【英语论文】菲茨杰拉德和海明威写作风格对比（英文一）

【英语论文】菲茨杰拉德和海明威写作风格对比（英文一） The Contrast between Fitzgerald’s and Hemingway’s Writing Style 1 I. Introduction The names of two great 20th century American writers -Ernest Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald are often associated because they both were American expatriates in France during 1920s, both produced literary works that have durable influence, and above all, they were once the closest friends to each other. I have never realized the two men were so close during Hemingway's rise and Fitzgerald's fall in the literary world. Hemingway was one of my favorite authors. His writing is clean, precise, and open to interpretation, unlike that of other writers of his time who told you every single thing about a character's motivation. I knew Fitzgerald after I entered university and had the subject of American literature. His prose is smooth, sensitive and completely original in its diction and metaphors. Fitzgerald also became the author whom I like immensely. 2 II. The study meaning of this subject 2.1 The study situation of this subject at present F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway are often cited as quintessential examples of modern American writers, although their lives and writing styles were quite different. Initially, Fitzgerald represented the success and glamour of youth, as Hemingway would later encapsulate masculine strength and heroism. There are a lot of people have studied these two writers. And also there are all kinds of comments on the writers and their works. They studied Fitzgerald and Hemingway from different angels and different levels. At present, there is one writer whose name is Scott Donaldson. He published one book "Hemingway vs. Fitzgerald - The Rise and Fall of a Literary Friendship," Scott Donaldson has both contributed to and distinguished himself from "the outpouring of biographical material that has kept them both in the public eye." This is a well-researched and fully documented discourse on the eventual reversal of mentor/novice roles and the concluding "exercise in sadomasochism" between these two giants of twentieth century American literature. The author describes these two writers from the new aspects. I believe there will be more and more people start to study Fitzgerald and Hemingway. 2.2 The reasons why I choose this subject Fitzgerald and Hemingway were the most famous writers of 1920s. Their works made great effort to the American literature. Their works are the symbols of that age. Fitzgerald described the image of the jazz age; he became the "angel of the 1920s". From his books you can know the social situation very clearly. And also Hemingway portrayed the "lost generation". As an English department student, I think I should know more about the writers and their works. This not only can help me learned something more, but also it can help me understand their works very well. 3 III. Main contents In this part I will describe the reasons that caused the differences of Fitzgerald and Hemingway's writing style. 3.1. The social situation: There are so many reasons big or small which caused the differences of Fitzgerald and Hemingway's writing style. The biggest one is social situation. They lived in the world after the First World War, this world was quite different. All the old things were gone, and everything was new. The disillusionment with the war, the new inventions, especially the new automobile changed the lives of the people. There was affluence and excitement on the one hand, and the other, disturbing indications that the old world was simply dying. Against the social background Fitzgerald and Hemingway wrote. Fitzgerald was an analyst. He stayed in the United States and wrote about the jazz age. Hemingway, on the other hand, reacted on it; he did not describe it. He went away to Europe and wrote about the expatriates. His world was basically rootless. It is Fitzgerald who was so broken emotionally by the failure of American dream. So they reacted differently to their times. Both were talented writers; both lost the ability to write rather early in their career. Hemingway was famous for his style and Fitzgerald for the fact that he tried to understand American culture at its roots and thus had more to say to the following generations. 3. 2 the life style 3.2.1 Fitzgerald lived in expensive style. For him, who lived in the midst of the "roaring twenties" and was part of it all: driving fast cars drinking hard whisky, and taking an immense delight in it. Three things eventually combined to break him down: loneliness, alcohol, and the awareness that he was wasting his talent. Fitzgerald had always stood mentally aloof from the spectacle that kept passing before him. Fitzgerald was always a heavy drinker. He always tried to find the solace in his cups. 4 It was alcohol as much as anything that killed him in the end. Fitzgerald was tormented virtually all his life by the fact that he could not concentrate on the novel and the improvement of his art in general. 3.2.2 On the other hand, Hemingway's life was totally different from the Fitzgerald's. Hemingway was a myth of in his own times, and a myth in American literature. "He was a glamorous public hero of sorts whose style of writing and living was probably more imitated than other writers in human memory." He was so precisely that because he acted out them of his own books. That was the reason why he liked sports of all kinds and was thought of as one going deep-sea fishing, big game hunting, becoming a prize ring boxer. But his life style was evidently a very negative attitude. Hemingway saw life in terms of battles and tension. Compared with Fitzgerald, Hemingway's position was lower than Fitzgerald at first and lacked financial resources. But the poverty and adversity always encouraged people to work harder. The hard life can sharpen one's will and temper one's spirit. So the relatively poor lifestyle urged Hemingway's fully devotion to the literature, and he was full of confidence to the future. "All of his works dramatize his concept of life that it is dangerous and always ready to defeat and destroy you, but that, if you keep calm and in your set of principles, get nothing except, perhaps, the knowledge that you played well." Hemingway's life was usually characterized by chaos and brutality and violence, (as in a farewell to arms, for whom the bell tolls), by crime and death (as in to have and have not), and sport, hard drinking and sexual promiscuity (as in the sun also rises and some short stories). 