December 05, 2022
We are joined by legendary scholar Jackson Bryer, who explains the origins and implications of a notorious concept: the Hemingway code.
When the code was introduced in the 1950s by influential scholar Philip Young, what did he intend it to mean? What is a "code hero"? What is a "Hemingway hero"? What did Hemingway mean by “grace under pressure”? Bryer helps us explore the impact and legacy of the code, its relevance today and its limitations, ultimately suggesting how it might enrich our experience of reading Hemingway’s work.
We discuss numerous examples from Hemingway's works to discover how frequently the idea of the code appears: The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Old Man and the Sea, along with shorter works such as "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" and "The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio."