Hemingway and Wilde: What did they have in common? / Hemingway and Wilde: Što su imali zajedničko?

Today outfit is all about neutral and warm colours. We might talk about wearing neutral colours in Autumn because lately I've been warming up to a warm earthly colour palette. We might, but we won't. Instead of that we're going to talk about Hemingway. Ernest Hemingway. The importance of being Earnest. Actually, I could draw some parallels between Hemingway and Wilde, for example both of them had a very recognizable writing style. You could take a sentence from any of their works- and know their style immediately. Wilde was famous for his word play, Hemingway for the simplicity of his writing. You might be surprised to learn this, but there are some claims about Hemingway's homosexuality. Yes, the ultimate macho guy might not have been entirely straight.

One of my professors, had this theory that Hemingway committed suicide because of his homosexual experiments. Personally, I don't believe it. You can never really know why someone committed suicide.Hemingway, like his father, suffered from a serious health problem that made his depression worse (a condition that prevents iron absorption). In addition, Ernest was a heavy drinker for most of his life.  There isn't any real proof of Hemingway's possible bisexuality (I think we can rule out homosexuality on account of him being married so many times). Earnest (or Ernest) might be considered a fortunate name, but Hemingway seems almost a cursed last name. As all you might know, many individuals in Hemingway's family committed society, from his father to his siblings and himself to the most recent case- the suicide of his granddaughter who was a famous model. 

Današnja odjevna kombinacija je u neutralnim i toplim bojama. Mogli bismo pričati o neutralnim bojama u našoj jesenjoj garderobi, jer u zadnje vrijeme sam nešto zagrijana za ovu toplu, zemljanu paletu boja. Mogli bismo, ali nećemo. Umjesto toga, pričati ćemo o Hemingway-u. Ernest Hemingway. Važno je zvati se Earnest. Zapravo bi čak i mogla povući neke paralele između Hemingway-a i Wilde-a. Možete uzeti bilo koju rečenicu iz bilo kojega njihova djela i odmah ih prepoznati po njihovom stilu. Wilde je bio poznat po svojoj igri riječima, a Hemingway po jednostavnosti svoga pisanja. Možda će vas to iznenaditi, ali postoje neke indikacije o homoseksualnosti ovoga mačo pisca. Da, toga ultimativnoga mačo tipa. Možda i nije bio potpuno heteroseksualan. 

Jedan od mojih profesora imao je teoriju da je Hemingway počinio samoubojstvo radi svojih homoseksualnih eksperimenata, ali ja u to ne vjerujem. Ne može se nikada zasigurno znati zašto je netko počinio samoubojstvo. Hemingway je kao i njegov otac, patio od ozbiljnoga zdrastvenoga problema ( nemogućnosti željeza da se apsorbira u krv),  što je pogoršavalo njegovu depresiju, a uz to cijeli život je previše pio. Zapravo ne postoji nikakav dokaz biseksualnosti Hemingway-a (a mislim da zbog brojnih brakova i žena homoseksualnost možemo isključiti).  Earnest (ili Ernest) se može smatrati sretnim imenom, ali Hemingway prezime gotovo da nosi kletvu. Kao što možda znate, brojni pojedinci iz Hemingwayove obitelji su počinili samoubojstvo, od njegovoga oca, brata i sestre, njega samoga te (najnoviji slučaj) njegove unuke koja je bila poznata manekenka.

Hemingway and Wilde are both (at least occasionally) perceived as man who looked down on women in their writing, but I think this perception is false. I'm sure neither of them were ideal husbands, but their writing this suffer from it. Wilde is sometimes mistaken for a woman- hater, because of some quotes taken out of the context. In reality, Oscar Wilde supported the women’s right movement and suffragettes, he wrote for female magazines and advocated the rights of women. Hemingway is  criticized for being a misogynist/chauvinist, but if you have read ALL of his writing, you would have known him to be more complex than that. When it came to describing and examining gender roles, Hemingway was surprisingly bold for his time. Take for example,  The Garden of Eden, which also happens to be my favourite novel of his. There you have a women who enjoys pretending she is a guy. However, today I won’t talk about that one, instead I will talk about my first Hemingway.

