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Race and Identity in Hemingway’s Fiction American Literature Readings in the 21st Century Series Editor: Linda Wagner-Martin American Literature Readings in the 21st Century publishes works by contemporary critics that help shape critical opinion regarding literature of the nineteenth and twentieth century in the United States. Published by Palgrave Macmillan: Freak Shows in Modern American Imagination: Constructing the Damaged Body from Willa Cather to Truman Capote By Thomas Fahy Arab American Literary Fictions, Cultures, and Politics By Steven Salaita Women & Race in Contemporary U.S. Writing: From Faulkner to Morrison By Kelly Lynch Reames American Political Poetry in the 21st Century By Michael Dowdy Science and Technology in the Age of Hawthorne, Melville, Twain, and James: Thinking and Writing Electricity By Sam Halliday F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Racial Angles and the Business of Literary Greatness By Michael Nowlin Sex, Race, and Family in Contemporary American Short Stories By Melissa Bostrom Democracy in Contemporary U.S. Women’s Poetry By Nicky Marsh James Merrill and W.H. Auden: Homosexuality and Poetic Influence By Piotr K. Gwiazda Contemporary U.S. Latino/a Literary Criticism Edited by Lyn Di Iorio Sandín and Richard Perez The Hero in Contemporary American Fiction: The Works of Saul Bellow and Don DeLillo By Stephanie S. Halldorson Race and Identity in Hemingway’s Fiction By Amy L. Strong Race and Identity in Hemingway’s Fiction Amy L. Strong RACE AND IDENTITY IN HEMINGWAY’S FICTION Copyright © Amy L. Strong, 2008. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2008 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN-13: 978–1–4039–7205–7 ISBN-10: 1–4039–7205–2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: April 2008 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America. Table of Content s Preface vii Acknowledgments xv 1 Joining the Tribe 2 The Violence of Race in “Indian Camp,” “The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife,” and “Ten Indians” 15 Black Eyes and Peroxide in “The Battler” and “The Light of the World” 45 Light, Snow, and Whiteness in “The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber” and “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” 59 5 Darkness in The Garden of Eden 83 6 African Brotherhood in Under Kilimanjaro 3 4 1 119 Conclusion: Teaching Hemingway and Race 141 Notes 145 Bibliography 159 Index 169 This page intentionally left blank Preface Thirty years ago the field of Hemingway studies had reached its twilight years. The preeminent Hemingway scholar, Paul Smith, confessed that by the 1970s “there was nothing more to be said about Hemingway’s fiction: The patterns were clear; motifs, categorized. We had an authorized biography and what seemed to be stable texts” (1). Just as his reputation in the American literary canon seemed l