapy (500) In the outbuilding of the Finca Patrick received his first

shock treatment After only around ten minutes Patrick was reported as being ldquolucidrdquo

Fortunately Patrickrsquos electroshock therapy brought him back

The Hemingways remembered how the shock treatments had brought Patrick

back from the brink of hopelessness However when electroshock treatments were tried

years later on Ernest himself because of his traumatic brain injuries and compounding

depression they had the opposite effect For Ernest Hemingway electroshock treatments

58

wiped out his memory and he could no longer write take pride in himself and support

himself financially by the only means he knew how The shock treatments pushed

Hemingway further into depression

After his marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer Hemingway had misgivings about his

Catholic faith However HR Stoneback asserts that Hemingway never entirely gave up

his Catholicism and that he continued to go to Mass pray support the church and regard

himself as Catholic (114) Despite all this Hemingway had some bitterness toward the

Catholic Church Yet it still played an influence in his life Lloyd Arnold says of

Hemingwayrsquos last twenty years of life ldquoI did not know Papa as a man without Godrdquo (qtd

in Stoneback 105-06) Even after his marriage to Pauline Hemingway did put some

stock in Catholicism His divorce from Pauline made him excommunicated from the

Catholic Churchmdashhe could not receive communionmdashbut he still did visit Catholic

churches and pray inside During his marriage to Pauline Hemingway had faithfully and

regularly attended Mass Of his post-Pauline years Hemingway friend and biographer

AE Hotchner noted that in 1954 Hemingway on his way to Madrid stopped into the

cathedral at Burgos where he kneeled and prayed (Stoneback 106) According to

Hotchner in 1958 Hemingway paid for a new roof for the Catholic Church in Hailey

Idaho Then he gave an address to that parishrsquos young people admonishing them not to

work on Sunday as it was ldquovery back luckrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106)

Actor Gary Cooper who had played the role of Robert Jordan in the 1943 film

version of For Whom the Bell Tolls converted to Catholicism himself in 1958 In

response Hemingway ldquotalked sympathetically with Gary Cooper aboutrdquo it (Stoneback

59

106) In 1959 Hemingway was pickpocketed in Spain so in response he put an ad in

the newspaper asking the Spanish pickpocket to return his billfold as he cared mostly for

ldquogetting back the ldquoimage of St Christopher in itrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106) Throughout

his lifetime Hemingway named a son after a pope ldquodisplayed great pride in Patrickrsquos

confirmation mastery of the catechism gave money and support to the churchrdquo (110)

Ernest even taught his oldest son Bumby how to pray (L Hemingway 99) When

Hemingway received his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 he gave the medal to the

Virgen of Cobra Shrine in Cuba (Isabelle 52)

In a conversation with his fourth and final wife Mary Welsh Hemingway says to

her ldquoReligion is superstition and I believe in superstitionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 118)

Ernest adds that it is his ldquoTribal heritagerdquo (118) Mary wrote to Stoneback of Ernest that

when they would visit cathedrals in France Italy or Spain Hemingway would light

candles in honor of the memory of his friends Stoneback writes that with Ernest Mary

Hemingway had to live through a Catholic prism With Ernest Mary had to eat fish on

Fridays observe Lent do the Christmas traditions celebrate Ernestrsquos saintrsquos day have

masses and prayers said for family and friends observe holy days and Catholic feasts

drive miles off course to visit and revisit cathedrals and churches and to attend religious

processions (119) Mary Hemingway would later say that Hemingway ldquoadmiredrdquo the

Catholic church and that he ldquothought of himself always as Catholicrdquo (qtd in 119) Mary

Hemingway said of Ernestrsquos friend the Black Priest Don Andreacutes that he and

Hemingway would talk alone and that Ernest regarded him ldquoas his lsquopersonal priest and

confessorrsquo that they prayed together and for each otherrdquo (120) According to Toby

60

Bruce Hemingway and the Black Priest were very good friends they talked quite a lot

and that when Don Andreacutes died in 1955 Hemingway had masses said for him (132)

Mary said of Ernest ldquoWhen he said he was Catholic he meant itrdquo (qtd in 120)

Mary added that Ernest tried very hard at being Catholic Allen Tate said that

Hemingway was ldquovery Catholicrdquo and that his attitude towards sports was ldquorooted in

religious sensibilityrdquo (120) Tate added that it was the ritual of sport that Hemingway

liked RW Church says that Hemingwayrsquos ldquotalk during these late hours at Lips made

evident his conviction that Sport and bull-fighting in particular afforded a major way to

the redemption of manrdquo (135) Stoneback argues that for Hemingway sport is a

redemptive ritual that is central to his life and work (136) The renowned sportsman

George Leonard Herter said that although Hemingway was a strong Catholic

his ldquoreligion came mainly from the Apparitions of the Virgin Maryrdquo (121) Herter said

that Hemingway was almost obsessed with the apparitions and talked about them often

(134) Hemingway thought that they were important Hemingway did not understand

why the Catholic church did not publicize the apparitions Hemingway was amazed that

most brothers nuns and priests were ignorant of the apparitions and seemed to care even

less Herter said that he had heard Hemingway speak of the apparitions including

Lourdes Fatima and others ldquoat one time or anotherrdquo (qtd in 134) Herter says that

Hemingway believed that if there was no Bible ldquono man-made church lawsrdquo then the

apparitions conclusively proved that the Catholic church was the true church (134-35)

Herter adds that ldquoHemingway knew all the apparitions The ones at Pontmain

61

Pellivoisin Allyrod greatly impressed himrdquo (134-35) In addition Hemingway basically

believed that the Virgin Mary was earthrsquos listening post for Jesus and God (135)

Reynolds Price suggested that ldquoHemingwayrsquos lsquolifelong subjectrsquo was

lsquosaintlinessrsquordquo (121) Stoneback asserts a spiritual order to Hemingwayrsquos works in which

Hemingway examines the conscience through a Catholic lens (122) Stoneback

summarizes an October 18 1933 letter to Pauline Hemingway

tells Pauline that the proofs of Winner Take Nothing have arrived and though it is

a ldquodamned goodrdquo book itrsquos too much to expect the church will stand for it As he

sees it considering his writing the church would have two choices either kick

him out or prove he has no right to be in Either one would be bad because he

couldnrsquot tell them to ldquogo to the devilrdquo because of the ldquoItalian complicationsrdquo At

least hersquoll be able to say his prayers participate in the Mass support and

contribute to the church and wherever they donrsquot know him he can go to

confession He does not want to seem to be seeking ldquoappuirdquo as a ldquoCatholic

writerrdquo He says that he has no right to write the way he does and be ldquolsquoofficially

of the Churchrsquordquo Everything is fine with his conscience however he adds that

therersquos nothing wrong with the church (Stoneback 129-30)

Stoneback summarizes an interview with Fraser Drew As Stoneback

summarizes Hemingway told Drew

I [Hemingway] like to think that Irsquom a Catholic as far as I can be I can still go to

Mass although many things have happenedmdashthe divorces the marriages He

spoke with admiration of Catholicism and then of his friend the Basque priest

62

whom he had known in Spain [Don Andreacutes] and who now lived in San Francisco

de Paula He comes here a great deal said EH He prays for me every day as I

do for him I canrsquot pray for myself any more Perhaps itrsquos because in some way I

have become hardened Or perhaps it is because the self becomes less important

and others become more important But that Time article was bad He referred to

a recent article in Time which had commented that he had been born a

Congregationalist had become a Roman Catholic and now no longer went to

church This conversation with EH confirms my earlier feeling that he is a

religious man with respect for the religions of others (Stoneback 131)

Toby Bruce said of Hemingway and religion ldquoIrsquod say he was very religious Always

went to Mass especially when he was here still with Pauline And afterwards toordquo (qtd

in 132) Bruce added ldquoHe was a real Catholic and I think he tried very hard to be a good

Catholic Who knows for sure Yes he was he planned to donate a considerable sum

toward the restoration of the Mary Immaculate Convent Donrsquot know if he did I guess

Irsquod say he was a good Catholic Donrsquot know what the church would say about itrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 132-33)

Hemingway would cross himselfmdasheven after the 1930s (133) George Herter

wrote ldquoHemingway was a Catholic in those days when the Catholic Church was a church

instead of a mass of confusion The fact that he had been a steady marrying and divorce

type didnrsquot bother Ernest at all in his views on Catholicism I knew Ernest only had

his religion in his very shaky worldrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) George Herter responded

to HR Stoneback in a letter about Hemingway ldquoI repeat he was a very strong Catholic

63

He had complete faith in God Jesus the Virgin Holy Ghost guardian angels Much

more so than nearly all Catholics I have known He was a traditional Catholic as we

all were at the timerdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) In another letter from Herter to Stoneback

dated February 23 1978 Herter writes ldquoHemingway was a strong Catholic He had a

very good knowledge of early Christianity He did not attend Mass regularly He

believed the churchrsquos stand on divorce was right although he was divorced many times

He often stated that he was a poor example of a Catholic but offered no excusesrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 134-35) Stoneback asked a Key West resident what he thought of

Hemingwayrsquos religion The man responded ldquoHemingway was very religious went to

Mass early in the morning with Pauline You could tell he was religious when he fed

the cats the way he looked at the skyrdquo (136)

Yet in his last years of life Hemingway said some very anti-Catholic and anti-

Christian things For instance married to his last wife Mary Ernest said in an interview

to Lillian Ross of the possibility of an afterlife ldquoOnly suckers worry about saving their

soulsrdquo (qtd in Ross 50) Hemingway continued ldquoWho the hell should care about saving

his soul when it is a manrsquos duty to lose it intelligently the way you would sell a position

you were not defending if you could not hold it as expensively as possible trying to

make it the most expensive position that was ever soldrdquo (50) Gregory Hemingway

recounted something similar Gregory said that his father didnrsquot genuinely believe in

organized religion and that his father ldquomade it clear he didnrsquot believe in an afterlife He

did finally believe in a superior beingrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 186) Although Hemingway

didnrsquot believe that it was necessary to save onersquos soul he did contemplate the soul As a

64

boy Hemingway had thought that his soul had blown out of him once and it had returned

to his body (First Light 172) Hemingway claimed ignorance of the soul and he didnrsquot

know if it existed nor if anyone he knew anything about it Hemingway ponders the

soul ldquoProbably a spring of clear fresh water that never diminished in drought and never

froze in the winter was closest to what we had instead of the soul they all talked aboutrdquo

(172) As a boy Hemingway assumed that he had a soul but as he grew older and jaded

he wasnrsquot sure anymore Hemingway thinks that death ends things Yet he ponders that

perhaps only really religious people have souls (172-173) Of a belief in an afterlife for

the soul as heaven or hell Hemingway had his own opinions of that On July 1 1925

Hemingway creatively wrote to F Scott Fitzgerald of his vision of heaven

To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a

trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in and two lovely

houses in the town one where I would have my wife and children and be

monogamous and love them truly and well and the other where I would have my

nine beautiful mistresses on 9 different floors Then there would be a fine

church like in Pamplona where I could go and be confessed on the way from one

house to the other and I would get on my horse and ride out with my son to my

bull ranch named Hacienda Hadley and toss coins to all my illegitimate children

that lined the road I would write out at the Hacienda and send my son in to lock

the chastity belts onto my mistresses because someone had just galloped up with

the news that a notorious monogamist named Fitzgerald had been seen riding

65

toward the town at the head of a company of strolling drinkers (Hemingway in

Katakis 37)

However after his World War I injury Ernest wrote his family

You know they say there isnrsquot anything funny about this war and there isnrsquot I

wouldnrsquot say that it was hell because thatrsquos been a bit overworked since General

Shermanrsquos time but there have been about eight times when I would have

welcomed hell just on a chance it couldnrsquot come up to the phase of war I was

experiencing (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 166-67)

So if there was a hell Hemingway didnrsquot believe that it was worse than the horrors of

war Of his past Hemingway did have regrets He wrote ldquoThis past was never my past

life which truly bores me to think about and is often very distasteful due to the mistakes

that I have made and the casualties to various human beings involvedrdquo (Hemingway in

White 466)

The question of the soul comes up continually in the works of Hemingway In

ldquoNow I Lay Merdquo Nick Adams tries not to go to sleep at night because he is afraid like

Hemingway was that his soul is going to leave his body in the dark This all stems from

a battlefield injury and experience that Nick had when his soul temporarily left his body

Nick relates ldquoI had been that way [not sleeping at night] for a long time ever since I had

been blown up at night and felt it [his soul] go out of me and go off and then come back

I tried never to think about it but it had started to go since in the nights just at the

moment of going off to sleep and I could only stop it by a very great effortrdquo (Short

Stories 276)

66

Yet Nick doesnrsquot fear his soul leaving him during the day time Hemingway also

had a similar experience with his wounding at Fossalta According to Leicester

Hemingway Ernest once told Guy Hickok of this near-death experience ldquoI felt my soul

or something coming right out of my body like yoursquod pull a silk handkerchief out of a

pocket by one corner It flew around and then came back and went in again and I wasnrsquot

dead any morerdquo (56) Hemingway gives Frederic Henry the same experience in A

Farewell to Arms After the explosion that caused his wounding Henry says that

I tried to breathe but my breath would not come and I felt myself rush bodily out

of myself and out and out and out and all the time bodily in the wind I went out

swiftly all of myself and I knew I was dead and that it had all been a mistake to

think you just died Then I floated and instead of going on I felt myself slide

back I breathed and I was back (47)

Hemingway later referred to his Christian upbringing as ldquothat ton of shit we are

all fed when we are youngrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) Michael Reynolds makes the claim that

in Ernestrsquos youth fishing was his religion (118) However Archie MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoActually he was one of the most profoundly and spiritually powerful

creatures I have ever knownrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 158)

In The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway paints the old man Santiago as a

Christ figure There is so much Christian symbolism in this tale that the story can be

thought of as a parable The name Santiago literally means Saint James in Spanish

(Baker 293) In the Bible James was one of Jesusrsquo brothers Baker says of Santiago that

he ldquoshows in his own right certain qualities of mind and heart which are clearly

67

associated with the character and personality of Jesus Christ in the Gospel storiesrdquo (299)

Like Christ Santiago is able to ldquoignore physical painrdquo while focusing on the larger

objective goal to be gained in the end (299) There is an allusion to Christ on the cross

when Santiago in fighting for his prize ldquosettled comfortably against the wood and took

his suffering as it camerdquo (Old Man Sea 64) Like a horizontal cross-beam across Christrsquos

back Santiago has the cord tightened taught across his back (Backman 10 Old Man Sea

67) Santiago carries the burdensome weight of the fish on his back and he is even

burned by the cord because of it (Old Man Sea 82) The wood the suffering and

Santiagorsquos gentleness according to Melvin Backman blends ldquomagically into an image of

Christ on the crossrdquo (10) Three other Christ-like qualities that Santiago has are his

compassion his humility and his natural piety (Baker 299-300) Santiago has

compassion on certain animals that he encounters and of some fish that he catchesmdashlike

the giant marlin In his struggle with the marlin Santiago says ldquoI love you and respect

you very much But I will kill you dead before this day endsrdquo (Old Man Sea 54) After

he has killed the fish Santiago thinks ldquoYou loved him when he was alive and you loved

him after If you love him it is not a sin to kill himrdquo (105) Before killing the fish

Santiago ponders ldquoI wish I could feed the fish He is my brother But I must kill him

and keep strong to do itrdquo (59) Santiago thinks of his humility ldquoHe was too simple to

wonder when he had attained humility But he knew he had attained it and he knew it

was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true priderdquo (13-14) Santiago demonstrates

his pride when his disciple Manolo touts him as the best fisherman and he plays it down

by saying that he knows of better ones (23) Manolo claims ldquoQueacute va [No way] But

68

there is only yourdquo (23) Santiagorsquos piety is observed in that he prays when he feels and

senses the need and that his prayers are never oaths For example in trying to catch the

giant marlin Santiago says aloud ldquoNow that I have him coming so beautifully God help

me endure Irsquoll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys But I cannot say

them nowrdquo (87) Santiagorsquos prayers are never careless nor does he make them profane

He is reverent

As Christ had disciples so Santiago has his disciple Manolo Like Christ

Santiago is a teacher in that he was taught Manolo how to fish Christ was a fisher of

men Santiago is a traditional fisherman Manolo loves Santiago because of his teaching

Manolo how to fish and he admires and looks up to Santiago as a second father figure

Before Santiago goes out on his big marlin hunt Manolo says to him ldquoIf I cannot fish

with you I would like to serve in some wayrdquo (12) Manolo wants to be loyal to Santiago

Before his big marlin catch Santiago had had two previous eighty-seven day periods

where he went without a fish After the first period Santiago and Manolo had caught big

fish every day for three weeks GR Wilson Jr likens these three weeks to Christrsquos three

years of ministry where he fished for men and taught his disciples to fish for men (370)

At the start of Old Man Santiago had not caught a fish for eighty-four days The Old

Man and the Sea takes place over three days so this makes the second eighty-seven day

period In the Bible Christ demonstrated his divine authority by performing miracles

Wilson notes that Manolo has faith in the old man stemming from the miracle of the

three weeksrsquo bounty that he and Santiago had caught In addition according to Isabelle

Santiago ldquohooks the fish at noon and at noon of third day he kills itrdquo (77) This is just

69

like Christ who died and in three days rose again Isabelle adds that the marlin was

ldquolanded on the seventh attemptrdquo and that ldquoseven sharks were killedrdquo in the fishrsquos defense

(78) The number seven is a sacred and significant number recurring in the Bible After

the seventh day of creation God rested there are seven days in a week et cetera

(Easton) The number seven is also seen as symbolizing perfection and rest

Another similarity of Santiago with Christ are the wounds that he receives on his

hands On the cross Christ was pierced in each hand to help keep him pinned to the

cross In his battle with the fish Santiago receives bad cutsmdashstigmatamdashon his hands

Santiago sees his hands as brothers and he often talks to them Carlos Baker explains that

