The Life of Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway

“But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” (Hemingway, 29). This is one of the lines that Ernest Hemingway uses in one of his books, titled, “The Old Man and The Sea.” It was published in 1952, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize the following year. The story of an old fisherman's journey, his long and lonely struggle with a fish and the sea, was considered to be the most popular of all his works. Fortunately for this well-known author, he has many more books, novels and short stories that his readers enjoy.

Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois on July 21, 1899 (Oliver, 1999). He was an author and journalist, and started his writing career in 1917, working for The Kansas City Star as a reporter. Hemingway was not only known for his works, which are considered classics of American literature, but also for his adventurous lifestyle and public image. His parents, Clarence Edmonds and Grace Hall-Hemingway, were both very well educated. Clarence, his father, was a physician, and his mother, a musician. They were also well respected in their community (Reynolds, 2000). Apparently, Hemingway disliked his mother but had her energy and enthusiasm. Personally, the relationship with his mother seemed strange, and a bit sad.

Oak Park and River Forest High School was where Hemingway was enrolled from 1913 until 1917. He was involved in many sports, excelled in English classes, and performed in the school orchestra for two years. His sister Marcelline also played in the school orchestra with him (Reynolds, 2000). The main reason for this was because their mother insisted that her children play some instrument. Since he did not want to, his inner thoughts and feelings towar...

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Works Cited

McLain, P. (2012, May 29). Hemingway's Wives. The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 23, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paulamclain/post_3424_b_1553339.html

Oliver, Charles. (1999). Ernest Hemingway A to Z: The Essential Reference to the Life and Work. New York: Checkmark Publishing.

"The Nobel Prize in Literature 1954". The Nobel Foundation. Retrieved April 24, 2014.

Reynolds, Michael. (2000). Ernest Hemingway: A Brief Biography A Historical Guide to Ernest Hemingway in Wagner-Martin, Linda (ed). Oxford: Oxford UP.

Meyers, Jeffrey. (1985). Hemingway: A Biography. New York: Macmillan.

Mitgang, H. (1982, September 14). LEICESTER HEMINGWAY, WRITER AND ERNEST'S BROTHER, IS SUICIDE. The New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/15/obituaries/leicester-hemingway-writer-and-ernest-s-brother-is-suicide.html