American Culture and Stories, Research Paper Example

American Culture and Stories in Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and The Battler

The below essay will examine the ways Hemingway features the marginalization of minority groups within the American society. The author of the current paper states that Hemingway’s ideological relationship with humanism had a significant impact on his artistic methods of featuring African Americans and challenging social stereotypes. The author will examine Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and The Battler featuring the American society’s prejudice and stereotyping methods related to minorities, creating social injustice. The characteristics of Hemingway’s methods to describe the inferiority of Blacks and Jews in The Sun Also Rises and The Battler through the language and narrative will be analyzed. The main thesis the author examines is that Hemingway’s portrayal of “African American Characters” as human beings is a method of addressing and breaking down racial stereotypes and questioning social injustice.

Books – and recent years movies, TV series – often tell more than personal stories. They reflect on conflicts, social, racial inequality, injustice and tension within society. A work that was accomplished by Hemingway in the 21^st century has developed into a new style of story-telling today through reflecting on the marginalized status of African Americans. The below essay is going to follow the path of writers and filmmakers to reveal how contemporary artists reflect on social injustice related to the marginalization of African Americans. The authors of the current research are attempting to trace back the origins and themes of African American culture’s representation to the “Black Renaissance”, of which, Earnest Hemingway was a part.

Race and social identity often appears Hemingway’s writings. Minority groups, like Native Americans and African Americans appear to be marginalized in the society. Indeed, Holcomb states that he was a part of the “Black Renaissance”, the starting point when racial inequalities started to appear in writing.

Hemingway’s short stories, in particular In Our Time makes the readers see some of the disillusioned, marginalized individuals within the American society through the eyes of Nick Adams, the narrator. Apart from those who lost everything, are alienated within the society, Hemingway features ethnic minority characters, who share the same disappointment as the rest of the characters. Below some of the theories about Hemingway’s attitude towards race will be analyzed.

Holcomb (28) states that Hemingway created a shared language of American Modernism,  and he incorporated Black culture in literature. His short stories and writings became a part of the Black Renaissance. In the works The Sun Also Rises and The Battler, Hemingway uses a revolutionary method to portray African Americans. The texts above and Hemingway’s short stories will be examined below to analyze the new and revolutionary archetypes the author created. As McKay (193) states: “When Hemingway wrote The Sun Also Rises, he shot a fist in the face of the false romantic-realists and said: “[Hemingway] has most excellently quickened and enlarged my experience of social life”. This also indicates that by featuring racial minorities, Hemingway was trying to point out inequalities, instead of strengthening stereotypes.

Similarly to the above statement, Riobueno states that “Hemingway was an author invested in the avant-garde and in analyzing and dissecting rigid societal rules, not championing them”. (v.) This confirms the original statement regarding Hemingway’s strong humanist approach towards featuring the oppressed, disadvantaged, ethnically diverse. Through the eyes of Nick Adams, he introduces the reader of In Our Time to characters who are at war. Some of them are at war because they have to give up their ideas, others are unable to express their feelings. Those who are marginalized, like Bugs in The Battler try and find a non-conventional way of living the life of “white men”. They try to find new ways because the rules of the society do not allow them to go down the route that is preserved for the privileged. Cuneo (29) quotes Elliot stating  that “American authors such as Hemingway have repeatedly engaged in “perhaps the most insidious and least understood form of segregation” by including “counterfeit” black characters in their novels who simply function as “racial clichés denied the complexity of an individual”.        The analysis of the two works by Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises and The Battler will prove the above statement false. Indeed, Hemingway’s portrayal of African Americans is far from being built on stereotypes: he attributes human characteristics to black people. He states that they feel the same pain, controversy and disappointment as other people: therefore, they are firstly human, secondly African Americans. This type of characterization will be analyzed in the next part of the paper.