Hemingway i Wilde su oboje (barem ponekad) viđeni kao muškarci koji su nepovoljno pisali o ženama. Mislim da ovo tumačenje i nema smisla. Sigurna sam da nijedan on njih nije bio idealan muž, ali to se nije odrazilo u njihovom pisanju. Wilde ponekad smatraju mrziteljem žena, na temelju nekih citata izvađenih iz konteksta. Zapravo je Oscar Wilde podržavao pokret za prava žena i sufražetkinje, pisao za ženske časopise i promicao prava žena. Hemingway-a također proglašavaju šovinistom, ali ako ste pročitali sva njegova djela onda ste vidjeli da je on puno složeniji od toga. Kada je u pitanju propitivanje uloga spolova, Hemingway je bio iznenađujuće hrabar za svoje vrijeme. Uzmite za primjer Rajski vrt, koji je moj najdraži njegov roman. Tamo imate lik žena koja uživa u tome da se pretvara da je muškarac. No, danas neću govoriti o njemu, već ću govoriti o prvome djelu ovoga pisca koje sam čitala.

The Old Man and The Sea was the first thing I've read by Hemingway. Hardly surprising, because it is a part of curriculum for 4th graders. Needless to say, I wasn't able to fully comprehend this story in fourth grade. Why? Because of the story itself? Because of some complex analogy? No, I actually don't believe there is a single analogy or symbolism in this story. It is a story about an old man catching fish, simple as that. What makes this story deep is not some symbol of analogy, but the  incredibly insightful psychological and spiritual portrayal of one old man. As a child, one is simply (and understandably) not able to relate to the experience of growing old- not in a way an adult can. As adults we can find new depth in this story. The story is only seemingly simple and straight-forward. The narrative composed of simple sentences makes you feel like you’re reading some simplified old fairy-tale, but that is only an illusion. There is a lot of profound sadness in this short novel. At the end of the story, you're either able to understand the old man or you are not.  You either get it or not.

Starac i more je prvo njegovo djelo koje sam pročitala. To i nije neko iznenađenje, jer je dio kurikuluma za četvrti razred osnovne škole. Mislim da ne moram naglašavati da nisam mogla potpuno razumjeti ovu priču u četvrtom razredu. Zašto? Zbog sam priče? Zbog neke složene usporedbe? Ne, zapravo ne vjerujem da u ovoj priču postoji ikakva analogija ili simbolizam. To je doista priča o starcu koji lovi ribu. Ono što čini ovu priču dubokom nije neka alegorija ili simbol, već nevjerojatno duboki psihološki i duhovni portret jednoga starca. Kad smo djeca, naravno da se ne možemo poistovjetiti s iskustvom starenja na način na koji to odrasla osoba može. Kao odrasli možemo pronaći novu dubinu u ovoj priči. Ova priča je samo na prvi pogled jednostavna. Pripovjedni slijed koji se sastoji od jednostavnih rečenica čini da mislite kako čitate neku pojednostavljenu bajku, ali to je samo iluzija. Ovaj kraći roman je ispunjen dubokom tugom. Na kraju priče, ili možete razumijete starca ili ne možete. Ili ste ga shvatili ili niste.

In fourth grade, I was able to comprehend this short novel from a point of a way of a child. I liked it, but I failed to see the full tragedy of it. I couldn’t really feel Santiago’s pain. How could have I had felt it at that age? How could have I know how cruel life can be? Children don’t need to know that and this story won’t let them know because the tragedy of it is not really in the open. It is something that is left to our imagination. This is the kind of story that takes a particular reader- one that is ready to open its heart to it. In order to understand it, you need to have been Santiago in some point of your life- or rather you need to be able to fully emphasize with him.  However, that is only one layer of this story. This is one of those are stories that are equally rewarding to adults and children. This short novel functions well on different levels. The message it will carry on to a child is different from those it has instore for an adult.

