A Butlerian Reading of Ernest Hemingway’s Personality and His Works

Abstract

This study aims at analyzing Hemingway's selected novels and short stories in order to discover their common ground in terms of the masochistic properties. The overriding questions concerning this paper will center on the multiple ways in which Hemingway's sexual fluidity contribute to the formation of the masochistic behavior in his writings and also the degree to which masochistic properties contributed to the aesthetic and literal values of his writings. This paper concentrates on the specific elements of masochism which pertain most to the texts, including symbiosis/separation dichotomy (closely related to the theme of humiliation), fetishism, pain, violence and death. The author wishes to unveil the oft-hidden submissive and feminine characteristics of the masculine characters that abound in Hemingway’s writings.