Question
Hemingway and Fitzgerald Comparison
F. Scott
Fitzgerald: “Babylon Revisited” pp. 752-766 Ernest Hemingway: “Soliders
Home”pp. 908-913 If you have taken my English 112 class it is no secret that
the dynamic between Hemingway and Fitzgerald is my favorite writing
relationship to study. I even wrote about it as my thesis in grad school. I
have read their letters to each other, biographies, their novels and their
short stories. I am biased when it comes to my knowledge of their writing and
their lives. I cannot explain the appeal. Hemingway was a narcissistic,
misogynist who was hell bent on demonstrating to the world that he was the most
masculine man, though in private he was as petty, manipulative, and
melodramatic as most of the cliched female characters he included in his
writing. Yet, his contribution to literature is truly genius. Fitzgerald
was a raging alcoholic, though honestly most writers of the time were,
Hemingway included. But, Fitzgerald's alcoholism was so bad that he left a
trail of destruction in his wake. He lost friends and confidants. He lost his
relationship with Zelda, his wife. He spent his money on alcohol and a lavish
lifestyle, hoping to give Zelda the best life possible. He was a man of great
writing talent, but somewhere along the way the alcohol took away his
confidence, though Hemingway would blame Zelda. He didn't believe he was a good
writer and he was always chasing away the self deprecating voices with alcohol.
Yet, Fitzgerald perfectly encapsulated a period of time that will live on
through his writing forever. Both men contributed to this time period greatly
through their depiction of life after World War I, when many great artists left
the US during prohibition to live as ex-patriots in Europe. Fitzgerald
created the term the Jazz Age, which is often used to describe the time period.
Hemingway "borrowed" Gertrude Stein's description of the circle of
writers and artists and the term the Lost Generation is frequently attributed
to him. The two stories we are reading this week are about vastly different
topics and yet are surprisingly similar. While "Soliders Home" is not
quite the best representation of Hemingway's writing style in my opinion, it
does still practice a minimalist style. I know most of you will hate the way he
can make something deep look like absolutely nothing. Hemingway makes you work
to find the meaning. His iceberg theory defines every piece he wrote. He does
not like to use he said and she said following dialogue so it is
difficult to follow. He also gives tiny little hints to the deeper meaning of
the story and depth of the character. Fitzgerald's short story is
descriptive and straight forward, but sad. If you have read The Great Gatsby,
you know Fitzgerald doesn't embrace the happy ending. But, his ability to
capture emotional realism in his characters is what makes his writing stand
out. I've included the audio versions of both stories, as usual, this week. In
the audio for "Babylon Revisited" the reader talks about Zelda
Fitzgerald being put away in a hospital after a mental breakdown and dying when
the hospital burned down. If you want extra credit, email me and tell me the
name and location of the hospital where she died and double extra credit if you
can tell me the hotel where Fitzgerald lived when she first went to stay there.
I will give you the answers next week.The offer is only on the table for one
week. Read both pieces and then look over the links shared in the resources
folder about the authors to complete the discussion board prompt. Take your
time diving back into fiction this week. Remember, there is a lot of historical
slang thrown around in these stories so use your footnotes in the text and have
a dictionary nearby. They may use several euphemisms for being drunk. Make sure
you can spot them. I know you may never be as fascinated as I am by these two
men, but I hope you at least understand their influence. Enjoy! Answer the
three questions in MLA format using proper citations. I am looking for depth
here. I do not want to see short, one line responses. You may use the Author
Resources folder below for more information or you may do your own
research.
Cite any information you look up.
1.From the pieces we read this week, do you believe it is fair to compare these two authors? Is their work similar? If so, how? If not, what differences stand out most?
2.Also, look up the terms Jazz age and The Lost Generation and share how these terms apply to either of the pieces you read or what you learned about their personal lives.
3. Lastly, many critics believe almost
everything these two men have written is autobiographical. Do some light
research about them from the links I shared in the resources folder or the text
book and see if you can find anything that could indicate portions of their
lives. https://booksonthewall.com/blog/hemingway-and-fitzgerald/ https://fs.blog/you-see-well-enough-but-you-stop-listening/ Book
is Norton anthology post 1865
Expert Solution
Fitzgerald and Hemingway are
notable authors in the field of English literature. Therefore, a comparison of
the two authors will highlight their correspondence to the Jazz age and Lost
Generation as well as the similarities of their works.It is fair to compare
these two writers. Schlottman, in their analysis, highlights that both authors
published their first novel in the 1920s and were expatriates in Paris. During
this time, fictional literature was defined as embracing personal and literary
inwardness, sophistication, and difficulty; the rebellion against modernism
included a return to social realism and many documentary endeavors (Greenblatt
and Abrams 1838), which is highly evident in both their works. Therefore, it is
fair to compare both authors as their literature falls into the same category
and since they accepted critique from each other.
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