An Analysis of Hemingway’s Theme of Death Abstract Death, as a particular theme, has drawn lots of writers’ attention for a long time. Hemingway is one of them who like to express their contemplation of life and death in their works. His keen interest to death can be detected from his own experiences related to death since his works mostly derives from his life experiences. This thesis deals with Hemingway’s theme of death through an analysis on the changes that his attitude has undergone revealed in his works. What should be mentioned in particular is that the significance of Hemingway’s attitude towards death. Death is not a tragedy but a way to achieve the value of life. Man should possess and maintain the “Code Hero” spirit to live a meaningful life. 60537

Key words: Hemingway: attitude: value of life: “Code Hero” spirit  

海明威的死亡主题

摘要死亡这个特殊的主题一直以来受到众多中外作家青睐。他们对死亡有自己独特的理解，或通过故事，或直接描述，展现在自己的作品中。像其他作者一样，海明威对死亡也有其独到看法。通过分析研究，本文认为海明威对死亡问题的热衷与他的生死经历密不可分，他的自身经历让他对死亡产生了独特的理解，再以作品的形式向世人进行展示。通过对作品的分析，海明威的死亡观念不是一时形成的，它是一个长期发展的过程。面对死亡，他的态度经历了从极度害怕到无能为力到正视直至超越的转变。而这种转变引发世人对死亡的思考：死亡并不是悲剧，而是实现人生价值的另一种形式。海明威还倡导人们在面对困难时，要保持一种硬汉精神，即以永不放弃的姿态勇敢面对。

毕业论文关键词：海明威；态度；人生价值；硬汉精神

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Literature Review 1

1.2 Layout of the Thesis 2

2. Hemingway’s Theme of Death 4

2.1 Death Theme in His Life 4

1.2 Death Theme in His Works 5

3. Development of Hemingway’s Attitude Towards Death 7

3.1 Fear of Death 7

3.2 Feebleness Before Death 8

3.3 Recognition of Death 10

3.4 Transcendence of Death 11

4. The Significance of Hemingway's Understanding of Death 13

4.1 A Means to Achieve the Value of Life 13

4.2 “Code Hero” Spirit 14

5. Conclusion 16

References 17

1. Introduction

Death is an eternal theme for human beings as well as a long-lasting cultural topic. Death theme plays an important part in world literature. In Chinese history, the death theme first appeared in the poems of Qu Yuan who was the first poet showing his deep love to death. In western literature, it can be traced to ancient Greece. Those distinguished writers like Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Goethe, Franz Kafka and so forth have displayed death theme in their works during different periods. They have made great efforts on finding better ways and vital meanings of death. 

Ernest Hemingway(1899-1961), a winner of Nobel Prize in 1954, enjoys a worldwide popularity in Literature field. He provides the treasure house of literature with so many excellent works which are still constantly read, studied and loved by people all over the world. As a spokesman of “The Lost Generation”, Ernest Hemingway also devotes his passion and love to the contemplation on death. From novels to short stories, death is a permanent theme which penetrates into the heroes, heroines and background settings. He has declared that “All stories, if continued far enough, end in death, and he is no true story teller who would keep that from you”(Hemingway, 1956:122). In his eyes, death is inevitable for human beings and as a good story teller, he would unfold death before readers’ eyes in the end of the story. He once says, “No one can live forever. But one person to the dying, to God, that must be carries out with the last battle, he always hope that the world remember what sort of person, a real person. If you have done a great cause, it will make you immortal”(Baker, 1956:81). “Bates, one of American critic, gave a comment on Hemingway’s works:’In fact, there is only one theme in Hemingway’s works, that is death.’ ”(Wu Ran, 1986). It is difficult to understand his works without noticing his view of death. Thus, it is important to analyze his view of death theme in order to have a more complete understanding of his works. What is more, his view of death will enlighten people in modern society in facing death.