ErnestHemingway

MostinfluentialpersoninAmerica

FernandoMelendez
U.SHistory
Mr.Munoz
May152016

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Winningmanyawardsforhisshortstoriesinthe20thcentury,ErnestHemingwaywas
themostinfluentialAmerican.ErnestHemingwayjoinedthearmyatage17,hefoughtinWorld
War1.Thelostgenerationwasthegenerationthatreachedmaturityduringworldwar1,which
hadnumberofmenwhodiedbecauseofthewar.Manypeopleinthisgenerationwere
disillusionedbecauseofthewar.ThelostgenerationwasthenamethatErnestHemingway
gavetothepeopleofthistimebecauseofthewarandhowtheyacted.Withthelostgeneration
manywriterscameoutofitoneofthembeingErnestHemingway.ErnestHemingway'swriting
stylewasmuchdifferentfrommostofthewritersatthetime,Hewasamodernistwriter.His
writingstylebecameaninspirationformanypulpandcrimefictionnovels.Hewonthenobel
prizein1954becauseofhiscontributiontoliterature.Mostofhisshortstorieswereaboutwar
andloveaffairs.Thestoriesbeingextremelysimplebuttheirwasmuchmoretoit,theiceberg
effect,statingthefactsbutmuchmoretouncover.Manywritersnowarestillcomingupwith
theoriesabouthisstoriesandthelostgenerationbecausetheyweresosimplebutmuchstillin
them,makingpeoplestillrememberhim.Hisinfluenceonliteraturewithhismodernistwriting,
affectonthelostgenerationandthefactthathislegacygoesontoday,peoplestillremember
whoheisandwhathedid,thismakeshimthemostinfluentialpersoninamerica.
AtthetimeWorldWar1hadjuststarted,theU.SwasrecruitingmanyyoungAmericans
inordertofightfortheircountry.Thiswarwascalledthegreatwarsinceitwasthefirstwarto
havemanymajorcountriesinvolvedinit.ItallstartedwiththemurderofFranzFerdinand
archdukeofHungary.Thismadealliesofthiscountrygetinvolvedandthenthealliesofthe
othercountriestogetinvolvedcausingaworldwar.ThiswarwasmainlyfoughtinEurope,this

allowedtheU.Stositbackandjustprovidefortheirallies,butwhenitstartedtogettomuchfor
thealliesAmericadecidedtostepin,onApril6th1917.TheU.Scameintothewarverylatebut
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theystillhadamajorimpactonthewar.Withmillionsofmenthattheyhadacquiredintheextra
timetheyhadtheywereabletohaveahugeadvantage.ErnestHemingwayhadtriedtojointhe
forcebutwasnotabletobecausehewasnotphysicallyqualified,withdefectiveeyesight.He
insteaddecidedtojointheRedCrossinItalywherehefellinlovewithAgnesStanfield,an
americannurse.Writingmanystoriesaboutherallendingintragicbreakupsjustlikehis
relationwithherinreallifedid.
HemingwayhadhisownwayofwritinghisshortstoriesinfluencedbyEzraPound,the
poet.ThisUniquewayofwritingwasthathelearnedtofocusontheimmediate
essential,
tangibleandmeaningfulinanexperience.

ErnestHemingwaybasicallywrotereallystraight
forwardunlikemanywritersatthetimelikeF.ScottFitzgeraldthatwouldcreateasentencefull
offigurativelanguageordescription.Hemingwaywouldjustwriteonetruesentence.
Helearned
howtoconveythattoreaderswithcrispwordsorderedwithprecision,poetryanddrama.Once
hemasteredthisapproach,Hemingwaywouldproducewritingunderstandableandmovingto
peoplenearlyeverywhere.Atthetimethiswasextremelyimportantbybeingthathiswritingwas
understandabletothemajorityofthepeopleinthelostgeneration.ErnestHemingwaywrotea
lotaboutthelostGenerationandmentioneditinoneofhisbookscalledTheSunAlsoRises,
hesaysYouareallalostGeneration.Hedescribedthisgroupasdisillusionedwritersthat
werealcoholicsandwasbasicallytalkingbadabouttheminthesebooksmakingthesewriters
realizewhattheyreallyare.ErnestHemingwaybasicallycameupwiththelostgeneration.

