English 350: Hemingway in Spain

We haven’t talked all that much in class yet about the Hemingway biography chapters that appear in the syllabus.  I thought that, for today’s blog, since there is no new reading from the fiction itself, you might discuss something from the biography.  Here are some questions you might want to consider:

• What recurring themes in Hemingway’s life do you see discussed so far in Hutchisson’s biography?  What about Hemingway’s life particularly interests (or repels?) you?  How do you see this aspect of his life work its way into his fiction?
• You might want to talk specifically about the parts in Chapter 5 of the biography where Hutchisson draws parallels between Hemingway’s life in Paris and the real-life people he knew there and the characters and settings in The Sun Also Rises.  Lady Duff Twysden, for example, is the model for Brett Ashley; Pat Guthrie is the real-life Mike Campbell; and Robert Cohn is based on Harold Loeb.  You can look at images and read more about these real-life figures on the internet, if you’d like.  Why do you think there’s so much fascination with the real people?  Does knowing about these figures help you understand the novel more deeply or not?  Do you think there’s a danger in reading Hemingway’s fiction too autobiographically?

For today’s blog, comment on the last chapter of The Sun Also Rises.  You can really talk about anything you want here–maybe Jake’s trip to San Sebastian and what happens there; maybe Brett’s decision to leave Pedro Romero and why she makes this choice; how the theme of religion and religious seeking, that we’ve been talking about throughout our discussion of the novel, is carried out at the end; perhaps that famous final line of the novel:  “Isn’t it pretty to think so?”  Speculate about this final chapter, in any case, and what you think Hemingway is doing here.

Here are some questions to consider for class on Monday.  Of course, you also have the option to write about anything else in the readings for the day that interested you.

• Look at the relationship between Jake and Montoya as the novel progresses.  Why does Jake tell Montoya not to give Pedro Romero the message about the American ambassador (p. 176; Ch. 16)?  How and why does the relationship begin to change?  Can you point to specific indications that things between the two men have grown bad?
• Discuss Brett’s relationship with Pedro Romero
• On p. 182 (Ch. 16), Jake describes Cohn as being “ready to do battle for his lady love,”and on p. 203 (Ch. 17), Jake speculates that Cohn believed “true love would conquer all.”   Discuss these passages–what do they show about Cohn and his views of love?  How are they related to what we know of Cohn previously?  How is he different from the other revelers at the fiesta that Jake hangs out with?  Why is he said repeatedly to “behave badly”?
• Consider the fiesta as a sort of liminal space:  a transitional space out of ordinary time and place that occurs in the middle of rituals.  You might look at the following definition of liminality, from Wikipedia, and see if you think it applies to what goes on during the fiesta at Pamplona.

In anthropology liminality (from the Latin word līmen, meaning “a threshold”) is the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of rituals, when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they will hold when the ritual is complete. During a ritual’s liminal stage, participants “stand at the threshold” between their previous way of structuring their identity, time, or community, and a new way, which the ritual establishes.

The concept of liminality was first developed in the early 20th century by anthropologist Arnold von Gennep and later taken up by Victor Turner.  More recently, usage of the term has broadened to describe political and cultural change as well as rituals.  During liminal periods of all kinds, social hierarchies may be reversed or temporarily dissolved, continuity of tradition may become uncertain, and future outcomes once taken for granted may be thrown into doubt.  The dissolution of order during liminality creates a fluid, malleable situation that enables new institutions and customs to become established.

