A Study of the Loss of Masculinity in Hemingway’s Novels on Worldwide War I

【Abstract】Hemingway has two novels about the First World War， namely， The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms. For a long time， critics have noted that Hemingway’s heroes are characterized by their masculinities. However， the male characters’ memories of body trauma in the war have psychologically or biologically castrated them and deprived them of masculinity. This essay， through close text analysis， investigates Hemingway heroes’ loss of masculinity from the following two perspectives： the loss of social power and the male-gaze of the male’s body. This essay concluded that， the “code hero” in Hemingway’s novels on Worldwide War I， particularly in The Sun Also Rises （SAR） and A Farewell to Arms （AFTA） is only masculine on the surface.

【Key words】Hemingway； masculinity； social power； male-gaze

Like those expatriate writers such as John Peale Bishop， John Dos Passos， and Dashiell Hammett， Hemingway also participated in the First Worldwide War and served as an ambulance driver. In Italy， Hemingway was wounded by an Austrian mortar， and he witnessed people who were killed or injured. These experiences greatly influenced Hemingway’s convictions of masculine invincibility and authority. Hemingway observes， “There are no heroes in this war […] All the heroes are dead.”（Baker 52） This statement directly shows Hemingway’s doubt of traditional values on masculine heroes. Actually， people after the war developed an awareness of the loss of the conviction of “masculine invincibility and authority”， and the so-called masculine ethos of the Hemingway hero’s “grace under great pressure”， according to Wendy Martin in her essay entitled “Brett Ashley as New Women in The Sun Also Rises”， is “a startling echo of the Victorian adage to suffer and be still”， which was used to describe women who felt helpless to meet the demands of their sacrificial role （Martin 66）. Thus， the “code hero” in Hemingway’s novels on Worldwide War I， particularly in The Sun Also Rises （SAR） and A Farewell to Arms （AFTA） is only masculine on the surface. The male characters’ memories of body trauma in the war have psychologically or biologically castrated them and deprived them of masculinity. This is clearly demonstrated in the following two aspects： the loss of social power and the male-gaze of the male’s body.

Social power is defined as “a kind of influence that exists between two or more people and which may enable one person， with or without intention， to exercise some degree of control or influence over the actions or ideas of others.”1 It is considered as a typical mark of masculinity as mentioned in the previous section.

In The Sun Also Rises， memories of being wounded deprive the protagonist Jake of not only the ability to influence others， but also the capacity to control his own actions and ideas. In a stream-of-consciousness， he narrates， “I lay awake thinking and my mind jumping around. Then I couldn’t keep away from it， and I started to think about Brett and all the rest of it went away […] Then， after a while it was better and I lay in bed and listened to the heavy trams go by and way down the street， and then I went to sleep.” （SAR 31 italics mine） In this extract， repeated three times， these “it” represent different aspects of Jake’s disempowerment. According to Tod Onderdonk （2006）， the first “it”， keeping Jake’s mind jumping， would seem to be the war wound that strips him of his penis and feminizes him； the second “it” represents the current pain Jake suffers： He has a vision of Brett， but can not realize it； the third “it” represents his lonely condition of disempowerment. We can see that because of the deprivation of penis， Jake lost of the control of his love， emotion and life.

Next， he is powerless over his love. He loves Brett Ashley， but can only witness her having affairs with other men. He begs Brett： “Couldn’t we live together？ Couldn’t we just live together？”（SAR 38） From Jake’s words， we can see his eagerness to be with Brett. However， she refuses him： “It wouldn’t be any good […] I couldn’t live quietly in the country. Not with my true love.”（SAR 40） Thus every time they leave one another， he can only impotently observe Brett’s parting and do nothing. When Brett flirts with Count Mippipolous， Jake only lies face down on the bed in the next room and listens to their talking painfully （SAR 54）.

Jake also behaves impotently when his values are mocked by Brett. Early in the novel， Brett drunkenly comes to the club with a group of apparently gay men （SAR 20）. Jake， though he doesn’t believe in any religion， is influenced by puritan values and attaches great importance to order. In one of Hemingway’s drafts， we learn about Jake’s religious background：

I was quite young and my parents were going through a period of great religious fervor that there were several things my mother said she would rather see me in my grave than do. They were quite unimportant things such as smoking cigarettes， gambling. （Quoted from Nagel 101）

According to Nagel， the “great religious fervor” refers to Jake’s mother’s cruel Puritanism， which is viewed as even more important to her than Jake’s life （Nagel， 102）. These puritan values emphasize the maintaining of order， including gender order. Thus， Jake’s Puritan values are challenged when Brett flirts with gay men. Brett’s behavior with these gay men， as many critics noted， is associated with sexual anarchy or sexual disorder. Todd Onderdonk notes that， “Jake can take it like a man when some other feminized man sleeps with his beloved， but that suffering， and the dignity with which it is invested， is mocked when Brett is with these Particular men.” （2006） Although Jake felt very angry， he is powerless to do anything. The only thing he can do is to reflect： “I was very angry. Somehow they always make me angry. I know they are supposed to be amusing， and you should be tolerant， but I want to swing on one， any one， anything to shatter that superior， simpering composure.”（SAR 20） Later， he chooses to avoid such a scene by going to the next Bal and using alcohol as spiritual anesthesia.

Jake and Brett have talked about the proper behavior of the powerless men. Jake notes that although Cohn， the another main character in this novel who used to have an affair with Brett， has no capability of continuing his relationship with Brett， he still refuses to abandon his romantic desires toward Brett， which Jake defines as “behaving badly.” Brett agrees， “Damned badly. He had a chance to behave so well.”（SAR 181） Onderdonk remarks that this dialogue shows that Jake and Cohn resign themselves to female sexual agency and thus to the modern powerlessness （2006）. In this remark， there is a hint that they choose to be powerless over the female voluntarily for it is Jake who treat Cohn’s behavior of trying to court Brett as “behaving badly”.

