Ernest Hemingway: A Psychological Autopsy of a Suicide
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Psychiatry 69(4) Winter 2006 351
Ernest Hemingway:
A Psychological Autopsy of a Suicide
Christopher D. Martin
Much has been written about Ernest Hemingway, including discussion of his
well-documented mood disorder, alcoholism, and suicide. However, a thorough
biopsychosocial approach capable of integrating the various threads of the au-
thor's complex psychiatric picture has yet to be applied. Application of such a psy-
chiatric view to the case of Ernest Hemingway in an effort toward better
understanding of the author's experience with illness and the tragic outcome is the
aim of this investigation. Thus, Hemingway's life is examined through a review
and discussion of biographies, psychiatric hterature, personal correspondence,
photography, and medical records. Significant evidence exists to support the diag-
noses of bipolar disorder, alcohol dependence, traumatic brain injury, and proba-
ble borderline and narcissistic personality traits. Late in life, Hemingway also
developed symptoms of psychosis likely related to his underlying affective illness
and superimposed alcoholism and traumatic brain injury. Hemingway utilized a
variety of defense mechanisms, including self-medication with alcohol, a lifestyle
of aggressive, risk-taking sportsmanship, and writing, in order to cope with the
suffering caused by the complex comorbidity of his interrelated psychiatric disor-
ders. Ultimately, Hemingway's defense mechanisms failed, overwhelmed by the
burden of his complex comorbid illness, resulting in his suicide. However, despite
suffering from multiple psychiatric disorders, Hemingway was able to live a
vibrant life until the age of 61 and within that time contribute immortal works of
fiction to the literary canon.
Ernest Hemingway is one of the most author since the death of Shakespeare"
recognizable figures of the twentieth century, (O'Hara, 1950, p. 200) while on other occa-
known to the world as a literary genius who sions the critical voice has been less compli-
also became a near mythic representation of mentary (Mellow, 1991). However, there is
American hypermasculinity, a hard-drinking little question regarding the inestimable sig-
womanizer, big game hunter, deep sea fisher- nificance of his role in American literature. In
man, aficionado of the bullfight, and a boxer addition to possessing a rich talent, Heming-
with quick-tempered fists both in and out of way was heir to a biological predisposition
the ring. A critic called him "the outstanding for mood disorders and alcoholism and also
Christopher D. Martin, MD, is Instructor and Staff Psychiatrist at the Menninger Department of
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine, The Menninger Clinic, in Houston,
Texas.
The author would like to thank Glen O. Gabbard, MD, for his invaluable mentorship and generous
editorial assistance with the preparation of this work.
Address correspondence to Christopher D. Martin, MD, The Menninger Clinic, COMPAS Unit,
P.O. Box 809045, 2801 Gessner Drive, Houston, TX 77280; E-mail: cmartin@menninger.edu.352 Hemingway: A Psychological Autopsy
suffered the characterological fallout of a fully assess the psychiatric aspects of Heming-
childhood spent under the care of parents way's life. Before undertaking such an effort,
with their own unpredictable mood swings however, important caveats must be ad-
and disorienting inconsistencies. The result dressed. In no way is this investigation meant
was a deeply troubled, though resilient to offer a comprehensive analysis of Heming-
offspring. way's life or work or an explanation of his ar-
Hemingway's public life was so rich in tistic genius. Such a chnical undertaking could
experience, his inner world so complex, and never convey the depth of character in the
both so well documented that it is easy to be- man. Rather, the goal is to present a plausible
come disoriented while navigating through statement about Hemingway's complex psy-
his past. Thus, integrating the various ele- chiatric picture. Additionally, an exploration
ments that influenced his mental life becomes of Hemingway's experience with illness
a challenging task. Hemingway biographer should not detract from the memory of this
Michael Reynolds wrote, "If you get too fix- man who was beloved by friends and family,
ated on Hemingway, you lose the ability to many still living who knew him and others
understand him. He's hke a deep well: you fall who will never have the good fortune to know
in and you may never come out" (Allen, him in life. Finally, as with all similar
1999). Multiple authors have attempted to psychobiographical efforts, this study has the
characterize the psychiatric illness from which methodological limitations inherent in the
Hemingway suffered, an important task given absence of a clinical evaluation of the subject.
the manner in which psychiatric disease af- One must speculate based on fragments of the
fected the writer's life and informed his work, subject's writings, other surviving documents,
his writings being both products shaped in and biography.
