Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21st, 1899. He was the son of Dr. Clarence Edmonds and Grace Hall Hemingway. He grew up in a small town called Oak Park, Illinois. Hemingway was brought up in a somewhat conservative household by his parents who pushed the value of politeness and religion. It wasn't until he began English classes in school that his writing talent began to shine. After he graduated from high school Hemingway turned his back on university and he decided to move to Kansas City. It was there where he got his first job as a writer. He was a reporter for the Kansas City Star. The Star was the first to introduce to him the news writing format which demands brief, to the point sentences and the smooth flowing of ideas. It seems that Hemingway adapted this style to his fiction writng. Hemingway demonstrates this talent in a short story called "A Clean Well-Lighted Place". When he was 19 Hemingway enlisted in the army. He was rejected due to a defective left eye. He then turned to the Red Cross in which he became a second lieutenant. The Red Cross brought him to the front lines of the war in Italy. It was here where he saw many disturbing sights which probably had a hand in shaping his character. After extensive injuries fr
om the war, Hemingway returned unhappily to Oak Park. The impression left on him by his participation in the war had greatly changed him. He began living at home again but refused to get a job, even when his mother ordered him to. Soon she kicked him out and he moved to Chicago. Here he made a living writing for the Toronto Star and working as a sparring partner for boxers. While he was in Chicago he met his first wife, the young and innocent Elizabeth Hadley Richardson. Soon the young couple were married and they moved to Paris. It was here where Hemingway encountered many of the greats, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, John Dos Passos and Ford Madox Ford. It was Stein who took him under her wing. She was first to point him in the direction of the simple declarative sentence, which was another great influence on his style. It seems to me that it wasn't until Hemingway developed an interest in bull fighting that the idea for "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" may have come around. Bull fighting seemed to trigger a whole new interest in Spain. The short story "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" was set in a small cafe in Madrid, Spain. There is an old deaf man who sits alone on a patio, sipping brandy. Together two waiters observe the old man who is their last customer. The old man is comforted by the peaceful atmosphere of the cafe but the younger waiter wants him to leave. Hemingway may have seen him
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 962
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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