Title
Hemingway, Hopelessness, and Liberalism
Document Type
Book Chapter
Annotation
Relying on Richard Rorty’s theories of art and politics, Curtis argues that Hemingway’s work exhibits a sense of hopelessness about the ability of politics to improve the human condition. Compares Hemingway’s corpus to Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s philosophy of the noble savage, finding that while Rousseau is willing to move beyond the state of nature, Hemingway remains deeply cynical and pessimistic. Examining The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and To Have and Have Not to demonstrate this political pessimism, Curtis concludes that “Liberals can read Hemingway as pointing out the dangers of hopelessness, and learn from his broken characters that hopelessness is something that must be recognized and politically attended to.”
Published in
Date
2010
Pages
50-72
Citation
Frederking, Lauretta Conklin, ed. Hemingway on Politics and Rebellion. New York: Routledge, 2010.