Psychological And Philosophical Analysis Of Hemingway's Short-Fiction Heroes

Ernest Hemingway is an influential 20th century American writer, poet and journalist, whose life spanned over one of the most turbulent eras overshadowed by great changes, the first half of the 20th century, when military conquest ruthlessly shook and smashed the old traditions of Western Civilization, sweeping away any moral and psychological defense that stood in its way, leaving nothing in its wake but a lurid vacuum of faith characterized by traumas, panics, uncertainties and nothingness that every individual was heir to. A World War I veteran who managed to establish himself as one of the most successful young writers in the late 1920s, and who volunteered service in Spanish Civil War and later in World War II, Hemingway was one of numerous witnesses to and undertakers of these disastrous changes and breakdowns. And his short stories mostly written in his early career, in particular, gave a vivid and meticulous portrayal of the losses, skepticism and despair, which characterized the general psyche of post-war generation. With his prosaic, terse and realistic style, he gave birth to a large number of lonely but enduring characters typically called"tough men", whose courageous and dauntless acts in confrontation with the war-torn world ridden with all kinds of absurdities and disasters, define them as shining examples of heroism in the repertoire of 20th century literature.Employing the existentialist philosophy of Nietzsche, a famous 19th German thinker, and the psychoanalytical theory of Freud, an illustrious Austrian psychologist, this thesis is an attempt to give a philosophical and psychological analysis of Hemingway's short-fiction heroes, their character, and the social dimension of their making. Integrating philosophy, psychology and theories of literary criticism in joint consideration of the social and cultural contexts typical of the modern Western society, this thesis is also intended to give insights into a number of critical psychological, religious and moral crises which confronted both these short-fiction heroes and Hemingway alike, offering an explication of their varied attitudes, values and choices that define them as three types of distinctive heroes: nada heroes, undefeatable heroes and life-in-death heroes.