Fitzgerald and Hemingway - Term Paper Example

Comparing and Contrasting Fitzgerald and Hemingway In the literary world, very few individuals match the finesse with which the global community fondly remembers the two writers, Scott F. Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway with regard to their stylistic nature and perspective of society. The two authors are viewed as two of the greatest authors of their time. Of specific influence has been their contribution to the fields of romance and glamour, utilizing their individual characteristics and experiences to weave great works of the former 20th century. Additionally is the aspect of their great friendship, which was influenced by either’s admiration of the other, at times laced by jealousy and a mix of gossip, history and literary scholarship (Donald 33). The friendship, traceably to the French city of Paris, and specifically the French Riviera, where their history begins to intricately intertwine, was to evolve into a complex and mercurial relation. Influential in this, were the characters – Gertrude Stein, Sara and Gerald Murphy (socialites), the legendary Maxwell Perkins (legendary editor of Scribner), Hadley Hemingway and Zelda Fitzgerald, amongst others, all of whom portrayed unique characteristics (Donald 35). This paper will compare and contrast Fitzgerald and Hemingway and the manner in which they present female characters in their works. In the literary world, style as an element of writing, has often been overshadowed by the two elements of characterization and theme. Both Fitzgerald and Hemingway define the culture of the 1920s through their thoughts of their characters, especially the female characters. However, style is by far the most subtle and important avenue of generating emotional content in a given work. The 20th century was to witness a fundamental shift from traditional writing to one which embraced both a simplified and condensed sentence structure, which is able to strengthen the plot’s overall power. This was a shift from the writing style that was both explanatory in terms of prose, hence long winding (Donald 37). The above is important for the understanding of the two literary geniuses, in terms of what influenced their perspectives, the contextual nature of their lives, and the then dominant global views/ ideals. In both their writings, various themes were portrayed, with some being shared, but a majority being the difference that portrayed their worldly views, and eventual lifestyles (Donald 39). From such enriched writing, come the high emotional contexts present within both writers’ literary works, in terms of shared views, ideals and aspects, as well as differential characteristics present. In most of Fitzgerald’s work, there is the portrayal of a sense of conflict, between the lower poor class and the wealthy high society; toning his perspective as influenced by his ‘high-class’ socialization (Glenday 48). His writing style, exhibited through close examination of sentence structure, portrays his utility of subordinating clauses, choice of words and complex sentences, all which portray his sense of reach and social inclination (Glenday 52). On the other hand, Hemingway utilizes ‘wrangled’ sentence structures of both verbs and nouns; his literary works often generating a ‘down-to-earth’ attitude. This is significantly captured not in what is written, but that which is not. Thus, upon close scrutiny, one is able to envisage his utility of diction, crafting a vocabulary common in the average person’s daily life (Glenday 54). Thus, Fitzgerald was structurally on the opposing end of his friend’s style; perhaps an influence from life as a celebrity couple, with his wife Zelda. It is from their uniquely different lifestyles that one is able to get a better understanding of the core difference, with respect to literary productions. It is through understanding his married life, and essentially the influences of Zelda that one is able to better understand Fitzgerald’s perspective; symbolically represented in his works (Bruccoli 29). During the 1920’s, his various European excursions resulted in friendships that were to influence most of his adult life. This was especially focused on his association with the American expatriate community, one of whom was Hemingway. In trying to support the opulent lifestyle they enjoyed, Fitzgerald sustained himself through short-story writing (Bruccoli 32). This was one of the sore points of his friendship with Hemingway, since the latter viewed this as ‘side-tracking’ from his main capacity of writing novels. Indeed, it is the writing of novels i.e. the Great Gatsby, the Beautiful and Damned, this Side of Paradise and Tender in the Night, which put his name amongst the most acclaimed of 20th century American writers and novelists (Bruccoli 43). Hemingway was to describe Zelda as being insane, one of the many ways in which women were viewed by the two novelists; being symbolic representation of prevailing ideals and perspectives. Fitzgerald would often write his narratives in an authentic manner, later on putting ‘twists’ which made them saleable. In addition to encountering financial difficulties, Fitzgerald was having problems with his wife, as well as experiencing the corrosive influences of wealth, which led to a decadent lifestyle, alcoholism, inflated egoism and self-confidence (Bruccoli 48). In contrast to Fitzgerald’s stylistic manner, Hemingway’s utility of understated and economical style, greatly influenced 20th century fiction; of which both writers were well known for. In life, he was full of adventure, greatly enjoying his public image. As portrayed by Beegel, he was married to four wives, living in Paris, where he worked as a foreign correspondent. As part of the ‘Lost Generation’ expatriate society in France, he was influenced fundamentally by modernist views, in regard to literary works and ideals. This is vivid in his works such as A Farewell to Arms, Death in the Afternoon, the Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bell Tolls and the Old Man and the Sea ((Beegel 272). His many divorces and abandonment of women are traceable to his devastating experience, after the woman he had fallen in love for the first time, became engaged to another person. This influenced his latter pattern of abandoning his wives and women, before they abandoned him first ((Beegel 275). It is however his early life ‘war experience’ that was to impact his character and personality, to later on prove influential in his writings, which as aforementioned, were modernist in inclination. In him was a maturity, which was at odds with his living at home, especially with not only the need for recuperation, but lacking a job as well. His work – Bit Two-Hearted River – portrayed his view of way and the need for personal solitude from the chaos of daily life ((Beegel 278). Evocative of Agnes, Hadley Richardson was to symbolically represent what