by Marion Garcia

Created on: October 30, 2009

The early years of Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899. His mother gave birth at eight o'clock in the morning at their home in Oak Park, Illinois. He was the second of six children born to Dr. Clarence and Grace Hall Hemingway. He had one brother and four sisters. He was named Ernest after his maternal grandfather and Miller from his great uncle.

Oak Park was an upper middle class suburb of Chicago. It was primarily a protestant community. Hemingway later referred to Oak Park, As a town of wide lawns and narrow minds. He was taught conservative Midwestern values. Self determination, hard work, physical fitness, and strong religion would guarantee his success in any career he would choose.

The first two years of his life, his mother would dress him as a girl. She would refer to him as Ernestine, and pretend that he was his older sister's twin. His mother would dress them in identical clothes and same hairstyles.

His father would be adamant that Ernest be raised like a man. He would teach him how to behave as a male, taking him hunting, camping, and fishing. Hemingway was most comfortable at their summer home called Windemere on Walloon Lake, in Petoskey, Michigan. Many biographers have described him as Huck Finn, walking barefoot through the woods wearing a straw hat. His love for nature would follow him throughout his life.

His father would also teach him boxing and other sports. Throughout his life, Hemingway seemed to have an obsession with proving his masculinity.

His mother wanted to be an opera singer, but settled down to raise a family. She earned money by giving voice and music lessons. She was overbearing and insisted that Ernest learn to play the cello and sing in the choir. He wasn't thrilled about this, but later admitted it helped him with his writing.

Ernest attended the public school system in Oak Park, Ill. He graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School in 1917. He was involved in sports such as boxing, track, water polo, and football. He excelled in English and was on the debate team. He wrote and edited the Trapeze and Tabula, which was the school newspaper and yearbook. He imitated the language of sports writers. He wrote under the pen name of Ring Lardner Jr. Ring Lardner was his favorite writer at the Chicago Tribune who used the byline Line O Type.

After graduating High School, his uncle procured a job for Ernest as a cub writer at the Kansas City Star. He only worked for the paper for six months, but he used their style of writing throughout his career. Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English. Be positive, not negative.

Although Hemingway did well in school, and seemed to be well adjusted, he ran away from home twice. In 1918, he tried to join the service, but was rejected because of eye trouble. After being rejected from the service, Ernest volunteered to be an ambulance driver for the Red Cross medical service. He was badly wounded at the Italian front lines, but still managed to carry a wounded man quite a distance to an aid station, while under heavy mortar fire. He then joined the Italian infantry and served on the Austrian front and was decorated for bravery from the Italian government.

After the war, Ernest Miller Hemingway would begin his career in journalism and later become An American Nobel Prize Winning Author. He is considered one of the most celebrated and influential literary stylist of the twentieth century.

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