Transformation of Hemingway Heroes in His Novels

朱偉芳

Abstract： This paper tries to make a clear exposition of the process of the development of the Hemingway heroes in his novels from their coming into being to their greatly change in characteristics. And it also explores and explains the reasons not only for formation of the Hemingway heroes but also for their development and change. Finally， it makes a conclusion that such a development reflects Hemingways great writing crafts and a truth of writing of life， from life and in life.

Key words： Hemingway； Hemingway hero； change； life

[中圖分類號]I06

[文獻標識碼]A

[文章編號]1006-2831（2013）02-0182-6 doi：10.3969/j.issn.1006-2831.2013.01.043

1. Introduction

It is probably safe to say that no other American writers in the last century achieved the combination of international fame and literary stature that Ernest Hemingway （1899-1961） did during his lifetime； moreover， after his death people still remember him， not only thanks to his numerous famous works， like The Sun also Rises， For Whom the Bell tolls， The Old Man and the Sea， etc. but also because in his novels he created a kind of hero called Hemingway hero. Generally speaking， we might label the Hemingway hero an individualist， defeated by life as well as being unable to redeem this defeat by action. However， such a kind of heroes in his novels is not always completely same. To some degree， they develop with time and are reflected most obviously in The Old and the Sea， because in this novel， the hero， Santiago， is no longer a desperate man and without inward violence. In contrary， he is more or less at peace with himself and not at war with his world. That is to say， Santiago is more broadly representative of the human race than any other Hemingway characters and realizes the reconciliation to the human condition.

2. The formation of the Hemingway heroes and its reason

As we all know， since a Hemingway hero appears in the book In Our Time （1925） for the first time， Hemingway writes about it all his life in one sense. Such a kind of hero is an average man of decidedly masculine tastes， sensitive and intelligent， wounded but strong. At the same time， he is also an individualist， not only being alone even with other people and keeping emotion under control in a dreadful world where no one can have happiness， but also relieving his pain through indulging himself in sex， alcohol and sports. In a word， this hero is a man learning to live with “grace under pressure” （Carlos Baker， 1970： 115）. For example， the hero， Nick Adams， in the work In Our Time， grows up in a world with no peace， and as a result of his physical wound in the war， his psychology and emotion have also been wounded， which alienate him from his society. But how he deals with such a situation？ He leaves for his country， swamps to fish， and learns to endure as a man. To some degree， most of the heroes created in Hemingways later works are the repetition of Nick Adams.

But what makes Hemingway so fascinate in creating such heroes？ It is mostly because of the influence of the two world wars. We know that the 1920s was a special period in the history. The First World War was the biggest event that had a profound impact on this period. In those days， people were inspired by the ideal of making the world safer and more democratic， and thus vied with each other to the front with great enthusiasm. But after the war there was a tremendous letdown because nothing had changed and even became worse. So the feeling of excitement and enthusiasm gave way to the feeling of disillusionment and sadness right away. As a result， the feeling of loss of faith continued into this century. However， it is known to all that without faith man could no longer keep his feeling and thought whole； hence the sense of life being fragmented and chaotic. Moreover， without faith man could no longer felt secure and happy and hopeful in his world； hence the feeling of gloom and despair.

As one of the participants of the war， Hemingway had a deep feeling on such a sense of meaninglessness. Furthermore， he was injured many times in the war and thus suffered at least a dozen injuries in the brain. 237 steel fragments wounded in the war were taken out of his body. As a consequence， he had got insomnia and in all his life he lived in the fear of death. So he created such a kind of Hemingway hero in his novels， just as above mentioned， to show his negative attitude towards life and society at that time. One good example suffices for this point. We know The Sun Also Rises is Hemingways first important novel. And it is just this novels title that show explicitly Hemingways black， naturalistic view of world. This title is cited from the biblical“Ecclesiastes” to emphasize the nothingness of life， because the preacher of the “Ecclesiastes”means nothing when he says，

The sun also ariseth， and the sun goes down， and hasteth to his place where he arose… The thing that hath been， it is that which shall be； and that which is done is that which shall be done； and there is no new thing under the sun. （Ernest Hemingway， 2000： 37）

3. The small development of the Hemingway heroes

However， from the 1930s， Hemingways thoughts began to have a little change. Such a subtle change of his outlook is embodied in his heroes bit by bit. For the first time Hemingways old individualistic view gave way to a new faith in the social fate of men appeared in the last words of Hard Morgan， the hero of his novel To Have and Have Not， “A man alone aint got no bloody chance” （Ernest Hemingway， 2000： 11）. Another example is in his novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Here is a man， Robert Jordan， being keenly aware that he is fighting a losing battle， but he keeps on striving， because he believes he is not alone and fights for a cause with his comrades， just as Hemingway writes in the end of this novel，

I have fought for what I believed in for a year now. If we win here we will win everywhere. The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for. I hate very much to leave it. And you had a lot of luck， he told himself， to have had such a good life.（Ernest Hemingway， 2000： 418）

That shows the feeling of brotherhood begins to be so more emphasized in this novel than his other works.