Santiago ldquospeaks to them [his hands] as to fellow-sufferers wills them to do the work

they must do and makes due allowances for them as if they were what he once calls

them lsquomy brothersrsquordquo (313) Once he says aloud ldquoHersquos [the fish] coming up Come

on hand Please come onrdquo (Old Man Sea 62) The hands also represent good and bad

The right hand is good and the left hand is bad Santiagorsquos hands are compared to the

criminals on the crosses to the left and right of Jesus who was on his own cross in the

center Santiagorsquos right hand is his good one Santiago thought that his left hand ldquohad

always been a traitor and would not do what he called on it to do and he did not trust itrdquo

(71) Luke 2339 reads ldquoOne of the criminals who were hanged railed at him [Jesus]

saying lsquoAre you not the Christ Save yourself and usrsquordquo (English Standard Version) So

Santiagorsquos left hand is untrustworthy Santiagorsquos right hand is so reliable that he quit

arm-wrestling despite being ldquoEl Campeoacutenrdquo in order to keep his right hand in good

condition as a tool of his trade fishing (70-71) The thief on Jesusrsquo right rebukes the

70

other criminal Then in Luke 2342 the thief on the right of Jesus asks Jesus ldquoJesus

remember me when you come into your kingdomrdquo (English Standard Version) Jesus

assures this repentant thief that that day the thief will be with him in paradise

Santiagorsquos right hand is like the penitent thief on the cross to Jesusrsquo right This analogy

can also be applied to the Last Judgment At the Last Judgment the saved will be on the

right hand of the Savior while those who are rejected and damned will be on his left

(Baker 314)

When Santiago sees two sharks approaching he says ldquoAyrdquo (Old Man Sea 107)

Hemingway explains of this exclamation that ldquoThere is no translation for this word and

perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make involuntarily feeling the nail go

through his hands and into the woodrdquo (107) Given his affinity and brotherhood with the

marlin when Santiago sees his prize catch eaten by the sharks it is a mortifying terrible

and crucifying experience for him Through Santiagorsquos crucifixion experience he is

transfigured Baker says that Santiagorsquos experience is also a form of martyrdom

although Santiago doesnrsquot see himself as a martyr (315) Baker also suggests that

Santiagorsquos experience also renders to him a form of apotheosis (316) Backman suggests

that Santiago triumphs (11) On his return voyage to Cuba Santiago ldquocould hardly

breathe now and he felt a strange taste in his mouth It was coppery and sweet and he

was afraid of it for a moment But there was not much of itrdquo (Old Man Sea 119) This

can be likened to Christ when he receives and drinks the ldquosponge filled with vinegarrdquo or

sour wine in Matthew 2748 (Baker 319) When Santiago returns to Cuba he has dried

blood on his face reminiscent of the blood on Christrsquos face because of the crown of

71

thorns Having arrived back everybody is asleep and nobody is there to greet or help

him He only sees a meandering cat Like Christ on the cross when God forsook him

because of the load of sin that he was carrying Santiago is alone in his suffering ldquoThere

was no one to help him so he pulled the boat up as far as he couldrdquo (Old Man Sea 120)

Removing the mast and sail Santiago ldquoshouldered the mast and started to climbrdquo (121)

This is like Christ carrying the heavy cross (Backman 11) Santiago ldquostarted to climb

again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder He

tried to get up But it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder and

looked at the roadrdquo (Old Man Sea 121) This is similar to Christ stumbling and falling as

he carried his cross on the Via Dolorosa on the way to his crucifixion at Golgotha Like

Christ Santiago falls under the burden he is bearing

Back at his shack Santiago lays down to sleep ldquoHe pulled the blanket over his

shoulders and then over his back and legs and he slept face down on the newspapers with

his arms out straight and the palms of his hands uprdquo (121-22) Baker notes that Santiago

sleeps in a cruciform position that sums up ldquothe symbolic position naturally assumed all

the suffering through which he has passedrdquo (320) In his return Santiago also brings

evidence of his epic battlegood work to increase the faith of his disciple Manolo

(Wilson 371) Wilson asserts that Santiago is on his death-bed when Manolo finds him

(372) The eighty-seventh day of this second period ends on Ascension Day as it began

on Ash Wednesday and ldquoconstitutes all but the last ten days of the Easter Cycle from

Lent through Paschal tiderdquo (369-70) As Mary cried over Christ at the tomb Manolo

returns to Santiagorsquos shanty sees the old manrsquos hands and starts to cry (Old Man Sea

72

122) Wilson also asserts that Santiago matches up with Joseph Campbellrsquos archetypal

model for a ldquohero with a thousand facesrdquo (372) For example Santiago starts out on his

journey or calling with the aid of the helper Manolo Santiago ldquocrosses the threshold of

adventure and meets a trial that can take many forms including the brother-battle

dragon-battle crucifixion and a night-sea journey all of which can be seen as applying

in some way to the old fishermanrdquo (372) The mythic-like story culminates in a ldquosacred

marriagerdquo between Santiago and his prize marlin (372) Fellow writer William Although

Hemingway was not a good nor a professing Christian and for most of his life claimed to

be Catholic he was not a reformed believer Hemingway still continued to be

Hemingway Despite all this according to Carlos Baker ldquoThe consciousness of God is

in his booksrdquo (328)

73

74

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

Hemingway wanted to be a good man and a great writer but unfortunately he

did not turn out to be a good manmdashalthough he had his moments of goodness Although

he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not transform him He did not

have a salvation experience nor was his faith life-altering As a Catholic Hemingway

continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Hemingwayrsquos religious

life was one solely of Catholic rituals He did not overcome his problems In the end his

problems overcame him Hemingway himself said of his heart ldquoActually in regard to the

innermost contents of my heart probably a most foul place I would rather have a good

cardiograph reportrdquo (Hemingway in White 459) Hemingway added ldquoNo one of us lives

by as rigid standards nor has a good ethics as we planned but an attempt is maderdquo (461)

Hemingway was vindictive against his critics Hemingway viewed most fellow

writers as enemies if they were not officially his enemy he eventually went about to

convert them into his enemies Hemingway wanted to be the top dog of everythingmdash

especially the writing scenemdashand he didnrsquot want to share the spotlight with anyone else

Ernest felt ldquothat anyone elsersquos success diminished his ownrdquo (Hawkins 61) Hemingwayrsquos

writer friend Sherwood Anderson was the one in Chicago to suggest that Hemingway

and his newly-married first wife Hadley Richardson go to Paris instead of their planned

destination of Italy Anderson told the young Hemingway that Paris was where the

literary world was at that time and that it was also the place to get published This advice

75

was instrumental into turning Hemingway into the famed writer that he became Had it

not been for Anderson and his encouragement and faith in Hemingway Hemingway may

have never became a Nobel Prize winning writer Anderson gave Hemingway letters of

introduction to Gertrude Stein Sylvia Beach Ezra Pound and F Scott Fitzgerald Like

Harold Loeb Anderson also helped in getting Hemingwayrsquos In Our Time published

stressing its importance to Boni amp Liveright (Dearborn 177) Since Anderson pushed In

Our Time Boni amp Liveright did not want to upset itrsquos star writer so they agreed to

publish it (Hawkins 39)

However after all was said and done Hemingway wrote his satire Torrents of

Spring mocking Andersonrsquos writing style in order to try to get laughs and in order to get

out of his contract with his publisher Boni amp Liveright It worked Torrents of Spring

was rejected by Boni amp Liveright because Anderson was the companyrsquos star writer So

in lieu of this Hemingway was able to sign with Max Perkins and the publisher

Scribnerrsquos and Sons Yet in the process Hemingway had burned his bridge of friendship

with Anderson who had been so generous and helpful with the young budding writer

Others who knew of Andersonrsquos graciousness and kindness to Hemingway were appalled

by Torrents of Spring (Hawkins 44)

Hemingway was anti-Semitic mean and demeaning to people he berated them

and belittled them He thought that all guys should be macho Hemingway was not pure

evil but the evil produced by his unpredictable and uncontrollable temper pushed a lot of

peoplemdasheven one-time friendsmdashaway from him Archibald MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoHe was wonderful irreplaceable but an impossible friend a man you

76

couldnt get along with a man you couldnt get along withoutrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 167)

Robert Capa once told Leicester Hemingway ldquoPapa can be more severe than God on

a rough day when the whole human race is misbehavingrdquo (192) Hemingway was his

own worst enemy

Hemingway was not a good Catholic He was married four times and even

divorced a Catholic woman whom he later called his best wife (L Hemingway 271) It

is speculated that Hemingway had affairs with multiple women Hemingway would have

affairs before marrying his last two or three wives Hemingwayrsquos son Jack ldquoBumbyrdquo

Hemingway surmised that Hemingway had an affair with the beautiful blond Jane

Mason in 1933 (Hawkins 152) According to Jack ldquoErnest bragged to him that Jane

liked climbing through the transom to his [Hemingwayrsquos] room at the Ambos Mundos

Hotelrdquo (153) Moreover a prostitute was known to have visited the Finca Vigiacutea

Although Hemingway was Catholic he didnrsquot really change his behavior to live

in sync with the Bible or all Catholic teachings He followed the rituals of the Church

not so much a personal transformative side Yet claiming to be Catholic Hemingway

lived by his own code In the end although Hemingway was not a good person he had

some good memories of a childhood growing up and some good experiences as an adult

Even with his bad experiences Hemingway was able to incorporate them into his

literature Hemingwayrsquos keen insight his precise powers of observation his absorption

of the knowledge gained from others and the Protestant work ethic of his youth paid off

as Hemingway put all of his being into trying to be an honest writer writing one true

sentence at a time and helping his audience to see the world through open and honest

77

eyes to help his readers see feel and almost literally experience first-hand what he was

writing aboutmdashthe good the bad and the ugly Though a flawed human being

Hemingway was a brilliant writer and his brilliance lives on through his works of

literature

WORKS CITED

75

WORKS CITED

Backman Melvin ldquoHemingway The Matador and the Crucifiedrdquo Modern Fiction

Studies 13 (1955) 2-11

Baker Carlos Hemingway the Writer as Artist Princeton Princeton University Press

1963 Print

Berman Ron ldquoProtestant Catholic Jew The Sun Also Risesrdquo The Hemingway

Review 181 (1998) 33 Web

Blume Lesley MM Everybody Behaves Badly the True Story Behind Hemingwayrsquos

Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises Boston Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016

Print

Cohn-Sherbok Dan Anti-Semitism Brimscombe Port Stroud The History Press 2002

Print

Dearborn Mary V Ernest Hemingway a Biography New York Alfred A Knopf

2017 Print

Di Robilant Andrea Autumn in Venice Ernest Hemingway and his Last Muse New

York Alfred A Knopf 2018 Print

Djos Matts ldquoAlcoholism in Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises A Wine and Roses

Perspective on the Lost Generationrdquo The Hemingway Review 142 (1995) 64

Easton MG Illustrated Bible Dictionary 3rd ed Thomas Nelson 1897 Bible Study

Toolscom Web 1 Dec 2018

ESV Study Bible English Standard Version Wheaton Crossway Bibles 2008 Print

7

Paul wrote in Romans 116 ldquoFor I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the

power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the

Greekrdquo (English Standard Version) John 422 reads ldquoYou worship what you do not

know we [Jews] worship what we know for salvation is from the Jewsrdquo In Romans

1117-18 Paul suggests that Gentile believers are just grafted into the Jewish promise ldquoIf

some of the branches were broken off and you being a wild olive were grafted in

among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree [then] do

not be arrogant toward the branches but if you are arrogant remember that it is not you

who supports the root but the root supports yourdquo Unfortunately some uninformed

early Christians did not put two and two together For some it was believed that the

Christian Church took the place of Israel which isnrsquot accurate Some believed that ldquothe

Church was the true inheritor of Godrsquos promisesrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 45) It was

believed that Jews no longer had a covenant with God and that Christians had completely

overshadowed and replaced Israel in that covenant This is not true

Acts 1346 reads of preaching to the Jews first ldquoIt was necessary that the word of

God be spoken to you firstrdquo Jesus also a Jew promoted preaching to the Jews first In

Matthew 125-6 Jesus says to the twelve disciples ldquoGo nowhere among the Gentiles and

enter no town of the Samaritans but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israelrdquo

(English Standard Version) In Matthew 1524 Jesus says ldquoI was sent only to the lost

sheep of the house of Israelrdquo (English Standard Version) The first Christians were a

group of Jews Jews were different so eventually urban legends sprang up without

accurate facts and the knowledge of Judaismrsquos teachings some people latched onto these

8

false assumptions and believed the lies that others were propagating about the Jews For

instance Jews were accused of murdering Christian children and then using their blood

for ritual practices It was believed that Jews used the blood of murdered Christian

children ldquoin the preparation of unleavened bread for Passoverrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 54) The

ritual murder charge was a misunderstanding (81) In fact in the fourteenth century

Jews were accused of bringing about the Black Death by poisoning the wells and springs

(60 67) This assertion first gained credence in southern France (81) Yet Jews suffered

and died under the Black Death as well This is an example of the Jews being blamed as

scapegoats

In the early Church the Bishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom accused the

early Hebrews of sacrificing ldquotheir sons and daughters to demons andrdquo eating their own

children (37 47) Chrysostom said of synagogues ldquoto go there was no better than

visiting a brothel a robberrsquos den or any indecent place [it is] a theatre a house of

prostitution and domicile of the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom said that the Jews ldquohave

surpassed the ferocity of wild beasts since they murder their offspring and immolate

them to the devilrdquo (47) Chrysostom also accused the Jews of worshipping the devil Yet

Jeremiah 313b reads in reference to Israel ldquoI have loved you with an everlasting love

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to yourdquo (English Standard Version) If so-

called Christians would have accurately read this during this period they would have

seen that God loves his people and his nation Israel But some Christians thought that

the Christian Church entirely replaced Godrsquos Covenant with the Jews Consequently

Chrysostom said that Christians must hate the Jews (Cohn-Sherbok 47) Yet hatred is an

9

anti-Christian doctrine In Matthew 544 Jesus says ldquoBut I say to you Love your

enemies and pray for those who persecute

yourdquo (English Standard Version)

False conceptions of the Jews even seemed to be found among some of the

Church Fathers Some of the Church Fathers were frustrated that the Jews would not

convert to Christianity nor would they renounce their Judaism In some cases the quest

for converts became a competition Cohn-Sherbok writes ldquoDuring the same period

Tertullian the African Church Father called the synagogues of his day lsquofountains of

persecution of Christiansrsquordquo (46) Justin Martyr ldquorelated that Jews laugh curse and insult

Jesusrdquo (46) Jerome referred to Jews as Judases (47) In fact Judas was thought to be

ldquosymbolic of the Jewish peoplerdquo (84) In the New Testament ldquothe figure of Judas

was associated in the public mind with deviousness and treacheryrdquo (83)

Desecration of the communion host became another false charge against the Jews

as the then-Christians believed in the doctrine of transubstantiation In the doctrine of

transubstantiation the communion bread and wine (of the Eucharist) literally becomes

the body and blood of Jesus During this time it was believed that Jews stole the host in

order ldquoto assault it and thereby torture Christrdquo (80) The charge of desecration of the

Host was a hallucinatory fantasy (82) However the Jews did not believe in the Doctrine

of Transubstantiation which was affirmed at Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 (80) Only

Catholics believe this doctrine today Since the Jews did not believe in

transubstantiation they would in all likelihood not have attacked the host because they

10

couldnrsquot believe that they were actually attacking Christ in the process Desecration of

the Host was a wild belief and a total fantasy

In some cases the Talmud was burned because it was believed to be anti-

Christian Agobard Archbishop of Lyons believed that Jews stole Christian children

and sold them to Arabs (64) He also believed that Jews seduced Christian women All

sorts of wild beliefs developed about Jews many without factual basis It was all

conjecture and imagination In Germany ldquoa French monk Radulph went about preaching

that Jews were enemies of God and should be persecutedrdquo (65) As previously

mentioned the Jews were scapegoats they were blamed for everything During the

witch-hunting crazed days of the fifteenth century Jews were seen as being in cahoots

with witches and the devil (71) During this time it was believed that the Jews were born

misshapen hemorrhoidal and both sexes afflicted with menstruation In Trnava

Slovakia it was believed that Christian blood was an excellent means by which ldquoto cure

the wound produced by circumcisionrdquo (71)

For the duration of the Middle Ages ldquoChristians viewed Jews as sorcerers able to

cast spells against their enemiesrdquo (72) It was believed consequently that the Jews were

capable of working magic against Christians During the Black Death it was also

believed that Jews wanted to poison Christians In fact ldquoJews were accused of using

Christian blood for magical purposesrdquo (73) The little contact that these early Christians

had with Jews also led to their paranoia viewing the Jews as an alien mysterious and

strange people (74) Urban legends seemed to sprout up due to the lack of knowledge

Ignorance of Jews reigned

11

Jewish medicine too became suspect It was claimed that high rulers were killed

off through Jewish medicine During the Middle Ages the Vienna Faculty of Medicine

thought that ldquothe private code of Jewish doctors required them to murder one patient in

tenrdquo (77) Jews were eventually thought to possess attributes of the devil The Jews

ldquowere perceived as having horns tails and the beard of a goat and could be recognized

by their noxious smell the foetor judaiumlcusrdquo (79) Consequently the Jews were seen as

sub-human It was believed that Jews lacked morality anything went with them Jews

were so despised that they were exiled from countries At different times Spain France

and England expelled their Jewish populations In some instances they were invited

back

The charges against Jews were grotesque fantasies Tracts were written against

the Jews One such read of the Jews ldquolsquoDemons from hell race of the Jews detestable

men more accursed than Lucifer and more wicked than all the devils cruel tigers be

gone unworthy as you are to live among us when you thirst so for bloodrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 86)

Martin Luther at first favored the Jews writing a pamphlet That Christ was Born

a Jew However after he was unable to convert the Jews to his Protestant Reformed

Christian faith he became anti-Semitic So ldquoLuther stressed that they [the Jews] are the

most contemptible of all peoplesrdquo (90) Luther wrote ldquorsquomake no mistake that aside from

the Devil you have no enemy more venomous more desperate more bitter than a true

Jew who truly seeks to be a Jewrsquordquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90) Moreover ldquoMartin Luther

speculated that if the Jews could kill Christians they would gladly do sordquo (73)

