The Sun Also Rises

304 Pages·2006·16.61 MB·English

Concealments in Hemingway's Works

Gerry Brenner

Like any writer who continues to engage our
interest, compel our attention, and challenge
our understanding, Ernest Hemingway was
simultaneously blessed and cursed throughout
his life by an obsession. It is Professor Bren­
ner's opinion that that obsession—Heming­
way's relationship with the chief emotional
object of his life, his father—empowered all of
his writing, and that exploring it uncovers
previously unseen complexities in both the
man and his work.

Using the methods of New Criticism, ge­
neric criticism, classical Freudian theory, and
psychobiography, Dr. Brenner extracts from
Hemingway's deceptively "artless" works
their dynamic but hidden aims. When viewed
from these combined critical perspectives, the
justly acclaimed novels, the troublesome non­
fiction, and even stories dismissed as mediocre
take on dimensions of meaning and signifi­
cance that have previously gone undetected.

Professor Brenner's revisionary reading di­
vides Hemingway's mature writings into five
phases in order to trace Hemingway's obses­
sion and two related ideas: that until his last
phase, Hemingway's novels and books of non­
fiction were experimental—an intention he
tried rigorously to conceal—and that his aes­
thetic aim, during all phases of his career, was
to conceal his art and his cunning as an artist.

To the first phase, which he terms the The­
sis Phase, Brenner assigns A Farewell to
Arms and The Sun Also Rises; to the second,
the Aesthetic Phase, the nonfictional Death in
the Afternoon and Green Hills of Africa. The
third or Aristotelean Phase contains To Have
and Have Not and For Whom the Bell Tolls,
conscious attempts to write, first, a classical
tragedy and, second, a classical epic. Across
the River and into the Trees belongs to the
Imitative Phase, Dante's Divine
Comedy
being Hemingway's deliberate, concealed
model. The fifth and final phase—the Anti­

(Continued on back flap)

Concealments in Hemingway's Works

Concealments
in Hemingway's Works

GERRY BRENNER

Ohio State University Press : Columbus

Copyright «> 1983 by the Ohio State University Press
All rights reserved

Quotations from the following books by Ernest Hemingway are used by permis­
sion of Charles Scribner's Sons, 597 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10017;
Jonathan Cape Ltd., 30 Bedford Square, London WCl, England; and the Execu­
tors of the Ernest Hemingway Estate:
The Sun Also Rises. Copyright 1926, Charles Scribner's Son;
copyright renewed 1954 Ernest Hemingway.
(Published in England as Fiesta.)

A Farewell to Arms. Copyright 1929 Charles Scribner's Sons;
copyright renewed 1957 Ernest Hemingway.

Death in the Afternoon. Copyright 1932 Charles Scribner's Sons;
copyright renewed 1960 Ernest Hemingway.

Green Hills of Africa. Copyright 1935, Charles Scribner's Sons;
copyright renewed 1963 Mary Hemingway.

To Have and Have Not. Copyright 1937 Ernest Hemingway;
copyright renewed 1965 Mary Hemingway.

The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Copyright 1938 Ernest Hemingway;
copyright renewed 1966 Mary Hemingway.
(The stories quoted were published in England in The First Forty-nine Stories.)

For Whom the Bell Tolls. Copyright 1940 Ernest Hemingway;
copyright renewed 1968 Mary Hemingway.

Across the River and into the Trees. Copyright 1950 Ernest Hemingway;
copyright renewed 1978 Mary Hemingway.

The Old Man and the Sea. Copyright 1952 Ernest Hemingway;
copyright renewed 1980 Mary Hemingway.

A Moveable Feast. Copyrightld 1964 Ernest Hemingway Ltd.

Quotations from the following books by Ernest Hemingway are used by permis­
sion of Charles Scribner's Sons, 597 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10017, and
William Collins Sons and Company Ltd., 14 St. James's Place, London SW1A IPS,
England:
By-Line: Ernest Hemingway. Copyright(c 1967 Mary Hemingway.
Islands in the Stream. Copyright <bl 1970 Mary Hemingway.

Quotations from Ernest Hemingway, Selected Letters: 1917-1961 are used by per­
mission of Charles Scribner's Sons, 597 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10017,
and Granada Publishing Ltd., Frogmore, St. Albans, Hertfordshire AL2 2NF,
England. CopyrightCl 1981 The Ernest Hemingway Foundation, Inc., Copyright(£l
1981 Carlos Baker.

Quotations from Parts 1, 2, and 3 of "The Dangerous Summer," by Ernest Hem­
ingway, published in the September 5,12, and 19,1960, issues of Life, are used by
special permission of Mary Hemingway.

(Continued on page vi)

for Terry and our three sons

Pat, Kyle, and John

(Continued from page iv)

The chapter entitled "A 'Vulgar' Ethic: The Sun Also Rises" in Part 1, "The Thesis
Phase," has been revised from "Hemingway's 'Vulgar' Ethic: Revaluating The
Sun Also Rises," originally published in the Arizona Quarterly, 33 (Summer,
1977). Used by permission of the publisher.

