THETHE FUNCTIONFUNCTION OFOF NOSTALGIA:: ERNESTERNEST HEMINGWAHEMINGWAYY byby StephenStephen LL.. TannerTanner A thesisthesis submittedsubmitted toto thethe facultyfaculty ofof thethe UniversityUniversity ofof UtahUtah iinn partialpartial fulfillmentfulfillment ofof thethe requirementrequirementss forfor ththee degreedegree ooff MasterMaster ofof ArtArtss DepartmentDepartment ofof EnglisEnglishh UniversityUniversity ofof UtaUtahh AugustAugust 1961964U This Thesis for the Master of Arts Degree by Stephen L. Tanner has been approved (July 1964) Ch rman, Supervisory Committee Reader, Supervisory Co / Head,� Maj or Department TABLETABLE OFOF CONTENTCONTENTSS PagPagee LISTLIST OFOF ABBREVIATIONABBREVIATIONSS •.................... u iivv INTRODUCTIO!~INTRODUCTION .• . ooooooeooo 1 ChapteChapterr I.I. THETHE SHORTSHORT STORIESSTORIES •.................. .1313 IIII.. BULLSBULLS ANANDD BIBIGG GAME.GAME. .................. • 2299 III.III. THETHE SPANISHSPANISH EARTH.EARTH .................. • ^455 IV.IV. DEATHDEATH IINN VENICVENICEE •................... • 5566 V.V. THETHE OLDOLD MAMANN ANANDD THTHEE SEASEA •............... • 6655 VI,VI. THETHE MOVEABLEMOVEABLE FEASTFEAST.. .................. • 7766 SELECTEDL>EIjiljCli!iJJ BIBLXOGRAPHBIBLIOGRAPHYY •O»©OOQO©OQO*OOO<»QOOO • O • O81X iii111 LISTLIST OOFF ABBREVIATEABBREVIATEDD TITLESTITLES BYBY WHICHWHICH ERNESTERNEST HEMINGWAY'SHEMINGWAY'S WORKWORKSS AREARE CITEDCITED ININ REFERENCESREFERENCES ARIT ARIT ·o ·o ·o ·o ·o ·o AcrossAcross thethe RiverRiver andand IntIntoo thethe TreeTreess DADA · · · · · · DeathDeath iinn thethe AfternoonAfternoon FWBTFWBT · · ·0 ·• •« •a ForFor WhomWhom ththee BellBell TollTollss GHAGHA · · · • · · GreenGreen HillHillss ofof AfricAfricaa A Moveable Feast MFMF · · · •o ·o ·o A Moveable Feast The Old Man and the Sea OMSOMS ·e ·o • ·o ·• · Tbe Old Man and the Sea The Short Stories of Ernest HemingwayHemingway SSSS ·o •© ·o ·o ·o ·o Tbe Short Stories of Ernest SARSAR · · ·o ·e ·o ·o TheThe SunSun AlsoAlso RiseRisess ivIV INTRODUCTIOINTRODUCTIONN WrighWrightt MorriMorriss onconcee madmadee ththee statements: "Th"Thee 'subject' subject0' ooff WolfeWolfe,, HemingwayHemingw~,, anandd Faulkner,, howevehoweverr variouvariouss ththee backgroundsbackgrounds., howevehoweverr eoncon-­ trastintrastingg ththee stylesstyles,, pushepushedd ttoo ititss extremityext:r'emi ty., iiss nostalgia."^nostalgia. ,,1- ThThee chapchap­- terterss whicwhichh follofolloww areare,, iinn a sensesense,, aann examinatioexaminationn ooff hohoww valivalidd thithiss statemenstatementt iiss iinn regarregardd ttoo HemingwayHemingw~,, bubutt iinn thethemm I havhavee gongonee beyonbeyondd jusjustt considerationsconsiderations ooff nostalginostalgiaa aass "subject"subject"" ttoo examinexaminee hohoww nostalginostalgiaa funcfunc-­ tiontionss aass a technicatechnicall devicdevicee anandd whawhatt significancsignificancee iitt hahass foforr aann underunder­- standingstanding ooff HemingwaHemingw~y aass artistartist.. IItt shoulshouldd bbee understoounderstoodd thathatt I aamm nonott attemptingattempting ttoo explaiexplainn alalll ofof HemingwaHemingw~y iinn termtermss ofof nostalgianostalgia;; nnoo ononee criticalcritical