Hemingway's Constant Exploration Of Life And Death In His Short Stories

Upon careful reading of his literary works, the author of this present thesis finds that meditation on life and death has been a major theme that Hemingway intends to explore in his literary creation. Further research shows his understanding of life and death has undergone three stages of development, which can be best reflected in his short stories.Studies upon Ernest Hemingway have been focused largely on his novels, which indeed establish his as one of the greatest masters of literature in the world as well as in America. Up to now studies on his short stories are far from adequate. However, based on a thorough research on his life experience and literary works, the author of the present thesis finds that, though not as famous as the novels, these short stories are closely related to his personal experience and are valuable in their own right to the interpretation of Hemingway's exploration of life and death.Through a conscientious analysis of his texts, the author of the present thesis discovers that Hemingway's constant exploration and understanding of life and death has undergone three stages of development, which are reflected in several of his short stories. These three stages can be summarized as the stage of curiosity and vagueness; the stage of perplexity and puzzlement; the stage of reason and philosophy. The author argues that these three stages are well illustrated in several of his short stories.The first stage of understanding is revealed in his "Indian Camp" and "The Killers". Influenced by his father's ardent love for life, Hemingway shows his curiosity for death. At the second stage, Hemingway displays his perplexity and puzzlement on the phenomenon of life and death resulted from his experience in the First World War. Such understanding is fully demonstrated in "Cat in the Rain", "Big Two-Hearted River" and "Hills Like White Elephants". At the last stage of exploration, Hemingway manifests a reasonable and philosophical attitude towards life and death. The Spanish Civil War and World War Two have helped him comprehend the full meaning of life and death. What matters to him is not the lengthof life but the dignity. This shift in the standpoint is exposed in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro", "Old Man at the Bridge" and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber".Moreover, the author also discovers that Hemingway's superb artistic skills such as telegraphic dialogue, symbolism, prose style, monologue, and terse description of the settings contribute greatly to the exposition of the theme of life and death in his short stories. Therefore, one chapter of the thesis is to be devoted to the discussion of these artistic skills and how they strengthen and complement the theme that Hemingway wants to explore.