User:JBawlson/sandbox: Difference between revisions

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This demand for truth meant writing about all aspects of life: the beautiful, the brutal, and the downright disturbing. Hemingway put it bluntly: “If it is all beautiful you can’t believe in it” (Baker 153). Mailer agreed, emphasizing that a writer’s role is to disturb—not through shock value, but by exposing the raw roots of human experience (Foster 40).

Why did Hemingway and Mailer fixate on death, war, and violence? Because, to them, life includes darkness—and ignoring it would be dishonest. Mailer argued that life, if seen clearly, *is* disturbing. Hemingway wanted his readers to experience life “as it really is,” not as society prettifies it. Both believed literature’s job was to break through illusions and expand readers’ perceptions.

Why did Hemingway and Mailer fixate on death, war, and violence? Because, to them, life includes darkness—and ignoring it would be dishonest. Mailer argued that life, if seen clearly, is disturbing. Hemingway wanted his readers to experience life “as it really is,” not as society prettifies it. Both believed literature’s job was to break through illusions and expand readers’ perceptions.

Sanders’ article beautifully aligns both writers with existentialism. Their writing isn’t just about storytelling; it’s about facing death and choosing meaning. Hemingway found his artistic center in the bullfight—where mortality and immortality collided. Mailer found his in the psychological space of violent death, as explored in *An American Dream*.

Sanders’ article beautifully aligns both writers with existentialism. Their writing isn’t just about storytelling; it’s about facing death and choosing meaning. Hemingway found his artistic center in the bullfight—where mortality and immortality collided. Mailer found his in the psychological space of violent death, as explored in An American Dream.

Existentialists argue that death can reveal how to live. Facing it forces individuals to live more authentically. For Hemingway and Mailer, this confrontation was essential to becoming an artist and a human being. The writer’s job was not just to reflect the world but to clarify ~~it—to~~ reveal life’s wholeness and urge the reader to live deliberately.

Existentialists argue that death can reveal how to live. Facing it forces individuals to live more authentically. For Hemingway and Mailer, this confrontation was essential to becoming an artist and a human being. The writer’s job was not just to reflect the world but to clarify it to reveal life’s wholeness and urge the reader to live deliberately.

In Death in the Afternoon, Hemingway compares the artist to the matador—daily confronting death to create meaning. Mailer takes this metaphor into a darker, modernized setting in *An American Dream*, where protagonist Rojack studies executions, battles suicidal thoughts, and struggles for personal authenticity.

In Death in the Afternoon, Hemingway compares the artist to the matador—daily confronting death to create meaning. Mailer takes this metaphor into a darker, modernized setting in An American Dream, where protagonist Rojack studies executions, battles suicidal thoughts, and struggles for personal authenticity.

Their characters don’t just witness death—they internalize it, wrestle with it, and use it to forge a self. Mailer’s Rojack, like Hemingway’s matador, becomes a symbolic figure of resistance against cultural conformity and spiritual deadness.

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Although critics often misunderstood Hemingway and Mailer’s obsession with death, their work was never about glorifying violence—it was about confronting reality. They rejected the comforts of illusion and asked readers to do the same.

Mailer may have felt he couldn’t match Hemingway’s reach, but Sanders argues—and rightly so—that *An American Dream* proves otherwise. In fact, by Hemingway’s own definition of a great ~~artist—one~~ who takes what has been known and “goes beyond to make something of his own” (Death 100)—Mailer earned his place as a guide and prophet for his generation.

Mailer may have felt he couldn’t match Hemingway’s reach, but Sanders argues—and rightly so that An American Dream proves otherwise. In fact, by Hemingway’s own definition of a great artist one who takes what has been known and “goes beyond to make something of his own” (Death 100)—Mailer earned his place as a guide and prophet for his generation.

page 21

Sources.

Hemingway, Ernest. *Death in the Afternoon*. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.

Hemingway, Ernest. Death in the Afternoon. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.

Mailer, Norman. An American Dream. New York: Dial Press, 1965.