U četvrtom osnovne, mogla sam shvatiti ovaj kraći roman samo iz kuta viđenja djeteta. Svidio mi se, ali nisam mogla shvatiti njegovu punu tragediju. Nisam mogla doista osjetiti Santijagovu bol. Kako sam ju mogla osjetiti u toj dobi? Kako sam mogla znati kako okrutan život može biti? To djeca ne moraju znati i ova priča im to neće otkriti jer ta tragedija nije na otvorenom. To je nešto što je ostavljeno našoj mašti. Ovo je vrsta priča kojoj treba određeni čitatelj- onakav koji će joj otvoriti srce. Da biste ju razumjeli, morate biti Santiago u nekoj točki svoga života, to jest morate moži potpuno suosjećati s njim. No, to je samo jedan sloj ove priče. Ovo je jedna od onih priča koje su jednako bogate poukama i za djecu i za odrasle. Ovaj kratki roman dobro funkcionira na više razina. Poruka koju će prenijeti djetetu različita je od one koju će prenijeti odrasloj osobi.

Santiago is a fisherman, that is who he is. He loves and respects the fish, and he even wonders whether it is a sin to kill it. However, if he didn’t, what would happen? People wouldn’t stop eating fish, would they? Is it better to love and respect the fish you kill or does that makes the killing worse? My older self would say- it is always better to love. We must love…and unfortunately we must also be human- that is imperfect. With our imperfect brains, our imperfect bodies, our imperfect hearts, we must go on and love and try to live our lives bravely and with style. We all kill what we love. It is the tragedy of life. It is not possible to live and not to hurt anybody. We all inflict pain to ourselves and o others. We kill- in one way or other- others, ourselves, dreams and memories.  We’re pressured to do certain things and sometimes all we can do is choose between the lesser evil. To do what we can, to do our best- and held our head high even as we know it might not be or is not enough. And we must love...and always love and respect.

Santiago je ribar, to je ono što jest. On voli i poštuje ribu, pa se čak pita je li grijeh ubiti ju. No, kada to ne bi učinio, što bi se dogodilo? Ljudi ne bi prestali jeli ribu, zar ne? Je li bolje voljeti i poštovati ribu koji ubijaš ili to čini sve gorim? Moje starije ja ( možda i mudrije) kaže da je uvijek bolje voljeti. Moramo voljeti, a nažalost moramo i biti ljudi...to jest nesavršeni. S našim nesavršenim mozgovima, nesavršenih tijelima, nesavršenim srcima, moramo ići dalje i voljeti i pokušati živjeti svoj život hrabro i sa stilom. Svi mi ubijamo ono što volimo. To je tragedija života. Nije moguće živjeti i nikoga ne povrijediti. Svi moramo nanositi bol i sebi i drugima. Mi svi ubijamo, na ovaj ili onaj način, sebe, druge, snove i uspomene. Svi smo pod pritiskom da radimo određene stvari, ali nekad je sve što možemo birati između manjega zla. Učiniti ono što možemo, dati sve od sebe i držati glavu visoko čak i kada znamo da to nije ili neće biti dovoljno. I moramo voljeti...uvijek voljeti i poštovati.

“You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food, he thought. You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman. You loved him when he was alive and you loved him after. If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more?” ― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

“The clouds were building up now for the trade wind and he looked ahead and saw a flight of wild ducks etching themselves against the sky over the water, then blurring, then etching again and he knew no man was ever alone on the sea.” 

― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

turtleneck/ dolčevita: New Yorker
blazer/sako: Modna kuća Nebo
skirt/suknja: Moda in
boots/čizme: Peko
bag: old