3.3 The attitude toward the war Another important reason is the war that caused the differences of theirs. They had different attitude toward war. It was said that, once when Hemingway and Fitzgerald were about the war themes, Hemingway said: "the reason why you felt deep heartache when you mentioned war is that you didn't experience it. War is the 5 best theme of literature. It supplies the writing source materials largely, which make you have quick thought and rapid action. Even if you are waiting for the whole life you can not get the experiences about war." (Carlos baker, Ernest Hemingway: selected letters, p.44) Hemingway thought, one must have the true experience to describe the war. Although Fitzgerald had joined in army, but he didn't participate the First World War. As a result he lost the chance to learn the felling of the war. Fitzgerald always thought it was a big matter of regret. However, Fitzgerald lack of the true feeling of fist world war, which didn't affect his attitude toward the First World War. He believed, as an artist, he could absolutely depend on his own acute observation and plentiful imagination to achieve the same writing purpose that has equal effect. "Although you didn't participate the military activities directly, you can get the indirect experience at least. Because you can strongly feel the cruelty of war, you can face the reality form the backdoor." (F. Scott Fitzgerald, afternoon of an author, p.186.) Fitzgerald just used his own plentiful imagination and acute observation to describe the brutal scenes of war. Although, these two famous writers have different opinions of how to portray the war, their work are all revealed the reality that war described man's spirit and social civilization from different angles and levels. 3.4 The personality Last but not the least, the different personalities of these two writers also became the reason that caused their differences of writing style. Fitzgerald was an outstanding genius who has dual personalities. He not only had high literature talent and the create emotion to became "the greatest writer", but also always frittered away his talent. He not only admired "the freedom and charm which the rich people have, but also he have the clearly realization that there was a deeply gap between high heeled rich people and normal people; he not only participate the chaos of merrymaking, but also he could stood mentally aloof from the spectacles which kept passing before him. Fitzgerald always used his own severe normal standard to judge things around him. 6 Fitzgerald had weak personality, but he was stronger than Hemingway when he faced misfortunes. Hemingway was harsh to other person; he was always ruthless to other person when they disturb his writing or against his will. When Hemingway faced the difficulties of marriage, he would choose divorce without hesitation. I the latter part of his life, Hemingway chose gun suicide. But Fitzgerald was not like Hemingway; he was tolerant to other person. He endured all kinds of misfortune of last period of 1930s. Even when his wife went mad, he still looked after her carefully until he died suddenly. So different personalities influence their writing styles. 7 IV. Conclusion Hemingway vs. Fitzgerald: Historic Prizefight between Two Literary Heavyweights. The combatants were two of the literary heavyweights of the 20th Century. The prize was undisputed world acknowledgement as the most influential and important writer of the era. The venue was Paris in the 1920's. The battle of the literary giants was not actually much of a contest. There cannot be a fight when one man refuses to put up his fists. Still, one author bullied the other in an attempt to either establish himself as the celebrated champion of the literary world or to discredit him as a literary rival. Although friends at first, Ernest Hemingway became jealous of F. Scott Fitzgerald after the commercial success of The Great Gatsby was still perfecting the craft of short-story writing and working as a reporter. Anxious to enjoy the perks that fame had brought Fitzgerald, Hemingway quickly (by his standards) wrote The Sun Also Rises in 1926 after a visit to Pamplona, Spain. Although Fitzgerald was instrumental in the editing and publishing of the novel, the opening bell had rung for Hemingway. Secretly, Hemingway despised much about the life of Fitzgerald and fashioned Robert Cohn, a character in The Sun Also Rises, after him. Cohn was a self-destructive man, a hero-worshipper, a bad novelist, a hopeless drunk, and a man seeking desperately to become a gentleman. The trend of disparaging Fitzgerald in print became habitual for Hemingway. Meanwhile, throughout the 1920's and 1930's, Fitzgerald continued to praise Hemingway as a genius as a writer and a friend. Despite numerous hardships since the critical success of The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald was continually "pounded" personally and professionally by Hemingway. His wife's mental illness, financial worries, alcoholism, and failing health greatly affected Fitzgerald's ability to write. Hemingway remained relentless in his assault. He would go on to insult Fitzgerald in "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" (a short story in Cosmopolitan), "Green Hills of Africa," "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," and "A Moveable Feast", as well as in interviews and private correspondence. Throughout his life, Fitzgerald was hit with continual jabs from Hemingway. In various writings and with various characters, 8 Hemingway hit Fitzgerald with a flurry of insults. At various times through various Fitzgerald caricatures, Hemingway refers to Fitzgerald as a whiner, a coward, an impotent writer, a sexually insecure person, a literary prostitute, and a disaster of a man. Hemingway won the contest with a convincing knockout. Fitzgerald died prematurely while Hemingway went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize for literature. Fitzgerald finally "threw in the towel" after reading "Snows of Kilimanjaro" in 1936, when Fitzgerald pleaded with Hemingway "Please lay off me in print" after reading the "poor Scott Fitzgerald" passage that Hemingway had included. Having never counter-punched, Fitzgerald died, sadly very close to the character that Hemingway described and despised. 内部资料， 请勿外传～ 9 10 11