Existentialism In Hemingway’s Islands In The Stream

Hemingway Ernest was a brilliant and prolific writer of the 20 th century in the American literary history. His works are popular with readers throughout the world, such as the Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bell Tolls. However, his posthumous works like A Movable Feast and Islands in the Stream, which attract little attention from the readers and critics, to say nothing about the reader’s adoration. In fact, we can similarly discern that Hemingway’s image in the main character Thomas Hudson in Island in the Stream, which is full of Hemingway’ s unique individual pessimism. What’s more, Hemingway reveals a positive existentialism in that particular social background, where people struggle for the misfortunes, disasters and ruins in life with positive existentialism, and people are finally transcended and sublimated.However, few critics regard the main protagonist’s miserable life as a reflection of Hemingway, which contrasting Hemingway’s personal experience to the novel’s leading man. On one hand, critics regard, to a large extent, this novel as an autobiography of Hemingway, but they haven’t realized the breakthrough Hemingway made in writing and the subject matter; on the other hand, they construe the main protagonist Thomas Hudson as an absolute loser, both in marital relations and in the last fighting. Some critics, therefore, conclude that Hudson demonstrates a strong negative pessimism and lives a frustrated life as well. Hudson is a loser in these two aspects for some critics. However, we can perceive without any difficulty from the text the positive pessimism of Hudson and his partners in that the characters in the novel still live and fight with a positive heart, although they live in an absurd and alienated world and immersed in confusion at the outset. They indeed take active roles in fighting against their enemies, and they begin to realize the meaning and preciousness of life in this process, showing their positive attitude toward life and their country.This project aims at expounding, from the perspective of existentialism, the main character Thomas Hudson’s three totally different life stages, including his early happy and carefree life at Bimini, then living confused, and how and why he shows braveness and unselfishness to fight against enemies. Hudson tries to find out the meaning of life and pursuits in a changeable life. Moreover, he is a symbol of the masses of America, which is in wars, and economy is depressed and relations among people are indifferent; but he performs valiantly and gallantly for defending justice and peace. We can regard Hudson as an adamant and energetic American youth. Meanwhile, it demonstrates that, no matter how hard the life is, man can beat it with unremitting will. The so called misfortune and suffering will be overcome. Just as Hemingway says: “ Man is not born to be beaten”(The Old Man and the Sea 103).This thesis is made up of three chapters apart from an introduction and a conclusion. The first chapter mainly analyzes the nothingness of the characters in Islands in the Stream. It is caused by two reasons: First, the living backgrounds of characters in the novel give rise to a sense of pain and distress which filled with them; And second, Hemingway puts his pessimistic sense on Hudson, who is the hero portrayed in the novel. The two factors deepen the characters’ nothingness through doing meaningless things and living a wild life. Then, the second chapter focuses on how and why characters live in such a confusing and alienated world. Moreover, people have rights to choose freedom, because of the indifference and alienation among people when they live in such kind of chaotic and disorderly society. However, people must be responsible for their choices and actions in freedom, according to Sartre’s existentialist philosophy. Thus, the third chapter dedicates to deal with Hudson’s free choices and actions, so as to pursue and achieve man’s life meaning and value.The purpose of this thesis is trying to reveal the mingled existentialist philosophy and Hemingway’s existential thoughts, that is to say, combining Sartre’s existentialist philosophy and Hemingway’s to analyze its existential thought and theme in Islands in the Stream. In the end, this thesis arrives at a conclusion: Hemingway’s Islands in the Stream indeed reflects the existentialist philosophy. Characters shaped by Hemingway in this novel have a strong sense of existentialist thought, especially the hero, Hudson. Courageously, pursuing life value and being responsible for life still brings about significant and instructive meaning to the modern society.