Hemingway uses characters’ language to represent their social standing,  disappointment, and marginalization. Baranau­sk­ie­n? and Adminie­n? (112) state that Hemingway uses gendered language to represent characters’ place and role in the society in his short stories. This statement also indicates that Hemingway uses language patterns to represent subcultures and diversity, marginalization in the society describes in his works. The next part of the study will examine how he described African Americans and other stereotypical subcultures in his short stories through the language.

Hemingway featured subcultures and marginalized groups because he wanted to depict the injustice and inequality between Whites and Blacks, men and women in contemporary society. Riobueno (6) states that “niggers” do not speak in a manner that would make sense taking into consideration the society’s stereotypes. Bugs speaks “white English”, and this indicates that Hemingway is attempting to break down the fallacies of racism.(9). Featuring African Americans as human beings the way Hemingway did is a revolutionary approach to race in literature. Gray states that some of the stories within In Our Time are simply addressing the question: “Is he one of us”? That is a question that historically had been a taboo in the American society. This is how Hemingway revolutionizes American narratives.

The Sun Also Rises features characters who lose everything; become alienated from the society and see no way out. The story is a sentiment of the “lost generation” that is not only lost but has been depraved of its hopes and future. They are not able to move on in life: indeed, they are “walking around in circles”. They have no place to go. The interesting aspect of the story, however, is that ethnic minorities share the same faith and face the same difficulties as the mainstream society. This is a humanistic approach towards characters, and while the author does describe the difficulties minority groups face because of racism, they are depicted as “one of them”.

One of the first references to minority groups’ inferiority is found on the first page of The Sun Also Rises, when Hemingway describes Cohn, the Jew. He describes  “the feeling of inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princeton” (p. 1). Even though in high school, where there is no competition and stakes are lower, “no-one made him race-conscious… until he went to Princeton”. Jake finds the fact that Cohn is Jewish an important aspect of his character, He builds up his stereotypes around Jewish people and implements them in his description of Cohn. The author also uses stereotypes: “He had a hard, Jewish, stubborn streak”, indicating that Jewish people are generally stubborn.

However, the use of stereotypes would not be enough to reveal Hemingway’s intention to highlight social inequalities and injustice related to ethnic minorities: Jake’s behavior suggests that he treats Cohn as an inferior.

Jewish are not the only ethnic minorities described in a judgmental, stereotyping manner by Hemingway. In The Sun Also Rises, Bill describes the “nigger” as he remembers him from the fight. The description is not based on stereotypes, but describes the unique behavior pattern of the Black character. In this book, Hemingway starts describing sub-cultures; prize fighting. Book Two includes an interesting description of a marginalized African American character, worth to analyze:

“”Wonderful nigger. Looked like Tiger Flowers, only four times as big. All of a sudden everybody started to throw things. Not me. Nigger’d just knocked local boy down. Nigger put up his glove. Wanted to make a speech. Awful noble-looking nigger. Started to make a speech. Then local white boy hit him. Then he knocked white boy cold. Then everybody commenced to throw chairs. Nigger went home with us in our car. Couldn’t get his clothes. Wore my coat. Remember the whole thing now. Big sporting evening”….

Later, reflecting on the situation and social stereotypes, inequalities, he states: “ Injustice everywhere”. He explains that everybody believed the promoter of the match, and they accused the black fighter with selling the game. He lost everything and got humiliated. The narrator clearly takes the side of the prize fighter here.

The above passage also indicates that the characters are well aware of social injustice and discrimination in the American society, however, they accept it as a fact. They have no intention to tackle the problem. Bill has a clear aversion to Cohn, and he feels like he needs to show him who is the superior. He thinks that Cohn’s confidence is originated from his ethnic identity and feels like his race is threatened by his group. He says: “Well, let him not get superior and Jewish”.

Hemingway makes the reader meet the “negro drummer” in the book. He describes the character first as “all teeth and lips”. Brett calls him “a great friend of mine”.  He doesn’t state that he is “just another nigger”. He calls him his friend. He adds that he is a good drummer. Therefore, the character is described as a “friend and a good drummer, full of teeth and lips”, not as a “black drummer”.