4. The accomplishment of the development of the Hemingway heroes

Such a kind of transformation of Hemingway heroes is reflected most obviously in Santiago， the hero in Hemingways novel The Old Man and the Sea， because there the hero realizes the reconciliation with the nature and society.

We know this is a short novel and a fable about an old Cuban fisherman， Santiago， and his battle with a great marlin as well as sharks. For 84 days the hero Santiago goes far out into the sea and hooks a giant marlin and ties it to his boot. But on the way home he meets giant sharks. Although he tries his best to fight with the sharks， finally the marlin is still eaten up by the sharks， left only a skeleton for the old man. However， the old man does not feel discouraged because he believes that “a man is not made for defeat… A man can be destroyed but not defeated” （Ernest Hemingway， 2000： 67）.

Under the deep understanding of the plot of this novel， we can further analyze the main character， Santiago. As the hero in this novel， for the first impression， we may think of him as a simple man， a primitive man. However， the more we understand the novel， the deeper we can feel that under such a guise， he is a wonderfully sensitive and contemplative person. Moreover， he is a fisherman， and closest to nature among all the Hemingway heroes， for he feels himself a part of nature and even believes he has hands and feet and a heart like the big turtles. So for Santiago， the ocean is not necessarily an antagonist. He regards it “as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favors， and if she did wild or wicked things， it was because she could not help them” （Ernest Hemingway， 2000： 15）. And he also loves the creatures in ocean. However， though Santiago always feels involved in affectionate kinship with these creatures， he still knows he in turn must prey on them. Such a kind of contradiction in his thoughts is vividly and explicitly dramatized in his struggle with the big fish in this novel. For example， when the marlin begins to nibble at the bait， Santiago is seductive and prayerful. Then as he hooks the fish at noon， and later for all the rest of that day and all of the following night the marlin is always towing his small boat， he feels that they are joined together， just as he remarks，“And no one to help either one of us” （Ernest Hemingway， 2000： 29）. And at the same time he also feels guilty for seeing the painful struggling of the marlin. So he said， “Fish， I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before this day ends” （Ernest Hemingway， 2000： 31）. Later， when he eats some raw fish to regain his strength， he says to himself again，“I wish I could feed the fish， he thought. He is my brother. But I must kill him and keep strong to do it” （Ernest Hemingway， 2000： 35）. As the day flies， he reflects， “Man is not much beside the great birds and beasts. Still I would rather be that beast down there in the darkness of the sea” （Ernest Hemingway， 2000： 42）. And when he catches and kills the marlin， his conscience puzzles over this killing again， so Hemingway writes，

Perhaps it was a sin to kill the fish. I suppose it was even though I did it to keep me alive and feed many people. But then everything is a sin. Do not think about sin. It is much too late for that and there are people who are paid to do it. Let them think about it. You were born to be a fisherman as the fish was born to be a fish… You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food， he thought. You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman. （Ernest Hemingway， 2000： 51）

All of the above descriptions obviously show Santiagos feeling of brotherhood and love for his fellow creatures in the nature and his conciliation with nature.

Therefore， we can see the hero in this novel develops and is different from those in the other Hemingways novels. He is not in a battlefield or in a bullring， nor is he recovering from a war wound. He is only a common fisherman and dies when he is old， just as average person does. Moreover， he is also not a prideful individualist. The pride he takes in his strength and skill is a part of his healthy selflove. But he feels no pride at the kill， as we mentioned above. And his suffering lies in two reasons： the hooking so extraordinary a fish； and the result of going far out which increased the likelihood of appearance of sharks eating up the marlin. However， the coming of bad luck with the sharks does not surprise Santiago. When he looks for a reason why he has lost， he can only say， “I went out too far” （Ernest Hemingway， 2000： 59）. That is all he knows. With good luck， he got his fish； with better luck he might have escaped the sharks. But he was not rebelliously challenging the nature of things. From the beginning， he knew himself well enough and he knew the law of kill-and-be-killed. His only lesson is that defeat is easier than he thought it might be. That is why we say that Santiago， the hero in this novel， is more broadly representative of the human race than any other Hemingway heroes. In fact， to some degree， he is the sort of figure so far absent from Hemingways novels. We can compare it with another novel For Whom the Bell Tolls to suffice this point further and more clearly. We know that although the hero in the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls has begun to appear some change just as we mention above， its change is still less obvious than on the hero in the novel The Old Man and the Sea. For instance， the heroes in these two novels have different views towards love and death. For Frederick Henry， the hero in the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls， he thinks that the world“kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave. If you are none of these things you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry” （Ernest Hemingway， 2000： 96）. And he died in the end of the novel. However， for Santiago， the hero in the novel The Old Man and the Sea， although he is very good， very gentle， very brave， he has not been killed in a hurry. On the contrary， at the end he is asleep， dreaming of his happy lions， while the boy who loves him watches at his side. That is because from the very beginning Santiago has a different view about death， “No matter how a man alone aint got no bloody fucking chance.” （Ernest Hemingway， 2000： 3） So He is lonely but not isolated and he has not rejected the world nor cut himself off from his fellows. Through the realization of love in the novel The Old Man and the Sea， Hemingway wants to tell us that there are persons like Santiago who have love in their hearts. He also sees evidence of love also in the non-human world. So although he or she is at the same time alive to the pain， the violence and the killing that are inescapable in the natural world， to be alive as the hero is to love in himself and in nature， for the love he feels is somehow allied with the love in nature. Such a kind of change on the hero in Hemingways novel shows that his view of outlook of world and life has greatly changed： the insisting of individualism gives way to the new feeling of brotherhood and the completely disillusioned to the reconciliation to the nature and life.