12

Of the Jews Luther believed that ldquoThose who tolerate them [the Jews] will incur

great loss lsquoWhoever wishes to accept venomous serpents desperate enemies of the Lord

and to honour them to let himself be robbed pillaged corrupted and cursed by them

need only turn to the Jewsrsquordquo (90) Luther suggested of the Jews ldquoTheir synagogues

should be set on fire and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over

with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of itrdquo (qtd in Cohn-

Sherbok 90) Luther wrote ldquoTheir [Jewsrsquo] homes should likewise be broken down and

destroyed For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues

they should be deprived of their prayerbooks [sic] and Talmud in which idolatry lies

cursing and blasphemy are taught their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death

to teach any morerdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther also wrote ldquoPassport and travelling privileges should be absolutely

forbidden to the Jews They ought to be stopped from usury Let the young and

strong Jews and Jewesses be given the flail the axe the hoe the spade the distaff and

spindle and let them earn their bread by the sweat of their browrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok

90) Luther called the Jews an ldquoinsufferable devilish burdenrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 90)

Luther said that Jews were ldquochildren of the Devil condemned to the flames of hellrdquo (qtd

in Cohn-Sherbok 91) Luther believed that the Jews should be despised Luther even

thought that ldquothe Jews are worse than the devilsrdquo (91) Luther saw the Jews as

ldquoinstigators of social and economic corruptionrdquo (94) Luther thought that the Jews

wanted to ldquodestroy Christian civilizationrdquo (95)

13

Luther saw himself in a fight against Satan in the Jews Despite Lutherrsquos anti-

Semitism a good thing did emerge out of the Protestant Reformation Scripture was

translated into the common vernacular so that literate people could see what the Bible

said for themselves instead taking a priestrsquos or a popersquos word for it This led to literate

Christians seeing the Jews through the lens of Scripture instead of through anti-Jewish

sermons and hear-say from church leaders

In Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century the Jews were seen as favoring political

revolution and as having played a role in the revolutionary activities of the era (231)

This viewpoint started after the revolutions of 1848 (244) and it is not entirely off the

mark For example Karl Marx was a Jew Although not all Jews were revolutionaries

Nicholas Reynolds says that ldquoMore than a few Russian revolutionaries were Jewish one

reaction to the state-sanctioned anti-Semitism and the resulting pogroms that occurred

with frightening regularityrdquo (Writer Sailor Solider Spy 72) Capitalism also came to be

associated with the Jewsmdashparticularly its vices (Cohn-Sherbok 248) In the United

States the Jews were blamed for the Russian Revolution (231) There was fear of the

Jews or Judaeophobia A writer that Hemingway read was the anti-Semitic Fyodor

Dostoyevsky Perhaps this helped to influence Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

Dostoyevsky wrote ldquoLike a vast tightening net the power of assimilated Jewry stretches

over the whole world and no matter where we set foot we are caught in it We must

struggle to our last drop of blood against the insidious Judaization of Europe and

especially of Germanismrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 232)

14

In 1912 the Marconi Affair hit Great Britain Two leading Jewish politicians

Rufus Isaacs and Herbert Samuels were implicated in this corruption scandal

Eyewitness reported ldquoIsaacsrsquo brother is the president of the Marconi Company Isaacs

and Samuels have privately arranged to have the British people pay the Marconi

Company a considerable sum of money through the intermediary of Samuels and for

Isaacsrsquo benefitrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 236) In wake of the Marconi Affair one of

Hemingwayrsquos early favorite writers Rudyard Kipling ldquodedicated a hymn of hate to the

affairrdquo (236) Like the biblical greedy and crafty servant (of the prophet Elisha) Gehazi

who is punished with leprosy for his sins Kiplingrsquos poem ldquowas intended to illustrate the

cunning of these Jewish [Marconi] politiciansrdquo (236)

Once America made its foray into World War I ldquoJews were seen as participants

in international conspiracyrdquo (240) Americans thought that the Jews might be part of the

Russian Revolution In the literary world ldquoa number of writers commented on the evil

influence of Jewryrdquo (241) Hemingwayrsquos one-time-friend and literary mentor F Scott

Fitzgerald was one such example In fact Fitzgerald negatively portrayed New York

Jewish merchants in his novel The Beautiful and the Damned

Down in a tall busy street he read a dozen Jewish names on a line of stores In

the door of each stood a dark little man [Jew] watching the passersby with intent

eyes eyes gleaming with suspicion with pride with clarity with cupidity with

comprehension New Yorkmdashhe could not dissociate it now from the slow

upward creep of this people The little stores growing expanding consolidating

15

moving watched over with hawkrsquos eyes and a beersquos attention to detail (qtd in

Cohn-Sherbok 241)

This anti-Semitic view of Jews could have influenced Hemingway whether he read the

book or if Fitzgerald made his anti-Semitic views known to Hemingway The same

could be said of Ezra Pound Ezra Pound was a big anti-Semite and one of Hemingwayrsquos

friends It could be questioned if Ezra Pound influenced Hemingway to be anti-Semitic

In July of 1943 Pound was indicted for treason due to his anti-Semitic pro-Fascist radio

broadcasts from Italy (Dearborn 491) Poundrsquos radio broadcasts ldquowere shocking even

vilemdashhe recommended The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Mein Kampf he spoke of

the lsquo60 kikes who started this warrsquo and asserted lsquoThe Jew is a savagersquordquo (491) Later

due to Hemingwayrsquos suggestion Pound pleaded insanity and spent several years in an

Institution Hemingwayrsquos one-time friend Donald Ogden Stewart who was present for

the Pamplona bull fights in 1925 ldquotook the blame for having been the probable inspiration

for Bill Gortonrsquos [a character in The Sun Also Rises] anti-Semitic remarks and

exclamationsrdquo (Blume 123) Stewart wrote that ldquoI have no doubt that I was really

basically anti-Semitic in those days as probably also was Hemingwayrdquo (123) Lesley

Blume stresses that Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism ldquowas not a deep-rooted hatred like

the variety that gave rise to Nazismrdquo (123) Stewart referred to Hemingwayrsquos anti-

Semitism as ldquoa form of social snobbishness something that people simply took for

granted [during that time]rdquo (Blume 123) One would think that after the Holocaust

Hemingway would cease his anti-Semitic comments but he still continued In

16

Hemingwayrsquos twentieth century ldquoAmerican literature repeatedly described Jews in the

most unsavoury (sic) termsrdquo (Cohn-Sherbok 249)

The French also saw the Jews as having played a part in the Russian Revolution

(241) In France where Hemingway lived part of his literary life Alphonse Toussenel

wrote ldquoThe Jews King of the Epoch [in which] he blamed the Jews for the ills afflicting

societyrdquo (248) In France ldquoAccording to Edouard-Adolphe Drumont in La France Juive

the [French] Revolution had benefited only the Jewsrdquo (248) Edouard-Adolphe Drumont

caricatured the Jews as being hook-nosed possessing ldquohuge ears soft hands and arms of

unequal lengthrdquo (qtd in Cohn-Sherbok 248) In France the Dreyfus Affair of the

nineteenth century had ratcheted up the prominence and appeal of French anti-Semitism

Yet the logical consequence of anti-Semitism took place years later during World War II

when Hitler instituted the Holocaust Of course Hemingway knew of this deadly result

of anti-Semitism but it is unknown how much it changed his view of Jews as later he

did show some more anti-Semitic behavior Perhaps old habits die hard

Judaism in Hemingwayrsquos Biography and in His Novels

Unfortunately Hemingway was an anti-Semite To what degree is unknown

Some say that Hemingway was mildly or casually anti-Semitic (Hendrickson 32)

However in fits of anger Hemingway would hurl anti-Semitic slurs at those he knew to

be Jews Yet ironically ldquoHemingway knew admired and imitated Jewsrdquo like his friend

and literary mentor Gertrude Stein (Berman 39) Hemingway was also friends with

Harold Loeb a Jewish man (Dearborn 192) Hemingway and Loeb had played tennis

17

boxed and wrestled together In The Sun Also Rises the character of Robert Cohn is

based upon Harold Loeb Hemingway once had good things to say of Loeb On March

4 1925 Hemingway wrote to William B Smith of Loeb ldquoA hell of a good guy

Loeb is a male you can wrestle wit He aint been throwed since he learned in Princeton-

only weighs 150 about Heavy weights cant throw him Hersquos never wrestled pros or of

course hersquos have got throwed Still he aint been throwed I tried to throw him and he

throwed me in no timerdquo (sic throughout Hemingway in Katakis 28) In The Sun Also

Rises the Loeb Robert Cohn character is also Jake Barnesrsquo tennis partner (13) Despite

all his anti-Semitism later Hemingway married the half-Jewish reporter and writer

Martha Gellhorn as his third wife (Stoneback 136) Unfortunately it is exactly unknown

why Hemingway was anti-Semitic It would seem that the times in which he lived played

a role

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway has a stereo-typical Jewish character Robert

Cohn that he portrays as a proud rich weak self-pitying self-doubting awkward

sniveling whining misbehaving mannerless undesirable unremarkable and

dysfunctional killjoy who is an outsider and a drag on everyonersquos spirits Cohn is

supposed to represent all Jews (Berman 39) In fact Hemingway goes so far as to write

that Jews are inferior Hemingway writes of Cohn ldquoHe cared nothing for boxing in fact

he disliked it but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of

inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princetonrdquo (Sun 11) Loeb

had also gone to Princeton

18

Hemingway based almost the entire book of The Sun Also Rises on a real life

event that happened when Loeb Lady Duff Twysden and Pat Guthrie (Lady Duffrsquos

cousin and boyfriend) joined him Hemingwayrsquos first wife Hadley Richardson Don

Stewart and Bill Smith in Pamplona for the Festival of San Fermiacuten in July of 1925

(Dearborn 188) In the novel this group goes to Pamplona to have fun They join in the

Spanish Festival of San Fermiacuten where they drink excessively party and watch

professional bullfights All this time the Harold Loeb character Robert Cohn follows

his former lover Lady Brett Ashely around like a lap-dog and from the perspective of

the other festival-goers makes everyone else miserable

Hemingwayrsquos publication of this event into fiction hurt many of the real-life

players in the memorable drama The real Lady Brett Ashley Lady Duff Twysden later

referred to the book as nothing more than ldquocheap reportingrdquo (qtd in Blume 206) Former

Hemingway friend Donald Ogden Stewart felt the same way In his 1975 memoir By a

Stroke of Luck Stewart still refused to give The Sun Also Rises ldquothe artistic stature that

others accorded itrdquo (Blume 230) Stewartrsquos son recalls that his dad would say ldquoThatrsquos

exactly what happened it was like a photographrdquo (qtd in Blume 230) So for Stewart

the novel was just a retelling of events it is did not utilize artistic narrative originality

Just as Robert Cohn had had an affair with Lady Brett Ashley so Loeb had had an

intimate relationship with Lady Duff Twysden Scholars are unsure as to whether

Hemingway had any serious relationship with Lady Duff however he was jealous He

liked her In his reasoning he had met Lady Duff first (Dearborn 188) ldquoEven though

[Hemingway] had no plans to sleep with Duff himself that didnrsquot mean according to his

19

logic that she was fair game for Harold [Loeb]rdquo (188) Hemingway was protective of

Lady Duff and Hemingway saw Loeb as a snake (189) Perhaps Loebrsquos success with

Lady Duff finally pushed Hemingway against him

Mary V Dearborn notes that Hemingway was also jealous that Loebrsquos book

Doodab was coming out before his ownmdashLoebrsquos in May Hemingwayrsquos in October

(191) Hemingway was very competitive in his writing career In fact before

Hemingway made it as a fiction writer Harold Loeb had gone so far as to help

Hemingway get his first book of short stories In Our Time published (204) It is noted

that ldquoHarold [Loeb] rescued In Our Time from the returns pile at [Boni amp] Liveright [the

publishing company] he fought for the book and he was instrumental in getting it

publishedrdquo (192) Loeb had pleaded with Boni amp Liveright ldquoHold it Give it [In Our

Time] another reading I know what Irsquom talking aboutrdquo (Hawkins 39) In fact if it

were not for the persistence of his well-connected friends Hemingway may have quite

possibly never been published at all since his manuscripts had been repeatedly rejected

Unfortunately Hemingway did not like to give credit to others for helping him to rise in

his profession He wanted to take all the credit and the glory for himself He wanted to

be self-sufficient In addition having not gone to college Hemingway was leery of

college-educated men He felt inferior to them and he would try to compete with them in

order to make himself look and feel better Since Harold Loeb was a Princeton graduate

Hemingway was possibly disdainful of this and in all likelihood held it against Loeb

In trying to get In Our Time published Loeb took Hemingway to former Boni amp

Liveright vice president Leon Fleischmanrsquos Paris apartment (Blume 71) Previously

20

ldquoKitty Cannell [the Frances character in Sun] heard him [Hemingway] unthinkably use

lsquokikersquo with such casualness and scorn that she warned her Jewish lover Harold Loeb to

be careful with Hemingwayrdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 242) Kitty Cannell worried

that Hemingway ldquomight create a terrible scene in front of Fleischman and his wife

Helen She said as much to Loeb He brushed her offrdquo (Blume 71) After this meeting

with Fleischman Harold Loeb heard Hemingway malign Jews in his speech

Hemingway had a way of maligning making fun of and satirizing his friends and his

perceived enemies In the process he lost many friends and unnecessarily caused the

creation of many enemies In fact the release of The Sun Also Rises shocked Loeb as he

had thought that he and Hemingway were good friends (Dearborn 191-92)

Hemingway also turned on his former Jewish mentor Gertrude Stein

Hemingway got mad at Stein when she would not write a review for his new book In

Our Time Stein wanted to wait and see if Hemingway was going to be a success first

On November 8 1925 Hemingway commented to Ezra Pound of Stein ldquoWhat a lot of

safe playing kikesrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 38) Later in life after they broke with each

other Hemingway and Stein would arguemdashthrough writingmdashand trade barbs with one

another Hemingway would mock Stein In his article for Esquire in the April 1934

issue ldquoAD in Africa A Tanganyika Letterrdquo Hemingway wonders ldquohow much Buddha

at that age would resemble Gertrude Steinrdquo (Hemingway in White 159)

Hemingway was also against the troubled literary critic Dorothy Parker

(Dearborn 247) The half-Jewess Dorothy Parker was tough in her literary criticism yet

she gave Hemingway great reviews She adored Hemingway but Hemingway didnrsquot

21

return the feelings (Blume 155) Parker and Hemingway had met in New York In

Hemingway Parker thought that she had found a kindred spirit (156) During

Hemingwayrsquos New York visit Parker ldquobecame so engrossed in his tales of the Left Bank

that she shunted aside her skepticism and decided on the spot to move abroadrdquo (156)

Parker became for Hemingway a strong ally among literary critics Blume notes of

Parker ldquoIn years to come she would also pen several adoring Hemingway profiles and

book reviewsrdquo (156) Hemingway and Parker became so familiar that eventually

Hemingway started calling Parker ldquoDottyrdquo (156) Parker was so taken with Hemingway

that her ldquodevotion to him bordered on idolatryrdquo (158) But Parkerrsquos love for Hemingway

was a useful tool in Hemingwayrsquos arsenal

Unfortunately Parker was probably not stable She had tried to kill herself twice

within three years She confided in Hemingway ldquoabout a late-stage abortion she had

recently undergone about attempting suicide and about some other recent bad luck in

her liferdquo (qtd in Dearborn 247) During their conversation Hemingway discovered that

Parker did not like Spain For Parker ldquoPretty much everything about the countrymdashfrom

its treatment of animals to the rump-pinching habits of Spanish menmdashhad appalled herrdquo

(Blume 193) Moreover ldquoIn Barcelona she had walked out of a bullfight after a bull

gored a horse and declared that she found matadors disgustingrdquo (193) Back in Paris with

Hemingway ldquoParker had imparted these impressions to Hemingway for whom such

views amounted to sacrilegerdquo (193) Hemingway was offended by this and like other

things Hemingway took this personally to heart as he was an ardent Hispanophile loving

the Spanish country its people the slow pace of life and its culture (Dearborn 247)

22

Finally Hemingway ldquohad little sympathy for the self-inflicted wounds of a caustic and

comparatively pampered urbaniterdquo (Blume 194)

Later ldquoErnest wrote a long cruel poem about Parker not published until both

were dead called lsquoTo a Tragic Poetessrsquo revealing the personal details she had evidently

related during their most recent meetingrdquo (Dearborn 247-48) In the poem Hemingway

ldquoreferred to the dead fetus noted that she had all too conveniently failed in her suicide

attempts and mocked her failures with men He was pointedly mean about her being

Jewish referring to lsquothe Jewish cheeks of your plump assrsquordquo (248) The second half of

Hemingwayrsquos poem ldquoconsists of insults piled on Parker and others who out of ignorance

about it do not appreciate Spain (inevitably bullfighting comes up)rdquo (248) Pauline

Pfeiffer didnrsquot like this poem and referred to it as ldquoabout twelve tents [tenths] out of water

mayberdquo (Hawkins 59) Pauline thought the poem shrill In 1926 at the home of Archie

and Ada McLeish Ernest read this poem ldquoTo a Tragic Poetessrdquo to the assembled

gathering to try to get some laughs (Dearborn 248) No laughs came Donald Ogden

Stewart called the poem ldquoviciously unfair and unfunnyrdquo (qtd in Blume 194) Because of

the reading of the poem the Stewarts kept their distance from Hemingway from there on

out and Don Stewart was never close to Hemingway again (Dearborn 248) Ironically

since the poem was never published until after Parkerrsquos death ldquoParker never learned

about the existence of the poem [and] unaware of its existence she continued to write

wildly enthusiastic reviews of Hemingwayrsquos work in The New Yorker and called him one

of her favorite writersrdquo (Blume 194) Parker also called Hemingway ldquothe greatest living

American short story writerrdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 164)

23

There is also other evidence of Hemingwayrsquos anti-Semitism In his early years at

Lake Walloon the Point where the young people always liked to fish was sold ldquoto two