None of the African American characters are depicted as “outsiders” who are different in emotions, thoughts or customs. The prizefighter got married, has a family, and Bill gave him his address to send the money he lent him. He looks at him as another human being, not an inferior person. He did, when he tried to help him get his money back and offered him a loan. At that point, he understood that the black man had no chance against “the Harvard man”. He understood the misery and disappointment of the prize fighter, and that is why he helped. He looked at him as a fellow human, not as a person who possibly “asked for it”.

The African American characters of the story (and the Jewish one, Cohn) are marginalized by the society, but not marginalized by other characters. The author makes us understand their struggles and human emotions, and they are looked at by characters as “friends” or “people in need”. The marginalization of minority groups in the society, however, is reflected upon. When he describes how it was to be Jewish in Princeton. He described how injustice made the black prize fighter lose everything. While he uses traditional stereotypes such as

Robert Cohn is described as a nice guy: “funny thing is he’s nice, too. I like him. But he’s just so awful” (53). The prizefighter is described as “wonderful”, “awful noble-looking” and “splendid”. At this point, the author would like to note that in both descriptions, Hemingway uses the word: “awful” as a sign of controversy. As if the character was not sure if they were allowed to “like” the person who is from another race. Awful is used in a positive sense, but also can be viewed as a controversial statement. Even though the characters sympathize with the Black and Jewish characters, they are not sure if this is “the right thing”. As if they could not help but like them as other human beings. While Hemingway does not directly state in The Sun Also Rises that the Black and Jewish characters are just as likable and “human” as whites, he indicates this through the behavior of characters towards them.

The Battler is revolutionary in a way it features the African American character: Bugs.

Hemingway represents race as a biological feature, as well as through language. In The Battler he states: “”It was a negro’s voice. Nick knew from the way he walked that he was a negro” (4). He further depicts racial identity and assigns unique, culturally relevant language to Bugs in the work.

Stereotyping about language use, preferences, lifestyles, attitudes are present throughout the work. Characters judge Black people by skin color and anticipate their next actions based on stereotypes.

When Nick meets a black man, he sees the human face, not the color. Their relationship is complicated not because they fulfill the stereotypes the society attributed to them. Bugs is far from being a typical black man. He is first introduced to Nick as just another man by Ad: “’This is my pal Bugs,’ Ad said. ‘He’s crazy, too.’ But, he is not the typical negro: he has manners. He is polite to Nick and calls him “Mr Adams, and the reader cannot decide whether he is submissive or simply polite. But later, he confesses to Nick: “I like living like a gentleman”. From this statement of Bugs, it is evident that he is not happy with his place in the society.

Bugs is depicted in the story as a man “who understands”. He has knowledge about human emotions, craziness and tells Nick about the story of Ad. He reflects on the events not as a black man, but as a human being. He does not make any remarks regarding the world of “whites”. Indeed, he intervenes in the interest of his friend. He knows better. He takes care of Ad, as well as his friend. He has the upper hand over Ad, and he definitely shows that. When he tells the story about Ad marrying his own sister (the rumors), he does not judge. He doesn’t judge Ad either for being crazy: indeed, he explains how he became like he is. Further, he expresses a knowledge of another human being: his friend. He tells Nick: “Don’t you worry about him none, Mister Adams. I seen him like this plenty of times before.” (14). He also knows how to deal with Ad, claiming: “ I have to do it to change him when he gets that way” (14).

In this story, Bugs is not portrayed as an African American who is helpless and has no way out. He is the witty, quick thinking person who knows when to intervene when his friend gets out of control. He is the one who ends the situation before it gets worse. Therefore, Bugs is indeed not depicted as an inferior African American: more importantly, he is a human being without judgment, without prejudice. He has a full understanding of the situation, he can get on in life, and finds a way to “live like a gentleman”. He respects other humans, by calling them Mr and relates to their situation. He is a friend of Ad, and is treated equal. The lack of reference to race within the conversation between the three characters is intentional. The only reference is found in the description of Hemingway is when he walks in and the character knows straight away that he is an African American. (4).

