Few people have had the chance to experience what Ernest Hemingway did. Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899, in Oak Park, Illinois, and became one of the twentieth-centuries best writers. During his lifetime, he saw five wars, survived four car accidents and two plane crashes, won the Nobel Prize and a Pulitzer Prize. He was married four times and had three sons. In addition, Hemingway wrote six novels and became a great writer. Many critics have said that, "Half of the 20th century writers have tried to imitate Hemingway's style, and the other half have tried not to"(Oliver 141). However, as Hemingway aged he was constantly bothered by mental and physical ailments. He died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds in Ketchum, Idaho, on July 2, 1961. His works, nevertheless, lived on. My purpose in this report is to discuss the major themes of Ernest Hemingway's novels.
The first novel Hemingway wrote was The Sun Also Rises, in 1926. Critics said that the book did well for his first novel, and they described it as, "A satirical picture of the dissolute life of the Lost Generation in postwar Europe"(Hays 54.) The Sun Also Rises depicts life in Paris in the 1920's. It especially focuses on expatriates who were unhappy with America after World War I, and left the country to find freedom in Europe. Jake Barnes, the main character, was wounded in war and he is searching for a normal life. I think Hemingway is trying to show that Hemingway himself is having trouble finding a normal life after war. Hemingway relates his own psychological wounds to Jake's physical wounds. .
The main theme of this novel is war disrupts life and that time period is a lost generation. The Sun Also Rises is "Probably Hemingway's best-known novel, certainly the one on which much of his reputation stands"(Oliver 315.).
Ernest Hemingway's second novel, A Farwell to Arms, written in 1929, has been said to be his best work.