Cuba

                Today there are a lot of people who want to bring the boycott of Cuba to an end.  The trade embargo has been in effect since 1958.  The U.S. embargo has kept many Cubans in poverty rather than help them as the embargo was intended.  Many Cubans do not have access to new technology due to the embargo.  The embargo has also hurt many U.S. companies by costing them millions in potential exports.  The embargo was meant to bring an end to communism in the country of Cuba but this has not been the result.  The communist regime is still very much in control with no signing of letting go.  The embargo has done nothing but cost the people of Cuba and the U.S.  a great deal of opportunities.            
                I believe Ernest Hemingway would have felt the same way about the embargo with Cuba.  Hemingway was a frequent visitor to Cuba.  At times he even considered it home.  He had many friends there and enjoyed taking many fishing trips.  With this embargo in place he would not be able to travel and enjoy the place he loved so dearly.  Hemingway was not really affected by the embargo at the time he was living there.  He left Cuba in 1960 for the last time to live in Idaho.  The embargo was passed in 1958 but did not really begin being enforced until 1962.  There is no doubt that if he had continued living that Hemingway would have made several more trips to Cuba.
                The embargo has kept many people, like Hemingway, from visiting the Cuba.  Many families have been kept apart and unable to see each other because of it, which is very sad.  For two countries that are such close neighbors, it is very unfortunate that we cannot get along well enough to trade.  Hopefully future politicians will see the harm this embargo is causing and will get rid of it.  This would allow many Americans to be able to enjoy time in Havana as Hemingway once did. 

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Ernest Hemingway was known to put his own life experiences into his work.  He had a life of great adventure and this allowed him to create genuine stories that seemed as if they were real.  “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” is a great example of Hemingway bringing his own experience to a story. 

Although Hemingway did not officially make this story an autobiography, he could have easily done so.  There are numerous similarities between the main character, Harry, and Hemingway.  In this story, a writer named Harry was on a safari in Africa with his wife Helen when he received minor cuts.  By not treating them they had become infected.  Being in a remote location there was no help available and the plane that was supposed to pick them up was late.  This situation closely resembles a safari Hemingway and his wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, took to Africa.  Hemingway was severely injured in a plane crash.  Luckily Hemingway was more fortunate than Harry and lived to tell the story. 

                While injured, Harry reminisces about his life and all that he has done.  He spends much time discussing his time in Paris which he seems to cherish.  Hemingway also spent several years in Paris where in many ways he became the writer that he is considered today.  Harry regrets not writing about many of his experiences and fears he will not have the chance to do so.  Hemingway, on the other hand, wrote about much of his life.  I believe this is an insight into Hemingway’s fear of someday not being able to write about a part of his life.  Perhaps this is why he did write so much about his experiences. 

Harry, like Hemingway, was no stranger to woman problems.  He married Helen but has since fallen out of love with her.  He resents her for her money and the way she was raised.  He feels as though she is very boring.  He does, however, admit to the fact that she is a good woman.  At the time he wrote this Hemingway was married to Pauline, who also was very wealthy.  I wonder if perhaps Hemingway and Pauline had similar conversations while he was injured in the plane crash. 

                The story ends with Harry being rescued by the pilot, at least that’s what Hemingway leads us to believe.  As it turns out Harry has passed away in the night and this seems to be Hemingway’s interpretation of heaven, which for Harry is Kilimanjaro.  Hemingway reveals the truth to us at the end though when Helen discovers that Harry is gone.

Although knowing Hemingway’s biography is not a requirement to reading “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”, I believe that it gives the reader a far greater understanding and appreciation for Hemingway’s work.  In addition to being a very good story, I believe “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” offers great insight into the mind of a literary genius.

The Lost Generation

The “Lost Generation” refers to expatriated American writers who were living in Paris after World War I.  Ernest Hemingway was one of these writers.  He was working as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star at the time.  The majority of the writers in the “Lost Generation” were veterans of World War I.  They had seen and done terrible things which left them devastated after the war was over.  They returned to a country that was ready to forget about the war and in many ways the soldiers who fought in it.  They were unable to adjust to a changing world.  This created the environment for a new form of literature.  The literature during this time would be much different than the pre-war literature.  The works created were not as optimistic as before, almost pessimistic in many cases.  This was due to the fact that these writers had endured many hardships in their lives that were of no fault of their own.  

