Hemingway, Ernest (Miller)

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US writer. War, bullfighting, and fishing are used symbolically in his work to represent honour, dignity, and primitivism – prominent themes in his short stories and novels, which include A Farewell to Arms (1929), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1941), and The Old Man and the Sea (1952; Pulitzer Prize). His deceptively simple writing style attracted many imitators. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.

Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois, and in his youth developed a passion for hunting and adventure. He became a journalist and was wounded while serving on a volunteer ambulance crew in Italy in World War I. In 1921 he settled in Paris, where he met the writers Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound. His style was influenced by Stein, who also introduced him to bullfighting, a theme in his first novel, Fiesta (The Sun Also Rises) (1927), and the memoir Death in the Afternoon (1932). A Farewell to Arms deals with wartime experiences on the Italian front, and For Whom the Bell Tolls has a Spanish Civil War setting. He served as war correspondent both in that conflict and in Europe during World War II. His last years were spent mainly in Cuba. He committed suicide.

Black, red, and green are known as the ‘black liberation’ colours, recalling Jamaican black activist Marcus Garvey. Taken from the arms of Nyasaland, the sun indicates the dawning of a new era. Effective date: 6 July 1964. >>