part by his painful internal mental states and Several major biographies produced in
defenses against them. However, none have the years since Hemingway's death have re-
utilized a biopsychosocial approach to formu- corded his life in extensive detail and to vary-
late an understanding of the interrelation of ing degrees have attempted to provide an un-
the complex psychiatric comorbidities derstanding of the psychiatric difficulties
involved. which befell him. Baker (1969), Hemingway's
This type of integrated approach is ex- earhest major biographer, clearly documented
pressly indicated in the case of Ernest Heming- the writer's dramatic mood swings, even ap-
way. Careful reading of Hemingway's major plying the term "manic-depressive" (Baker,
biographies and his personal and public writ- 1969, p. viii). He noted Hemingway's recur-
ings reveals evidence suggesting the presence rent references to suicide in conversation and
of the following conditions during his lifetime: personal correspondence. Baker also docu-
bipolar disorder, alcohol dependence, trau- mented Hemingway's unpredictable person-
matic brain injury, and probable borderline ality, troubled interpersonal relationships,
and narcissistic personality traits. Given this and alcoholism. Lynn (1987) and Mellow
degree of complex comorbidity, any (1992) each produced enriched accounts of
reductionism, or an approach that is dispro- Hemingway's life, expanding on Baker's
portionately biological or psychological, is work. Lynn particularly explored Heming-
likely to produce only a partial explanation of way's early years and contributed to a deeper
the author's experience with psychiatric ill- understanding of Hemingway's family of ori-
ness, limiting any effort to understand him. gin, his mother's inconsistent messages about
Certainly, any undertaking that seeks to con- masculinity and femininity, and his father's
vey an understanding of Hemingway must unpredictable temper and strict
also address the particular society into which disciplinarianism. Lynn also notably com-
he was born as well as the culture he con- mented on the presence of a history of
structed about himself. Thus, only an inte- manic-depressive illness in the Hemingway
grated biopsychosocial approach can begin to family. Reynolds (1999) offered perhaps theMartin 353
most comprehensive biographical explora- suffered from periods of depression, and
tion of Hemingway's life and contributed a though her death in 1963 was ruled due to
detailed depiction of factors around Heming- natural causes, the family suspected suicide
way's decline into illness and death. Yalom (Reynolds, 1986).
and Yalom (1971) explored potential In the third generation, Ernest's youn-
psychodynamic conflicts and focused on the gest son, Gregory, himself a physician, was di-
writer's traumatic experiences on the Italian agnosed with bipolar disorder, making him
front in World War I. the third in a line of male Hemingways to suf-
A logical starting point for a psychiatric fer from the illness. Gregory also struggled
perspective on Hemingway's life is with his with substance dependence and lost his medi-
family of origin. In the memoir A Moveable cal license as a result. His comorbid condi-
Feast, Hemingway wrote, "Families have tions led to multiple psychiatric hospitaliza-
many ways of being dangerous" (Heming- tions and arrests for bizarre behavior.
way, 1964, p. 108), and his own family was Gregory, whose transvestic fetishism drove a
dangerous to him in varied ways, not the least wedge between father and son, underwent
of which was the genetic heritage they be- sexual reassignment surgery before his death
queathed to him. Ernest Miller Hemingway in 2001. He died of natural causes in a jail cell
was born on July 21, 1899, to Dr. and Mrs. in Miami where he was incarcerated after be-
Clarence Edmonds Hemingway (Reynolds, ing found in public in a state of undress
1986). Ernest's father, a physician, suffered (Schoenberg, 2001). Margaux Hemingway,
from unpredictable and dramatic mood the daughter of Ernest's eldest son. Jack, suf-
swings characterized by episodes of depres- fered from a seizure disorder, depression,
sion and irritability (Reynolds, 1986). The bulimia nervosa, and alcoholism. The Los An-
Hemingway children complained of the stress geles coroner's office ruled her 1996 death a
their father's "nervous condition" placed on suicide due to "acute phenobarbital intoxica-
them, and Dr. Hemingway required repeated tion" (Marano, 1996). As Marano noted,
retreats away from the family for "rest cures" family and friends of the beloved actress and
(Lynn, 1987; Reynolds, 1986). In 1903 and model did not accept the ruling. Margaux's
again in 1908, Dr. Hemingway traveled alone death would mark the fifth or sixth suicide
to New Orleans to isolate himself as a within four generations of Hemingways.
self-prescribed intervention for depression Thus, the Hemingway family has a long his-
(Reynolds, 1986). In December of 1928, in an tory of affective disturbance, substance-re-
episode of depression, feeling burdened by fi- lated disorders, and suicide that preceded Er-
nancial concerns and with diabetes and an- nest's birth, claimed at least three of the six
gina threatening his physical health. Dr. Hem- siblings in his generation, and has continued
ingway took his life with a gunshot to the head on through two further generations.
