Hemingway, for whom did the death knell ring?

No one is an island, it is one and the same...

The death of any man has left me with a defect,

Because I am inseparable from human beings;

So don't ask who the death knell is for;

The death knell rings for you.

—John Donn

Today, let's talk about Hemingway.

The poem above is quoted at the beginning of one of Hemingway's masterpieces, For Whom the Death Knell Tolls. There is no doubt that this poem embodies his compassionate humanist concern. But, dear readers, we must not overlook Hemingway's identity as a writer of left-wing literature.

For a long time, public media and public education limited evaluation of Hemingway to social identities such as writers and journalists, and there was little analysis of his political spectrum. To understand Hemingway, one must first know that he is an activist, a practitioner, not a rhetorical imaginary otaku. His works should not only be considered from the literary point of view, but also from the perspective of their political nature.

In For Whom the Death Knell Tolls, Hemingway details the inner monologue of a young warrior during pre-war wartime. Who can imagine that in this work, Hemingway seriously discussed the ways and methods of the Communist Party to carry out organizational life, vividly and bluntly described how the bureaucracy and hill politics within the organization buried the excellent situation of the war struggle in vain, and the comrades-in-arms lost their lives innocently. Hemingway solemnly reminded that in the course of revolutionary practice, rogue proletarians must be respected and resolutely excluded from the ranks. These contents, when you read this work, you need to pay special attention.

It is precisely because of Hemingway's active performance on the left-wing literary front – on paper and in real-life. As a result, he was tracked and monitored by the intelligence department of the United States for a long time, so that he thought that he was mentally hallucinating, and after being tortured by a long period of pain, he finally collapsed and committed suicide by drinking bullets.

Hemingway, it's been half a century since he left this world. In the Caribbean, he still has the figure of him fighting against the wind and waves and dancing with the creatures of the sea.

As a man, he is straight and meticulous;

As a writer, he is condensed and dense;

As a warrior, he was brave and cowardly;

As a husband, he was tyrannical and gentle;

As a friend, he was gracious and indifferent.

Greetings to him the highest tribute among comrades!