Ernest Hemingway Character Analysis

Abstract: Ernest Hemingway’s protagonists share some specific qualities that define them as ‘code heroes’. The code by which the protagonists live is related to dignity, courage, endurance, self-control, and grace under pressure. The protagonists of Hemingway, in the course of their steady evolution, overcome the harsh realities of life with their code. In the novel, To Have and Have Not, Hemingway presents the protagonist, Harry Morgan’s, struggle for existence during the period of economic Depression in 1930s. He is an exceptional fisherman who owns a boat and occasionally arranges fishing trips for tourists to make some quick money. His elemental power is indicated by his physical strength and endurance. Harry is cheated by a tourist, and

Sing appears unnecessary but this is the only way how the protagonist can overcome his ‘shadow’ archetype. As Harry expresses at the beginning of the novel, if he does not kill Mr. Sing, he will be killed by Mr. Sing on any other day or he has to work as dictated by Mr. Sing. Edmund Wilson (1965) rightly explores the American psyche of the period when he says, “What is most valid in To Have and Have Not is the idea that in an atmosphere (here revolutionary Cuba) in which man has been set against man, in which it is always a question whether your companion is not preparing to cut your throat, the most sturdy and strong and straight forward American will turn suspicious and cruel” (187). It is quite obvious that the behavior of people is conditioned by political and economic upheaval which in turn creates tension in social

Sing gives a new insight into the character of the protagonist. Prior to that incident, Harry reveals that he smuggled liquor but never indulged in killing or violent activities. Unlike the two earlier protagonists of Hemingway, Jake Barnes and Frederic Henry, the protagonist in To Have and Have Not exhibits masculinity in his approach towards life. This new tendency is continued in the subsequent novels of Hemingway, but the masculinity is disciplined in the later novels as the protagonists use it for higher achievements. Further, in To Have and Have Not the ‘shadow’ archetype of the protagonist is in repressed state despite the problems he was facing in the Depression period. But when he is cheated, the insecure ‘shadow’ archetype gives way to violence that normally happens in the case of any normal human being. Marx and Hillix(1963), the two psychologists, working on Jungian theory, explain the reasons for violence as they say, “With regard to violence and the observation there of, the ‘shadow’ archetype is pivotal. This archetype is thought to integrate our prehuman, and hence, premoral impulsions. In other words it is related to our animal instincts”