" [Jake:] "Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters." (Hemmingway, p. 18).
The conversation is normal and concise. However it shows Jake's character as one of the lost generation. He just accepts that things are wrong and that others should as well. This conflicts with the idea of heroes and other authors of the times abstract writing.
Robert W. Lewis wrote, " To some readers, Hemmingway's values stops at a grudging appreciation of his style and at a belief that he is anti-intellectual and even adolescent. But as the exact quality of that style comes to be better understood and is seen as an organic medium for the expression of symbolic meaning and human understanding, his reputation grows." (Klein, p. 357). Hemmingway's style seems anti-intellectual purely because its simply put. However it always has a deeper meaning to itself. Hemmingway's distrust of the abstract shows a break away from tradition as well as the formation of a new style, a style where symbolism doesn't always have to be spelled out, a style where values seem to be that of an anti-heroes. Its simplicity is actually forged out of complexity under great pressure.
Another example is the anti-hero. Hemmingway's characters champion his values of love and courage. They make their sacrifices for themselves and are flawed, .
"Oh, Jake," Brett said, "we could have had such a damned good time together." Ahead was a mounted policeman in khaki directing traffic. He raised his baton. The car slowed suddenly pressing Brett against me. "Yes," I said. "Isn't it pretty to think so?" (Hemmingway, p. 251).
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The anti-heroine slips into self pity, and the anti-hero, the one who reacts not acts, the person to whom things are done, replies as such. His characters survive, perhaps without victory but to themselves they hold dignity, conflicting with the assertive winning heroes of the day. .
Delbert Wylder comments, " Hemmingway's protagonists are the wounded, sometimes sacrificed heroes .