Hemingway - Top Ten World Literati

Author: Tong Yiqiu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features:
1. The Childhood of a Genius
On July 21, 1899, at No. 439 North Street in Oak Park Town, a new life was welcomed. It was a boy, strong and hearty, with a loud cry, but he had a pair of dimples on his cheeks, a rare feature for a boy. He was the second child in the family, the youngest boy, and his young parents were overjoyed. Many years later, the boy’s mother happily recalled, “At that time, robins were singing joyfully, welcoming this little life into the beautiful world.” He was baptized and named soon after his birth, coinciding with the third anniversary of his parents’ wedding. His parents specially chose this festive day to take him to the church for the baptism and naming ceremony, giving him the maternal name “Ernest” and the paternal name “Hemingway.” This child who came into the world in the summer of the last year of the 19th century would become the world-famous writer Ernest Hemingway of the 20th century!
Oak Park Town later took pride in having produced such a prodigy, but being born in Oak Park was also a great fortune for Hemingway. Most of his time before the age of 18 was spent here, a period in life when one is most pliable. Although he later recalled his life in Oak Park without expressing much happiness, it was mainly due to the strict upbringing and the strong Puritan atmosphere in Oak Park that made Hemingway feel overly constrained. In reality, like most children in Oak Park, Hemingway had a prosperous and happy family, parents who aspired to be successful and were skilled in raising children. What was even rarer was that the town was home to many distinguished teachers and had a state-of-the-art school that matched its reputation as the “capital of the middle class.” Of course, this was not the kind of environment where famous figures typically thrive in their early years, but for a genius like Hemingway with a bullish personality, it might have been a gift from the goddess of fortune, given with the good intentions of correcting his excessive nature.
There is a story about Hemingway’s childhood. When he was in kindergarten, one day after coming home, he ran to his maternal grandfather and solemnly said that on his way home, he had seen a horse running wildly without a bridle. Everyone on the road was avoiding it, but he had charged forward and shouted, and the horse had stopped. Then he led the horse to its owner. This might have been something he had heard or seen, or perhaps it was purely his imagination, but in any case, it was undeniable to the adults. However, his grandfather, who had seen it all, seemed to see something extraordinary in the boy and happily told his young wife, “Honey, listen to me. This child will one day gain fame. If he stays on the right path and remains calm in the face of challenges, he will surely rise to prominence. But if he indulges himself and goes down the wrong path, he will undoubtedly end up in prison.”
When he made up this story, Hemingway was 5 years old and was living with his parents in his widowed maternal grandfather’s house, which was also the Oak Park townhouse where he was born at No. 439 North Street. His grandfather was then bedridden, and after delivering this solemn warning, he passed away within a few months. But Hemingway’s parents never relaxed their efforts to guide their son on the “right path.” This effort began when Hemingway was just learning to talk and continued as long as they were able, though its effectiveness seemed to decrease over time. As residents of the “capital of the middle class,” Hemingway’s parents not only had the “subjective desire” to guide their son on the right path but also the “objective conditions.” This was a kind of luck that not all children, especially those in early 20th-century America, could have. The saying “Since ancient times, the poor have produced many heroes, while the wealthy have rarely given rise to great men” does not apply to Hemingway. He was neither from a poor family nor from a wealthy one. Hemingway’s maternal grandfather, Anson Hemingway, and his paternal grandfather, Ernest Hall, had both participated in the Civil War that had captivated the young Hemingway and later went into business in Chicago. Anson was involved in real estate, while Hall was in the hardware wholesale business. Their business success allowed them to own property in Oak Park and provide their children with a good education.
Hemingway’s father, Clarence Edmund Hemingway, graduated from the Rush Medical College in Chicago with a master’s degree. After practicing medicine in Oak Park for several years, he furthered his education at St. Mary’s Hospital in Minnesota. With this background, he later referred to himself as “Dr. Hemingway.” In letters to his relatives, including the young Hemingway, his signature often did not match the recipient’s name but rather the proud “Dr. Hemingway.” His profession and character earned him a good reputation in Oak Park.
Hemingway’s mother, Grace Hall, had a great talent for the arts. In her youth, she dreamed of becoming an opera singer, but a serious illness damaged her eyes, though it did not affect her appearance, it made her sensitive to bright light, preventing her from performing on stage. She had to give up her dream of becoming an opera singer and stayed home after graduating from high school to care for her sick mother. However, she remained devoted to music, art, and the refinement of high society throughout her life. Most of her time was spent balancing her ambitions as a working woman with her role as a homemaker.
Edmund and Grace met while attending high school in Oak Park and married in October 1896. At the time, Edmund was a strong and virile man, standing six feet tall with broad shoulders, great strength, and an outgoing personality, with a thick, dark beard. Although he was a doctor and proudly called himself “Dr. Hemingway,” he was also passionate about fishing and hunting, skilled at shooting birds in the air, and known as a “sharpshooter.” Grace, on the other hand, had the qualities of an ideal opera singer: sky-blue eyes, light brown hair, fair skin like British women, and a graceful, imposing presence. She was also deeply religious and a devout Christian. They were an outstanding young couple in Oak Park.
They had their first daughter, Martha, the following year after their marriage, then their son, Hemingway, two years later, followed by three daughters, Ursula, Madeline, and Carol. The last was their son, Lesley Clarence, who was 16 years younger than Hemingway. This was the little brother Hemingway had longed for since he was three years old, until he completely gave up hope for his arrival.
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