Hemingwayisconsideredthemostinfluentialwriteraftershakespearehimself.Ernest
Hemingwaywasknownforhisshortandtothepointwayofwritingandmanypeopleatthetime
enjoyedhiswritingsbecauseofthat.Itwasmuchmoresimplerbutthequalityofthewritingwas
stilltheir.Hedidnotneedallthefancydescriptionorfancywayofwritingallheneededwasa
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truesentenceandwroteaboutthat.Allyouhavetowriteisonetruesentence.Writethetruest
sentencethatyouknow.Thiswasoneofhismorefamousquoteswhichbasicallydescribedhis
thoughtprocesswhenhewasabouttowrite.Allthestoriesthathewrotewerebasedonhislife
thingsthathewitnessed,observed,orexperienced.Thisuniquewayofwritingrevolutionized
literatureasawhole.PulpfictionwasmadefamousbecauseofHemingway'swayofwriting,
Pulpfictionisatermusedtodescribeahugeamountofcreativewritingavailabletothe
Americanpublicintheearlynineteenhundreds.Healsomadecrimefictionfamouswhichisa
genrethatpeoplereadkindoflikemystery,Hemingway'swayofwritingisinmostbooksofthis
genrestraightandtothepointandletsthereaderfigureoutthedeepermeaning.
Hemingwaywasgoingthroughalotinhislife,livingwithanxiety,anddepression,his
deathwasoneofthemoretragicones.Hemingwayendedupkillinghimself.Healwaysusedto
saythathewasincontrolofhislife,andhewasalsoincontrolofhisdeathaswell.Helefta
greatlegacythoughbeingprobablythemostfamouspersoninhistime,hewasliketheDrake
ofourtime.Hewassofamousthathislegacystillgoesontoday.Lotsofhisbooksaregetting
taughtinschool,usedinclassarguments.Hemingwaytodayisknownasamanwhoinspireda
wholegenerationofpeople.Heisstillwellknownandrespectedbymanywriterstoday.
Hemingwayhelpedliteratureevolveintosomethingbeautiful.Hetriggeredmanywriterstostart
writinglike,writerslikeSylviaBeach,GioiaDiliberto,andMichaelS.Theyareallveryknown

withthesamewritingstyle.Hemingwayinspiredawholenewwayofwritingandmadeit
enjoyableforpeopletoreadbecauseitwassimple.
Hemingwaywasagreatwriter,buthewasnotjustknownforbeingoneofthebest
writersofthe20s.Hemingwaywasreallymasculine,meaningthathethoughtthatwomenwere
notallthat.Hemingwaywasalsoknownforbeingasexest,hewouldcheatonhiswivesalothe
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wouldendupbeingmarriedmorethan3timesandhavingmistressesmostofthosetimes.He
wasalsoveryabusivetowardshiswiveseitherphysicallyorverbally.Ontopofthathewasa
drunkhewoulddrinksomuch.Alsoparentsaretryingtobanhisbooksfrombeingtaughtin
schoolsbecauseofhowwomenareviewedinmostofhisstories.Womeninhisstoriesare
usuallymadetobelookelikethebadguyandtheyareusuallymadeouttobenomorethanjust
anobjectandparentsdonotagreethatstudentsshouldbegettingtaughtstoriesaboutaman
thatwasamasculinesexesinhistime.
ErnestHemingwaybeingthewayhewasgotmuchfameoutofit.Sincehewassucha
masculinesexesthegainedpopularitybecauseofthat.Hemingwaywrotehisstoriesthrough
hisperspectiveandhisexperiences,andpeopleatthetimecouldappealtothethingshewas
sayinginhisstories.Mostofhisstoriesinvolvedrelationshipsbutdidnotreallyreflecthis
masculinityitmainlyshowedthewayheviewedwomenmorelikeobjectsandthingsyoucan
playaroundwith.Atthetimemenfeltthatthiswastherightwayandnowomenstoodupforit.It
wasn'tlikenowwhereitislookeddownuponwhensomeonedoesthosesortsofactions.What
parentsdon'tunderstandisthatHemingway'sstoriesprovideeducationalvaluesforstudents.
Thestoriesaren'tteachingthemtobelikethistheyteachthemotherthingsliketheiceberg

effectandthewayofhiswriting,thatitdoesnothavetobealldetailedtomakeagoodstorya
goodstory.
ErnestHemingwaywasawriterinthe1920s.Heinspiredawholegenerationofpeople
duringthegreatwarcalledthelostgeneration,heinspiredthiswholegenerationwithjusthis
writing.ErnestHemingwayalsorevolutionizedliteraturebybringinginnewgenresofbooksand
anewstyleofwritingthatmanypeopleuseandlovetoday.Hemingwayalsoleftabiglegacy
whenhewasnotaroundliteraturewasdieingbecauseofWorldWar1everyonewas
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disillusionedandjustdonewithlifetheyhadnohopesordreamsbecausetheyhadnever
experiencedthismanydeaths.Theywitnessedclosefamilymembersdieandmademadethem
gothroughmaturitymuchquickerthanneededtoo.Hemingway'sstoriesallowedpeopleto
realizewhattheyweredoingsincehewroteaboutwhathewitnessed,itmadethemrealizethat
thatwasnotthewaytogoinsteadtheywentanddidsomethingaboutitbecausetheynoticed
thatthatwashowtheywereacting.InconclusionHemingwayisthemostinfluentialpersonin
americabecauseheinfluencedawholegeneration,revolutionizedliteratureandleftahuge
legacybehindmakingallofusrememberhim.