(Mellow, 1992). Multiple scholars have retro- Hemingway himself warrants a closer
spectively diagnosed Dr. Hemingway with a look. Hemingway's personal correspondence
bipolar mood disorder (Jamison, 1993; Lynn, is replete with examples of abnormal mood
1987). Grace Hemingway, the author's states that befell him. He wrote to his
mother, suffered from episodes of insomnia, mother-in-law in 1936, "Had never had the
headaches, and "nerves" (Reynolds, 1986, p. real old melanchoha before and am glad to
86). Similar conditions have been identified in have had it so I know what people go through.
Grace's brother, Leicester, and Clarence's It makes me more tolerant of what happened
brother, Alfred (Reynolds, 1986). Ernest, one to my father" (Hemingway, 1981, p. 436).
of six siblings, was preceded in birth by his sis- Here, Hemingway seems to report he was suf-
ter Marcelline and followed by Ursula, fering from a depressive episode. A letter to
Madelaine, Carol, and his brother, Leicester John Dos Passos describes in more detail
(Burgess, 1978). Ursula and Leicester both Hemingway's experience of depression, "I felt
died by suicide (Reynolds, 1986). Marcelline that gigantic bloody emptiness and nothing-354 Hemingway: A Psychological Autopsy
ness. Like couldn't ever fuck, fight, write, and editor. Maxwell Perkins. He was in a state of
was all for death" (Lynn, 1987, p. 427). Hem- mind to boast that the work contained the
ingway sets down virtual diagnostic criteria best writing he had ever produced and was a
for a major depressive episode, suggesting loss "super-value" for the reader's money. In ad-
of interest and pleasure, feelings of emptiness, dition, the writing had been a difficult task,
decreased libido, and thoughts of death and "like painting a Cezanne," and he was the
suicide. "the only bastard right now" who could
Depression was not the only abnormal accomplish such an achievement (Baker,
mood state that Hemingway experienced. 1969, p. 268). Apparently, the energetic and
Hemingway's first major biographer, a man irritable Hemingway could also be a
who knew him in life, referred to him as a grandiose Hemingway.
"temperamental manic depressive" (Baker, There was an additional abnormal
1969, p. viii) and wrote that "the pendulum in mood state, which Hemingway described to
his nervous system swung periodically the mother of his second wife, when he wrote
through the full arc from megalomania to in 1936:
melancholy" (Baker, 1969, p. 291). Later, an-
other wrote, "his mood swung so fast from I've been working hard. Had a spell where I
low to high and back down again that one was pretty gloomy . . . and didn't sleep for
could almost say he was simultaneously exhil- about three weeks. Took to getting up about
arated and depressed" (Lynn, 1987, p. 135). two or so in the morning and going out to the
His biographies contain numerous examples little house to work until daylight because
of episodes in which Hemingway experienced when you're writing on a book and can't
unusually elevated moods and periods of ex-
sleep your brain races at night and you write
cessive energy. As a youth, he was prone to
all the stuff in your head and in the morning
stay awake into the early morning, drinking
it is gone and you are pooped. (Hemingway,
wine and reading aloud from volumes of po-
1981, pp. 435-436)
etry. On one such occasion, his companions
fell asleep, awakening hours later to find
Hemingway "still at it, looking fresh as a Given the context of the other mood ep-
daisy" (Baker, 1969, p. 37). It may have been isodes he experienced, it is probable that this
a manic high that kept the young writer up all period represented a mixed episode. This his-
night excitedly reading and drinking. During tory suggests that Hemingway suffered
one period in 1924, Hemingway's first wife, throughout his adult life from a bipolar affec-
Hadley, found her husband "sky high, emo- tive disorder. Given the family history, it
tionally intense, and ready to explode" seems likely that he had inherited a genetic
(Reynolds, 1989, p. 194). His company was predisposition for mood disorders. He also
so difficult to tolerate that she sent him off on suffered from another condition that science
a trip alone. The episodic irritability that has shown to be, at least in part, hereditary.
drove his father away from his own family In 1957, Mary Hemingway wrote to a
was also manifested in the son. For the youn- friend that during her husband's depressed
ger Hemingway, however, the associated en- moods, "the protagonist" was "his poor,
ergy could be channeled into creative output. long-suffering liver" (Baker, 1969, p. 537).
During the 1924 episode, Hemingway rapidly There can be little doubt that Hemingway, a
produced seven short stories. In 1934, he ex- life-long drinker, suffered from alcohol de-
perienced another "immense accession of en- pendence. He likely first drank alcohol in ado-
ergy," which he described as "juice" and lescence (Lynn, 1987, p. 60). He was probably
found to be "bad as a disease" (Baker, 1969, first exposed to liquor in 1917 Italy where he
p. 268). It drove him to complete several sto- drank Scotch and Irish whiskey with his
ries and articles in rapid succession. Then, on friends and comrades (Lynn, 1987, p. 122).
