Jacob Kirschner
AP Literature
6th Hour
April 17, 2012
Author RD
“Ernest Hemingway: The Grandaddy of Modernism”
Ernest Hemingway was known for his simple sentences and descriptive style of writing. He allowed readers to fill in the gaps rather than having all information about his characters and plot spoon-fed. He also implemented many of his own life experiences into his novels, while creating characters that fit the criteria for the “lost generation.” Hemingway identified himself with this generation and this was reflected in his writing. Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises (1926) is no exception, it directly reflects the characteristics of a Modernist novel through a simple, direct style of writing. In this novel, Hemingway crafts the perfect image of Western machismo while also commenting on the prevalent issues of the "Lost Generation."
Ernest Hemingway was brought up in a modest household, born in 1899 in, Oak Park, Illinois. Before his writing career began, Hemingway was an ambulance driver during World War I for the American Red Cross and was stationed in Italy. From there he became a reporter for the Toronto Star, and in 1921 moved to Paris with his wife where he settled down and wrote for a newspaper. It was here where he established himself as a member of the “Lost Generation.” In 1923 he made two trips to Pamplona, Spain where he began writing his first novel and first success, The Sun Also Rises. Today his novels are remembered as, “fascinating documents of the ‘lost generation’ (ProQuest).
It is inevitable that Hemingway used his own life experiences in his novels, for he started The Sun Also Rises in Pamplona, Spain while witnessing the running of the bulls, which is the setting of the novel. However more meaningful is his character that he created, Jake Barnes. “Jake Barnes is Hemingway’s first and best attempt to explain to others the mannerism which enable constructive living with an accompanying disillusionment” (Gale). In other words Jake seems to be the perfect image of a Western machismo, as an expatriate living in Paris. However there is some ambiguity that taints Barnes’ perfect image of a Western machismo. Because of Hemingway’s, “deceptively simple [writing] style, omitting important details and leaving the reader to 'fill in the gaps'”(ProQuest), we are to assume that Jake has been dismembered by the war causing him to be incompetent in a woman's eye.
Hemingway uses this aspect of Jake’s character to develop the true, difficult problems associated with the “lost generation.” Despite futile attempts to cope with everyday life, we see not only Jake, but all the rest of the characters distract their true feelings from each other by occupying themselves with petty matters such as who owes whom money, and drowning themselves in alcohol. All of this to deal with the post-traumatic stress of World War I. Hemingway was a master craftsmen in capturing the problems of the “lost generation” and, “expressing the disillusion of a post-World War One culture” (ProQuest).
Furthermore “Hemingway’s prose was seen as startlingly modern in its concrete simplicity and understatement” (ProQuest). He was considered the granddaddy of the modernist movement implementing his signature style of writing utilizing simple verbs and adjectives to describe events, objects, and characters in his novels. The Sun Also Rises is his first and one of his best novels as, “for all its apparent simplicity, the novel’s [The Sun Also Rises] innovation lay in its ironic style that interjected complex themes without being didactic’ (Gale).
Hemingway was the perfect image of a Modernist author. His style was simple, he put his own events into his novels, and he wrote about the post World War One culture known as the “lost generation.” The Sun Also Rises has all of these elements in it, resulting in the perfect image of a Modernist novel. Hemingway paved the way for readers as his writing style allowed the reader to take control and make a conjecture as to what really fit into the “gaps” that he left while writing.
“Works Cited”
"Hemingway, Ernest." ProQuest Biographies. ProQuest, 2006. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.
"The Sun Also Rises." Novels for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale,
1999. 324-348. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.
AP Literature
6th Hour
April 17, 2012
Author RD
“Ernest Hemingway: The Grandaddy of Modernism”
Ernest Hemingway was known for his simple sentences and descriptive style of writing. He allowed readers to fill in the gaps rather than having all information about his characters and plot spoon-fed. He also implemented many of his own life experiences into his novels, while creating characters that fit the criteria for the “lost generation.” Hemingway identified himself with this generation and this was reflected in his writing. Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises (1926) is no exception, it directly reflects the characteristics of a Modernist novel through a simple, direct style of writing. In this novel, Hemingway crafts the perfect image of Western machismo while also commenting on the prevalent issues of the "Lost Generation."
Ernest Hemingway was brought up in a modest household, born in 1899 in, Oak Park, Illinois. Before his writing career began, Hemingway was an ambulance driver during World War I for the American Red Cross and was stationed in Italy. From there he became a reporter for the Toronto Star, and in 1921 moved to Paris with his wife where he settled down and wrote for a newspaper. It was here where he established himself as a member of the “Lost Generation.” In 1923 he made two trips to Pamplona, Spain where he began writing his first novel and first success, The Sun Also Rises. Today his novels are remembered as, “fascinating documents of the ‘lost generation’ (ProQuest).
It is inevitable that Hemingway used his own life experiences in his novels, for he started The Sun Also Rises in Pamplona, Spain while witnessing the running of the bulls, which is the setting of the novel. However more meaningful is his character that he created, Jake Barnes. “Jake Barnes is Hemingway’s first and best attempt to explain to others the mannerism which enable constructive living with an accompanying disillusionment” (Gale). In other words Jake seems to be the perfect image of a Western machismo, as an expatriate living in Paris. However there is some ambiguity that taints Barnes’ perfect image of a Western machismo. Because of Hemingway’s, “deceptively simple [writing] style, omitting important details and leaving the reader to 'fill in the gaps'”(ProQuest), we are to assume that Jake has been dismembered by the war causing him to be incompetent in a woman's eye.
Hemingway uses this aspect of Jake’s character to develop the true, difficult problems associated with the “lost generation.” Despite futile attempts to cope with everyday life, we see not only Jake, but all the rest of the characters distract their true feelings from each other by occupying themselves with petty matters such as who owes whom money, and drowning themselves in alcohol. All of this to deal with the post-traumatic stress of World War I. Hemingway was a master craftsmen in capturing the problems of the “lost generation” and, “expressing the disillusion of a post-World War One culture” (ProQuest).
Furthermore “Hemingway’s prose was seen as startlingly modern in its concrete simplicity and understatement” (ProQuest). He was considered the granddaddy of the modernist movement implementing his signature style of writing utilizing simple verbs and adjectives to describe events, objects, and characters in his novels. The Sun Also Rises is his first and one of his best novels as, “for all its apparent simplicity, the novel’s [The Sun Also Rises] innovation lay in its ironic style that interjected complex themes without being didactic’ (Gale).
Hemingway was the perfect image of a Modernist author. His style was simple, he put his own events into his novels, and he wrote about the post World War One culture known as the “lost generation.” The Sun Also Rises has all of these elements in it, resulting in the perfect image of a Modernist novel. Hemingway paved the way for readers as his writing style allowed the reader to take control and make a conjecture as to what really fit into the “gaps” that he left while writing.
“Works Cited”
"Hemingway, Ernest." ProQuest Biographies. ProQuest, 2006. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.
"The Sun Also Rises." Novels for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale,
1999. 324-348. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.