Reputation is an elastic word which could bear many
meanings and definitions so it could be defined as a set of ideas, views and
critical opinions of people concerning someone or something and it could be of real
roots or not. In this TMA, Reputation will be discussed through the life of
Ernest Hemingway and how he was a famous writer, his early life, his literature
status, his life and death and how he got his fame. There are many factors to
affect the reputation of people specially famous people. Fame leaves its
effects on reputation which will be discussed according to Hemingway s life.
Body
Ernest Miller Hemingway born in July 21, 1899
and died in July 2, 1961 was an American author, writer and journalist. He
affected the literature of the twentieth century a lot. He was a character that
raised a lot of questions about his life, his death and his literary works. He
had a reputation of a great writer and his works affected modern English
literature a lot. He got the Noble Prize in literature in 1954. He wrote many
works of the basics of American Literature classics. He had wartime experiences
that affected his life and his works. On a safari to Africa, he was injured and
had a lot of time suffering pains and at last he committed suicide in 1961. (Michael,
1999)
To verify Hemmingway reputation soundness, there are
some problems that made it mysterious and difficult to do it. Although he was a
great writer but critics have many comments on his works as he used to
concentrate on men characters without women which aroused many questions about
his relationship with women, it is also strange that he was married four times
and divorced. His family life was a strange one. Another thing is that the war
left its influence on him and was appearing in most his literary works. The way
he died with and his committing suicide was another question which is difficult
to be answered. Hemingway wrote about men killing other men and killing
animals. It was said about him that he had been thinking of death most of his
time. He seemed to consider death as the extreme fact of human existence. His
writing style was very modern with a touch of philosophy regarding life and
death, relations of people and his figuring for the women was weak as he
presented the woman character from a male perspective the matter that raises
enquiries about his relations with women in his life. (Marie, 1992)
There are many opinions regarding the reputation of
Hemingway as a writer and these opinions can be classified according to their
importance. Some opinions were more important than others as critics used his
works to show appraisal or refuse to his style, for example: he was extremely
praised when he wrote `A Farewell to Arms' in 1929. Then he wrote some
works that critics were severe in their criticism to them such as Death in the
Afternoon, To Have and Have Not', "Winner Take Nothing" and "The
Green Hills of Africa,' then in 1940s he wrote `For Whom the Bell Tolls'
which made him return his reputation lost. His greatest triumph was when he
presented his masterpiece: "The Old Man and the Sea." His career made
him one of the best novelists of his time.
People's opinions about his death and suicide were much more sharing in
establishing his reputation. His last life decade left a mark which could not
be neglected when mentioning his reputation. When he was at his fifties, he
began to drink suffering a hard life, his health was in a very low position
with liver problems, depression and diabetes. Accidents affected his life a
lot. In 1953 he won the Pulitzer prize yet opinions were not effective
regarding this prize but regarding the Nobel Prize he received after one year
in 1954. Opinions were spreading about his depression at his last years that
led him to commit suicide and die at last. .( Kenneth. (1987)) €€
There is a relation between time and culture and the
way people construct someone's reputation specially those famous people. As to
Ernest Hemingway, the time period he was in as a writer affected his writings
and in turn affected his reputation. He was a figure that appeared in the
second world war as a man who cared for the world and his country burdens, this
was reflected in his works with an atmosphere of depression that shared in
constructing a reputation about him as a depressed writer, the culture he encountered
was an American culture that represented all realistic world which was running
fast towards modern life which also added depression, fears and anxiety to him
and this appeared in his literary works. He decided to travel to Europe in 1944
to write about the war, his visit to London resulted in writings about how the
war affected England and he had an accident there in his head. The war left bad
and gloomy influences on him as this was accompanied with his divorce to his
third wife and his marriage to Mary, his last one. He himself reported these
effects of the war when he wrote about his bad luck regarding the
war:" "Funny how it should
take one war to start a woman in your damn heart and another to finish her. Bad
luck."(Marie, 1992)
Source materials should be used cautiously when
constructing a reputation of someone. There are many materials about Hemingway
that figure him as an alcoholic, some critics explained his writings about
man's world without women as a kind of homosexuality, this shared in building a
reputation of Hemingway in the current age which makes everyone hears about him
read his fiction and have many benefits yet in fact we must be cautious when
reading and criticizing these works as his attitude towards men, for example,
could be interpreted as an attitude of enhancing the man idea in a time of war
and despair not homosexuality. Another important thing is that he did not leave
a suicide note and all the materials he left did not express his intention to
commit suicide nor encouraging people to do this. Journal source materials
presented his death as suicide yet no one is sure as his wife asserted that he
was cleaning his gun and was accidentally shot, the question is why did he
clean his gun in the early morning at seven o'clock? Months later his death,
Mary confessed his death was a suicide. His life was mysterious and all the
source materials about him need studying more than any famous writer of his
time. .( Carlos, 1981)
Hemingway was a man of the war as he constructed a
myth about himself as a traveler and an adventurous man who looked for peace
and wished all good luck for his country and for the world. His travels
confirmed this idea as well as his writings. He died to leave us a crudest
caricature that has deep impressions on the history of literature. His
masculinity attitude that he confirmed by his writings, his travels and his
photos of himself left a mythical image on his readers. He was described to be
put in a portray of mythology as a man who does not do with women which was an
idea that his four time marriages confirmed to some extent. It was thought that
he killed himself as a result of his despair in masculinity at times of war. His
many traveling such as to Paris , Spain and Africa
helped more in building a mythical image of him both in literature and I real
life. His literary works about heroic men helped also in figuring him
heroically just like the protagonists of his writings, an example is his
masterpiece:" The Old Man and the Sea" and his death at last
which completed the mythical image as to commit suicide with no specific
reasons made people put his figure in a mythical rank that he deserved but for
his great works.( Kenneth. (1987))
Conclusion
Reputation is a very interesting topic to write about
as famous people specifically has their reputation constructed according to
their works, people and critics opinions and their real daily life actions
which we discussed in this essay regarding the life of Ernest Hemingway who was
a great writer and a famous figure of modern American literature. He was a man
of strong attitudes concerning war, life, death and relationships between them
all and of human beings. His thoughts about death and his sufferings of bad
luck that lead him to get marry to four women and to have as many accidents as
a man could have in addition to his health condition all shared in constructing
the man's reputation which was enhanced by his receiving to many prizes of
which the best and greatest one was the Nobel Prize for literature. He has a
reputation that urges anyone to look for his works and study them to learn more
about the man and the messages he wanted to convey. Hemingway gave literature
rich materials whether through his works or whether through his reputation of
his personal and professional life.
References
·
Lynn, Kenneth. (1987). Hemingway.
Cambridge
· Reynolds,
Michael. (1999). Hemingway: The Final Years. New York
· Axton, Marie. "Hemingway's Literary
Reputation in England
· Baker, Carlos. (1981). "Introduction" in Ernest
Hemingway Selected Letters 1917–1961. New York
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