Questions you might want to respond to for today:

• Discuss a scene that has implied (not explicity-stated) sexual connotations.  I’d suggest either the scene in which we see Brett for the very first time, when she appears at the dance-club with a group of young men (Ch. 3, pp. 28-31) or else the scene in which the group attends the bullfight and witnesses the steer get gored, followed by Mike repeatedly using the term “steer” as an insult for Robert Cohn (Ch. 13, pp. 143-146).  What do you think is the implicit sexual content in the scene you chose to talk about?  How does this content relate to larger issues we’ve been discussing in the novel?
• Talk about nature and the natural world in the novel.  You might look at the second epigraph to the novel and the title of the book.  What do they suggest?  You might think about the Hemingway biography and what nature meant to him in real life.  What about the fishing scene at Burguete?  Are Jake and Bill able to have a more authentic relationship in the world of nature?  What about Spain vs. France?  Is one presented as more a part of nature, more natural than the other?
• Discuss allusions to conventional religion and how it’s treated in the book.  You might look at the “Pilgrims” on the train–Catholics who are going to Lourdes, among other places.  You might look at Bill’s mock sermons during the fishing scenes.  What about the fact that Jake himself is a Catholic, though a self-professed “rotten one” (Ch. 10, pp. 102-103; Ch. 12, pp. 128-129)?
• What does it mean to be an “aficionado” (Ch. 13, pp. 136-137)?  Why is this term important to Jake, important in the book in general?  How does Montoya, the hotel owner, seem to respond to Jake’s friends?
• Continue to explore the theme of paying, especially as Jake lays it out on p. 152 (beginning of Ch. 14).

Here are some prompts for Chapters 1-7 of The Sun Also Rises that you may choose to respond to.  Like always, you’re also free to respond to another student’s comment or to anything in the reading for today that interested you.

• Epigraph:  The novel includes as one of its epigraphs the famous quote from Gertrude Stein about a “lost generation.”  But there’s another epigraph as well, from Ecclesiastes in the Bible.  Discuss Hemingway’s choices here.  Does one epigraph “answer” or comment on the other?  What do you think Hemingway is trying to get at with these two epigraphs?
• Talk about Jake’s injury and what you think both the literal and symbolic connotations of this particular injury are.
• What do you think Brett means, on p. 40 (near the end of Ch. 4) when she says that the count is “quite one of us”?  Who is the “us” that Brett is referring to here?  Who do you think she would leave out?  What do you think it means to be “one of us”?
• Many critics have discussed the way Hemingway draws attention to times when Jake pays for things–cab fare, dinners, Georgette, etc.  In the middle of p. 34 (beginning of Ch. 4), Brett asks, “Don’t we pay for all the things we do, though?”  Talk about this attention to paying for things.  Why do you think this may be an important theme in the book?
• Or, maybe just talk about your general reaction to these characters, as you’ve seen them so far.  Do you like them?  Dislike them?  Why?  Do they seem a product of their place and age or could you imagine these people as your own contemporaries?

Here are some prompts for the Hemingway stories I’ve asked you to read for today.  Remember, you’re also welcome to respond to another student’s comment or to anything in the reading that interested you.

Soldier’s Home

• What is the significance of the two pictures mentioned at the very beginning of the story?  Why do you think Hemingway chose to begin with these descriptions?
• Why does Krebs lie about his war experiences?  How is lying significant in the story
• Who do you think is most to blame for Harold Krebs’ feelings of isolation and alienation in “Soldier’s Home”–Krebs himself or his hometown?  Both?  Neither?
• Talk about religion in either or both stories

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place

• Discuss the title of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.”  Why is it so important that the café be clean and well-lit?  What darkness are the characters trying to fend off?
• Describe the two waiters and what they’re each like.  Why does one sympathize with the old man and the other doesn’t?
• Many people read this as a story at least partly about order and disorder. Comment on this view?

Biography

• Discuss anything you read in the first two chapters of the biography that captured your attention

For every day that we have assigned readings or films in the course, students may post a response on our class blog.  I will provide a prompt for each of these days to get you started thinking.  You may respond to the prompt if you like, but you may also respond to other students’ comments, or to anything else that interests you in the reading or film.  Blog posts must be at least 200 words to receive full credit for the day, and they must be posted before class discussion for the day.  Blog posts will not receive letter grades, but you will receive credit for the number of comments you post, with 10 posts equaling 100%.

The class blog counts as 15% of your final course grade.