In A Farewell to Arms， male characters also lose their social power because of the wounds they suffer. According to Herndl， he had lost the power of discourse， the power to express himself. For example， after his wounding， Henry only says “Good Christ” and that it “hurt badly” when asked how he feels （AFTA 59-60）. Just as Herndl notes， “one would become a subject of medicine and is spoken of or for， but one does not speak one’s own illness narrative” （Herndl 2001）. Henry is unable to tell the pain he feels， instead， most of his narration is occupied by the narrative of medicine.

Another evidence of the male’s loss of masculinity in Hemingway’s novels on Worldwide War I is the male-gaze of the male’s body. In Hemingway’s novels， just as Moddelmog notes， the body which attracts a good intensity of male gaze is usually regarded as the female’s （188）. For example， in The Sun Also Rises， Brett attracts the attention of nearly all the male characters in the novel and is described by them as “damn good looking”， wearing “a slipover jersey sweater and a tweed skirt”； in A Farewell to Arms， Catherine is described by the male characters as a woman with “wonderful beautiful hair”， “a lovely face and body” and “l(fā)ovely smooth skin”， etc. Thus， “those male bodies gazed and described alike by other males will be put in the position traditionally occupied by the female， the feminized， and/or the homosexual” （Moddelmog， 189）. Plenty of male bodies of this type can be spotted in the two novels.

A prominent example in A Farewell to Arms is Frederic Henry’s constant gazing at Rinaldi. In chapter one， when Henry takes off his tunic and shirt and washes them in the cold water in the basin， he takes a long look at him： “While I rubbed myself with a towel I looked around the room and out the window and at Rinaldi lying with his eyes closed on the bed. He was good-looking， was my age， and he came from Amalfi […] While I was looking at him he opened his eyes.” （AFTA 6） Henry is naked in order to bathe， and is gazing at a “good-looking” man on the bed. This implies that Jake， naked， has been looking at Rinaldi for a long time， and has paid special attention to his appearance， age， and location. Both “being naked” and “on the bed” have sexual implications. Henry has a similar appreciation of Rinaldi on page nine： “I was very dusty and dirty and went up to my room to wash. Rinaldi was sitting on the bed with a copy of Hugo’s English grammar. He was dressed， wore his black boots， and his hair shone.” （AFTA 9）

In The Sun Also Rises， Jake constantly gazes at the men who appear at the bar：

A crowd of young men， some in jerseys. And some in their shirtsleeves， got out. I could see their hands had newly washed wavy hair in the light from the door […] As they went in， under the light I saw white hands， wavy hair， white faces， grimacing， gesturing， talking （SAR 20）.

Jake’s descriptions of the men’s “newly washed， wavy hair”， “white hand”， “white faces” are evidences that they are homosexuals or feminized men. As a matter of fact， most critics unanimously regard them as homosexuals （Waldhorn， 76）. Later in the novels， Jake frequently gazes at the bodies of Pedro Romero， the bull fighter. The first time Jake saw Romero， he narrates that： “The boy stood very straight and unsmiling in his bull-fighting clothes. His Jacket hung over the back of chair […] he was the best-looking boy I have ever seen.” （SAR 163） Furthermore， he repeatedly remarks on Romero as being “the best-looking boy” in the following parts of the novel. In fact， he appreciates Romero’s body throughout the bullfight in San Fermin fiesta. To some extent， Jake was not watching the bullfight at all， but instead watching Romero’s beautiful body. In contrast to the deliberately praise of Romero’s body， Jake denigrates the body of another bullfighter， Belmonte. Phrases employed by Jake to describe Belmonte’s body are such as “his face wan and yellow”， “his long wolf jaw out” and “wolf smile only with the mouth” （SAR， 212-214）. This direct preference to the young boy’s body， just as Debra A. Moddelmog notes in his essay “The Disabled Able Body and White Heteromasculinity”， will not only feminize Romero but produce homosexual implications.” （Moddelmog 186） Therefore， those male gazed by other male characters are deprived of masculinity or masculine identities.

Notes：

See < http：//www.powerinsociety.com/what-is-social-power.html >.

【References】

[1]Baker， Sheridan. Ernest Hemingway： An Introduction and Interpretation. New York： Holt， Rinehart Winston， 1967.

[2]Hemingway， Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. New York： Charles Scribner’s Sons， 1957.——. The Sun Also Rises. New York： Charles Scribner’s Sons， 1954.

[3]Herndl， Diane P. “Invalid masculinity： silence， hospitals， and anesthesia in A Farewell to Arms”. The Hemingway Review， 2001（1）：75-94.

[4]Martin， Wendy. “Brett Ashley as New Women in The Sun Also Rises.” New Essays on The Sun Also Rises. Ed. Linda Wagner-Martin. Beijing： Peking University Press， 2007： 65-82.

[5]Moddelmog， Debra A. “The Disabled Able Body and White Heteromasculinity.” Ernest Hemingway. Ed. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia： Chelsea House Publishers， 2005：178-195.

[6]Nagel， James. “Brett and the Other Women in The Sun Also Rises.” The Cambridge Companion to Ernest Hemingway. Ed. Scott Donaldson. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press， 2000： 87-108.

[7]Onderdonk， Todd. “Bitched： Feminization， identity， and the Hemingwayesque in The Sun Also Rises.” Twentieth Century Literature. 2006（1）： 59-73.

[8]Waldhorn， Arthur. A Reader’s Guide to Ernest Hemingway. New York： Farrar， Straus Giroux， 1972.