On The Influence Of John Donne On Hemingway's Literary Creation

Ernest·Hemingway is one of the most important American novelists who is famous after war and rich of legendary during his life. He depends on his distinctive feature of language, unique writing style, and outstanding literary thoughts, which affects the American from generation to generation, and at the same time, he creates a new beginning of American literature, and raises it into a higher level in the world literature.Because the themes of Hemingway's works are mainly about the war, he is also known as the famous writer on the theme of war. One of his famous works is The Sun Also Rises (1927). In the novel, he posed the most famous phrase---"Lost Generation", which summarized accurately the unstable American society and the situation of American. Later, he published A Farewell to Arms (1929) and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940). The appearance of the two novels made the world literature shake and at the same time, Hemingway was also considered as"literary unyielding man"in the world literature.However, when we appreciate carefully and study the works of this literary giant, we can not ignore that the influence of metaphysical thought, just like the seeds which has grown quickly in the spring. Metaphysics refers to a group of poets of 17th who are leaded by John Donne. They are good at using the way of"Conceit"to describe the images of the poems and express all kinds of emotion. As the representative of Metaphysics, John Donne usually chooses the topics around depression, sentiment and death, which are accepted by the American members of"Lost Generation". Therefore, it was also inevitable that the metaphysical thought enlightened Hemingway's literature inspiration, who was educated by the strict religion, when he was a child. Each word or line in John Donne's Devotion upon Emergent Occasions inspires the response of Hemingway. The influence is so powerful that Hemingway quotes the original sentences from Devotion upon Emergent Occasions, and adds his own idea to change them as the title of his famous work For Whom the Bell Tolls. Moreover, among all the works of Hemingway, we would feel that his mental change from loss, the painful struggle, to wake up from the loss, and his highlight theme of death, all of which are influenced by John Donne.The thesis will be divided into three parts, which are Introduction, Main body, and Conclusion.First part is Introduction. In this part, it mainly introduce the whole life of Hemingway, his famous works, the introduction of John Donne, and the current literary researching circumstance of foreign and nation scholars.Second part is the main body. In this aspect, there are three chapters.ChapterⅠmainly researches the influence of Metaphysical idea on Hemingway. In the Chapter, First of all, it is to explore the influence of John Donne to Hemingway on their writing style. From the Conceit to Iceberg, both literary terms have the same effect from their surface to their essences. Then, it is to analyze the aspect of writing language. In the surface, they seem to have distinctive differences of their living societies and writing style, but their effect of expression and usage of language have a lot of similarities. From the above points, we can find that Hemingway is deeply influenced by John Donne. As the dean of St. Paul, John Donne has the tight connection with religion, from his contents of works to the writing style. Due to Hemingway's living environment which is full of religious atmosphere, his changeable marriage, so the influence of religion on him has constantly transformed and at the same time his life value and literary creation are continuously influenced. It is possible that Hemingway can accept the thought of John Donne.ChapterⅡwill introduce the famous work of John Donne, Devotion upon Emergent Occasions, and the influence of the work on Hemingway's writing creation and his values. As we all know, the most direct influence of John Donne on Hemingway is Devotion upon Emergent Occasions. In this thesis, the influence of Hemingway's life and his novel For Whom the Bell Tolls will be analyzed detailed, which all associated with John Donne's Devotion upon Emergent Occasions. There are three parts in the chapter. First, it analyzes the reason which Hemingway accepts the idea of John Donne, the background of Hemingway's society, and Hemingway's view of value and life which exists before Hemingway accepts the idea of John Donne. Second, it will deeply explore the social background of John Donne and the content of Devotion upon Emergent Occasions. Last, it will make a detail research on the orientation of Hemingway's values, which are expressed in the works of Hemingway on the basic of realizing the content of Devotion upon Emergent Occasions. ChapterⅢwill make a further study on Donne's influence on Hemingway's themes. Among the works of Donne, the most distinctive feature among the works of John Donne is that he ponders over death deeply, which also influences Hemingway. Therefore, Hemingway considers the feature as his highlight theme in his three famous works. This aspect will be divided into four parts: Death is the shadow of value, Death is the proof of love, Death is the mirror of value, and Death is the rescue of soul to explore how Hemingway thinks over death with the inspiration of John Donne to show the sense of living and the truth of life.Last part is conclusion. The part will mainly summarize the works and living background of the two giants, and explore the essence of the writing style of the poet of the 17th century which passes down in the works of 20th century novelist---Hemingway, who brings the essence to a great height of development, and make it become the most invaluable treasure for many scholars to study and research. Through the analysis of the theme of death, we not only cherish the life, antiwar, and realization of the meaning of life, but also we should master the literary style of the two giants, and constantly improve ourselves and make great progresses on the road of exploration of literature.