Hemingway's Restoration Of Manhood In The Sun Also Rises And Short Stories

In Hemingway's works, men are always on the center of the stage and manhood is one of his major concerns. At the turn of the century, the male writers, especially Hemingway, found themselves embroiled in the anxiety of manhood. Various factors, such as the changing social and economical conditions, the threatening and arising power of New Women and disintegrating experience of the World Wars, cause the insecurity of manhood.Manhood in Hemingway text is associated with a chain of metonyms, such as courage, heroism and self-possession and is expressed through the powerful action. The traits of true manhood refer to the conceptions, such as silent endurance, self-control, honesty and autonomy. Hemingway's male characters fit into these traits through their actions. This paper then tries to trace the process of restoration of manhood in textual comparison and analysis. Hemingway and his male characters reestablish the manhood in two spheres:the interaction between man and woman and the interaction between man and the world. The choice of literary materials lies mainly in Hemingway's early works---The Sun Also Rises and three short stories because young Hemingway is an eager observer and a major participant in the broad cultural struggles of that time, particularly the rise of modernism and the gender war. It points out that though Hemingway and his male protagonists are facing the crisis of manhood at the turn of century, they are resolved to preserve and restore the authentic manhood.