Can Hemingway be classified as an anti-Semitic writer? If so, why?
Answer The portrayal of Robert Cohn in The Sun Also Rises is probably the best illustration of Hemingway as an anti-Semitic writer. Whether Hemingway was displacing his own feelings for Jews onto Robert Cohn or merely reflecting the views of a vastly anti-Semitic 1920’s culture is an interesting point to consider. Hemingway himself was anti-Semitic to a certain degree. His personal letters are sporadically littered with the word “kike.” He sometimes used the word in the verb tense, writing to the effect: he “kiked” me out of money. But, Hemingway also had many Jewish friends throughout his life and while in high school, he gave himself the nickname of “Hemingstein.” In creating such a name, he may have been cleverly trying to combat the anti-Semitism of his day. To classify Hemingway as just a sexist writer or an anti-Semitic writer or a racist writer is to dismiss the great depth and complexity of his art. Let’s take his portrayal of women as an example.