Jews who wanted to build a club houserdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 114) Bill

Smith later recalled that he and Ernest had planned to throw rotten fish down the Jewsrsquo

chimney at the lake (M Reynolds Paris Years 252) In the mid-1920s Hemingway

wrote Ezra Pound calling the aspiring poet Dave OrsquoNeil a ldquorsquoCelto-Kikersquordquo (Dearborn

134) Hemingway also wrote of his friend Nathan Asch ldquoYou couldnrsquot tell [of Asch

being a talented writer] Jews go bad quicklyrdquo (163) Later in Key West Hemingway

referred to the town as a ldquoJew administered phony of a townrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 154)

At the time that Hemingway wrote this Key West was for all intents and purposes

bankrupt ldquounable to collect enough taxes to pay its billsrdquo (N Reynolds 7) Under the

New Deal the town of Key West had ldquopetitioned the governor to take over the cityrdquo

(Hendrickson 154) As such ldquoThe Florida branch of Franklin Delano Rooseveltrsquos

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) stepped in and took overrdquo (N

Reynolds 7) Plus under the New Deal the plan was to turn Key West into a tourist

destination making Hemingwayrsquos home on Whitehead Street one of the attractions (8)

This would interfere with Hemingwayrsquos deeply coveted privacy (8) Moreover

Hemingway was disillusioned with the government after some World War I veterans

were killed during a hurricane that hit some of the Florida Keys

Later In Cuba in May 1955 The Old Man and the Sea film version of the novel

was to be filmed Hemingwayrsquos Jewish friend Peter Viertel who was writing the

screenplay joked with Hemingway in order to try to break up the tension between Ernest

24

and the film producer kidding ldquoabout Santiago going out on the eighty-fifth day and not

catching a fishrdquo (Dearborn 573) This made Hemingway mad Narrowing his eyes and

gritting his teeth he said ldquoThe Jews have always had a superior attitude toward fishingmdash

probably because fish has never been part of their dietrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573) This

Jewish comment in turn made Viertel mad and he said that ldquohe thought Ernest had

gotten beyond his anti-Semitism with The Sun Also Risesrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 573)

Hemingway felt contrite that he had lashed out against his friend Viertel and he

ldquoassured Peter he had never been anti-Semitic and matters were smoothed overrdquo (573-

74)

Some Jews have the last name Stein Especially in his youth Hemingway like to

refer to himself as Hemingstein or Stein According to Dearborn Hemingway was

referring to a stein of beer in this case (39) Other nicknames he used were Hymenstein

or the Great Steinway (Hendrickson 266) Catherine Reef thinks that these nicknames

sound Jewish She writes

The last one [nickname] amused him [Ernest] most because it sounded like a

Jewish name Like many young people in narrow-minded Oak Park Ernest grew

up thinking it was all right to make fun of people of different faiths and

backgrounds and he never fully let go of this attitude As an adult he

occasionally called himself Hemingstein or just Stein and although he had

Jewish friends he sometimes mocked them behind their backs (14)

25

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway refers to himself as the great psychiatrist Dr

Hemingstein (53) In real life Hemingwayrsquos son Gregory ldquoGigirdquo for short was known

as the Irish Jew (Hendrickson 245)

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway gives Cohn boxing as his only strength

ldquoThere was a certain inner comfort in knowing he could knock down anybody who was

snooty to himrdquo (11) Because of boxing Hemingway goes so far as to portray Cohn with

the stereotypical Jewish nose In the novel Cohn gets his nose broken during a boxing

bout The narrator Jake Barnes says of Cohnrsquos reworked nose ldquoit certainly improved

his noserdquo (11) Ironically Hemingway threatened a similar situation later in his life In

Spain at the Hotel Florida after a serious shelling during the Spanish Civil War some of

the guests including the movie producer Herb Klein wanted to switch their rooms to the

safer rooms in the back of the hotel At this point in his life Hemingway would hold

people to a higher standard of bravery than his own (Dearborn 387) So Hemingway

intimidated and bullied those Hotel Florida guests into keeping their rooms in lieu of

switching them saying they ldquowould be running away from the enemy capitulating to the

Fascistsrdquo (qtd in Dearborn 387) However in fact Hemingway had his own room in one

of the safer back parts of the hotel Then ldquoaccording to one observer he rode up with

[Herb] Klein in the elevator called him a coward and lsquojostledrsquo him saying lsquoIrsquod like to

flatten your big Jewish nosersquordquo (388)

In The Sun Also Rises nobody wants to be around Cohn He is trying to be an all-

round guy and a Protestant gentleman (Berman 44) However Ron Berman refers to him

as a fake gentleman Melvin Backman argues that Cohn lacks any real identity (4)

26

Although Cohn tries to assimilate and be chivalrous nobody accepts his behavior as

authentic Hemingway portrays Cohn as still ldquotoo different to acceptrdquo (38) Cohn is also

a show-off and he likes to brag For example in winning a ldquoseveral hundred dollarsrdquo in

bridge ldquoIt made him rather vain of his bridge game and he talked several times of how a

man could always make a living at bridge if he were ever forced tordquo (17) In another

instance Cohn likes to brag about his relationship with Brett ldquoHe was being confidential

now and it was giving him pleasure to be able to talk with the understanding that I knew

there was something between him and Brettrdquo (106) Moreover Cohnrsquos believed and

perceived superiority is offensive to Jakersquos friend Bill Gorton One time Bill Gorton

says of the approaching Cohn ldquoWell let him not get superior and Jewishrdquo (Sun 102)

This perceived superiority makes Jake extremely dislike Cohn

Why I felt that impulse to devil him I do not know Of course I do know I was

blind unforgivingly jealous of what had happened to him The fact that I took it

as a matter of course did not alter that any I certainly did hate him I do not

think I ever really hated him until he had that little spell of superiority at lunchmdash

that and when he went through all that barbering (105)

According to Dearborn the character of Bill Gorton is a combination of Bill

Smith and Don Ogden Stewart In the novel Bill really doesnrsquot like Jews Bill says of

his Jewish friends adding of Cohn ldquoOh yes Irsquove got some darbs But not alongside of

this Robert Cohn But hersquos just so awfulrdquo (107) Bill is blatantly anti-Semitic He

asks Jake of Brett and Cohn ldquoWhy didnrsquot she go off with some of her own peoplerdquo

(107) Mike adds to this criticism later when he comments ldquoBrettrsquos gone off with men

27

But they werenrsquot ever Jews and they didnrsquot come and hang around afterwardrdquo (148) Bill

Gorton makes a number of anti-Semitic slurs Before their fishing trip Bill says to Jake

ldquoAnd as for this Robert Cohn he makes me sick and he can go to hell and Irsquom damn

glad hersquos staying here so we wonrsquot have him fishing with usrdquo to which Jake agrees (108)

In another case Hemingway likens Cohn to an animal a steer Cohn likes to tag-

along with Brett (141) After a bull fight Cohn says ldquoItrsquos no life being a steerrdquo (145)

Mike sarcastically replies ldquoDonrsquot you think so I would have thought yoursquod loved

being a steer Robertrdquo (146) Being likened to a steer makes Cohn mad Mike partially

drunk says ldquoIs Robert Cohn going to follow Brett around like a steer all the timerdquo

(146) These demeaning remarks imply that Jews are sub-human

At one point Mike intimates that Cohnrsquos Jewishness disqualifies him from being

a part of the group ldquoDo you think you amount to something Cohn Do you think you

belong here among usrdquo (181) Mike says to Cohn ldquoIrsquom not one of your literary chaps

Irsquom not clever But I do know when Irsquom not wanted Why donrsquot you see when

yoursquore not wanted Cohn Go away Go away for Godrsquos sake Take that sad Jewish

face away Donrsquot you think Irsquom rightrdquo (181) In another instance when Cohn tells Brett

that he will stay with her Brett replies ldquoOh donrsquot For Godrsquos sake go off

somewhererdquo (184) Cohn is portrayed as leech-like a clinger similar to Jews accused of

usury bleeding people dry With the eternal theme of Jewish suffering Brett says of

Cohn ldquoI hate him too I hate his damned sufferingrdquo (186)

In his short story ldquoGod Rest You Merry Gentlemenrdquo published in 1933

Hemingway takes a less anti-Semitic approach to Jews In this story there are two

28

doctors Dr Wilcox and Dr Fischer Dr Wilcox is Christian while Dr Fischer is Jewish

A sixteen-year-old boy comes into the hospital and says that he wants to be castrated

because he is struggling with lust The boy is religious and to him lust is a problem Dr

Fischer is compassionate with the boy and genuinely seems interested in his predicament

Dr Fischer converses with the boy and finally tells him ldquoTherersquos nothing wrong with

you Thatrsquos the way yoursquore supposed to be Therersquos nothing wrong with thatrdquo (Short

Stories 299) The boy still sees himself as sinning Dr Fischer tells the boy that what he

is going through is natural and that later he will think himself fortunate (300) The boy

is adamant that he is wrong He doesnrsquot want to listen to Dr Fischerrsquos explanations

Logically Dr Fischer explains to the boy that there is nothing wrong with his body that

he has a good body and that if he is religious then in the future his body can help him

consummate the sacrament of matrimony (300)

Dr Wilcox takes a different approach He calls the boy a fool (300) Then the

boy leaves when he finds out that nobody will castrate him Dr Wilcox rudely says to

the boy ldquoOh go andmdashrdquo (300) Horst Kruse interprets the absence as meaning ldquojack-

offrdquo (62) The boy leaves and later he does try to castrate himself amputating himself

in the process When the boy returns to the hospital with life-threatening injuries Dr

Wilcox ironically isnrsquot in a hurry to try to save the boy as he doesnrsquot see the condition as

an emergency In the story it is Dr Fischer who has shown mercy on the boy not Dr

Wilcox Kruse sees Doc Fischer as the moral center of the story and suggests that

Hemingwayrsquos portrayal of Dr Fischerrsquos knowledgeable insight and humanity might be an

attempt to try to ldquoatone for his former anti-Semitismrdquo (72) Kruse argues that Dr Fischer

29

might even be seen as a Christ-figure a fisher of men (65) Other scholars speculate that

this story might have been an attempt for Hemingway to apologize for the way he treated

Harold Loebrsquos alter-ego Robert Cohn (Kruse 73) But this interpretation is problematic

AE Hotchner once asked Hemingway if he had remorse about the way he had portrayed

Loeb and the others in The Sun Also Rises (Blume 237) Hotchner asked Hemingway

ldquoso if you had it to do over would you have been softerrdquo (237) Hemingway replied to

Hotchner ldquoOh hell nordquo (237) Despite this possible attempt at atonement Hemingway

continued to make anti-Semitic statements after this story first came out

30

CHAPTER 3

HEMINGWAY AND CHRISTIANITY

Ernest Hemingway was a born on July 21 1899 in Oak Park Illinois then a

Protestant conservative bastion There in his earliest years Hemingwayrsquos maternal

grandfather Ernest Hall led his family and their servants after breakfast on their knees

in morning prayer (Dearborn 11 Hemingway-Sanford 14) Unlike the others

Grandfather Hall did not pray with his eyes closed nor his head bowed (Pawley 22)

Instead he prayed with his head upraised and ldquowith his arms stretched upward as if

locked in a face-to-face with Godrdquo (Dearborn 11) He also prayed in a thundering voice

(Pawley 22) Ernestrsquos older sister Marcelline Hemingway-Sanford noted that she liked

to peak out at Grandfather Hall through her fingers ldquobecause he seemed so surely to be

talking right to his friend Godrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 15) Marcelline suggested that

Grandfather Hall knew God intimately (14) In addition Grandfather Hall led daily

devotions for the household with the book Daily Strength for Daily Needs (Isabelle 2

Hemingway-Sanford 14) Even the cook and the maid were present at these family

gatherings Grandfather Hall also led grace at the table (Isabelle 2) and he would lead

the family in worship (Hemingway-Sanford 15) He was Episcopalian and he liked to be

referred to in the biblical term ldquoAbbardquo which refers to God as in ldquoAbba fatherrdquo (Isabelle

2 Mark 1436) Marcelline referred to Grandfather Hall as being a very religious man

(Hemingway-Sanford 14) Every Sunday he would go to Grace Episcopal Church

where kneeling on the Brussels carpet he would lead the church in evening prayer

31

(Pawley 21) He once said of his grandson Ernest to his mother Grace ldquothis boy is

going to be heard from someday If he uses his imagination for good purposes hersquoll be

famous but if he starts the wrong way with all his energy hersquoll end in jail and its up to

you which way he goesrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 12)

Ernestrsquos paternal grandfather Anson Hemingway converted to Christianity in

1859 (Dearborn 13) Anson was a descendent of Ralph Hemingway ldquowho came to

America with the Great Migration and through him from a line of Puritan and

Congregationalist ministersrdquo (12) Anson Hemingway was friends with the great

evangelist DL Moody and he closely worked with him (for a while) as the general

secretary at the Chicago YMCA (Dearborn 13 Hemingway-Sanford 18) Ernest idolized

his grandfather Hemingway (Pawley 21) Ernestrsquos mother whom Ernest came to hate

once wrote Ernest ldquoNot for nothing are you the great great grandson of that noble

Christian Rev William Edward Miller and the grandson of the finest purest noblest man

I have ever known Ernest Hallrdquo (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 103-04) In fact

Ernest Miller Hemingway was named after his grandfather and the Miller line of Gracersquos

family Grace wrote to Ernest ldquoYou are born of a race of gentlemen who were clean

mouthed chivalrous to all women grateful and generous You were named for the two

finest and noblest gentleman I have ever known See to it that you do not disgrace their

memoriesrdquo (qtd in M Reynolds Young Hemingway 138) Ernestrsquos family were such

churchgoers that they had their own pews at the First Congregational Church

(Hemingway-Sanford 147)

32

On the flip side Ernestrsquos father was rigid (Pawley 23) In disciplining his

children Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often forced his ldquochildren on their knees to pray

to God for forgivenessrdquo (Isabelle 4) Sometimes Ernest mockingly referred to his father

as ldquothe Great Physicianrdquo a title that Jesus also holds as a healer of people (Hemingway-

Sanford 127) According to a Hemingway biographer (no name given)

Sin scared the life out of Ernest At night he prayed that he had been a good boy

during the day The trouble was a boy could never be sure if he had been good

he might have done something bad and not known it was bad It was so hard to

obey every rule so hard to please his mother his father his teachers his minister

his God so hard that sometimes it wasnrsquot worth trying and a boy felt like giving

up (qtd in Pawley 23)

Ernest grew up then with a great spiritual legacy and upbringing that he found at times

challenging and problematic

On Easter in 1911 at the Third Congregational Church Ernest and his sister

Marcelline were confirmed and they received their First Communionrdquo (Dearborn 33) It

was at this church that Ernestrsquos mother was the choir director she even had Ernestmdasha

sopranomdashand Marcelline sing in the choir (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 108 L

Hemingway 28) In his youth Ernest Hemingway and Marcelline joined a contest put on

by the adult advisor of the Christian Endeavor Society Mr Sweeney to see who could

read the entire King James Bible first (Dearborn 37 Hemingway-Sanford 135) It was

Mr Sweeneyrsquos idea and he offered a prize (Hemingway-Sanford 135) Although Ernest

did not win he and Marcelline did complete the reading of the whole Bible (Dearborn

33

37) In addition Ernest and Marcelline passed a comprehensive test on what they had

read (Pawley 24) Additionally as a youth Ernest was given ldquoan allowance of one penny

per year of age each weekrdquo out of which he gave a tithe to the Sunday school (24) At

the age of fourteen Ernest starred in a Sunday school play at the Third Congregational

Church (24) After his parents transferred their membership to the First Congregational

Church Hemingway and Marcelline joined the Plymouth League where Ernest often led

Sunday afternoon services (Dearborn 33 Isabelle 7-8 Pawley 24 Hemingway-Sanford

147) Marcelline notes that ldquothe refreshments served after the meetings were quite an

attraction for the high school membersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 147) For the Plymouth

League Ernest took turns at being the treasurer the program chairman and sometimes

the speaker at the meetings At church Ernest and Marcelline also played in the church

orchestra Once Ernest and his four brothers and sisters dressed as Chinese and Japanese

citizens in order to phonetically sing the Japanese national anthem (147-48) Yet when

Hemingway went to Italy for World War I he saw and experienced the horrors of war

Perhaps because of this and through his teenage years Hemingway went astray from

his religious upbringing While in Italy Ernest met and fell in love with a nurse Agnes

von Kurowsky He loved her and wanted to start a new life with her in America

Hemingway wrote to William D Horne Jr about this on March 30 1919 ldquoBut Bill Irsquove

loved Ag Shersquos been my ideal and Bill I forgot all about religion and everything else-

because I had Ag to worship All I wanted was Ag and happinessrdquo (Hemingway in

Katakis XXV) This letter shows Hemingway distancing himself from religion in Italy

and replacing it with the woman he loved This is similar to how Catherine Barkley

34

made her lover Frederic Henry her religion in A Farewell to Arms (452) Unfortunately

for his parents Hemingway became a prodigal son and he never returned to the faith of

his youth (M Reynolds Young Hemingway 139)

Despite having turned away from his faith Hemingway could never entirely get

away from his upbringing and Oak Park mores For instance in his first marriage to

Hadley Richardson Hemingway was sometimes shocked by Hadleyrsquos language In fact

despite the fact that Hemingway used those very same words he didnrsquot think it proper for

a woman to use them (163) Hemingway still prayed ldquowhen he was courting Hadley

[he] asked her if she would pray with him in the Milan cathedral as Agnes would notrdquo

(Stoneback 110-11) Hadley responded that she would ldquoI am doing the best thing a

woman can do for a man Bringing you back to religionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 125-26)

Stoneback asserts that there is abundant evidence that Hemingway ldquoliked to pray in

Catholic churches and cathedrals years before he met Paulinerdquo (113)

Before going to World War I Hemingway worked for the Kansas City Star

While there Hemingwayrsquos mother learned that Ernest ldquohad stopped going to churchrdquo and

she sent off an angry letter to him (Reef 24) In one of his letters to his mother

Hemingway wrote ldquoYou know I donrsquot rave about religion but am as sincere a Christian

as I can be I believe in God and Jesus Christ have hopes for a hereafter and creeds

donrsquot matterrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) In addition prior to going to the Great War Ernestrsquos

father encouraged Ernest to associate with strong Christian YMCA men (M Reynolds

Young Hemingway 128) In his letters to Ernest Dr Clarence ldquoEdrdquo Hemingway often

sounded like a minister (171)

35

Upon his return to Oak Park after the war Hemingway wore his war uniform

around for four months and gave talks of his war experience Marcelline Hemingway

says that this was because Ernestrsquos long boots helped support his injured and weakened

legs Yet Hemingway lied and embellished his wartime experience This behavior is

just like that of Harold Krebs in Hemingwayrsquos short story ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

would lie and attribute ldquoto himself things other men had seen done or heard of and

stating as facts certain apocryphal incidents familiar to all soldiersrdquo (Short Stories 111-

12) In an essay in Ernest Hemingway Artifacts from Life Tom Putnam surmises that

Krebs in embellishing his war record to impress those around him ldquogrows more

disillusionedmdashfinding himself becoming a fraudrdquo (Putnam 184) Hemingway may have

disillusioned himself with his lies too In one instance Hemingway once gave a version

of his fictitious war stories in a talk to an audience at the First Baptist Church (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 56) So Hemingway lied in front of a church Proverbs

1222 reads ldquoLying lips are an abomination to the Lord but those who act faithfully are

his delightrdquo (English Standard Version)

Back in Oak Park Hemingway turned to alcohol for his comfort He stayed in

bed day after day and hid the liquor from his parents (Pawley 25) Staying in bed

helped his aching legs But he didnrsquot stay in bed more than half the day (Hemingway-

Sanford 178) According to Marcelline there were also times when Ernest had ldquoalmost

depressed intervals when he retired to his room away from the well-wishers and curiosity

seekersrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford 183) Hemingway used the alcohol to cope with the pain

of his war wounds (Pawley 25) One day Marcelline was upset about something and

36

when she came to Ernestrsquos room he noticed this and asked her what was wrong

(Hemingway-Sanford 183) Then he offered her a drink She tasted it Then he said to

her

Donrsquot be afraid Drink it up Sis it canrsquot hurt you Therersquos great comfort in

that little bottle not just for itself But it relaxes you when the pain gets bad

Mazaween donrsquot be afraid to taste all the other things in life that arenrsquot here in

Oak Park Taste everything Sis Donrsquot be afraid to try new things just

because they are new (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 184)

Ernest later wrote of an experience of drinking ldquoand the rhum (sic) enters into us like the

Holy Spiritrdquo (Hemingway in Katakis 17) God was not Hemingwayrsquos comfort alcohol

was After that night Marcelline wondered to herself whether Ernest would ever be

happy again at home (Hemingway-Sanford 184) She noted a difference in him upon his

return to Oak Park Marcelline writes ldquoBut Ernest wasnrsquot the same old friend and

playmate I had knownrdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178) adding that ldquoa lifetime of new

experiences war death agony new people a new language and love had crowded into

Ernestrsquos liferdquo (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 178)

After recovering from his wounds Ernest still didnrsquot get a job or show any

interest in college He had no plans at all Instead he went to Michigan to enjoy life with

his friends (Hemingway-Sanford 198) In Michigan according to Marcelline ldquoThough

Mother implored Ernestrsquos help and tried to talk to him about the family situation he

blithely ignored her appeals and managed to leave immediately after meals with his

friends or go fishing when something needed to be done he promised vaguely to help

37

lsquosome other timerdquo (205) His parents were very worried about his ldquolack of adult

responsibilityrdquo and ldquohis rudeness and his willingness to let both Mrs Charles Bill

Smithrsquos aunt and our family go on providing for him [led Mother to decide that]

something drastic had to be done to wake him uprdquo (205) Leicester Hemingway says that

ldquoOur parents had harbored definite hopes that this fling at soldiering had taught him

[Ernest] a lesson that now he would suddenly show a keen interest in some lsquosensiblersquo

way of liferdquo (L Hemingway 56)

The entire situation is similar to that of Harold Krebs in ldquoSoldierrsquos Homerdquo Krebs

returns from World War I with his Methodist faith shattered (Pawley 25) Krebs is

unemployed but his mother encourages him ldquorsquoGod has some work for everyone to do

There can be no idle hands in His Kingdomrsquordquo (Short Stories 115) Krebsrsquo mother adds

his fatherrsquos opinion ldquoAll work is honorable as he says But yoursquove got to make a start at

somethingrdquo (115) When Krebsrsquo mother asks Harold if he would kneel and pray with her

Krebs says that he canrsquot Krebsrsquo mother encourages him to try then she asks him if he

wants her to pray for him Krebs consents (116)

Of Ernestrsquos free-loading loafing time Leicester Hemingway writes ldquoAbout the

only thing I really understood of that first summer after the war was that Ernest was in an

agitated state and being around the family did not calm him at allrdquo (59) In the end

Ernestrsquos mother wrote Ernest a letter in which she said that Ernest had overdrawn his

account with her and that he was not welcome back at the family vacation home of

Windemere in Michigan (Dearborn 90) This action got Ernest out of the house looking

for a job on his own It also added to his resentment towards his mother In ldquoSoldierrsquos

38

Homerdquo Krebs tells his mother that he doesnrsquot love her Putnam suggests that Krebs has

forgotten how to love (Putnam 184) In Ernestrsquos case it is quite possible that he didnrsquot

love his mother It is known for sure that he didnrsquot like his mother When married to his

fourth wife Mary Welsh Ernest would sometimes rant about his mother blaming her for

making life hell for his father contributing to his fatherrsquos suicide and referring to his

mother as ldquothat bitchrdquo (qtd in Di Robilant 55) Perhaps his motherrsquos ultimatum pushed

him further away from his Protestant upbringing Although Hemingway didnrsquot like his

mother Hawkins argues that he inherited his volatile temper from her as she held grudges

against people Hawkins writes of Grace Hemingway ldquoGrace had a tendency to store up

injustices done to her so that on occasion even the smallest thing triggered a litany of

perceived wrongsrdquo (34) In addition to his motherrsquos ultimatum Ernestrsquos parents didnrsquot

seem to accept writing as a viable career for Ernest (M Reynolds My Brother 63) No

matter like Harold Krebs Hemingway did abandon his childhood faith after World War

I

Hemingway became interested in Catholicism during his service in Italy during

World War I There he served in the Red Cross Ambulance Corps of Unit 4 as driver for

the Italian Army (Hemingway-Sanford 157) After a few days in Italy Ernest and Bill

Horne found the place dull So hearing of the chance to volunteer ldquofor a special branch

the Red Cross Rolling Canteen Servicerdquo they applied and were accepted (160) This

Service operated all the way up to front linesmdashwhich was right where Hemingway

wanted to be in the midst of the action He ldquohad volunteered to be one of the bicycle

riders who distributed mail chocolate and tobacco to the soldiers in the trenches at the

39

frontrdquo (160) At that time the attack on the Piave River had started and the Austrians

were shelling around only fifty yards away on the other side of the river There making

his rounds in Fossalta Hemingway was wounded by an Austrian Trench Mortar as he

handed an Italian soldier a cigarette and chocolate (161) People thought that

Hemingway was going to die During this time Hemingway later claimed that he was

baptized by a priest ldquoAt Fornaci Ernest and the other wounded soldiers were

administered extreme unction by a chaplain with the Italian army Don Giuseppe

Bianchirdquo (Dearborn 59-60)

Michael Reynolds claims that the priestrsquos absolution of sins and anointment of oil

was an epiphanic moment for Hemingway (M Reynolds The Paris Years 346)

However it is unknown if Hemingway was really absolved of his sins by a Catholic

priest HR Stoneback notes that battlefield baptism and extreme unction did not

produce a ldquoformal process of reconciliation or conversionrdquo (109) On March 10 1927

Hemingway divorced Hadley Richardson to marry his new flame the Catholic Pauline

Pfeiffer This divorce devastated Hemingwayrsquos parents In fact Leicester Hemingway

overheard his dad say of Ernestrsquos divorce ldquoNo Itrsquos the disgrace Id rather see him in his

graverdquo (L Hemingway 103) Leicester Hemingway recalls that one morning while

digging for worms with Dr Hemingway the doctor says ldquoYou know of course that

your brother has brought great shame on our family by divorcing Hadley dont yourdquo

(103) Dr Hemingway laments the fact that there hadnrsquot been a divorce in the

Hemingway family for seventy years While in the process of trying to marry Pauline

Ernest returned to Italy searching for this priest Don Giuseppe Bianchi in order to

40

ascertain if this priest had actually performed an emergency baptism on him thus making

him Catholic (Dearborn 236) According to Hawkins Ernest found and visited with

Bianchi (71) Hawkins notes that as a rule priests during the First World War did not

ldquohand out baptismal certificates as they moved through hospital wards to anoint the

woundedrdquo (71) Despite the fact that there is ldquono evidence that Ernest returned with a

baptismal certificaterdquo he did swear to it (236) With this baptism he was allowed to

marry Pauline (M Reynolds American Homecoming 121) According to some scholars

death-bed baptism led Hemingway to become interested in Catholicism In addition

some scholars go so far as to say that this event marks the point when Hemingway started

to be Catholic Perhaps Ernestrsquos near-death experience infused a seed of Catholicism in

his heart

Michael Reynolds notes that ldquowhen an eighteen-year-old kid thinks hes dying a

Catholic priest can make a lasting impressionrdquo (The Paris Years 346) Reynolds claims

that long before Pauline the ceremony the ritual and the mystery of the Catholic Church

were a strong attraction to Hemingway Even if Pauline had not entered his life

Hemingway would have eventually turned Catholic Pauline simply accelerated this

process Later some found Hemingwayrsquos Catholic conversion to be suspect specious

and very convenient (345-46) Yet ldquonone of these doubters seriously thought of

Hemingway as a Protestant and he himself never looked back on his Congregational

training which he associated with Oak Park hypocrisy his fatherrsquos unbearable piety and

his motherrsquos church politics of who would rule the choir loftrdquo (346)

41

Hemingwayrsquos second wife Pauline Pfeiffer converted him to Catholicism In

fact Pfeiffer was such a serious Catholic that she caused Hemingway ldquo to take seriously

doctrine especially of sin and observance especially of prayerrdquo (Berman 33) Before

their marriage Pfeiffer had misgivings about marrying a married man and cutting him off

from his wife and child (Dearborn 229) For Pauline ldquoTo do so would be not only to

invite the damnation of her soul but also the unforgiving wrath of her Catholic parentsrdquo

(M Reynolds The Paris Years 318) If Pauline committed adultery she believed that

she would have been ldquosinning so mortally their souls were in jeopardyrdquo (318) Reynolds

wryly observes that ldquo[o]ne could not remain a devout Catholic and an ardent adulteressrdquo

(318)

For his part Ernest considered ldquoconverting to Catholicism in order to marry

Pauline in the Churchrdquo (Dearborn 221) Dearborn adds ldquoNo doubt Pauline was

researching the Churchrsquos requirements for marriage to a divorced manrdquo (221) In order to

marry Pauline Hemingway had to provide proof that his first marriage to Hadley was

outside the Church and so unofficial null and void (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 114) So since Hemingway ldquotestified that he had been baptized during the

war in Italy and that his first marriage was outside the Church [he] received on April

25 the necessary dispensation from the Archbishop of Paris which removed the last

obstacle to the ceremonyrdquo (121) Yet Hemingwayrsquos friend Ada MacLeish did not

attend Ernestrsquos and Paulinersquos wedding because she was disgusted by the Catholic

Churchrsquos solemnization of the new couplersquos bond and thought it a farce (Dearborn 237)

Ada

42

was completely disgusted with Ernestrsquos efforts to persuade the Catholic Church

that he had been baptized by a priest who walked between aisles of wounded men

in an Italian hospitalmdashtherefore Ernest was a Catholic and Hadley never had been

his wife and Bumby was a bastard To see this farce solemnized by the Catholic

Church was more than we [Archie and Ada] could take (M Reynolds American

Homecoming 124)

In his quest to marry Pauline Hemingway openly and formally embraced

Catholicism Hemingway wrote to Ernest Walsh about his rediscovered Catholicity

If I am anything I am a Catholic Had extreme unction administered to me as such

in July 1918 and recovered So guess I am a super-catholic It is most

certainly the most comfortable religion for anyone soldiering Am not what is

called a ldquogoodrdquo catholic But cannot imagine taking any other religion

seriously (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 345)

It is unknown whether Ernest ever mailed this letter

Ruth A Hawkins suggests that Hemingway ardently became a true Catholic

believer after he was cured of his temporary sexual problems after his marriage to

Pauline Hemingway told AE Hotchner that he and Pauline had had a good sex life

during their affair yet after they got married Hemingway experienced problems with

impotence (Hawkins 86) To try to alleviate this problem Hemingway saw doctors and a

mystic Nothing worked Pauline was patient and understanding Ernest was

discouraged so she encouraged him to go to the church a few blocks away and pray

Ernest recounts ldquoI went there and said a short prayer Then I went back to our room

43

Pauline was in bed waiting I undressed and got in bed and we made love like we

invented it We never had any trouble again Thatrsquos when I became a Catholicrdquo (qtd in

Hawkins 86)

Throughout his literary career Hemingway writes a number of stories involving

Catholics His short story ldquoThe Wine of Wyomingrdquo is about a French Catholic

bootlegging couple and is based upon a real-life Catholic couple that he met in Sheridan

Wyoming (Dearborn 263) Hemingway also writes about Catholicism in The Sun Also

Rises However Hemingway doesnrsquot write so much about Catholicism but rather of

Catholics themselves in their day-to-day lives (Hertzel 78) In The Sun Also Rises Jake

Barnes is nominally Catholic He basically lives the way that he wants to prays and

goes to church occasionally This is kind of like Hemingway who although not a

nominal Catholic lived the way that he wanted to while still claiming to be Catholic and

following some rituals In The Sun Also Rises Jake talks of going to church ldquoa couple of

times once with Brettrdquo (Sun 154) Although Jake prays regularly including for his

friends he also prays for mundane things like the upcoming bullfights and the Festival of

San Fermiacuten ldquoI wondered if there was anything else I might pray for and I thought I

would like to have some money so I prayed that I would make a lot of moneyrdquo (103)

While praying Jake gets distracted and he begins to think about other things ldquoas

all the time I was kneeling with my forehead on the wood in front of me and was

thinking of myself as praying I was a little ashamed and regretted that I was such a rotten

Catholicrdquo (103) Of his bad example as a Catholic Jake realizes that ldquothere was nothing I

could do about it at least for a while and maybe never but that anyway it was a grand

44

religion and I only wished I felt religious and maybe I would the next timerdquo (103) One

critic asserts that The Sun Also Rises ldquois a novel about spiritual bankruptcyrdquo (Djos) Jake

is spiritually bankrupt but he tries to go about things in another way He drinks in order

escape the pain of the war and his impotency So alcohol might be said to be Jakersquos

primary spiritual comfort like it was a comfort for Hemingway Carlos Baker

categorizes The Sun Also Rises as a tale of Wastelanders (Berman 44) Moreover Jake

once thinks ldquoTo hell with people The Catholic Church had an awfully good way of

handling all thatrdquo (Sun 39) Jake believes that the Catholic Church has a good way of

sending people to hell purgatory or heaven to whatever fate the individual deserves

In addition Catholicism is referenced in Hemingwayrsquos A Farewell to Arms with

its protagonist Frederic Henry Unlike the nominally Catholic Jake Barnes Frederic has

no religion whatsoever (Farewell 279) However there is a priest in Fredericrsquos Italian

army unit that Frederic likes a lot Yet Frederic thinks the priest dull (33) According to

Frederic he and the priest share many of the same tastes yet there is a difference

between them (12) Frederic is a man of the world who does not believe in religion per

se and he loves women The priest is a man of God he loves God above all he doesnrsquot

pursue women When Frederic is recovering from his war wound in the hospital the

priest comes to visit him Frederic tells the priest that he does not love God (62) He

adds that he is ldquoafraid of Him in the night sometimesrdquo (62) Gary Sloan argues that

Fredericrsquos girlfriend Catherine ldquowill be his [Fredericrsquos] religion even as he she says is

hersrdquo (452) Michael Reynolds points out that ldquoCatherine sounded a lot like [Ernestrsquos

second wife] Pauline who had made Ernest her religion risking her soul on the promise

45

of his loverdquo (M Reynolds American Homecoming 216) This is also the case when

Ernest made his first girlfriend Agnes von Kurowsky his religion over organized

religion

Although Frederic is not religious in desperate times he seems to temporarily

become religious When he first receives his war injury he cries out to God ldquoget me out

of hererdquo (48) When his and Catherine Barkleyrsquos baby dies Frederic thinks of the baby

and thinks that it should have been baptized (279) Faced with the possibility of

Catherine dying Frederic prays ldquoEverything was gone inside of me I did not think I

could not think I knew she was going to die and I prayed that she would not Donrsquot let

her die Oh God please donrsquot let her die Irsquoll do anything for you if you wonrsquot let her

dierdquo (282) Hertzel points out that some of Hemingwayrsquos characters pray frequently

However it is also important to note that the prayers never get answered (79) For

example in Hemingwayrsquos posthumously published Islands in the Stream Thomas

Hudsonrsquos son David makes this comment about prayer ldquoYou canrsquot tell Audrey You

never know when it [prayer] may [do good] I donrsquot mean that Mr Davis needs to be

prayed for I just mean about prayer technicallyrdquo (186) In Frederick Henryrsquos case both

his baby and Catherine die Apparently in Hemingwayrsquos mind there was no

supernatural realm and prayers go nowhere Frederick asks Catherine on her death bed

ldquoDo you want me to get a priest or anyone to come and see yourdquo (Farewell 282)

Catherine just wants Frederic to stay with her Frederic says that his only religious feeling

comes at night (227) So the spiritual connection of sex is a religious experience to

Frederic

46

Hemingway does not present a supernatural dimension to Catholicism (Hertzel

78) In The Sun Also Rises as Jake and Brett leave a chapel in Pamplona he thinks that

ldquo[t]he praying had not been much of a successrdquo (212) Brett also portrays religion as

being uselessmdashat least for her saying ldquoDonrsquot know why I get so nervy in church

Never does me any goodrdquo (212) Brett says that praying never does her any good and

that she has never gotten anything that she prayed for (213) Jake does say that he has

gotten things that he has prayed for Brett replies of prayer ldquoMaybe it works for some

peoplerdquo (213) Jake considers himself ldquopretty religiousrdquo (213) Hemingway himself

prayed but apparently after the Spanish Civil War his view on prayer changed In The

Dangerous Summer he says ldquo[I] never [prayed] for myself during the Spanish Civil

War when I saw the terrible things that happened to other people and I felt that to pray for

oneself was selfish and egotisticalrdquo (142) In a June 19 1945 letter to Thomas Welsh

Hemingway expounded

In first war really scared after wounded and very devout at the end Fear of

death Belief in personal salvation or maybe just preservation through prayers for

intercession of Our Lady and various saints that prayed to with almost tribal faith

Spanish war seemed so selfish to pray for self when such things being done to all

people by people sponsored by Church that never prayed for self But missed

Ghostly comfort This war [Spanish Civil War] got through without praying

once Times a little bad sometimes too But felt that having forfeited any right to

ask for these intercessions would be absolutely crooked to ask for same no matter

how scared (qtd in Stoneback 128)

47

Consequently Hemingway only prayed for others after the Spanish Civil War In The

Dangerous Summer Hemingway writes of praying for others in Spain ldquoI prayed for all

those I had in hock to Fortune for all friends with cancer for all girls living and dead

and that Antonio would have good bulls that afternoonrdquo (69) Yet it is unknown if any

of Hemingwayrsquos prayers were ever answered In fact Hemingway wondered if his

prayers ever got anywhere

In case my prayers were invalid as they well might have been and to make sure

someone competent was doing it I took out a membership in the Jesuit Seminary

Fund Association at New Orleans for Carmen and Antonio [Ordoacutentildeez bullfighter]

There was a class graduating who when they were ordained would pray for them

each day (142)

So Hemingway got others to pray for his friends family and others in case that his

prayers were going nowhere In Hemingwayrsquos works instead of offering a supernatural

element to the Catholic Church he presents the Church as a solely human institution

Hertzel writes that Hemingway treats the Catholic Church as ldquoa colorful institution with

richness tradition ritual and discipline but it provides no convenient miraclesrdquo (78-79)

Consequently Hemingway uses Catholicism as a literary motif to add texture to his

writings (79)

In Death in the Afternoon Hemingway seems to make fun of the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit that according to Christians is the method by which the Bible was

written Hemingwayrsquos example is silly Hemingway mockingly describes the writing

process of Waldo Frank the author of Virgin Spain He ldquolay naked in his bed in the night

48

and God sent him things to write how he lsquowas in touch ecstatically with the plunging and

immobile allrdquo (53) Moreover

After God sent it he wrote it The result was that unavoidable mysticism of a

man who writes a language so badly he cannot make a clear statement

complicated by whatever pseudo-scientific jargon is in style at the moment God

sent him some wonderful stuff about Spain during his short stay there

preparatory to writing of the soul of the country but it is often nonsense (53)

Hemingway wrote more generally of the religion of the Lost Generation again

with a touch of mockery

There will be many new salvations brought forward My generation in France for

example in two years sought salvation in first the Catholic Church 2nd DaDaism

third the movies fourth Royalism fifth the Catholic Church again There may be

another and better war But none of it will matter particularly to this generation

because to them the things that are given to people to happen have already

happened (qtd in M Reynolds The Paris Years 327)

In his books Hemingway also seems to make fun of religion in order to try to be

comedic In his ficto-biography True at First Light Hemingway asks the interpreter

ldquoDid you not like the Mission School Remember God is listening He hears your every

wordrdquo (182) Later Hemingway asks GC ldquoAnd will you carry these principles into

Life sonrdquo (204) GC responds ldquoDrink your beer Billy Grahamrdquo (204) Ironically

years later Billy Graham would use Ernest Hemingway as a sermon illustration More

comedy follows in True at First Light when Hemingway talks about a new religion that

49

he created for the Africans He said that his African helpers Ngui and Mthuka and

himself ldquocould decide what was a sin and what was notrdquo (281) Hemingway also talks

about the ldquoHappy Hunting Groundsrdquo as if it were some sort of heaven

In The Sun Also Rises Hemingway is comedic through the character of Bill

Gorton Walking down a boulevard with Jake Bill spots a taxidermistrsquos shop and

jokingly tries to get Jake to buy a stuffed dog Jake knows that it is a joke and just tries

to keep Bill moving down the boulevard After Jake promises to get a stuffed dog on the

way back Bill Gorton says ldquoAll right Have it your own way Road to hell paved with

unbought stuffed dogs Not my faultrdquo (78) Hemingway also does this with the priest in

A Farewell to Arms in order to try to infuse comedy into this novel when the captain at

the soldiersrsquo mess keep joking with the priest as the butt of the joke ldquoPriest to-day with

girlsrdquo (7) The captain adds ldquoPriest every night five against onerdquo (7)

On the train to Bayonne Bill Gorton says of some pilgrims on the train with

them ldquoGoddam Puritansrdquo (Sun 91) In the train compartment with Jake and Bill is a man

from Montana with his wife and son The man says to Jake and Bill of getting a meal

while pretending to be pilgrims ldquoThey thought we were snappers all right It

certainly shows you the power of the Catholic Church Itrsquos a pity you boys ainrsquot

Catholics You could get a meal then all rightrdquo (93) Frustrated by the situation Jake

assures him that he is Catholic When Bill Gorton corners a priest returning from a meal

with the pilgrims Bill asks him when the Protestants will get a chance to eat The priest

says that he doesnrsquot know and Gorton replies ldquoItrsquos enough to make a man join the Klanrdquo

(93)

50

After fishing along the Irati River Jake and Bill meet to have lunch After talking

about William Jennings Bryan and which came first the chicken or the egg Bill mocks

religion and the question of whether the chicken or the egg comes first ldquoOh how

should we know We should not question Our stay on earth is not for long Let us

rejoice and believe and give thanksrdquo (126) Holding a drumstick perhaps like a mock

scepter and a bottle of wine Bill tries to be mockingly funny ldquoLet us rejoice in our

blessings Let us utilize the fowls of the air Let us utilize the product of the vine Will

you utilize a little brotherrdquo (126) Handing Jake the bottle Bill says ldquoUtilize a little

brother Let us not doubt brother Let us not pry into the holy mysteries of the

hencoop with simian fingers Let us accept on faithrdquo (127) Then pointing at a

drumstick Bill says ldquoLet me tell you We will say and I for one am proud to saymdashand I

want you to say with me on your knees brother Let no man be ashamed to kneel here in

the great out-of-doors Remember the woods were Godrsquos first templesrdquo (127) They

uncork another bottle Before they take a nap Bill asks Jake if he is really a Catholic

(128) Jake replies that he is technically a Catholic When asked what that means Jake

says that he doesnrsquot know (129) Even though the Eucharist is mocked Jake and Bill are

seemingly reborn as they fish in nature So nature provides a chance at rest and

regeneration

Just like Hemingway in most of his life some of his characters are not religious

although they have religious influences Robert Jordan is one example His father was

religious But his fatherrsquos religion turned Robert off In one instance as a younger man

when Robert is about to leave on a train his father gets emotional and says a prayer over

51

him In response ldquoRobert Jordan had been so embarrassed by all of it [his fatherrsquos

emotionalism] the damp religious sound of the prayer and by his father kissing him

good-by that he had felt suddenly so much older than his father and sorry for him that he

could hardly bear itrdquo (For Whom Bell Tolls 405-406) This would seem similar to

Ernestrsquos leaving home for the first time en route to Kansas City (Hemingway-Sanford

154) In this instance Hemingwayrsquos father bought him the ticket and saw him off (154)

Maybe Dr Hemingway did cry when he saw Ernest off for he really loved his son

While Ernest was in Italy Marcelline notes that her ldquoDad had always loved Ernest

especially dearly and he missed him and prayed for him dailyrdquo (Hemingway-Sanford

160) To compound all this like Hemingwayrsquos father Robertrsquos religious father later

ldquoshot himselfrdquo in a suicide in the same manner as Robert Jordanrsquos father (For Whom Bell

Tolls 66) Robert ldquounderstood his father and he forgave him everything and he pitied him

but he was ashamed of himrdquo (340) Perhaps Hemingway was ashamed of his father after

his fatherrsquos sad suicide This shame and embarrassment of his late father and his

perceived cowardice may have pushed Robert away from religion (338) In addition it is

quite probable that the suicide of Hemingways father additionally pushed him away from

the Protestant tradition of his father as his father had been a deacon and a very upright

and religious man (Reynolds M American Homecoming 211) Yet Daniel Pawley notes

that Hemingway loved his father more than anyone else in the world At one point in For

Whom the Bell Tolls Robert says ldquoI do not believe in ogres nor soothsayers nor in the

supernatural thingsrdquo (250) When Pilar tells Robert that she cares about him Robert tells

52

Pilar that he doesnrsquot want her love He qualifies ldquoNi tu ni Diosrdquo (Neither yours nor

Godrsquos) (387) Robert doesnrsquot want Godrsquos love either

48

CHAPTER 4

HEMINGWAYrsquoS SPIRITUALITY

According to Michael Reynolds Hemingway liked all things ancient and

medieval and that included the Catholic Church In fact Hemingway liked visiting

medieval cathedrals among them Chartres He ldquoliked the ritual the mystery the odors of

age and incense He liked its permanence in stonerdquo (M Reynolds The Paris Years 325)

Hadley Richardson liked to refer to the chivalric Hemingway as her ldquogentil parfit

knightrdquo an allusion to Chaucerrsquos description of the knight in The Canterbury Tales (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 223) and he liked to wear a scapular This scapular has

ldquogot an image of Christ on it suspended from a brown shoestring-like loop At home in

Key West friends have observed him with the scapular and how hersquoll make the sign of

the cross before he goes in swimmingrdquo (Hendrickson 28)

Hemingway would come back to the Bible in his later years in his search for

literary titles Hemingway alludes to Ecclesiastes 14-7 in his title of The Sun Also Rises

The Scriptural passage was used to signify that basically the Lost Generation would

pass away but that the earth would abide forever Moreover Hemingway gave the Bible

credit for teaching him how to write (Blume 213)

In his youth Hemingway idolized his missionary uncle to China Willoughby (M

Reynolds Young Hemingway 110) Willoughby had a medical mission there In fact

Ernestrsquos father Dr Clarence Hemingway inspired by his brother had wanted to be a

medical missionary to Guam but his wife had dissuaded him from it (Pawley 24) Dr

49

Hemingway also had an offer for a medical mission in Greenland (L Hemingway 21)

Grace refused to go Ernest Hemingwayrsquos life might have had a much different outcome

if his mother would have supported his father in becoming a medical missionary to Guam

or even Greenland Years later when Hemingway was living in Cuba Hemingwayrsquos

sister Ursala visited and she and Ernest reminisced about their Uncle Willoughby

recalling his visits and together they sang ldquolsquoJesus Loves Mersquo in Chinese until the tears

rolled down their cheeksrdquo (25) Upon the death of his father Ernest returned home to

Oak Park where he openly displayed his new-found Catholic faith Marcelline says that

upon his arrival Ernest ldquotold us that he had had a Mass saidrdquo for their dad (Dearborn 268

M Reynolds American Homecoming 211 Hemingway-Sanford 233) With Dr

Hemingwayrsquos body lying in repose in the music room Ernest now leader of his family

led his family in the Lordrsquos Prayer This echoes back to the time in Ernestrsquos youth when

his Grandfather Hall would lead his family in the Lordrsquos prayer ldquohis eyes directed

heavenwardrdquo (Dearborn 268) However during this time of mourning Ernestrsquos

Catholicism angered some peoplemdashespecially Marcelline

Relying on Catholic teaching Ernest believed that his father had gone to

purgatory since suicide was a mortal sin (M Reynolds American Homecoming 211) In

addition Ernest mentioned that since his family was a Heathen Family ldquoit was

impossible to offer enough prayers to get his [Dr Hemingwayrsquos] soul into heavenrdquo

(Dearborn 268) Marcelline thought that Ernestrsquos idea of praying their father out of

purgatory was disgusting Ernest told his kid brother Leicester Hemingway to ldquopray as

hard as he could for his fatherrsquos soul to be released from purgatoryrdquo as ldquothings go right on

50

from hererdquo (Dearborn 268 My Brother 111) Despite the waves that Ernest made with

his family he showed genuine care concern and distress in his belief that his late father

was in purgatory (Dearborn 268) In this instance Hemingway definitely took Catholic

doctrine seriously

Dearborn paints Ernest Hemingway as a practicing Catholic one who would go to

Mass and fast on Good Friday She suggests that during this trying time Hemingway

turned to his faith in order to anchor himself through his grief She further suggests that

Ernestrsquos claim that his father was in purgatory was a way for him to assert his patriarchal

dominance over the family and to show that he was in charge Marcelline as the eldest

had tried to claim this role but in her struggle with Ernest she had lost (269)

In Chicago a Dominican priest wrote to Hemingway to thank him for saving his

friend Don Stewart in the bull ring at Pamplona (M Reynolds American Homecoming

156) This priest had heard of Hemingwayrsquos conversion to Catholicism within that year

1927 and he urged Hemingway to become a writer for the Dominican cause in order to

defend the Church and its ldquocause of Truthrdquo (156) In response Hemingway wrote

I have been a Catholic for many years although I feel very badly and did not go to

communion for over 8 years However I have gone regularly to mass for the last

two years and absolutely set my house in order within the year However I have

always had more faith than intelligence or knowledge and I have never wanted to

be known as a Catholic writer because I know the importance of setting an

examplemdashand I have never set a good example Also I am a dumb Catholic

and I have so much faith that I hate to examine itmdashbut I am trying to lead a good

51

life and to write well and truly and it is easier to do the first than the second (qtd

in M Reynolds American Homecoming 156)

In a 1940 Valentinersquos Day letter to his editor Maxwell Perkins Hemingway wrote ldquoI am

not a Catholic writer nor a party writer nor even an American writer but just a writer

meant to rise above injusticerdquo (qtd in Isabelle 51)

Despite his Catholicism Hemingwayrsquos faith didnrsquot help him to change into a

better man Although he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not

transform him nor even make him Christ-like Hemingway did not have a salvation

experience Nor was his faith life-altering Stoneback agrees that ldquoHemingway did not

turn to the church for instant deliverancerdquo (Stoneback 122) As a Catholic

Hemingway continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Ernestrsquos

Catholicism did not translate into his personal life Hemingwayrsquos religious life was one

solely of Catholic rituals He did not change his behavior or his vices He did not

overcome his problems Unfortunately in the end Hemingwayrsquos problems overcame

him

Despite his personal shortcomings Hemingway did at times take Catholicism

seriously After one of his African safaris he returned to Paris and saw his friend Ned

Calmer Calmer was a reporter and an aspiring novelist There Hemingway learned that

Calmerrsquos daughter had not been baptized (Hendrickson 44) This was unconscionable to

Hemingway Years later Calmer wrote that ldquoErnest seemed genuinely concerned

The attitude was this will never do He came along to the church of St Sulpice in Paris

52

as sponsor at the ceremonyrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 44) where Calmerrsquos daughter was

baptized

Hemingwayrsquos faith affected him in other ways too During the Spanish Civil

War his Catholicism would give him ldquosympathy with the conservative traditionalist side

in Spain at least in the early days of this unrestrdquo (Dearborn 303) Later Hemingway

would switch his allegiance to the anti-Franco anti-fascist communist-supported side of

the conflict Unfortunately this shift caused many family disputes with his wife Pauline

(Isabelle 25) However it was Hemingwayrsquos belief that politics and religion should not

mix (Stoneback 117) After the Spanish Civil War and in Cuba Hemingway used to

worry that the FBI were Roman Catholics and thus consequently Franco sympathizers

(N Reynolds 127) In fact Hemingway liked to refer to the FBI as ldquolsquoFrancorsquos Bastard

Irishrsquo and lsquoFrancorsquos Iron Cavalryrsquordquo (127) Nicholas Reynolds suggests that Hemingway

was paranoid about the FBI because he had signed on to be a spy with the Russian

Narodny Kommisariat Vnutrennikh Del (Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs)

better known as the NKVD Yet Hemingway never actually did anything for them His

code name was ldquoArgordquo Dearborn notes that ldquo[d]espite his professed Catholicism Ernest

was impatient with religion over philosophizing and what we would call today self-

helprdquo (320) Dorothy Parker makes a different claim about Hemingway ldquoThere is no

more than a thin line of moss to stamp the spot where Robert Benchley and Ernest

Hemingway had that big philosophical discussion about the meaning of liferdquo (qtd in M

Reynolds American Homecoming 106) Philosopher Ralph Withington Church ldquorecalls

his conversations with Hemingway about the lsquoproblem of redemptionrsquo and

53

Malebranchersquos lsquotheory of gracersquordquo (Stoneback 121) Ernest also had his own privately-

held opinions about Catholicism For example Hemingway told one of his daughters-in-

law that unlike the Catholic Churchrsquos teaching that animals donrsquot have souls he believed

that animals did (Dearborn 516) Secondly Ernest seems to have taken on or been

influenced by his motherrsquos mystic spiritualist bent Ernest believed in superstitions and

in some types of psychic phenomena (518)

Later in his life Ernest seems to have some misgivings about Catholicism He

consistently said when Paulinersquos name surfaced that ldquoher Catholic faith had wrecked the

marriagerdquo (Dearborn 406) Pauline had been advised by her doctor not to have any more

children The fear was that Pauline would get pregnant and die from the pregnancy

(Hawkins 141) Since Catholicism only permitted the birth control method of

withdrawal Ernestrsquos pleasure was significantly diminished by this technique and

consequently doomed their marriage Hemingway had also wanted to have a daughter

but this dream was never realized Paulinersquos second son Gregory who became a doctor

contends that all that his father would have had to have done to retain his pleasure would

have been to abstain from intercourse on Paulinersquos fertile days According to Gregrsquos

reasoning this ldquowould have been obvious to lsquoany foolrsquordquo (qtd in Dearborn 406)

According to Leicester Hemingway Ernest wanted nothing to do with the Catholic

church after Pauline and he asked for ldquothe address of an uncle William E Miller who

had written many hymns in the Episcopalian hymnalrdquo (Isabelle 58-59) Moreover Ernest

was concerned about his sons Patrick and Gregory attending a Catholic school Ernest

feared that this school Canterbury was affecting Patrick gradually and insidiously

54

(Dearborn 480) In fact Ernest hated this school and he referred to it as ldquoone of lsquothose

snot schoolsrsquordquo (480)

Paulinersquos and Hemingwayrsquos second son Gregory had a troubled life Over time

he came to like to dress up as a woman In Los Angeles this caught up with him when

he tried to enter the womenrsquos restroom of a theater in drag (Hendrickson 297) Pauline

cabled Hemingway that Gregory was in trouble Hemingway called back Pauline was in

a lot of pain but went to the phone anyway to tell Hemingway about the problem On the

phone Hemingway said ldquoItrsquos all your fault see how yoursquove brought him up yoursquore

corrupt and hersquos corruptrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 297) Hemingway intimated that perhaps

Gregoryrsquos Catholic upbringing had pushed Gregory into transgenderism Gregory had

served as an altar-boy at Saint Mary Star of the Sea (386)

That night Pauline went to bed in tears Unfortunately the heated accusative

argument with Ernest had set Pauline off At the time Pauline had been staying at her

sisterrsquos Virginia residence in Los Angeles In the early morning Virginia and her

friend Laura awakened to what they described as a ldquohorrendous screamrdquo from Paulinersquos

room Pauline was taken to the hospital where her blood pressure skyrocketed dropped

to zero and caused ldquoher to die of shock on the operating tablerdquo (Hawkins 271) Later

Hemingway blamed Paulinersquos death on Gregory Yet Gregory became a doctor and

researched his motherrsquos death more thoroughly Through an autopsy report Gregory

learned that his mother had died of a ldquorare tumor of the adrenal glandrdquo also known as

pheochromocytoma (275) This type of tumor secretes large quantities of adrenaline

causing blood pressure to spikemdasheven to the point where arteries can rupture Pauline

55

had had only an intermittent tumor that would secrete during times of stress Gregory

informed his father of his findings in a letter in the summer of 1960 Gregory wrote that

Hemingwayrsquos argument with Pauline had set Pauline off ldquocausing a blood vessel to

rupturerdquo after which her blood pressure dropped to zero with the resulting shock killing

her on the operating table (275) So Gregory blamed Hemingway for Paulinersquos early

death from shock due to the ruptured blood vessel and the drop of her blood pressure to

zero

In 1947 Hemingwayrsquos son Patrick had a spiritual crisis of his own Due to his

Catholic mother Patrick had been schooled in Catholic schools In 1947 Patrick had

been studying for the College Board exams at Hemingwayrsquos home the Finca in Cuba

However when Gregory had a spring vacation Patrick decided to join him in Key West

In 1945 Pauline had bought herself a sports car (Dearborn 497) In 1947 in Key West

Patrick was newly licensed and Patrick let Gregory drive the sports car Gregory drove

off the road and hit a tree near Casa Marina

In the process Patrick and Gregory seemed to suffer only minor injuries

Gregory ldquoreceived a minor knee injuryrdquo while Patrick ldquosuffered a cut on his chin and

slight headacherdquo (Hawkins 251) Yet Patrick had suffered a severe concussion (Di

Robilant 7) At first the boys didnrsquot seem to have any ill effects from the accident and

they arrived back at the Finca However shortly after his arrival Patrick started acting

strangely (Dearborn 497) At the Finca Patrick asked ldquofor a pot of hot water and some

teardquo (497) When Reneacute Villarreal brought the hot water and tea to the little house

ldquoPatrick complained that the water was dirtyrdquo (497) Then Patrick commenced shouting

56

loudly at the cook Ramoacuten who wasnrsquot even there Next at the main house Ernest

placed Patrick ldquoon a wicker chaise and stroked his headrdquo (497) In Havana the next day

Patrick was able to take the College Board exams but as the day progressed he grew

increasingly agitated So Ernest called for a doctor The doctor ldquosedated Patrick but the

next day he was delirious and soon became violent and it was necessary to restrain himrdquo

(497) Andrea Di Robilant believes that Patrick had a complete breakdown (7) His loss

of normalcy became a terrible ordeal for the Hemingway family in which his future his

sanity and his life hung in the balance (Dearborn 497)

In response Ernest placed Patrick in his own bed at the Finca and slept on a straw

mat in the living room just outside the door of his bedroom taking care of Patrick around

the clock (Dearborn 497-98 Hawkins 251) Ernest did this for the next three months

(Dearborn 498) It was hoped that Patrick would recover and be well within a couple of

weeks Yet it didnrsquot turn out this way Doctors from all over Cuba were called in Dr

Herrera deemed Patrick to be ldquopredementialrdquo a condition either set off from the exams or

by a crisis of his Catholic faith (498) Religion was a big portion of Patrickrsquos delirium

the other subject being putas whores A local priest named Don Andreacutes became one of

Patrickrsquos chief caretakers Surprisingly due to the spiritual nature of Patrickrsquos condition

this priest was unable to enter Patrickrsquos room without being accused of being the devil

incarnate Consequently this priest became known as the Black Priest

Patrick was so delusional that Ernest and his doctors were concerned about being

near Patrick because they were afraid that they would be scratched or bitten Patrick

remained bedridden for weeks and ldquohe moved in and out of consciousnessrdquo (Di Robilant

57

7) However Patrickrsquos condition did not improve he only worsened and became more

violentmdashhaving to be constantly restrained (Dearborn 498) At first the doctors wanted

Ernest to put Patrick in a hospital but Ernest was determined to keep Patrick at home

Patrick was so delirious that he wouldnrsquot eat When Patrick did eat he stuffed the food in

his mouth like a hamster to spit out at his caretakers Patrick even couldnrsquot swallow his

own saliva Considering that Patrick would probably rip out feeding tubes it was

decided to feed him rectally under restraint and under heavy sedation Patrick had not

eaten since his illness had begun five days prior It would take a full hour and a half to

feed Patrick rectally Despite this procedure Patrick dropped to eighty-eight pounds by

the start of August He had become psychotic

Given the limited means and the early days of psychiatric diagnoses in that time

and age it seemed like Patrick was schizophrenic perhaps even needing a lifetime of

institutionalized care (499) In July a new physician suggested that Patrick undergo

shock treatments In those days the only options were lobotomy and electroshock

therapy (499-500) So seeing no other viable option Patrickrsquos parents relented to the

electroshock therapy (500) In the outbuilding of the Finca Patrick received his first

shock treatment After only around ten minutes Patrick was reported as being ldquolucidrdquo

Fortunately Patrickrsquos electroshock therapy brought him back

The Hemingways remembered how the shock treatments had brought Patrick

back from the brink of hopelessness However when electroshock treatments were tried

years later on Ernest himself because of his traumatic brain injuries and compounding

depression they had the opposite effect For Ernest Hemingway electroshock treatments

58

wiped out his memory and he could no longer write take pride in himself and support

himself financially by the only means he knew how The shock treatments pushed

Hemingway further into depression

After his marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer Hemingway had misgivings about his

Catholic faith However HR Stoneback asserts that Hemingway never entirely gave up

his Catholicism and that he continued to go to Mass pray support the church and regard

himself as Catholic (114) Despite all this Hemingway had some bitterness toward the

Catholic Church Yet it still played an influence in his life Lloyd Arnold says of

Hemingwayrsquos last twenty years of life ldquoI did not know Papa as a man without Godrdquo (qtd

in Stoneback 105-06) Even after his marriage to Pauline Hemingway did put some

stock in Catholicism His divorce from Pauline made him excommunicated from the

Catholic Churchmdashhe could not receive communionmdashbut he still did visit Catholic

churches and pray inside During his marriage to Pauline Hemingway had faithfully and

regularly attended Mass Of his post-Pauline years Hemingway friend and biographer

AE Hotchner noted that in 1954 Hemingway on his way to Madrid stopped into the

cathedral at Burgos where he kneeled and prayed (Stoneback 106) According to

Hotchner in 1958 Hemingway paid for a new roof for the Catholic Church in Hailey

Idaho Then he gave an address to that parishrsquos young people admonishing them not to

work on Sunday as it was ldquovery back luckrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106)

Actor Gary Cooper who had played the role of Robert Jordan in the 1943 film

version of For Whom the Bell Tolls converted to Catholicism himself in 1958 In

response Hemingway ldquotalked sympathetically with Gary Cooper aboutrdquo it (Stoneback

59

106) In 1959 Hemingway was pickpocketed in Spain so in response he put an ad in

the newspaper asking the Spanish pickpocket to return his billfold as he cared mostly for

ldquogetting back the ldquoimage of St Christopher in itrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 106) Throughout

his lifetime Hemingway named a son after a pope ldquodisplayed great pride in Patrickrsquos

confirmation mastery of the catechism gave money and support to the churchrdquo (110)

Ernest even taught his oldest son Bumby how to pray (L Hemingway 99) When

Hemingway received his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 he gave the medal to the

Virgen of Cobra Shrine in Cuba (Isabelle 52)

In a conversation with his fourth and final wife Mary Welsh Hemingway says to

her ldquoReligion is superstition and I believe in superstitionrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 118)

Ernest adds that it is his ldquoTribal heritagerdquo (118) Mary wrote to Stoneback of Ernest that

when they would visit cathedrals in France Italy or Spain Hemingway would light

candles in honor of the memory of his friends Stoneback writes that with Ernest Mary

Hemingway had to live through a Catholic prism With Ernest Mary had to eat fish on

Fridays observe Lent do the Christmas traditions celebrate Ernestrsquos saintrsquos day have

masses and prayers said for family and friends observe holy days and Catholic feasts

drive miles off course to visit and revisit cathedrals and churches and to attend religious

processions (119) Mary Hemingway would later say that Hemingway ldquoadmiredrdquo the

Catholic church and that he ldquothought of himself always as Catholicrdquo (qtd in 119) Mary

Hemingway said of Ernestrsquos friend the Black Priest Don Andreacutes that he and

Hemingway would talk alone and that Ernest regarded him ldquoas his lsquopersonal priest and

confessorrsquo that they prayed together and for each otherrdquo (120) According to Toby

60

Bruce Hemingway and the Black Priest were very good friends they talked quite a lot

and that when Don Andreacutes died in 1955 Hemingway had masses said for him (132)

Mary said of Ernest ldquoWhen he said he was Catholic he meant itrdquo (qtd in 120)

Mary added that Ernest tried very hard at being Catholic Allen Tate said that

Hemingway was ldquovery Catholicrdquo and that his attitude towards sports was ldquorooted in

religious sensibilityrdquo (120) Tate added that it was the ritual of sport that Hemingway

liked RW Church says that Hemingwayrsquos ldquotalk during these late hours at Lips made

evident his conviction that Sport and bull-fighting in particular afforded a major way to

the redemption of manrdquo (135) Stoneback argues that for Hemingway sport is a

redemptive ritual that is central to his life and work (136) The renowned sportsman

George Leonard Herter said that although Hemingway was a strong Catholic

his ldquoreligion came mainly from the Apparitions of the Virgin Maryrdquo (121) Herter said

that Hemingway was almost obsessed with the apparitions and talked about them often

(134) Hemingway thought that they were important Hemingway did not understand

why the Catholic church did not publicize the apparitions Hemingway was amazed that

most brothers nuns and priests were ignorant of the apparitions and seemed to care even

less Herter said that he had heard Hemingway speak of the apparitions including

Lourdes Fatima and others ldquoat one time or anotherrdquo (qtd in 134) Herter says that

Hemingway believed that if there was no Bible ldquono man-made church lawsrdquo then the

apparitions conclusively proved that the Catholic church was the true church (134-35)

Herter adds that ldquoHemingway knew all the apparitions The ones at Pontmain

61

Pellivoisin Allyrod greatly impressed himrdquo (134-35) In addition Hemingway basically

believed that the Virgin Mary was earthrsquos listening post for Jesus and God (135)

Reynolds Price suggested that ldquoHemingwayrsquos lsquolifelong subjectrsquo was

lsquosaintlinessrsquordquo (121) Stoneback asserts a spiritual order to Hemingwayrsquos works in which

Hemingway examines the conscience through a Catholic lens (122) Stoneback

summarizes an October 18 1933 letter to Pauline Hemingway

tells Pauline that the proofs of Winner Take Nothing have arrived and though it is

a ldquodamned goodrdquo book itrsquos too much to expect the church will stand for it As he

sees it considering his writing the church would have two choices either kick

him out or prove he has no right to be in Either one would be bad because he

couldnrsquot tell them to ldquogo to the devilrdquo because of the ldquoItalian complicationsrdquo At

least hersquoll be able to say his prayers participate in the Mass support and

contribute to the church and wherever they donrsquot know him he can go to

confession He does not want to seem to be seeking ldquoappuirdquo as a ldquoCatholic

writerrdquo He says that he has no right to write the way he does and be ldquolsquoofficially

of the Churchrsquordquo Everything is fine with his conscience however he adds that

therersquos nothing wrong with the church (Stoneback 129-30)

Stoneback summarizes an interview with Fraser Drew As Stoneback

summarizes Hemingway told Drew

I [Hemingway] like to think that Irsquom a Catholic as far as I can be I can still go to

Mass although many things have happenedmdashthe divorces the marriages He

spoke with admiration of Catholicism and then of his friend the Basque priest

62

whom he had known in Spain [Don Andreacutes] and who now lived in San Francisco

de Paula He comes here a great deal said EH He prays for me every day as I

do for him I canrsquot pray for myself any more Perhaps itrsquos because in some way I

have become hardened Or perhaps it is because the self becomes less important

and others become more important But that Time article was bad He referred to

a recent article in Time which had commented that he had been born a

Congregationalist had become a Roman Catholic and now no longer went to

church This conversation with EH confirms my earlier feeling that he is a

religious man with respect for the religions of others (Stoneback 131)

Toby Bruce said of Hemingway and religion ldquoIrsquod say he was very religious Always

went to Mass especially when he was here still with Pauline And afterwards toordquo (qtd

in 132) Bruce added ldquoHe was a real Catholic and I think he tried very hard to be a good

Catholic Who knows for sure Yes he was he planned to donate a considerable sum

toward the restoration of the Mary Immaculate Convent Donrsquot know if he did I guess

Irsquod say he was a good Catholic Donrsquot know what the church would say about itrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 132-33)

Hemingway would cross himselfmdasheven after the 1930s (133) George Herter

wrote ldquoHemingway was a Catholic in those days when the Catholic Church was a church

instead of a mass of confusion The fact that he had been a steady marrying and divorce

type didnrsquot bother Ernest at all in his views on Catholicism I knew Ernest only had

his religion in his very shaky worldrdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) George Herter responded

to HR Stoneback in a letter about Hemingway ldquoI repeat he was a very strong Catholic

63

He had complete faith in God Jesus the Virgin Holy Ghost guardian angels Much

more so than nearly all Catholics I have known He was a traditional Catholic as we

all were at the timerdquo (qtd in Stoneback 134) In another letter from Herter to Stoneback

dated February 23 1978 Herter writes ldquoHemingway was a strong Catholic He had a

very good knowledge of early Christianity He did not attend Mass regularly He

believed the churchrsquos stand on divorce was right although he was divorced many times

He often stated that he was a poor example of a Catholic but offered no excusesrdquo (qtd in

Stoneback 134-35) Stoneback asked a Key West resident what he thought of

Hemingwayrsquos religion The man responded ldquoHemingway was very religious went to

Mass early in the morning with Pauline You could tell he was religious when he fed

the cats the way he looked at the skyrdquo (136)

Yet in his last years of life Hemingway said some very anti-Catholic and anti-

Christian things For instance married to his last wife Mary Ernest said in an interview

to Lillian Ross of the possibility of an afterlife ldquoOnly suckers worry about saving their

soulsrdquo (qtd in Ross 50) Hemingway continued ldquoWho the hell should care about saving

his soul when it is a manrsquos duty to lose it intelligently the way you would sell a position

you were not defending if you could not hold it as expensively as possible trying to

make it the most expensive position that was ever soldrdquo (50) Gregory Hemingway

recounted something similar Gregory said that his father didnrsquot genuinely believe in

organized religion and that his father ldquomade it clear he didnrsquot believe in an afterlife He

did finally believe in a superior beingrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 186) Although Hemingway

didnrsquot believe that it was necessary to save onersquos soul he did contemplate the soul As a

64

boy Hemingway had thought that his soul had blown out of him once and it had returned

to his body (First Light 172) Hemingway claimed ignorance of the soul and he didnrsquot

know if it existed nor if anyone he knew anything about it Hemingway ponders the

soul ldquoProbably a spring of clear fresh water that never diminished in drought and never

froze in the winter was closest to what we had instead of the soul they all talked aboutrdquo

(172) As a boy Hemingway assumed that he had a soul but as he grew older and jaded

he wasnrsquot sure anymore Hemingway thinks that death ends things Yet he ponders that

perhaps only really religious people have souls (172-173) Of a belief in an afterlife for

the soul as heaven or hell Hemingway had his own opinions of that On July 1 1925

Hemingway creatively wrote to F Scott Fitzgerald of his vision of heaven

To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a

trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in and two lovely

houses in the town one where I would have my wife and children and be

monogamous and love them truly and well and the other where I would have my

nine beautiful mistresses on 9 different floors Then there would be a fine

church like in Pamplona where I could go and be confessed on the way from one

house to the other and I would get on my horse and ride out with my son to my

bull ranch named Hacienda Hadley and toss coins to all my illegitimate children

that lined the road I would write out at the Hacienda and send my son in to lock

the chastity belts onto my mistresses because someone had just galloped up with

the news that a notorious monogamist named Fitzgerald had been seen riding

65

toward the town at the head of a company of strolling drinkers (Hemingway in

Katakis 37)

However after his World War I injury Ernest wrote his family

You know they say there isnrsquot anything funny about this war and there isnrsquot I

wouldnrsquot say that it was hell because thatrsquos been a bit overworked since General

Shermanrsquos time but there have been about eight times when I would have

welcomed hell just on a chance it couldnrsquot come up to the phase of war I was

experiencing (qtd in Hemingway-Sanford 166-67)

So if there was a hell Hemingway didnrsquot believe that it was worse than the horrors of

war Of his past Hemingway did have regrets He wrote ldquoThis past was never my past

life which truly bores me to think about and is often very distasteful due to the mistakes

that I have made and the casualties to various human beings involvedrdquo (Hemingway in

White 466)

The question of the soul comes up continually in the works of Hemingway In

ldquoNow I Lay Merdquo Nick Adams tries not to go to sleep at night because he is afraid like

Hemingway was that his soul is going to leave his body in the dark This all stems from

a battlefield injury and experience that Nick had when his soul temporarily left his body

Nick relates ldquoI had been that way [not sleeping at night] for a long time ever since I had

been blown up at night and felt it [his soul] go out of me and go off and then come back

I tried never to think about it but it had started to go since in the nights just at the

moment of going off to sleep and I could only stop it by a very great effortrdquo (Short

Stories 276)

66

Yet Nick doesnrsquot fear his soul leaving him during the day time Hemingway also

had a similar experience with his wounding at Fossalta According to Leicester

Hemingway Ernest once told Guy Hickok of this near-death experience ldquoI felt my soul

or something coming right out of my body like yoursquod pull a silk handkerchief out of a

pocket by one corner It flew around and then came back and went in again and I wasnrsquot

dead any morerdquo (56) Hemingway gives Frederic Henry the same experience in A

Farewell to Arms After the explosion that caused his wounding Henry says that

I tried to breathe but my breath would not come and I felt myself rush bodily out

of myself and out and out and out and all the time bodily in the wind I went out

swiftly all of myself and I knew I was dead and that it had all been a mistake to

think you just died Then I floated and instead of going on I felt myself slide

back I breathed and I was back (47)

Hemingway later referred to his Christian upbringing as ldquothat ton of shit we are

all fed when we are youngrdquo (qtd in Pawley 24) Michael Reynolds makes the claim that

in Ernestrsquos youth fishing was his religion (118) However Archie MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoActually he was one of the most profoundly and spiritually powerful

creatures I have ever knownrdquo (qtd in Hendrickson 158)

In The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway paints the old man Santiago as a

Christ figure There is so much Christian symbolism in this tale that the story can be

thought of as a parable The name Santiago literally means Saint James in Spanish

(Baker 293) In the Bible James was one of Jesusrsquo brothers Baker says of Santiago that

he ldquoshows in his own right certain qualities of mind and heart which are clearly

67

associated with the character and personality of Jesus Christ in the Gospel storiesrdquo (299)

Like Christ Santiago is able to ldquoignore physical painrdquo while focusing on the larger

objective goal to be gained in the end (299) There is an allusion to Christ on the cross

when Santiago in fighting for his prize ldquosettled comfortably against the wood and took

his suffering as it camerdquo (Old Man Sea 64) Like a horizontal cross-beam across Christrsquos

back Santiago has the cord tightened taught across his back (Backman 10 Old Man Sea

67) Santiago carries the burdensome weight of the fish on his back and he is even

burned by the cord because of it (Old Man Sea 82) The wood the suffering and

Santiagorsquos gentleness according to Melvin Backman blends ldquomagically into an image of

Christ on the crossrdquo (10) Three other Christ-like qualities that Santiago has are his

compassion his humility and his natural piety (Baker 299-300) Santiago has

compassion on certain animals that he encounters and of some fish that he catchesmdashlike

the giant marlin In his struggle with the marlin Santiago says ldquoI love you and respect

you very much But I will kill you dead before this day endsrdquo (Old Man Sea 54) After

he has killed the fish Santiago thinks ldquoYou loved him when he was alive and you loved

him after If you love him it is not a sin to kill himrdquo (105) Before killing the fish

Santiago ponders ldquoI wish I could feed the fish He is my brother But I must kill him

and keep strong to do itrdquo (59) Santiago thinks of his humility ldquoHe was too simple to

wonder when he had attained humility But he knew he had attained it and he knew it

was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true priderdquo (13-14) Santiago demonstrates

his pride when his disciple Manolo touts him as the best fisherman and he plays it down

by saying that he knows of better ones (23) Manolo claims ldquoQueacute va [No way] But

68

there is only yourdquo (23) Santiagorsquos piety is observed in that he prays when he feels and

senses the need and that his prayers are never oaths For example in trying to catch the

giant marlin Santiago says aloud ldquoNow that I have him coming so beautifully God help

me endure Irsquoll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys But I cannot say

them nowrdquo (87) Santiagorsquos prayers are never careless nor does he make them profane

He is reverent

As Christ had disciples so Santiago has his disciple Manolo Like Christ

Santiago is a teacher in that he was taught Manolo how to fish Christ was a fisher of

men Santiago is a traditional fisherman Manolo loves Santiago because of his teaching

Manolo how to fish and he admires and looks up to Santiago as a second father figure

Before Santiago goes out on his big marlin hunt Manolo says to him ldquoIf I cannot fish

with you I would like to serve in some wayrdquo (12) Manolo wants to be loyal to Santiago

Before his big marlin catch Santiago had had two previous eighty-seven day periods

where he went without a fish After the first period Santiago and Manolo had caught big

fish every day for three weeks GR Wilson Jr likens these three weeks to Christrsquos three

years of ministry where he fished for men and taught his disciples to fish for men (370)

At the start of Old Man Santiago had not caught a fish for eighty-four days The Old

Man and the Sea takes place over three days so this makes the second eighty-seven day

period In the Bible Christ demonstrated his divine authority by performing miracles

Wilson notes that Manolo has faith in the old man stemming from the miracle of the

three weeksrsquo bounty that he and Santiago had caught In addition according to Isabelle

Santiago ldquohooks the fish at noon and at noon of third day he kills itrdquo (77) This is just

69

like Christ who died and in three days rose again Isabelle adds that the marlin was

ldquolanded on the seventh attemptrdquo and that ldquoseven sharks were killedrdquo in the fishrsquos defense

(78) The number seven is a sacred and significant number recurring in the Bible After

the seventh day of creation God rested there are seven days in a week et cetera

(Easton) The number seven is also seen as symbolizing perfection and rest

Another similarity of Santiago with Christ are the wounds that he receives on his

hands On the cross Christ was pierced in each hand to help keep him pinned to the

cross In his battle with the fish Santiago receives bad cutsmdashstigmatamdashon his hands

Santiago sees his hands as brothers and he often talks to them Carlos Baker explains that

Santiago ldquospeaks to them [his hands] as to fellow-sufferers wills them to do the work

they must do and makes due allowances for them as if they were what he once calls

them lsquomy brothersrsquordquo (313) Once he says aloud ldquoHersquos [the fish] coming up Come

on hand Please come onrdquo (Old Man Sea 62) The hands also represent good and bad

The right hand is good and the left hand is bad Santiagorsquos hands are compared to the

criminals on the crosses to the left and right of Jesus who was on his own cross in the

center Santiagorsquos right hand is his good one Santiago thought that his left hand ldquohad

always been a traitor and would not do what he called on it to do and he did not trust itrdquo

(71) Luke 2339 reads ldquoOne of the criminals who were hanged railed at him [Jesus]

saying lsquoAre you not the Christ Save yourself and usrsquordquo (English Standard Version) So

Santiagorsquos left hand is untrustworthy Santiagorsquos right hand is so reliable that he quit

arm-wrestling despite being ldquoEl Campeoacutenrdquo in order to keep his right hand in good

condition as a tool of his trade fishing (70-71) The thief on Jesusrsquo right rebukes the

70

other criminal Then in Luke 2342 the thief on the right of Jesus asks Jesus ldquoJesus

remember me when you come into your kingdomrdquo (English Standard Version) Jesus

assures this repentant thief that that day the thief will be with him in paradise

Santiagorsquos right hand is like the penitent thief on the cross to Jesusrsquo right This analogy

can also be applied to the Last Judgment At the Last Judgment the saved will be on the

right hand of the Savior while those who are rejected and damned will be on his left

(Baker 314)

When Santiago sees two sharks approaching he says ldquoAyrdquo (Old Man Sea 107)

Hemingway explains of this exclamation that ldquoThere is no translation for this word and

perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make involuntarily feeling the nail go

through his hands and into the woodrdquo (107) Given his affinity and brotherhood with the

marlin when Santiago sees his prize catch eaten by the sharks it is a mortifying terrible

and crucifying experience for him Through Santiagorsquos crucifixion experience he is

transfigured Baker says that Santiagorsquos experience is also a form of martyrdom

although Santiago doesnrsquot see himself as a martyr (315) Baker also suggests that

Santiagorsquos experience also renders to him a form of apotheosis (316) Backman suggests

that Santiago triumphs (11) On his return voyage to Cuba Santiago ldquocould hardly

breathe now and he felt a strange taste in his mouth It was coppery and sweet and he

was afraid of it for a moment But there was not much of itrdquo (Old Man Sea 119) This

can be likened to Christ when he receives and drinks the ldquosponge filled with vinegarrdquo or

sour wine in Matthew 2748 (Baker 319) When Santiago returns to Cuba he has dried

blood on his face reminiscent of the blood on Christrsquos face because of the crown of

71

thorns Having arrived back everybody is asleep and nobody is there to greet or help

him He only sees a meandering cat Like Christ on the cross when God forsook him

because of the load of sin that he was carrying Santiago is alone in his suffering ldquoThere

was no one to help him so he pulled the boat up as far as he couldrdquo (Old Man Sea 120)

Removing the mast and sail Santiago ldquoshouldered the mast and started to climbrdquo (121)

This is like Christ carrying the heavy cross (Backman 11) Santiago ldquostarted to climb

again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder He

tried to get up But it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder and

looked at the roadrdquo (Old Man Sea 121) This is similar to Christ stumbling and falling as

he carried his cross on the Via Dolorosa on the way to his crucifixion at Golgotha Like

Christ Santiago falls under the burden he is bearing

Back at his shack Santiago lays down to sleep ldquoHe pulled the blanket over his

shoulders and then over his back and legs and he slept face down on the newspapers with

his arms out straight and the palms of his hands uprdquo (121-22) Baker notes that Santiago

sleeps in a cruciform position that sums up ldquothe symbolic position naturally assumed all

the suffering through which he has passedrdquo (320) In his return Santiago also brings

evidence of his epic battlegood work to increase the faith of his disciple Manolo

(Wilson 371) Wilson asserts that Santiago is on his death-bed when Manolo finds him

(372) The eighty-seventh day of this second period ends on Ascension Day as it began

on Ash Wednesday and ldquoconstitutes all but the last ten days of the Easter Cycle from

Lent through Paschal tiderdquo (369-70) As Mary cried over Christ at the tomb Manolo

returns to Santiagorsquos shanty sees the old manrsquos hands and starts to cry (Old Man Sea

72

122) Wilson also asserts that Santiago matches up with Joseph Campbellrsquos archetypal

model for a ldquohero with a thousand facesrdquo (372) For example Santiago starts out on his

journey or calling with the aid of the helper Manolo Santiago ldquocrosses the threshold of

adventure and meets a trial that can take many forms including the brother-battle

dragon-battle crucifixion and a night-sea journey all of which can be seen as applying

in some way to the old fishermanrdquo (372) The mythic-like story culminates in a ldquosacred

marriagerdquo between Santiago and his prize marlin (372) Fellow writer William Although

Hemingway was not a good nor a professing Christian and for most of his life claimed to

be Catholic he was not a reformed believer Hemingway still continued to be

Hemingway Despite all this according to Carlos Baker ldquoThe consciousness of God is

in his booksrdquo (328)

73

74

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

Hemingway wanted to be a good man and a great writer but unfortunately he

did not turn out to be a good manmdashalthough he had his moments of goodness Although

he did some good things Hemingwayrsquos Catholic faith did not transform him He did not

have a salvation experience nor was his faith life-altering As a Catholic Hemingway

continued to live the way he had before he had been a Catholic Hemingwayrsquos religious

life was one solely of Catholic rituals He did not overcome his problems In the end his

problems overcame him Hemingway himself said of his heart ldquoActually in regard to the

innermost contents of my heart probably a most foul place I would rather have a good

cardiograph reportrdquo (Hemingway in White 459) Hemingway added ldquoNo one of us lives

by as rigid standards nor has a good ethics as we planned but an attempt is maderdquo (461)

Hemingway was vindictive against his critics Hemingway viewed most fellow

writers as enemies if they were not officially his enemy he eventually went about to

convert them into his enemies Hemingway wanted to be the top dog of everythingmdash

especially the writing scenemdashand he didnrsquot want to share the spotlight with anyone else

Ernest felt ldquothat anyone elsersquos success diminished his ownrdquo (Hawkins 61) Hemingwayrsquos

writer friend Sherwood Anderson was the one in Chicago to suggest that Hemingway

and his newly-married first wife Hadley Richardson go to Paris instead of their planned

destination of Italy Anderson told the young Hemingway that Paris was where the

literary world was at that time and that it was also the place to get published This advice

75

was instrumental into turning Hemingway into the famed writer that he became Had it

not been for Anderson and his encouragement and faith in Hemingway Hemingway may

have never became a Nobel Prize winning writer Anderson gave Hemingway letters of

introduction to Gertrude Stein Sylvia Beach Ezra Pound and F Scott Fitzgerald Like

Harold Loeb Anderson also helped in getting Hemingwayrsquos In Our Time published

stressing its importance to Boni amp Liveright (Dearborn 177) Since Anderson pushed In

Our Time Boni amp Liveright did not want to upset itrsquos star writer so they agreed to

publish it (Hawkins 39)

However after all was said and done Hemingway wrote his satire Torrents of

Spring mocking Andersonrsquos writing style in order to try to get laughs and in order to get

out of his contract with his publisher Boni amp Liveright It worked Torrents of Spring

was rejected by Boni amp Liveright because Anderson was the companyrsquos star writer So

in lieu of this Hemingway was able to sign with Max Perkins and the publisher

Scribnerrsquos and Sons Yet in the process Hemingway had burned his bridge of friendship

with Anderson who had been so generous and helpful with the young budding writer

Others who knew of Andersonrsquos graciousness and kindness to Hemingway were appalled

by Torrents of Spring (Hawkins 44)

Hemingway was anti-Semitic mean and demeaning to people he berated them

and belittled them He thought that all guys should be macho Hemingway was not pure

evil but the evil produced by his unpredictable and uncontrollable temper pushed a lot of

peoplemdasheven one-time friendsmdashaway from him Archibald MacLeish said of

Hemingway ldquoHe was wonderful irreplaceable but an impossible friend a man you

76

couldnt get along with a man you couldnt get along withoutrdquo (qtd in Hawkins 167)

Robert Capa once told Leicester Hemingway ldquoPapa can be more severe than God on

a rough day when the whole human race is misbehavingrdquo (192) Hemingway was his

own worst enemy

Hemingway was not a good Catholic He was married four times and even

divorced a Catholic woman whom he later called his best wife (L Hemingway 271) It

is speculated that Hemingway had affairs with multiple women Hemingway would have

affairs before marrying his last two or three wives Hemingwayrsquos son Jack ldquoBumbyrdquo

Hemingway surmised that Hemingway had an affair with the beautiful blond Jane

Mason in 1933 (Hawkins 152) According to Jack ldquoErnest bragged to him that Jane

liked climbing through the transom to his [Hemingwayrsquos] room at the Ambos Mundos

Hotelrdquo (153) Moreover a prostitute was known to have visited the Finca Vigiacutea

Although Hemingway was Catholic he didnrsquot really change his behavior to live

in sync with the Bible or all Catholic teachings He followed the rituals of the Church

not so much a personal transformative side Yet claiming to be Catholic Hemingway

lived by his own code In the end although Hemingway was not a good person he had

some good memories of a childhood growing up and some good experiences as an adult

Even with his bad experiences Hemingway was able to incorporate them into his

literature Hemingwayrsquos keen insight his precise powers of observation his absorption

of the knowledge gained from others and the Protestant work ethic of his youth paid off

as Hemingway put all of his being into trying to be an honest writer writing one true

sentence at a time and helping his audience to see the world through open and honest

77

eyes to help his readers see feel and almost literally experience first-hand what he was

writing aboutmdashthe good the bad and the ugly Though a flawed human being

Hemingway was a brilliant writer and his brilliance lives on through his works of

literature

WORKS CITED

75

WORKS CITED

Backman Melvin ldquoHemingway The Matador and the Crucifiedrdquo Modern Fiction

Studies 13 (1955) 2-11

Baker Carlos Hemingway the Writer as Artist Princeton Princeton University Press

1963 Print

Berman Ron ldquoProtestant Catholic Jew The Sun Also Risesrdquo The Hemingway

Review 181 (1998) 33 Web

Blume Lesley MM Everybody Behaves Badly the True Story Behind Hemingwayrsquos

Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises Boston Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016

Print

Cohn-Sherbok Dan Anti-Semitism Brimscombe Port Stroud The History Press 2002

Print

Dearborn Mary V Ernest Hemingway a Biography New York Alfred A Knopf

2017 Print

Di Robilant Andrea Autumn in Venice Ernest Hemingway and his Last Muse New

York Alfred A Knopf 2018 Print

Djos Matts ldquoAlcoholism in Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises A Wine and Roses

Perspective on the Lost Generationrdquo The Hemingway Review 142 (1995) 64

Easton MG Illustrated Bible Dictionary 3rd ed Thomas Nelson 1897 Bible Study

Toolscom Web 1 Dec 2018

ESV Study Bible English Standard Version Wheaton Crossway Bibles 2008 Print