The Troubled Life of Ernest Hemingway Reflected in His Writing Essay

The Troubled Life of Ernest Hemingway Reflected in His Writing The period between World War I and World War II was a very turbulent time in America. Ernest Hemingway most represented this period with his unrestrained lifestyle. This lifestyle brought him many successes, but it eventually destroyed him in the end. His stories are read in classrooms across America, but his semi-autobiographical writings are horrible role models for the students who read them. Hemingway’s lifestyle greatly influenced his writings in many ways. Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21st 1899. His place of birth was Oak Park, Chicago. There are many places in Oak Park commemorating his life. Ernest was the second of six kids. He was born at 8:00 at 439 Oak Park Avenue in his grandpa’s house. He weighed nine and half pounds and he was twenty-three inches tall. When Ernest was seven weeks old, his family moved to Bear Lake where his dad had bought the house the summer before. Many of the short stories that he wrote later in life were set here (Life and Works 2). Ernest enjoyed a semi-normal childhood. His dad, Clarence Edmunds was a physician and his mom, Grace Hall, was a music teacher. His dad was also an excellent outdoorsman. His mom was very talented in the field of music, but gave it up to raise a family (DISCovering). His mom was not a normal mom though. She constantly humiliated his dad. Ernest believed she drove her dad to kill himself. This had an impact on him later in his life (McDowell 13). As Ernest started high school, he was very insecure about his size. He was only five feet four inches tall. This contributed to his need to always be masculine. This problem did not last long though, as he quickly hit a growth spurt. While in h... ...neis Sons, 1969 "Ernest Hemingway" DISCovering Authors [CD-ROM]. Detroit, MI. Gale Research, 1996 Ernest Hemingway His Life and Works. URL: http://www.ernest.hemingway.com. Gurko, Leo. Ernest Hemingway and The Pursuit of Heroism. Toronto: Fitzhenry and Whiteside Limited, 1968. Hart, James D. ed. "Hemingway" The Oxford Companion to American Literature, 364-395. New York: Oxford University Press, 1965. McDowell, Nicholas. Hemingway. Florida: Rourke Enterprises, 1989. O’Connor, Richard. Ernest Hemingway. New York: McGraw – Hill Book Company, 1971. Parry, Melanie. "Hemingway, Ernest Miller". Chambers Biographical Dictionary, 865. New York: Chambers Harrap Publishers, 1997. Perkins, Georgie, Barbara Perkins, Phillip Leininger. Hemingway, Ernest [Miller] Readers Encyclopedia of America Literature, 438-442. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1991.