Ernest Hemingway: a writer and character

When works of literature are produced, the reader always wonders where the emotions of characters and the experiences they go through come from. There is always that feeling of the unknown. The book may have been beautifully written, but is the writer as incredible as their words? Ernest Hemingway, who has written famous short stories, poems, and novels, is someone who actually uses his own life to create his fictional characters and events. Within every piece of writing, Ernest Hemingway uses his own emotions and harsh realities as a way to create his characters. He does this through specifically reflecting experiences of fighting or working through a war, relationships he shares with women, and his negative emotions increasing through his life lead every character to their demise. Throughout every piece, Hemingway creates others’ lives through his. This writer has creates a vast amount of famous pieces, and one idea that is seen through many of his novels and short stories is the hardships of war. War is both a physical challenge and mental mind game. Throughout Hemingway’s adulthood, he is drafted into war and works on the outskirts of war as a journalist. These positions that he is placed in, are what makes the foundation of some of the characters he creates in his stories. Ernest Hemingway’s first experience in the eyes of war was his participation in World War I as a Red Cross ambulance driver in Italy. During his time as a soldier, he is wounded in both legs by an explosion near the front lines, causing him to remain in the hospital for recuperation. Regardless of being wounded, and not fighting, Hemingway comes back to the United States a hero. His experiences working, and being wounded, are what created the soul setting of A Farewell to Arms. A Farewell to Arms, is the study of an American ambulance driver’s disillusionment in the war and his role as a deserter. This wartime novel was the writer’s emotions and experiences in fictional form. He creates the protagonist, Henry, as an American male who volunteers to work as an ambulance driver during the war in Italy. Henry goes into the army completely determined and emotionally detached from everything. He is a man who only cares for war, and winning the war is his main thought. As an ambulance driver, Henry does not have the time to be emotional. He needs to rescue the large amounts of wounded shoulders and get them some help. If he cares about every little situation, then he can inevitably become weaker. These qualities and this occupation are completely paralleling Hemingway’s life as an ambulance driver. In addition to his occupation, the writer actually uses his own explosion accident as the foundation of Henry’s incident. Henry is severely wounded in his leg as well. He has to spend a considerable amount of time in the hospital. It is apparent that Hemingway’s beautiful writing style and thematic elements are produced without his emotions and experiences as a guideline to his stories. The issue of war is embedded in Hemingway’s first serious novel, The Sun Also Rises, in the year of 1926. The story, narrated by an American journalist, deals with a group of expatriates in France and Spain, member of the disillusioned post-World War I Lost Generation. The male role in this novel is Jake Barnes. Jake Barnes is indirectly Hemingway’s emotions. This does not involve war within it like A Farewell Arms, yet because of the pain of Hemingway’s leg injuries in World War I, he put the character through some form of pain and suffering, which shows the relationship with war. It does not specifically say what Jake Barnes problem is, but it seems to be that he does not have his testicles anymore, just his penis. In order to cope with his insecurities, he chooses to travel around Europe with his friend Brett. Unfortunately, with their despair, they turn to alcohol, violence and sex. It is evident that because of one negative