Depiction of Blacks in the Works of Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954, is one of America\u27s outstanding literary figures. Criticism of his work has been voluminous--ranging from bitterly derogative to superlative--with most of it focusing upon the famous \u27Hemingway code hero,\u27 upon his crisp, concise writing style, and upon his much-publicized personal life. One example of negative assessment by critics is the one concerning black portraiture in Hemingway\u27s fiction. However, no work deals exclusively with this aspect of his writing. The purpose of this thesis is, first, to present a general discussion on the nature of prejudice and examination of black stereotypes--their functions, categories, and effects. With this framework, we can turn to a detailed examination of the black characters in Hemingway\u27s fiction, to determine which characters are stereotypic, as indeed some are, and which ones receive individualized treatment. The significance of this study, then, is to offer insight into an, as yet, unexplored area in the works of Ernest Hemingway