ABSTRACT

Being the Nobel Prize winner for literature in 1954, Ernst Hemingway enjoys an unshakable position in the world literature as well as American literature. Among his splendid works since 1920s, death theme had been highlighted over and over again.  Most scholars think it reveals the author’s great concern for men, society and history. Study of the death theme in Hemingway’s will help us go further into a better understanding of his experiences and thoughts. This paper discusses the death theme and argues that Hemingway’s thanatopsis (idea about death) experiences the stages from the philosophical cognition to social criticism. Hemingway holds that death would be the dialectical identity of possibility and fact. The paper points out that it is the fear for death that encourages Hemingway to make probes into the value of life, which brings him a lofty ideal to face the cruel scuffles in life, and gives him a power to criticize the society. Meanwhile, in Hemingway’s writings there are two categories of figures related with death: one is ugly and the other is full of aestheticism.

Keywords: Hemingway; Death Theme; American Literature; thanatopsis; aesthetic connotation

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One INTRODUCTION-1

Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW-3

2.1 Researches on Death in Hemingway’s works-3

2.2 Limitations of current researches and aim of the thesis-4

Chapter Three LIFE AND DEATH AWARENESS OF HEMINGWAY-5

Chapter Four TRACING DEATH THEME OF HEMINGWAY-8

4.1 Philosophical Connotation of Death Theme-8

4.2 Death Theme and Social Criticism-10

Chapter Five AESTHETIC CONNOTATION OF DEATH-14

Chapter Six CONCLUSION-16

WORKS CITED-17