Hemingway Masculinity

A strong sense of masculinity is an important ingredient that factors into a man's confidence. To many, masculinity is seen as an attractive quality. When one’s masculinity is challenged, one can react in a multitude of ways. Hemingway demonstrates his own feelings of masculinity through the character of Frederic Henry. In A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway uses varying sentence structure, diction, and stream-of-consciousness narration to project Frederic Henry’s insecurities concerning his masculinity. Ernest Hemingway uses varying sentence structure to show Frederic Henry’s insecurities and emotions relating to his masculinity. When Henry is in a situation where many emotions are being felt or his masculinity is being challenged,

In general, Henry uses more sophisticated words or words with more meaning behind them when he is speaking of something that he is passionate about. In the beginning of the novel, Henry is describing the setting. He goes into detail to give a mental image of men that “marched as though they were six months gone with child” (Hemingway 4) as a result of carrying cartridges under their capes. This description is seen as “an aggressive masculinist metaphor that wrongly appropriates feminine imagery” (Vernon). Despite the disrespect, Henry uses the metaphor to hide his insecurities. However, the disrespect vanishes when Henry meets and falls in love with Catherine. He feels comfortable with Catherine and lets his guard down with her. He does not see the importance of masculinity when he is with her. When he saw her, he “was in love with her” (Hemingway 91). He tells her that if she isn’t “with [him], [he] haven’t a thing in the world” (Hemingway 257). While the language is not at the highest level, Henry means what he says. His words are not the most masculine, yet, there is a great amount of emotion and meaning behind what he says. Henry’s outlook on his life with Catherine has “a tenderness and reverence fitting to thoughts of love and the new life they are creating” (Bloom, “Introduction” 50). Hemingway grows to love

Henry’s masculinity is threatened by Catherine during their first encounter when she “slapped [his] face hard” (Hemingway 26). Henry is seen trying “to use his military status to define himself” (Hewson). However, this does not fare well with Catherine. According to Hewson, “the smack Catherine administers might suggest, then, that she is aware and uncomfortable with the cultural manipulation of the feminine” (Hewson). In addition, the slap “has the dual effect of silencing [Catherine] and forcing [Henry] to repress [his] femininity” (Hewson). However, once Catherine begins to make it clear to Henry that “she sees value only in the meanings that one makes for oneself” (Bloom, “Introduction” 42), Henry begins to loosen up and becomes more comfortable with his masculinity around her. The lack of sophistication is seen in Henry’s diction when he tells his doctor that he “couldn’t stay in bed six months” and that he “can’t wait six months” (Hemingway 98). This doctor is being somewhat motherly and acting in a more feminine manner towards Henry as shown in the description of his ‘delicate’ fingers and worry for his well being. Henry uses the language of a toddler in response to demand his wants to the doctor, much like a child would to his mother. In reality, Henry’s masculinity is challenged by not being able to return to the front as quickly as he