approacapproachh cacann providprovidee alalll ofof ththee answeranswerss ttoo whwhyy a mamann writewritess fictiofictionn anandd whawhatt thathatt fictiofictionn meansmeans.. MMyy purpospurposee hahass beebeenn ttoo concentratconcentratee oonn aann elemenelementt inin Hemingway'Hemingw~ ' ss writinwritingg whicwhichh I feefeell iiss importanimportantt foforr a thoroughthorough understandinunderstandingg ofof HemingwaHemingw~y andand whichwhich,, asas farfar aass I know,. hahass prepre­- viouslyviously receivereceivedd littllittlee considerationconsideration.. I havehave usedused thethe wordword "nost"nostalgiaalgia"" inin mymy titletitle withwith somesome reservareserva-­ tiontionss becausbecausee thethe meaningmeaning ofof thisthis wordword i s rratheatherr ambiguous.ambiguous. IInn ththee paspastt itit simplysimply meantmeant homesickness,homesickness, bubutt nownow,, acaccordincordingg ttoo WebsterWebster'' ss ThirThirdd InterInter-­ nationalnational Dictionary , itit meanmeanss "a"a wistfuwistfull oror excessivelyexcessively sentimentasenti mentall somesome-­ timestimes abnormalabnormal yearningyearning forfor returreturnn toto oror returreturnn ofof somesome reareall oorr romantiromanti-­ cizedcized periodperiod oror ' irrecoverableirrecoverable conditconditioion oror settingsetting iinn ththee past.past."" BuButt eveevenn thisthis broadbroad definitiondefinition isis notnot completelycompletely satissatisfactoryfactory,, probablprobablyy becausbecausee l"ThelnThe FunctionFunction ofof Nostalgia;: F.F. SScotcottt Fitzgerald" iinn FF.. ScotScottt FitZgerald,Fitzgerald, ed.ed. ArthurArthur MizenerMizener (Englewood(Englewood Cliffs,Cliffs, N.J.:N.J.s Prentice-HalPrentice-Halll Inc.,Inc., 1963)1963) p.p. 2525.. 1 thethe feelingsfeelings toto whichwhich ththee termterm nostalgianostalgia iiss appappliel iedd areare themselvethems e lvess ververyy difficultdifficult ttoo describedescribe becausbecausee ofof thetheii r subtlety andand eevanescencevanescence.. IInn ththee ess~essay quotedquoted above,above, Mr.Mr. MorriMorriss sayss~s ;: TheThe powepowerr andand sourcessources ofof nostalginostalgiaa lielie beyondbeyond ththee scal­ pel.pel. NostalgiNostalgiaa singssings iinn ththee bloodblood,, andand withwith ageage itit ggrowrowss thicker,, andand whenwhen allall otherother thingthingss failfail itit joinjoinss memenn inin a singularsingular brotherbrother­ hoodhOOd.. WhereveWhereverr thetheyy livlivee inin ththee presentpresent,, oror hopehope toto livelive iinn ththee future,future, itit isis inin thethe paspastt thatthat yoyouu willwill trulytruly findfind them.them. IInn ththee pastpast oneone isis safelysafely outout ofof timtimee butbut notnot out ofof mind.2 NostalgiaNostalgia isis notnot associatedassociated withwith anyany partparticulai "cularr eerraa oror ananyy particularparticular civilizationcivilization oror culture.culture. ItIt isis ancientancient andand modern, ruralrural andand urbanurban.. IItt iiss foundfound inin primitivprimitivee societiessocieties asas welwelll asas advanced.advanced. ItIt isis a phenomenonphenomenon fundafunda­- mentalmental ttoo thethe humanhuman creature.creature, BeardslBeardslyy Ruml, inin anan