“You see, I am trying in all my stories to get the feeling of the actual life across – not to just depict life – or criticize it – but to actually make it alive. So that when you have read something by me, you actually experience the thing. You can’t do this without putting in the bad and the ugly as well as what is beautiful.”
- July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961
- American
- Novelist, poet, journalist
- Wrote masterpieces such as “The Old Man and the Sea,” “A Farewell to Arms,” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954
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Quote
“You see, I am trying in all my stories to get the feeling of the actual life across – not to just depict life – or criticize it – but to actually make it alive. So that when you have read something by me, you actually experience the thing. You can’t do this without putting in the bad and the ugly as well as what is beautiful.”
Explanation
In this quote, Hemingway outlines his goal as a writer: to capture life in its fullest form, presenting both its beauty and its ugliness. He emphasizes that to make a story feel alive, a writer must engage with the entirety of the human experience, not just focus on its positive aspects. By including the bad and the ugly, Hemingway is acknowledging that life is complex and multifaceted, and true storytelling requires an honest representation of that complexity. This commitment to realism means that the ugliness—whether it’s suffering, conflict, or human flaws—must be portrayed alongside the beauty to provide a complete and authentic picture.
Hemingway’s own writing style reflects this approach. His works often feature characters confronting profound struggles or hardship, yet within these experiences, there are moments of deep beauty, grace, or clarity. This balance between the harsh and the beautiful is evident in works like A Farewell to Arms and The Old Man and the Sea, where characters navigate war, loss, and personal sacrifice while also experiencing moments of courage, love, and redemption. Hemingway’s understanding of life was that it could not be neatly categorized into good and bad—it was a mixture of both, and only by capturing all of it could he create a true emotional experience for the reader.
In the modern world, this philosophy still resonates with how we approach storytelling today. Whether in literature, film, or television, the most powerful narratives often reflect the full spectrum of human existence, including its pain and joy, light and darkness. This allows audiences to connect more deeply with the material, experiencing it rather than just observing it. For instance, contemporary films like The Pursuit of Happyness or novels like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun portray the struggles and triumphs of individuals, showing that real life isn’t just about happy endings or idealized moments—it’s about the entire experience, with all its contradictions and nuances.