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 This demand for truth meant writing about all aspects of life: the beautiful, the brutal, and the downright disturbing. Hemingway put it bluntly: “If it is all beautiful you can’t believe in it” (Baker 153). Mailer agreed, emphasizing that a writer’s role is to disturb—not through shock value, but by exposing the raw roots of human experience (Foster 40).
-Why did Hemingway and Mailer fixate on death, war, and violence? Because, to them, life includes darkness—and ignoring it would be dishonest. Mailer argued that life, if seen clearly, *is* disturbing. Hemingway wanted his readers to experience life “as it really is,” not as society prettifies it. Both believed literature’s job was to break through illusions and expand readers’ perceptions.
+Why did Hemingway and Mailer fixate on death, war, and violence? Because, to them, life includes darkness—and ignoring it would be dishonest. Mailer argued that life, if seen clearly, is disturbing. Hemingway wanted his readers to experience life “as it really is,” not as society prettifies it. Both believed literature’s job was to break through illusions and expand readers’ perceptions.
-Sanders’ article beautifully aligns both writers with existentialism. Their writing isn’t just about storytelling; it’s about facing death and choosing meaning. Hemingway found his artistic center in the bullfight—where mortality and immortality collided. Mailer found his in the psychological space of violent death, as explored in *An American Dream*.
+Sanders’ article beautifully aligns both writers with existentialism. Their writing isn’t just about storytelling; it’s about facing death and choosing meaning. Hemingway found his artistic center in the bullfight—where mortality and immortality collided. Mailer found his in the psychological space of violent death, as explored in An American Dream.
-Existentialists argue that death can reveal how to live. Facing it forces individuals to live more authentically. For Hemingway and Mailer, this confrontation was essential to becoming an artist and a human being. The writer’s job was not just to reflect the world but to clarify it—to reveal life’s wholeness and urge the reader to live deliberately.
+Existentialists argue that death can reveal how to live. Facing it forces individuals to live more authentically. For Hemingway and Mailer, this confrontation was essential to becoming an artist and a human being. The writer’s job was not just to reflect the world but to clarify it to reveal life’s wholeness and urge the reader to live deliberately.
-In Death in the Afternoon, Hemingway compares the artist to the matador—daily confronting death to create meaning. Mailer takes this metaphor into a darker, modernized setting in *An American Dream*, where protagonist Rojack studies executions, battles suicidal thoughts, and struggles for personal authenticity.
+In Death in the Afternoon, Hemingway compares the artist to the matador—daily confronting death to create meaning. Mailer takes this metaphor into a darker, modernized setting in An American Dream, where protagonist Rojack studies executions, battles suicidal thoughts, and struggles for personal authenticity.
 Their characters don’t just witness death—they internalize it, wrestle with it, and use it to forge a self. Mailer’s Rojack, like Hemingway’s matador, becomes a symbolic figure of resistance against cultural conformity and spiritual deadness.
@@ Line 28: / Line 28: @@
 Although critics often misunderstood Hemingway and Mailer’s obsession with death, their work was never about glorifying violence—it was about confronting reality. They rejected the comforts of illusion and asked readers to do the same.
-Mailer may have felt he couldn’t match Hemingway’s reach, but Sanders argues—and rightly so—that *An American Dream* proves otherwise. In fact, by Hemingway’s own definition of a great artist—one who takes what has been known and “goes beyond to make something of his own” (Death 100)—Mailer earned his place as a guide and prophet for his generation.
+Mailer may have felt he couldn’t match Hemingway’s reach, but Sanders argues—and rightly so that An American Dream proves otherwise. In fact, by Hemingway’s own definition of a great artist one who takes what has been known and “goes beyond to make something of his own” (Death 100)—Mailer earned his place as a guide and prophet for his generation.
+ page 21
 Sources.
-  Hemingway, Ernest. *Death in the Afternoon*. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.
+  Hemingway, Ernest. Death in the Afternoon. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.
 Mailer, Norman. An American Dream. New York: Dial Press, 1965.