Alcohol in Ernest Hemingway?s Short Stories
An Analysis of the Presence of Alcohol in Ernest Hemingway?s Short Stories
Alcohol and Desperation: An Analysis of the Presence of Alcohol in Ernest Hemingway?s Short Stories
Throughout the short stories of Ernest Hemingway, alcohol inevitably lends its company to situations in which desperation already resides. In an examination of his earlier works, such as In Our Time, a comparison to later collections reveals the constant presence of alcohol where hopelessness prevails. The nature of the hopelessness, the desperation, changes from his earlier works to his later pieces, but its source remains the same: potential, or promise of the future causes a great deal of trepidation and lament throughout Hemingway?s pieces. Whether the desperation comes from trepidation or lament depends on the view point from which it is observed, or rather, experienced.
In many of the works written early in his career, Hemingway?s characters experience a fear of the future. The fear does not necessarily stem from commonly expected sources, such as ?the unknown,? but rather, it seems to grow from a fear of failure, a fear of being unable to fulfill potential. A number of stories and vignettes from In Our Time reflect these trepidations, and throughout, the presence of
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