Some Of The Most Appreciated Writings Of Hemingway
written in response to ONE of the following prompts. Format: double-spaced, one-inch margins, 10-12 point typeface, and a readable font (Times, Courier, etc.). No title required; no bibliography required, MLA format. Stay to the assigned text. Your thesis will be about Hemingway. Don't over-reach.
Prompts
1. Using at least three stories, one each from three of the five sections of The Nick Adams Stories, discuss how Hemingway represents the physical features of northern Michigan—the woods, the waters, the distances, etc. What are their effects on Nick at different stages of his life? How do they contrast other places he goes? As he ages, does he reimagine it accurately?
2. Using at least three stories, one each from three of the five sections of The Nick Adams Stories, discuss how Hemingway represents the demographic features of northern Michigan—the people he lives and interacts with during his time there. Are they different from people elsewhere? Is Nick ever really one of them? Or is he always an outsider, the summer person, the doctor's son? Does he fantasize about being truly “local”? How do race and class play in to this?
3. In northern Michigan, Nick interacts with members of racial minorities. What is the nature of that interaction? What does it say about the cultural politics of the area? Is the young Nick a racist? Is the older Hemingway? Or is he just reflecting the region's economic asymmetries?
4. In northern Michigan and elsewhere, Nick interacts with women, often sexually. Discuss the nature of these relationships? Are they sabotaged by Nick's sense of himself as a “man's man”? Does being a “man's man” connect to the importance of the north woods to his sense of self-reliance? You must address “The End of Something” in this prompt.
Instructor
Course
Date
Question Four
Ernest Hemingway has been well appreciated for his iconic writing across the world. He has been recognized as a “skier in Switzerland”, a “big game hunter in Africa”, and “an angler in Florida”. He is most recognized for his understanding and appreciation of “the natural world”. His father encouraged him to embrace hunting, swimming, and fishing. Some of the most appreciated writings of Hemingway are about his appreciations of the interactions he had with nature. In the course of his life, he had several sexual encounters, which were sabotaged by his love for nature.
The relationship life of Nick Adams is best demonstrated in “The End of Something”. The story tells how as a teenager, Nick breaks up with Marjorie, his girlfriend. Nick has no desire to continue with the relationship and tells Marjorie that “it’s fun no more” when breaking up with her. There is no explanation as to the events that led to the breakup. Following the breakup with Marjorie, Nick becomes distraught (Simon & Schustern. p). He is unable to do anything but just lay face down. In“Now I Lay me”, Nick stays awake all night long thinking about the girls he dated in his life. He argues that he only thought about the girls for a few moments after which they blurred out. They all faded in his mind and became the same with no specialty attached to anyone. The same is seen in “The End of Something” where Marjorie begins to bore Nick and is en route to being forgotten.
When Marjorie asks Nick whether Love is fun, his only response is “no”, claiming that he never sees value in love. Nick is unable to keep a functional relationship because he is more inclined towards his connection with nature (Simon & Schustern. p). The love for nature gradually pushes Nick away from femininity and towards masculinity. Nick always prefers nature and masculinity over femininity. Nature gradually pushes Nick away from relationships with women. The inability to keep feminine relationships is more because Nick feels he is a man’s man. In a discussion with Bill, he suggests that if Nick had gone with Marjorie, they would not have been able to go fishing the following day. Even though Marjorie is skilled in fishing and loves it, the men do believe that hanging out together is more important than Nick goes out with Marjorie (Raleigh 34).
When discussing why he broke up with Marjorie, Nick says that he could never help it and that there was just a natural feeling that influenced his decision,“in the way a three-day blows can come and rip-off all the leaves”. Hemingway notes that nature has had significant influence on the feelings that Nick had for Marjorie. He notes, “Outside now the Marge business was no longer so tragic. It was not even very important. The wind blew everything like that away, as well as, none of it was important now. The wind blew it out of his head”. But still, Nick is unclear and contradictory in his thoughts of Marjorie. There are times he hopes he can repair the r...