articlearticle entitledentitled "Som"Somee NotesNotes onon NostalgiaNostalgia"" sayss~s:; A recognitionrecognition ofof thethe fundamentalfundamental andand pervasivepervasive influenceinfluence ofof ththee nostalgicnostalgic,, underunder whateverwhatever names , willwill enableenable usus toto iinterprenterprett humanhuman behaviobehaviorr witwithh a neneww realism.realism. ThiThiss re-interpretatiore- interpretationn ooff humanhuman behaviorbehavior wilwilll makmakee itit possiblepossible forfor usus toto rewritrewritee thethe dramdramaa ofof sisinn andand selfself andand sex .• •••. .Th Thee understandinunderstandingg of interpersonalinterpersonal relationshipsrelationships alsoalso requiresrequires anan appreciationappreciation ofof ththee role pl~edplayed bbyy nostalgicnostalgic sentiments.sentiments. WWee needneed ttoo realizrealizee thatthat friendship,friendship, affecaffec­ tion,tion, lovelove,, whetherwhether betweebetweenn personpersonss ofof ththee samesame oror ofof differendifferentt sexes,sexes, havehave anan emotionalemotional basibasi~s thatthat isis aalwaylw~ss i n parpartt andand fre­ quentlyquently dominantlydominantly nostalgicnostalgi c.. AsAs I useuse thethe tertermm "nostalgia"nostalgia,,"" I will be referrinrefer ringg primarilprimar i lyy t o a person'person'ss emotionalemotional responseresponse t o memoriememoriess ofof placeplacess andand eventsevents wwhichichh are , foforr him,, assoassociateciatedd withwith pleasurepleasure oror satisfactios at i s f act ionn ofof sosomme ssortor t , kekeepinepi ngg iinn minmindd thathatt suchsuch emotionalemotional responseresponse isis basic toto ththee hhumaumann psychologypsychology.. ErnesErnestt HemingwaH e mingw~y seemedseemed toto realizrealizee thathatt anan undunderstandinerstandingg ofof tht he nostalgicc ""wilwi lll enablenablee uuss toto interpretinterpret humahumann behaViorbehavior withwith a newnew realirealism, s m, " andand hehe ddii d makemake ususe ooff hishis understandinunderstandingg ofof thethe nostalgnostalgiicc inin hihiss atattempt empt toto "rewrite"rewrite ththee dramdr amaa ofof sinsin andand selfself andand sex.sex."" 2 > c 2lli!!.,Ibid.t p.p. 2626., 3SaturdaySaturday Review , ofof Literature,Literature, JunJunee 22,22, 119^6946,, pp.. 7.7. 3 NoNostalgistalgi a isis oftenoften assoassociateciatedd withwith sentimentalitysentimentality, andand sentimentsentiment seemsseems fforeigorei gnn toto thethe popopulapular imageimage ofof HemingwHemingwaayy andand thethe HeHemingwamingwayy hero. ButBut thethe HemingwHemingwaayy herohero isis nonott,, aass manymany ppeopleoplee havehave tthoughthought,, a tough , insensitinsensitivi vee brubruttee obsessedobsessed byby anan appeappetittitee forfor bblood-sportslood.-spor ts,„ drink, andand women.women. HeHe is,is, onon tthhee ccontraryontrary , ddeepleeplyy senssensitivi tivee andand sufferssuffers prprofoundlofoundl y fromfrom thethe shoshockckss ofof experexperiencei ence.. Hemingway , himself, isis notnot thethe hardhard-- boiledboiled "tough"tough guy"guy" thatthat manymany wouldwould havehave usus bbelieveelieve.. ""InsteadInstead, hehe isis a poetpoet wiwitthh fine awarenessawareness ofof tthhee manifoldmanifold