5. The reason for the development of the Hemingway heroes

However， why does change take place bit by bit on Hemingways heroes？ There are two main reasons.

On the one hand， this change results from his experience from 1930s to 1940s. As we all know， in March 1937， Hemingway traveled to Spain to report the Spanish Civil War for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Then he began to work for the United States Navy for two years along the Cuban coast to help Cubans destroy enemy ships. Later he took part in the landing of the Allied Force on the French coast. Therefore， from these just and fair experience， he learned that the unity of the people was the main reason of triumph， and thus changed his previous view of individualism into the emphasis of brotherhood.

On the other hand， the change takes place because of his old age. We know that when the novel The Old Man and the Sea published in 1952， Hemingway had been about 53 years old. So， although he based his art and his life on the virtues of the young and also tried his best to make his heroes keep the virtues of the young， and for him， the old age was a terrible ghost， the problem of age was never far from his mind， nor from his conversation. We can see it in his talks about death：

As you get older， it is harder to have heroes， but it is sort of necessary…I would take up harness racing. You arent near the top at that until youre over seventyfive. Then I would get me a good young ball club， maybe， like Mr. Mack… And when thats over， Ill make the prettiest corpse since Pretty Boy Floyd…No more worries… It takes a pretty good man to make any sense when hes dying…（Meyers， Jeffrey， 1985： 147）

All of the above words show Hemingways feeling， combining with uncertainty， readiness for death juxtaposed with fear of aging， awareness of the inevitableness of death and finally a kind of subdued self-examination in which Hemingway seems to be doubting his own position in his all life. Therefore， in the last decade of his life， Hemingway began searching for a posture which would enable him to cope with the fact of his own age， and his temporary but vivid solution was a change of personal role： he would dramatize what he could not avoid. That is to say， if the early Hemingway had been an almost legendary figure of youthful full of adventures， then the older Hemingway would take up the role of Grand Old Man， the battle-scarred veteran， and the aging but still indomitable fighter. And this belief was just to provide the substance for his literary role. That is why The Old Man and the Sea is the story not of youthful disillusion， or youthful political idealism about society， or youthful love in a world of chaos， or youthful frustration， but rather the story of an aged man for whom power of will has replaced the power of flesh， and the reconciliation to the nature and life has replaced the arrogance， pessimism or romantic self-sacrifice， for Santiago is neither unlike Robert Jordan and does not attempt to justify his struggle in terms of externals， nor unlike Frederick Henry and does not attempt to worship a sacred object. For Santiago， the only justification for life is living， and the only justification for death is dying， which is reflected in the relationship between Santiago and the marlin： self-contained and self-meaning. That is to say， not only is their struggle without hate， but also the struggle itself is a link of holy chain of love. It is just such a change in Hemingways view towards the old age and death that results the change of the heroes in his novels.

6. Summary

To sum up， through the above painstaking analysis， I can make two conclusions： first， the characters created by Hemingway are vivid and dynamic， not immutable， which shows his great writing craft； secondly， such a development and change of the characters is just the reflection of the development of the authors actions and thoughts in all his life. Thus， when we read Hemingways works， it seems that we see a person wounded in the war in physics as well as in spirit and consequently trying to learn to endure meaningless life and live with grace under pressure. So it is safe to say that to write is to write of life， from， and in life， just as Henry James once said， “The only reason for the existence of a novel is that it does attempt to represent life”.

References：

Arthur， W. A Readers Guide to Ernest Hemingway[M]. New York： Farrar， Straus， 1972.

Baker， C. Ernest Hemingway： A Life Story[M]. New York： Bantambooks， Bantam Edition， 1970.

Hemingway， E. The Sun Also Rises[M]. Xi An： The World Book Press， 2000.

Hemingway， E. For Whom the Bell Tolls[M]. Xi An： The World Book Press， 2000.

Hemingway， E. The Old Man and the Sea[M]. Xi An： The World Book Press， 2000.

Hemingway， E. To Have and Have Not[M]. Xi An： The World Book Press， 2000.

Meyers， J. Hemingway： A Biography[M]. New York： Harper and Row， 1985.