Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway, a relatable yet unique man. He had a very adventurous life travelling to many places and doing many things in his lifetime but it was also a very tragic life as well. He traveled to many places in the world and had many events occurred in his lifetime that inspired his stories which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.

In his lifetime, Hemingway traveled from Illinois to Paris to Cuba to Idaho. He went on safaris in Africa and even took part in bullfighting. He took part of World War I as an ambulance driver since the army refused to let him fight because of his poor eyesight. The Spanish Civil War was another war he took part of as a journalist. For World War II he volunteered for the Navy.  Hemingway worked with different newspaper companies like the Kansas City Star and the Toronto Star. Many events during the wars inspired him to write many of the stories he created. He wanted to part of as much as he could so he could write about it realistically and have the readers view what could not be seen.

Hemingway lived a life full of tragedy besides all the adventures. His childhood can be said to be a tragedy. Until the age of 6 his mother dressed him up as a girl with dresses and long hair. Another thing about his mother was that she was the head of the household and even had control of his father. Both of those things resulted in him trying to prove his masculinity during his lifetime. During the wars he participated in he got injured and very sick. For example, during World War II he got pneumonia and missed most of the battle he had been told to cover at Luxembourg. Also, he was involved in 2 plane crashes which impacted him. Other tragic events were the deaths of his loved ones like Hadley committing suicide after they divorced, his mother dying, Pauline’s death by a tumor, the deaths of good friends, and his son getting injured in an automobile accident. Hemingway was also getting many health issues because of his constant drinking and was also starting to get depression. He had over 2 suicide attempts and after going to a clinic and getting electroshock treatments his depression got worse because they ruined his memory and it would take him a week to write a paragraph of a story. He didn't see a point in living if he couldn't continue to write as well as he used to. After being released from the clinic and going home to his house in Idaho he committed suicide by shooting himself 3 days later. This was a very tragic way to die and I think that, even after the four marriages and the many affairs with other women that he had, he really did love Hadley. I believe that if he had not made the mistake to divorce her and her committing suicide after that, than he might have lived a bit longer because he did say that he had spent the rest of his life looking for another Hadley.

In my opinion Hemingway lived an adventurous life and changed the world of literature with his realistic and unique ways of writing, although physical and mental struggles, loss, death, and love were tragedies in Ernest Hemingway’s life.