Ernest Hemingway was not only considered a part of the “Lost Generation” movement, he also helped create it. The term, “Lost Generation”, was created by Gertrude Stein, who was a friend of Hemingway.  According to Hemingway, Stein was at a mechanic shop where her car had been poorly repaired.  The shop owner told the mechanic he was a lost generation.  She then told Hemingway that he was also part of the “Lost Generation”.   The generation was generally perceived to be careless and heavy drinkers.  This definition definitely fit Hemingway’s personality.  He later used the term in The Sun Also Rises, which was a significant work of Ernest Hemingway. 

The “Lost Generation” had a major role in the short story becoming a respected form of literature.  Before this time short stories were not considered profitable, but the writers of this time were able to write stories that were not only good literature but could make money.  The short story had become very popular and this was due to the American writers of the “Lost Generation”.    

 Although Hemingway was not the only writer of the "Lost Generation", he is the one most associated with it.  Other than the mechanic, he was also the first one labeled with this title.

           

Sources:

Werlock, Abby H. P., ed. "Hemingway, Ernest." The Facts On File Companion to the American Novel. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CANov0423&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 16, 2012).

Oliver, Charles M. "Hemingway and the lost generation." Critical Companion to Ernest Hemingway: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCEH3060&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 16, 2012).

Oliver, Charles M. "Hemingway and the lost generation." Critical Companion to Ernest Hemingway: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCEH3060&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 16, 2012).

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http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/22/79522-004-427B0824.jpg

The Life of Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway was an exceptional author whose goal was to write stories as real to life as possible.  For someone who led such an incredible life, this was no easy task.  Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899 near Chicago, Illinois.  His family spent summers at the family’s lake house at Lake Walloon.  It was those summers in which his love for hunting and fishing began.  He had a fairly typical childhood, but this did not keep him from having an extraordinary life.  His writing career began in high school as a reporter for the school newspaper.  After high school Hemingway, with help from his uncle, was able to become a reporter for the Kansas City Star.  This turned out to be short lived because he soon turned his eyes to World War I.  He attempted to enlist in the Army but was unable due to his poor eyesight.  Not one to give up, Hemingway volunteered with the Red Cross as an ambulance driver and was soon sent to Italy.  He was in Italy only a month before becoming seriously injured.  He was recognized by the Italian government as a hero for his extraordinary actions.  This was just one of many awards Hemingway would receive in his life.  Hemingway’s injuries led to him having two operations.  During his recovery he fell in love with a nurse, but the love was not returned to him. 

                In 1918 Hemingway returned his family home in Michigan to recover from his injuries and from a broken heart.  While recuperating he began to write short stories, although none published in his lifetime.  Not being one to stay in one place long, Hemingway moved to Toronto where he became a reporter for the Toronto Daily Star.  While continuing to write for The Star, Hemingway began to also write for a farm journal in Chicago.  It was during this time that Hemingway married his first wife, Hadley Richardson.  The two moved to Paris where Hemingway became a correspondent for The Star.  The years Hemingway spent in Europe would prove to be very fruitful for him.  He wrote several short stories, poems and his first novel, The Sun Also Rises.  While his career began to take off, his marriage with Hadley was ending.  Hemingway soon married his second wife, Pauline. 

                Through two more failed marriages and two plane crashes, Hemingway would continue to write.  His life continued to be filled with adventures, romance and war.  He traveled and lived all over the world.  A few places would become very special to him, in particular Cuba.  Hemingway never passed up the opportunity to live life to its fullest.  While Hemingway is remembered for his incredible literary works, his life was often as incredible as his stories.  He was an adventurist and lived his life as though there was no tomorrow.  In spite of all the good things he had in his life he was far from perfect.  His life would be cursed by depression and alcoholism.   Unfortunately the story of Ernest Hemingway came to a tragic ending when he lost the battle with depression and took his own life in 1961.  It seems that he would even write the ending to his own story. 

Sources:

Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 330: Nobel Prize Laureates in Literature, Part 2: Faulkner-Kipling. A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book. Gale, 2007. pp. 309-325.

Oliver, Charles M. "Hemingway, Ernest." Critical Companion to Ernest Hemingway: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCEH0001&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 7, 2012).

Elliott, Ira. "Ernest Hemingway." Writers for Young Adults. Ed. Ted Hipple. Vol. 3. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1997. Scribner Writers Series. Web. 7 Apr. 2012.

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http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1954/hemingway-bio.html