ErnestHemingwayisagiantofmodernliterature.Amongtwentieth-centuryAmericanfictionwriters,hisworkismostoftencomparedtothatofhiscontemporariesWilliamFaulknerandF.ScottFitzgerald.Combinedwithhisoutstandingshortstories,Hemingway’sfourmajornovels—TheSunAlsoRises(1926),AFarewelltoArms(1929),ForWhomtheBellTolls(1940),andTheOldManandtheSea(1952)—compriseacontributiontomodernfictionthatisfarmoresubstantialthanFitzgerald’sandthatapproximatesFaulkner’s.
FaulknerwasawardedtheNobelPrizeinLiteratureafewyearsbeforeHemingwayreceivedthisrecognition,buttheirrespectiveapproachestofictionaresodissimilarthatthisbelatedreceiptsayslittleornothingaboutHemingway’sstaturerelativetothatofFaulkner.WhensetalongsideFaulkner’sMississippinovels,Hemingway’smajorworksfeaturesimplerstructuresandnarrativevoices/personae.
Asormoreimportant,Hemingway’sstyle,withitsconsistentuseofshort,concrete,directproseandofscenesconsistingexclusivelyofdialogue,giveshisnovelsandshortstoriesadistinctiveaccessibilitythatisimmediatelyidentifiablewiththeauthor.Owingtothedirectcharacterofbothhisstyleandhislife-style,thereisatendencytocastHemingwayasa“representative”Americanwriterwhoseworkreflectsthebold,forthrightandruggedindividualismoftheAmericanspiritinaction.
HisownbackgroundasawoundedveteranofWorldWarI,asanengagedcombatantinthefightagainstFascism/Nazism,andasa“he-man”withapassionforoutdooradventuresandothermanlypursuitsreinforcethisassociation.
ButthisidentificationofHemingwayasauniquelyAmericangeniusisproblematic.Althoughthreeofhismajornovelsaretoldbyand/orthroughAmericanmen,Hemingway’sprotagonistsareexpatriates,andhisfictionalsettingsareinFrance,Italy,Spain,andlaterCuba,ratherthanAmericaitself.
WhileHemingway’searlycareerbenefitedfromhisconnectionswithFitzgeraldand(moreso)withAmericannovelistSherwoodAnderson,hisaestheticisactuallyclosertothatsharedbythetransplantedAmericanpoetsthathemetinParisduringthe1920s;T.S.Eliot,EzraPound,and,mostcrucially,GertrudeStein.Inthiscontext,wemustrealizethatHemingway’sapproachtothecraftoffictionisdirectbutneverbluntorjustplainsimple.
Hemingway’stextistheresultofapainstakingselectionprocess,eachwordperforminganassignedfunctioninthenarrative.Thesechoicesoflanguage,inturn,occurthroughthemindandexperienceofhisnovels’centralcharacterswhethertheyserveexplicitlyasnarratorsoftheirexperienceorasfocalcharactersfromwhoseperspectivesthestoryunfolds.ThemainworkingcorollaryofHemingway’s“icebergprinciple”isthatthefullmeaningofthetextisnotlimitedtomovingtheplotforward:thereisalwaysawebofassociationandinference,asubmergedreasonbehindtheinclusion(oreventheomission)ofeverydetail.
Wenote,too,thatalthoughHemingway’snovelsusuallyfollowastraightforwardchronologicalprogressionasinthethreedaysofForWhomtheBellTolls,Hemingwaydoesmakeuseofsummaryaccountsofthepast,ofmemoriesrelatedexternallyasstories,andofflashbacks.Thesedeviceslendfurtherdepthtohischaractersandcreatenarrativestructuresthatarenotcompletelystraightforwardchronicles.
Hemingwayisdirect.Butheisalsoquitesubtle,andsubtletyisnotatraitthatweascribetotheAmericanway.Intheend,Hemingwayisaninternationalartist,amanwhoneverrelinquishedhisAmericanidentitybutwhoenterednewterritoriestoobroadandtoodeeptofitwithinthedomainofanynationalculture.