The above overview of characters has clearly indicated that Hemingway, even though he depicts the black man as a companion of a marginalized character, describes Bugs as equal to whites, bringing to surface his human character, while omitting to use the stereotypes related to African Americans. Featuring human aspects of the characters and emphasizing them over racial characteristics is where Hemingway’s humanism becomes clearly visible.

As Benson (78) states, that the main thesis of humanism is that “all human activities are the rightful property of the creative artist from the lowest to the highest”. At Hemingway, humanism appears in the texts when marginalized characters; poor, women and Blacks are given human characteristics, instead of using stereotypes commonly accepted by the contemporary society.

Hemingway – indirectly – addresses the question of marginalization related to African Americans and other minority groups in contemporary America. However, he also emphasizes the human features of African Americans more than the ethnic features.

Ellison’ s statement within Twentieth-Century Fiction and the Black Mask of Humanity, quoted by Holcomb (4) that Hemingway was “composing black characters in order to fashion whiteness” has later reversed by the same author. The above review of the two short stories has also concluded that Hemingway’s goal with featuring black characters is not to contrast Blacks and Whites, more importantly to bring them together in one category: humanity. As Holcomb (18) states, characters of African Americans are just other human beings, and they are just as complex as whites. This also indicates that Hemingway looks at them the same way as anyone else. If Hemingway was stereotyping, he would have simplified the African American characters much more. All characters (Black or White) face the same problem: “social alienation, psychological violence, psychic disillusionment, and personal loss” (Holcomb 20).

The main finding of the study is that Hemingway, by featuring the emotions, personalities, struggles and emotional pains, alienation and disillusionment of African American characters, is able to unify Blacks and Whites under the category of humanity: dealing with the same problems, having similar priorities, being affected by marginalization, loss, and lack of outlook in life. If Hemingway wanted to contrast Blacks and Whites and confirm society’s stereotypes about ethnic minorities, he would have given Whited the “upper hand” over Blacks. He did not do that in the two stories above; indeed, he made them become friends with white people. Not only that; he made some of the characters worthy of the friendship and equal in the human relationship, while Bugs is depicted as the person who is smart enough to look after his friend. Even though Bugs has a “negro voice”, he talks in a sophisticated manner.

Returning to the initial thesis statement of the current study, indicating that Hemingway used a humanistic approach to describe African American and other ethnic minority characters in the two stories analyzed from In Our Time, it is evident that the findings support the above claim. Indeed, there was only one direct reference to social injustice related to African Americans:  “injustice everywhere”. However, the way the author featured Blacks as humans indicates that this type of revolutionary writing was an indirect way of Hemingway to break down contemporary stereotypes and promote the idea of “sameness” instead of “otherness”. As Riobueno (61) concludes, Hemingway “at times troublingly short-sighted in matters of race and gender in his work, was nevertheless attempting to make readers aware of several wrongs in the Western binary system of thought”.

Works Cited

Baranau­sk­ie­n?, R.  and Adminie­n?, V. Gender Differences In The Language Of E. Hemingway’s Fiction. 2012. Print.

Benson, J. “New Critical Approaches to the Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway” 1990. Print.

Ellison, Ralph. “Twentieth-Century Fiction and the Black Mask of Humanity.” In The Collected Essays of Ralph Ellison, edited by John F. Callahan, 81–99. New York: Modern Library. First published 1946. 1995. Print.

Gray, R. “A History of American Literature” 2011. Print.

Hemingway, E.  “In Our Time” In: The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition. New York: Scribner. 1987. Print.

Holcomb, G., Schruggs, C. Hemingway and the Black Renaissance. Ohio State University Press. Columbus. 2012. Print.

McKay, C.  A Long Way from Home. Rutgers University Press. First Published: 1937. 1970. Print.

Riobueno, M. Injustice Everywhere: Hemingway’s Struggle with Race, Gender, and Aesthetics. FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 763. 2012. Web.