Why I no longer read Ernest Heminway. -James Hester

     When I was younger and far more romantic I loved Ernest Hemingway. As my fourth novel (For Whom the Bell Tolls) was edging towards the ending I put the book down and walked away. After that I read The Green Hills of Africa, some short stories. What at first had me transfixed by noble but doomed protagonists turned into over the top compositions of machismo ideology.

     Several things bug me about Hemingway. First every story makes you want to crawl in a bottle and die. If you are a recovering alcoholic DO NOT read To Have and Have Not for you will surly relapse. I'm not about happy endings. I don't really believe anything in life ends happily. Even with my pessimistic fatalism I think it's too much. To Hemingway's credit it is his command of the English language that allows him to sink you into a spiraling depression. Next thing that really grinds my gears is how women are portrayed in one of two ways: needing to be saved (by a man) or a real biz-iz-nich. I guess Anselmo could be the exception but she gives a girl to the main character for sex after she knew him for a day. How messed up is that? The last thing that really ruins his works is how the protagonist never breaks his composure or shows any emotional vulnerability. What kind of man doesn't cry when his women and baby are dead on a hospital table? (Sorry if I ruined A Farewell to Arms for anyone) I don't think that's a real man at all. It's over compensation if you ask me. Low self esteem is probably why Hemingway spent his entire life trying to build a mystique around himself that was merely a facade only to eat his father's shotgun in Montana. 

     So there you have all the bad thing I got to say about old Ernie. So I don't seem like a complete "hater" I will end by saying that Hemingway was an extremely talented writer that could draw you into a character like no other author I've ever read. His book are classics and I am not advocating that a person not read them (unless of course they are trying to stay off the sauce). Besides these are just my opinions and no more valid than the next man's. What I would like anyone reading this to do is take Hemingway with a grain of salt.

Upton Sinclair

In chapter 9 of Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle,” Sinclair explains not only the horrors and disgusting things that were happening in the Chicago meat packing plants at the time, but also the terrible working conditions for the workers of the meat packing plant itself. Sinclair goes into extreme detail of the disgusting and dangerous working conditions, diseased beef and pork being sold to the public, and even the chance of having human meat in their products in this chapter. This book brought to light these terrible working conditions for the workers and the disgusting and diseased meat that was being used. Sinclair also showed how corrupt the political system was at that time in American history. Their was the Ward Boss Mike Scully who helped Jurgis get his citizenship and the right to vote, but only so that Scully could fix the election to who he wanted to win. These “Ward Bosses,” also called Political Bosses at the time would provide food, jobs, legal aid, etc., in exchange for their vote in political elections. These ward bosses established the pattern for many American cities in voting, elections, employment, etc. in this time period. Many of them were very corrupt and ruthless like Mike Scully, and also established the pattern for many vices in American cities such as prostitution, gangs, violence, etc. at this time. 

Johnson & Dunbar

After reading from both James W. Johnson and Paul L. Dunbar I have noticed that Johnson is more of a formal writer than Dunbar has more normal style of writing. Both Dunbar and Johnson seem to include God in their work, but Dunbar had a different perspective and wrote as a prior slave and Johnson was very descriptive so to say. I read "The Creation" by Johnson and "We Wear The Mask" by Dunbar and honestly I'm not a fan of either of these two. If I had to choose a specific poem I enjoyed more I would say The Creation because I understood it more and knew what he was talking about. Overall they are both great writers but I find Dunbar's work far too difficult to read at some points and I like to read fluidly without having to question what I am reading.

Upton Sinclair

Upton Sienclair was an American author, and surprisingly enough was at one time in the candidacy for california governor. He has written hundreds of books, but his most notable book was "The Jungle" and in this book, he exposed all the conditions of U.S. meat packing companies. He vividly describes the work environment and how it is packaged, and it could probably make you want to switch to a vegetarian after reading it. I was disgusted with how poorly they treated everything back then, from the sick employees to the rotting meat. After the book was released the public was pretty sickened to see what they have been eating so it because a federal matter and they created a Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act. It seems as though Uptons writing had a lot more of an effect on the world than most writers can say they have had, but even in his other books, he is a very talented writer and is good at keeping your attention and putting an image in your head.

Upton Sinclair

Sinclair was good at analysing and interpreting social and economic situations. He would share his political views with his readers through his writing. For his insight on the meat packing industry in the Jungle, he personally infiltrated the world of meat to fully understand the treatment of meat packers. In the story, the main character and his wife must undergo the hardships and mistreatment that come with working in a world of exploitative employers.
Not only did they endure trials of inhumane treatment in the work place, but they were also in constant strain with the hard life that came with living in the immigrant meat packing district of Chicago. When faced with pregnancy, the couple had to hustle even harder than they had ever imagined. The couple was constantly loosing employment and realized the impossibility of finding new jobs. The main character eventually loses his wife to child birth, experiences agony to the bounds of which he is driven to alcoholism, disconnects from his family, and finally delves into a life of thievery and begging.
The author exposed the realities of poor sanitary conditions and low wages in the meat packing industry during his time. His intention for such straight forward realism and shocking reality was to help sway the American public to generate new standards for improving the treatment of workers and the conditions of their work places.

Upton Sinclair

Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle is a very interesting novel. I read this book in my dual credit history class my sophomore year and I remember being very shocked by the information in it. Chapter 9 tells us about the horrible conditions of the meat-packing industry in the 1900’s. It talks about the diseased cattle, which is where the meat comes from and the deception of the people who thought the meat was healthy because there was so called inspectors in the factories. Sinclair also talks about the horrible conditions the workers are faced with and how men could fall into the traps where the scraps go and become part of the canned food and no one would even know which is disgusting! This chapter also talks about the unfair voting regulations back then and how people wanted to win so bad they would buy votes from people. Overall, I think this is an interesting book that everyone should read. It is very eye-opening and it makes you grateful (or hopeful) that we don’t have to deal with conditions like these in today’s industries. 

Chapter IX from The Jungle

Upton Sinclair

This guy (Upton Sinclair) wrote The Jungle. It was a book that exposed the meat packing plants, which turned out to be a pretty disgusting place. The whole chapter didn't only talk about the meat packing plant, but that's the part that freaked me out the most. He uses really good imagery and I kinda wish he hadn't ha. It was really good writing though; I couldn't believe how disgusting everything was. Everything was so dangerous from the diseased meat to the diseased workers. The worst thing is if anyone fell into these vats full of chemicals, they'd end up dying and their bodies would be mixed with the product and sent out to the world as "Durham's Pure Leaf Lard" I can't believe how bad things were back then. Even the inspectors were paid off to pass the plant for inspection. I think Upton Sinclair did good by exposing the harsh conditions of meat packing plants. They were really dangerous and disgusting.