Ernest Hemingway was a Modernist author. It is often considered that he was one of the first to portray women characters in a more accurate light than they had ever been previously.
There is the theory of the Hemingway Code. This theory states that Hemingway’s work, as a general rule, involves a character who is courageous, stoic, shows honor in an unpredictable world, and has grace under pressure. This character is referred to by scholars as the Hemingway Code Hero. The “Hero” follows the code in order to teach others the virtues that they possess.
One of Hemingway’s “Hero” characters is Robert Wilson, safari trophy hunting guide, in The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. He is faced with a man, Francis, who hires him to aid in his quest to kill a lion and buffalo. Francis proves to be a coward at the start of the story, but Wilson teaches Macomber courage and honor.
Hemingway Code Heroes can be seen in his female characters, such as Catherine in A Farewell to Arms and Brett in The Sun Also Rises. The title is not exclusive to Hemingway’s male characters.
Hemingway’s portrayals of female characters, aside from those fulfilling the role of “Code Heroes”, are equally representative of his own emotions. The females are people just as the males in his work. They are not “fallen women” who must learn a lesson for “behaving badly” nor are they portraits of what a woman “should be”.
“The moral compasses in his stories are almost always female; if they waiver, look to the males for what’s causing it.”1 Female characters, such as Helen in The Snows of Kilimanjaro, are usually reactive to a male counterpart’s moral failings.
1 Justice, Hilary K. “Hemingway, Women and Gender”. 2024, http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/hemingway/women-and-gender.
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