Hemingway envisaged in a woman i.e. to be beautiful, mature and with a nurturing instinct. Intricately so, was the influence of Gertrude Stein who was the then bastion of modernism in the city of Paris, in her mentorship of the writer when he was young. It is indeed her reference of various expatriate writers and artists of the Montparnasse Quarter, as the ‘Lost Generation’ that was to influence his perspectives of the writings and writers of the time (Beegel 281). It was Fitzgerald’s publication – The Great Gatsby – that was to influence Hemingway’s entry into novel writing. His work – The Sun Also Rises – was to epitomize the post-war era, especially as experienced by the expatriate community. It portrayed the facts of life, through the pitfalls of wars and human strife, with the eventual rise and continued sustainability of the human race. The difficulty encountered during his son’s birth, was to provide the storyline behind the fictionalized – A Farewell to Arms. Both writers portray their female characters in the modernist view creating exceptionally complex characters that were appealing because of the prevailing ideal of bold, feminine modernity. The two, together with the legendary writer Flannery O’Connor, portrayed women as having reinvented themselves; in terms of role-play and social stationing, especially in the post-war society. Here, the characters were symbolic of the emerging New Woman (Donaldson 296). Hemingway through his different characters, for instance Brett Ashley conveys the quintessence of a woman who is in charge of her life; who firmly holds on to the traditional role of the woman. Another character Sabbath Hawks who is young, struggles in creating her own identity, in a global arena which lacks the female role model. Daisy Buchanan on her part portrays the woman who is torn between the past and the future, having to make the decision on her own (Donaldson 299). In both F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby and Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises, the two authors present their characters as having a sense of sadness and emptiness, which they resolve through sex and alcohol. This presentation mostly features women in these works because of the Great War understood as World War I where the women suffered because of the dangerous conditions that the war created. In essence, she portrays the never-ending battle between traditional conservatism and modernism, which is associated with progression, as well as greater women’s needs as influenced by feminist ideals. Accordingly, it was both artists’ characters i.e. Hemingway’s Lady Brett and Fitzgerald’s Daisy Buchanan, who best portrayed the New Woman of the Modern Era (303). Accordingly Hemingway’s Lady Twysden typifies such a woman of the 1920s, who is independent, promiscuous and fashionable, in addition to casually disposing of, and taking on lovers on different occasions. Lady Brett on her part, is all the above and even more, taking on the world with a renewed sense of purpose, as opposed to the traditional place of the woman. She does not keep herself in the standard ‘feminine’ look, in order to fit into whichever social position is prevailing (Donaldson 305). This is evident in her comfortable stay with the small group of men, when they are on travel through France and Spain. Meyers provides that through different phases, she takes on roles that are explicitly masculine in nature. Here, she seeks male companionship, of both sexual and platonic characteristics; unabashedly taking on what she wants. She keeps homosexual male friends, most probably as a result of her easier association with the same individuals. This is influenced by the fact that they also do seek male companionship on their own, hence the excess drinking she portrayed (Meyers 64). By drinking in the bars, which is an inherently male affair in terms of the ideal of manliness, there is more to Brett than her drinking and sex; though all are intertwined to the two. Being self-centered and shallow, she mainly cares about herself, eventually affecting her relationship with Jake. This is mainly influenced by Jake’s impotency, which results in her engaging in several affairs. She feels discontented, due to her continued search for a man (Meyers 67). Fitzgerald through the character Daisy portrays a woman who in true terms with her roots, displays her social standing as influenced by her wealthy background. As a traditional girl, who is courted by different young men, she finally settles down with a wealthy and athletic Tom Buchanan. Afterwards, she becomes accustomed to the elaborate and easy lifestyle, as afforded by her wealthy husband (Wagner 74). However, it is a life that she is not fond of, growing cynical due to the fact that it did not idealize the perfect world she imagined during her youth. While aware of her husband’s unfaithfulness, she however does conform to a meek wife’s role, saying nothing. This she is able to portray through her appearances, only letting her guard down at rare occasions. Just as Lady Ashley, she wears this mask, so convincingly that those outside have no clue of her troubles. Her voice and movements are what characterize her uniquely throughout the book, rather than her physical descriptions (Wagner 79). In conclusion, the representation of women, in both F. Scott Fitzgeralds and Ernest Hemingways works, is according to me, a mix of both sympathetic and avant-garde in nature. Sympathetic in the fact that as shown by Ladies Ashley, Daisy and Brett, they are inadvertently affected by the way in which society views and treats them. They engage in the constant battle of conformity against social evolution, as influenced by feminist trends of the age. However, it is the portrayal of avant-garde, which showcases the different women i.e. Brett when they try to push the boundaries of social status quo or norms, pertinently so as a hallmark of modernism. It is on the latter that a majority of female characters are inclined to, portraying the modernist woman in various aspects. Works Cited Beegel, Susan F. "Conclusion: The Critical Reputation of Ernest Hemingway." The Cambridge Companion to Hemingway. Ed. Scott Donaldson (269-99). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Bruccoli, Matthew Joseph. Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald (2nd rev. ed.), Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2002. Print. Donald, Scott. Fitzgerald and Hemingway: Works and Days. Columbia University Press, 2009. Print. Donaldson, Scott. Hemingway vs. Fitzgerald. Overlook TP, 2001. Print. Glenday, Michael K. F. Scott Fitzgerald, London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001. Print. Meyers, Jeffrey. Hemingway: The Critical Heritage, (Ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982. Print. Wagner, Linda Welshimer. Ernest Hemingway: A Reference Guide. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1977. Print. Read More