Ernest Hemingway is revered by some as one of the best writers in American history. He
had his share of problems and successes and made a deep impact in our literature. Hemingway
was an important literary figure and writer, whose childhood experiences and significant events in
his adult years are reflected in his works in a variety of ways.
Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899. He grew up near Chicago, in Oak Park,
Illinois, in a well off, middle-class family. He had four siblings named Marcelline, Ursula,
Madelaine, and Leicester. The young Ernest was energetic, lively, imaginative, and happy. He
had a problem, earlier on, with lying (Richards 16). While he was still young, his father
introduced him to the world of nature. They would go fishing together, which was an activity
that Ernest would enjoy for the rest of his life. He soon became an extremely good fisherman,
and the family photo album was filled with many of his fishing pictures (19). Some of his most
memorable times of his youth were spent in the family's summer cottage at Walloon Lake,
Mrs. Hemingway insisted that each of her children play an instrument. Ernest was to learn
the cello, which he was never good at and did not like (Richards 19). During the time when he
was supposed to be practicing his cello and his mother was not around, he would invite friends
over and have boxing matches. Later, he took boxing lessons (23).
Ernest eventually turned into more of an outdoor person. During the summers at Walloon
Lake, he loved to shoot clay pigeons with his father. Like fishing, he became very good at this
sport. His grandfather gave him a twenty-gauge shotgun on his tenth birthday. This gift became
his most prized possession (Richards 19). When he was fifteen, Ernest ran away from home.
This did not last very long though, and he came back to graduate from Oak Park High School in
1917. Around...