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Hemingway's Locations

Hemingway may have been born in the United States, as well as dying here, but he spent most of his years away by traveling, working, and enjoying other locations in the world. I asked simply if his constant movement affected the setting since in the two books I have read were in completely different places of the world. The settings of his works, I have discovered, are influenced very heavily on places he loved and visited often and hobbies he had in those places, like fishing, which is an obvious example. He traveled from Illinois to Switzerland with many places in between, of course both geographically and literally. From the two novels I've read, //The Sun Also Rises// and //The Old Man and the Sea,// he placed the setting of these stories into places he travelled more then frequently, which was discovered through my research.

Now I could continue by dragging on and on for pages on every place he relocated to and travelled... and believe I took the time to write it all down, but no one cares about every single place he lived if it has no significance to anything, so I'll say what really is important for understanding why his location differenciated greately between his books. //The Old Man and the Sea// took place near Havana in Cuba. For three full years of Hemingway's life, he lived primarily in Cuba as well as living there for scattered months and dates in other years. //The Sun Also RIses// takes place in both Paris, France and parts of Spain. Paris was a very popular place to live for Hemingway as he visits it nearly every year between 1918 and 1956, which is most of his lifespan. In Spain, Hemingway loved fishing and was intrigued by bull-fights therefore most of the inspiration behind that book was inspired by these hobbies.

Though I only read those two books by him, Hemingway obviously put a lot of himself in these works. Through other sources I've discovered other pieces that he has written which were influenced on his location in the world. Hemingway wrote //The Green HiIls of Africa// after traveling to Africa for a safari in 1934. Another writing inluenced by Spain is //The Fifth Column.// This work was meant to portray the conditions in Madrid during it's seige. THe book //Across the River and into the Trees// was created after his "literary silence" which described a place in Venice, Italy for the setting. Hemingway was in and around there during the war and where he had spent monthsn of his life.These are only a few of the many books he has written in his lifetime that are inspired by a variety of locations he has lived.

I had asked at the beginning if Hemingway's location affected the setting of his stories. The answer is absolutely yes. Even in fiction works where you could do nearly anything you want with your pen he chose to examine places he has already been, and have made some sort of impact on him for whatever reason. Though he did not write a book in every location he has ever lived in, the fact that he wrote books so soon after being in those places and the fact that they are about those places at all are substantial to understanding why he wrote these in so many different regions of the world and not confining himself to simply one country. He was a well rounded individual who wrote what he saw, which doesnt seem to briliant alone, while expanding with his simple extravagence he is so well known for makes his works very unique and distinguishable.

-Ashley Kristoff

"Ernest Hemingway Biography The Childhood Years." //Hemingway Resource Center~Welcome//. Web. 04 June 2010. [].
 * SOURCES**

Hemingway, Ernest. //The Old Man and the Sea//. New York: Scribner, 1996. Print.

Hemingway, Ernest. //The Sun Also Rises//. New York: Scribner, 1996. Print.

Hemingway, Ernest Miller (1899-1961). Encyclopedia of World Biography. Ed. Suzanne M. Bourgoin. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998.

Oliver, Charles M. //Ernest Hemingway A to Z: the Essential Reference to the Life and Work//. New York: Facts on File, 1999. Print.