The chapter entitled "A Classical Epic: For Whom the Bell Tolls" in Part 3, "The
Aristotelean Phase," has been revised from "Epic Machinery in Hemingway's For
Whom the Bell Tolls," originally published in Modern Fiction Studies, 16 (Winter,
1970 -71), ® 1971 by Purdue Research Foundation, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907,
U.S.A. Used by permission of the publisher.

The chapter entitled "A Dantesque 'Imitation': Across the River and into the
Trees" in Part 4, "The Imitative Phase," has been revised from "An 'Imitation' of
Dante's Divine Comedy: Hemingway's Across the River and into the Trees," orig­
inally published in the 1976 volume of the Fitzgerald/Hemingway Annual. Used
by permission of the publisher.

The chapter entitled "A Classical Tragedy: To Have and Have Not" in Part 3, "The
Aristotelean Phase," has been revised from "To Have and Have Not as Classical
Tragedy: Reconsidering Hemingway's Neglected Novel," originally published in
Hemingway: In Our Time, edited by Richard Astro and Jackson J. Benson (Cor­
vallis, Oregon: Oregon State University Press, 1974). Used by permission of the
publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data:
Brenner, Gerry, 1937—
Concealments in Hemingway's works.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index
1. Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961—Criticism and interpretation. I. Title.
PS3515.E37Z5826
1983
813'.52
83-6283
ISBN 0-8142-0338-8

Contents

Acknowledgments
ix

Author's Note
xi

Introduction: Three Theses
3

THE THESIS PHASE

1. A Hospitalized World: A Farewell to Arms
27

2. A "Vulgar" Ethic: The Sun Also Rises
42

3. Afterword
53

THE ESTHETIC PHASE

1. A Compleat Critique: Death in the Afternoon
65

2. A Trophy Hunt: Green Hills of Africa
81

3. Afterword
93

THE ARISTOTELEAN PHASE

1. A Classical Tragedy: To Have and Have Not
109

2. A Classical Epic: For Whom the Bell Tolls
124

3. Afterword
137

THE IMITATIVE PHASE

1. A Dantesque "Imitation": Across the River and

into the Trees
151

2. Afterword
165

THE ANTITHETICAL PHASE

1. Foreword
175

2. A Not-So-Strange Old Man: The Old Man and

the Sea
176

3. A Guilt-Ridden Father: Islands in the Stream
188

4. An Obsessed Onlooker: The Dangerous Summer 207

5. A Self-Justifying Son: A Moveable Feast
218

Epilogue
233

Notes
237

Index
267

Acknowledgments

Grateful acknowledgment for permission to quote from his works
is made to Ernest Hemingway's publishers.

I am also grateful for permission to reprint, in revised form, stud­
ies of mine that have appeared in earlier forms: "Hemingway's
'Vulgar' Ethic: Revaluating The Sun Also Rises," Arizona Quar­
terly, Summer 1977; "To Have and Have Not as Classical Tragedy:
Reconsidering Hemingway's Neglected Novel," Richard Astro
and Jackson J. Benson, eds., Hemingway: In Our Time (Oregon
State University Press, 1974); "An 'Imitation' of Dante's Divine
Comedy: Hemingway's Across the River and into the Trees,"
Fitzgerald/Hemingway Annual 1976; "Epic Machinery in Hem­
ingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls," Modern Fiction Studies,
Winter 1970-71.

For several Summer Research grants that freed me from teach­
ing and enabled me to write portions of this work, I gratefully
thank the University of Montana Foundation and those col­
leagues who saw fit to award me those grants.

For many classes with many good Hemingway students here at
the University of Montana, I am also thankful. The vitality and
inquisitiveness and skepticism and intelligence they brought to
the classroom and to my version of Hemingway made for some
memorable sessions and stimulated my thinking again and
again.

For challenging me with, and encouraging my study of, Freud,
and for carefully reading a large portion of an earlier draft, I owe a
special debt to my colleague Doug Purl.

For her scrupulous copy-editing and his cheerful assistance in
the various stages of publishing this book, I am grateful to the
Ohio State University Press's Carol S. Sykes, book editor, and
Weldon A. Kefauver, director.

For their help typing various versions of the manuscript, I
thank Lucille Smith, Jan Schultz, Pat Meeker, and Ilona Hruska.
For her patience, support, and excellent editing, no acknowl­
edgment can adequately express my gratitude to my wife, Terry.

Author's Note

I cite page references to quotations from Hemingway's works in
the body of my text. Where the source of a quotation is clear, I cite
only page references; where the source is unclear, I adopt the short
titles below. In both cases all citations are from the following edi­
tions published by Charles Scribner's Sons, of New York:

Sun Rises
The Sun Also Rises, 1926 and 1954,

Student's Edition

Farewell
A Farewell to Arms, 1929 and 1957,

Scribner Library

Afternoon
Death in the Afternoon, 1932 and 1960,
Scribner Library
Green Hills Green Hills of Africa, 1935, Scribner
Library
Have Not
To Have and Have Not, 1937 and 1965,
Scribner Library
Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1940, Scribner
Library

Across the
Across the River and into the Trees,
River
1950
Old Man
The Old Man and the Sea, 1952, Scrib­
ner Library

Stories
The Short Stories of Ernest Heming­
way, 1953, Modern Standard
Authors

Feast
A Moveable Feast, 1964, Scribner
Library

By-Line
By-Line: Ernest Hemingway: Selected