Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1981

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Coyle, William

Abstract

Biography is an important source of literary history because the life experience of an author is the basis of his work. Immediate family members, having shared in and observed many of these experiences, should be in an advantageous position to write comprehensive biographies of the writer. Intimacy and family ties, however, do not guarantee successful biography. As family members perceive and describe these experienc.es, their subjectivity produces divergent opinions and perspectives. The life experiences of Ernest Hemingway as they were observed, understood, remembered and recorded by immediate members of his family comprise a composite picture of this writer. Hemingway's experiences during his boyhood through adolescence and service in World War I were recorded by his two sisters and his brother. His older sister focuses on her time spent with Ernest in high school and his early writing efforts there as well as on the time they spent together in their parents' Victorian home in Oak Park. Hemingway's younger sister recalls Ernest's sharing with her his love for the out-of-doors and their good times together during the long summer days at Walloon Lake. Ernest's younger brother presents a comprehensive record of Hemingway's life including the nature and direction of his early career as a writer. Contrasts in the three books illustrate the limitations as well as the virtues of biography by a member of the subject's family.

Extent

100 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1981.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FADT14048

Format

pdf

Download

Share

COinS