The Masculine Sacrifices of Feminine Manipulation and Critique

Ernest Hemingway, an American Novelist writes in ways which “uses a plain, forceful prose style characterized by simple sentences and few adjectives or adverbs. He writes crisp, accurate dialogue and exact descriptions of places and things” (Kramer), to reflect his thoughts and life lessons. Hemingway apart of what is considered the “lost generation” writes a vast amount on the society that exists during the time of the World Wars and how they (the lost generation) struggle in adjusting to the changes of society after the wars. Through this and his personal experiences, Hemingway reveals his own thoughts on women. After reading Hemingway’s short stories, “Hills like White Elephants”, “Cat in the Room”, “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, and his Novel, “A Farewell to Arms”, It is clear that Hemingway combines his ability to tell a story, and the ironic situations which occur between a man and a woman to prove that men sacrifice their future personal growth because of the manipulation and critique involved with love.

Looking at Ernest Hemingway’s life we can see that he was affected emotionally by his relationships as a young man. Hemingway goes through history in various relationships, which all contain problems and continue to not satisfy his desires or needs. This leaves him constantly searching for the ‘right woman.’ As Hemingway gets older in life he writes negativity towards his relationships in and outside of marriage.

Hemingway went through four wives and his experiences with them all are reflected in his writing. Hemingway doesn’t only speak of his personal relationships regarding his feelings of women, but also regards his relationship with his parents. In “The Hemingway Women,” written by Bernice ...

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...es). However, if the emotional feeling of love is destroyed because it is claimed not real or because reality catches up, a man then sacrifices his emotional growth. His emotional growth is put on pause by hidding behind sexual desires and encounters. I will claim that not all situations involving love resemble this philosophy; But this Hemingway philosophy can be seen best in the Novel, “A Farewell to Arms.”

Works Cited

Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. New York: Scribner Classics, 1997. Print.

Hemingway, Ernest. Selected Letters 1917-1961. Ed. Carlos Baker. New York: Scribner,1981. Print.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Short Stories: The First Forty-Nine (1921-1938). New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995. Print.

Kert, Bernice. The Hemingway Women. New York: Norton and Company, 1999. Print.

Kramer, Victor A. "Ernest Hemingway." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.