Ernest Hemingway was one of the most influential writers of the Lost Generation, with his most famous work, The Sun Also Rises, garnering national attention. His other works were also considered American classics, much of which was inspired by his own experiences. He remains an iconic literary figure to this day and is an accurate reflection of both the beauty and the hopelessness that blossomed during his time. 

Hemingway was born in a Chicago suburb on July 21st, 1899. His mother forced him to learn the cello as a way to connect with him since she was a musician. Though he hated it with a passion, he begrudgingly complied, so much so he even used the cello as inspiration for one of his works, For Whom the Bell Tolls. His family would also spend time on Walloon Lake, where he learned to camp, fish, and hunt. When he was in high school, he decided to take a journalism class. He was soon published in The Trapeze, his school’s newspaper. Soon after graduating, he became a reporter for The Kansas City Star and built the foundations for his writing.

When World War I began, Hemingway decided to work for the Red Cross as an ambulance driver. Unfortunately, he became embroiled in the war and would bring Italian soldiers to safety, for which he was awarded the Italian Silver Medal of Bravery. When he went back home, he became a writer for the Toronto Star Weekly and continued writing about important world events, including the Greco-Turkish War.

In 1925, he began working on what would be known as The Sun Also Rises. The story described the consequences of the war, and showed the characters as hopeful, despite being battered and worn out. He also published other works including Men Without Women, a short story collection, The Garden of Eden, and Death in the Afternoon. He continued his career as a reporter and covered situations such as the Spanish Civil War. He even managed to win the coveted Nobel Peace Prize for Literature. He died in April in 1961, and soon after a memorial was erected for him in Sun Valley, Idaho and appropriately named the Hemingway Memorial. 

Hemingway’s writing style has often been discussed by critics and scholars alike. Henry Louis Gates believed that his experiences during and after World War I shaped his writing. According to Gates, Hemingway lost his faith in what should have been longstanding institutions in the Western world and decided to speak of them directly. Others such as Jackson Benson also believed this. What’s more, themes centered around Hemingway’s works involved love and loss, war, and the wilderness. He would often present female characters in an unfavorable light, so much so that feminist critics attacked him. However, Hemingway’s perceptions of these gender roles were viewed in a new light when it was revealed that Hemingway did care about gender issues. This is seen when many of Hemingway’s characters were emasculated, and while his work might seem offensive at first glance, it also tells the tale of humanity, both beautiful and ugly.

Hemingway continues to inspire readers even after his death. After discovering a planet, astronomer Nikolai Chernykh decided to name that planet Hemingway. The International Imitation Hemingway Competition is an organization designed to acknowledge Hemingway’s work, and to laugh at writers who attempted to imitate his style. Despite all his flaws and achievements, Hemingway managed to immortalize himself in the literary archives and help build a base for a new generation of writers.