AnAnalysisoftheSocial_省略_gway_swomenchar

　[收稿日期]2005-04-30

　[作者简介]陈素英(1968—

),女,湖南永州人,讲师。主要研究方向:英美文学。An Analysis of the Social Signi f icance of Hemingway ’s women characters

陈素英

(梧州师范高等专科学校　外语系,广西　贺州　542800)

[Abstract]This paper expounds the social significance of Hemingway ’s women characters.Through his colorful characterization ,Hemingway exposes the social contradictions ,the physical and psychic traumas the women had in the war and depicts these women characters ’pursuit of normal life ,true love ,and domestic happiness even in the turbulent and dangerous conditions of the war.

[K ey Words]women characters ;social significance

[中图分类号]I06　[文献标识码]A [文章编号]1008-8377(2005)02-0050Z -04

Ernest Hemingway ,one of the foremost authors of

the era between the two world wars ,occupies a promi 2nent place in the annals of American Literary history by virtue of his revolutionary role in the arena of twentieth century American fiction.In his works Hemingway not only created many unyielding men but also created a lot of wonderful women characters.These women charac 2ters are often put in wartime situations and journeys away from home to avoid the domestic life ,and there is almost never a sentimental happy ending with a mar 2riage in his work ,so that some critics say that they are so ethereal ,their characters just fade away and cease to exist.

Actually ,in reviewing Hemingway ’s works ,it is crucial that we should keep in mind not only their plots but also their cultural and historical value.His novels reveal the society of that time that distorted the souls of some human beings.The Sun Also Rises is a fable of a contemporary wasteland ,which deals with a group of members of the disillusioned post -World War I ,Lost G eneration.World War I undercut traditional notions of morality ,faith ,and justice.No longer able to reply on the traditional beliefs that gave life meaning ,the men and women who experienced the war became psy 2chologically and morally lost ,and they wandered aim 2

lessly in a world that now appeared meaningless.In this novel ,we can meet this group of war cripples whose moral values appeared dy Brett loves Jake ,who has been wounded in war and can ’t answer her needs.Jake and Brett and their odd group of friends have various adventures around Europe ,in Madrid ,Paris and Pampalona.Their lives are empty ,because they no longer believe in anything.In attempt to cope with their despair they turn to inconsequential and es 2capist activities ,such as drinking ,dancing ,debauch 2ery ,violence ,and sex.Brett and her friends ’constant carousing does not make them happy.Very often ,their merrymaking is joyless and driven by alcohol.At best ,it allows them not to think about their inner lives or about the war for the moment.Although they spend nearly all of their time partying in one way or another ,they remain sorrowful or unfulfilled.It was the war that destroyed their life and made the stable prewar val 2ues disappear.Hemingway reflects the social contradic 2tion at that time correctly in his works ,and arouses sympathy of readers.

A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls are the novels about war ,which depict and reveal the inner worlds of the people of the war period.In this novel ,Hemingway shows his deep sympathy for wom 2