Analysis Of Hemingway's Death Theme

Being a momentous share on life cycle, death is the terminal of ideological activities. On the one hand, men pursue life persistently; on the other hand, they have to face the judgment of death. As the most delicate one of human beings, literary artist escapes no chancing of pondering over death. Together with love and existence, death has been regarded as one of the few basic and common themes in literature. Literary artists strive as much as possible to seek the meanings of death in order to sublime life. Ernest Hemingway (1899—1961), who wins the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954, is undoubtedly no exception. The meaning of life and death is a recurrent theme in his literary creations, or more precisely, life and death theme distinguishes Hemingway. Therefore, it is safe to say that the analysis of this life and death theme gives access to appreciating and admiring Hemingway and it is believed that it will lead readers to a deeper understanding of Hemingway.It is felt that Hemingway's literary creation is closely related to his legendary personal experiences. Based on his experiences of childhood, of World War I and of the following series of wars (Spanish Civil War and World War II especially), his exploration and understanding of life and death correspondingly falls into three stages: stage of"He would Never Die."; stage of"Death and Man"and stage of"Man and Death". The first stage of"He would Never Die."suggests Hemingway's naive idea about death when he was a child. This kind of idea is lively revealed in his Indian Camp which is his first death quest. At the second stage, Hemingway displays his idea of"Death and Man", which implies that death cannot be conquered and that in the confrontations with death, man is rather weak and can do nothing about it. During this period, Hemingway has experienced war (or death) and is covered with physical wounds outwardly and psychic traumas inwardly. After that war, Hemingway loses so much, including his childish idea on as well as ideal for life. Now he sees human beings facing war, or rather death, bravely, but falling dead weak and powerless. Human beings are not able to conquer death. In the confrontation with death, they could have the strength to face it, but they could not defeat it. This kind of idea expresses itself absolutely in A Farewell to Arms. At the last stage of"Man and Death", Hemingway clearly tells that man is dominant and man, though unable to conquer death, can not be defeated in spirit, and man is able to live a meaningful life. At this moment, Hemingway manifests a reasonable and philosophical attitude towards life and death. He believes that everyone should face death directly and bravely. Human beings should overcome the terror of death in spirit, and realize the value of existence or life to the greatest extent. They should achieve the beauty and the dignity of death. In this way, human beings defeat death. They are masters of death and they are able to live meaningful lives. The shift of"death and man"and"man and death"represents the change of Hemingway's ideas and understanding of life and death. This shift is reflected profoundly in For Whom the Be11 To11s.Then, it is found that the superb artistic skill of symbolism is frequently brought out to reflect his writing style, a style characterized by his"principle of iceberg", and it helps to manifest his idea and understanding of life and death to the full length. In this thesis, Hemingway's exploration and understanding of life and death has been brought out and reinforced by the employment of symbolism on two aspects:"values of life"and"courage—the most classical value of life"."Values of life"is manifested in The Snows of Kilimanjaro;and"courage—the most classical value of life"expresses itself in The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. These two sections further manifest Hemingway's idea and understanding of life and death and explain the shift of"death and man"and"man and death"and that man can live not only a meaningful life, but also a graceful life under pressure, including the extreme pressure under death.Next, the significance of Hemingway's death theme is probed conscientiously in this thesis. Hemingway's heroes follow a prototype called"Code Hero", which originates with American scholar Philip Young. Hemingway himself defines the Code Hero as"a man who lives correctly, following the ideals of honor, courage and endurance in a world that is sometimes chaotic, often stressful, and always painful". Through his Code Heroes, Hemingway manifests an immortal spirit of living—"grace under pressure"and his code heroes also reflect Hemingway's ideal of man. Hemingway's Code Hero preserves dignity by following the codes and standards of conduct with which man could confront with the realities of nada (which include the realities of chance, accident, destruction and death), and then imposing a measure of purpose, order, meaning and value upon life. Moreover, Hemingway's exploration and understanding of life and death has sublimated to how to face life and death. Hemingway seems to have pointed out that it is very necessary to find what he thinks a right way to pursue life in the world and lead a rich and noble life—a life with undefeatable spirit and immortal spirit of"grace under pressure"that his Code Hero carries.Hemingway and his contemplations on human being's eternal death theme and ultimate value of life condense into the soil of the treasure-house of world literature, as well as American ideological and cultural progress. They unceasingly give the later generation deep-going life enlightenment and artistic nourishment and guide their life and activity rigorously. What's more, the in-depth research on Hemingway's death theme undoubtedly promotes surveying the Western social condition and ideological state of Hemingway's time from a much deeper level. Hemingway's experiences with death, his confrontations and fight, painful or brave, and experiences in life, enjoyable or suffering, form a vivid artistic portraiture of the waste land of 20th century Western world.Ernest Hemingway and his literary creation have witnessed the test of generations. Both he and his literary creation have been a character, symbol and milestone of the world literature as well as of American literature!...