"Ernest Hemingway: How His Novels Tell of His Real Life Story".
Ernest Hemingway, who was born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1899, was legend in his own time, and is now a legend in our time. Hemingway was a rugged man in the true sense, and his writings show this. Hemingway was fascinated with war, and it graced his works many a time. War was one of Hemingway's most common themes. This point is evident in some of his most famous works that helped him to gain acclaimed success: The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, and For Whom the Bell Tolls. .
Writings on the life of Hemingway helped shed light on these works. Hemingway, who had a reputation as a "robust, belligerent American hero, sought to experience violence as well as write about it" (Shaffer 1). Hemingway was known as an "expert in the areas of war, bullfighting, deep-sea fishing, boxing, big-game hunting, and reckless, extravagant living--experiences that he often recounted in his fiction" (Shaffer 1). Hemingway always had an infatuation with the war life, and in his earlier years tried many times to enlist in the army. He was always unsuccessful because of his "poor eyesight" (Quote of the Day). However, Hemingway was finally able to take a job as an ambulance driver in Italy in May of 1918 (Quote of the Day). Having this job allowed him to serve during World War I. The following month Hemingway was seriously injured in action, and, quite ironically, "received an Italian medal of bravery for his efforts in rescuing wounded soldiers," even after being rejected to serve in the military so many times (Quote of the Day). After World War I, Hemingway worked as journalist covering the Greco-Turkish War of 1922, and later he also served as a correspondent during several other major wars. In 1954, after Hemingway's war experiences had ended, he battled dimensioning health, alcoholism, and writer's block. He worked several unfinished projects, and in 1960, moved to Ketchum, Idaho.