November 20,1934, he fired off a letter to his After he was wounded, the hospital staff
found cognac bottles hidden in his World WarMartin 355
I hospital room (Lynn, 1987, p. 87). Daily night and walked to the bathroom. In a men-
drinking started for Hemingway in the early tal state altered perhaps by alcohol, he
1920s as his first marriage failed and escalated mistook the skylight cord for the toilet's
with the deterioration of his relationship with flushbox chain. When he jerked the cord, the
his mother and his father's suicide (Lynn, heavy pane of glass came down on his head.
1987, pp. 122, 337). Then, in 1937, he pre- The laceration in his scalp required nine
sented to a physician complaining of abdomi- stitches, and the scar was visible on his fore-
nal pain, was found to have hepatic damage, head for the remainder of his life (Lynn, 1987,
and was told to abstain from alcohol (Lynn, p. 370). The drunken 1944 car accident sent
1987, p. 474). However, he was unable to his head through the windshield and caused a
comply with the recommendation. concussion as well as a scalp laceration that
In 1944, while covering World War II required 57 stitches; he nursed both with alco-
in England, Hemingway was in a car accident hol (Lynn, 1987, pp. 508-509). Less than
on the way home from a party thrown by pho- three months later, Hemingway was thrown
tographer Robert Capa. Hemingway was a from a motorcycle as he and several compan-
passenger, and it is likely that everyone in the ions, including Capa, attempted to evade Ger-
car was intoxicated. Hemingway sustained a man fire in Normandy (Lynn, 1987, p. 512).
concussion and was hospitalized. He was Hemingway experienced headaches, tinnitus,
again warned by doctors to abstain, but he diplopia, slowed speech, and memory difficul-
continued to drink. When his wife, Martha ties for several months (Lynn, 1987, p. 513).
Gellhorn, found empty liquor bottles under In June of 1945, he was behind the wheel in
the hospital bed, the death knell sounded for Cuba when his vehicle went into a skid and
his third marriage (Lynn, 1987, p. 509). Many struck an embankment. Hemingway's fore-
times, Hemingway was urged by loved ones head was lacerated by the rearview mirror
and physicians to stop his drinking. Perhaps (Lynn, 1987, p. 528). Then, in 1950, while
no request was more succinct or more poi- drinking onboard his boat, the Pilar, he
gnant than that of physician A.J. Monnier in slipped and fell, striking the deck with his
his 1957 letter to Hemingway. "My dear head and receiving what he later described as
Ernie, you must stop drinking alcohol. This is "a concussion of about force 5 (Beaufort
definitely of the utmost importance, and I scale)" (Lynn, 1987, p. 528).
shall never, never insist too much" (Monnier, The fall on the Pilar made perhaps the
1957). For years, Hemingway had worried fifth traumatic brain injury of his life, but the
about his drinking and had tried to limit it, de- worst was yet to come. On January 23,1954,
veloping numerous rules to regulate his alco- while on his second safari to Africa, Heming-
hol intake, yet he was never able to heed the way's plane from the Nairobi airport struck
warnings or achieve any sustained period of an abandoned telegraph wire and crashed
sobriety (Lynn, 1987). The toxin must have (Reynolds, 1999, pp. 272-273). Hemingway
wrought damage on the brain, where it hkely sprained his back, his right arm, and his right
destabilized Hemingway's bipolar disorder, shoulder. No one was seriously injured, and
making him more susceptible to mood the party was rescued. They boarded a second
episodes and perhaps eventually encouraging plane which, shortly after leaving the ground,
psychosis to kindle and catch flame. also crashed and began to burn (Reynolds,
As illustrated by the accident after 1999, p. 273). Hemingway attempted to es-
Capa's party, one consequence of Heming- cape through the plane's door by battering it
way's drinking was a propensity for injury. with his head. He sustained two fierce blows
He was remarkably accident prone through- to his head, lacerating his scalp and fracturing
out his life, and the most notable of Heming- his skull, so that cerebrospinal fluid leaked
way's injuries were the numerous blows to the from his ear. The crash left him again with
head. In 1928, while living in Paris with his diplopia, temporary deafness, and significant
second wife, Hemingway arose from bed one injuries to his liver, spleen, and kidney. He356 Hemingway: A Psychological Autopsy
was, in fact, in danger of death (Reynolds, tualization of his father's suicide so that his fa-
1999, p. 274). The repetitive injuries may ther's death became his mother's fault. A po-
have served to destabilize the course of Hem- tential source for this early rage is identifiable.
ingway's mood disorder and predispose to the Grace Hemingway insisted that the boy Er-
severe psychotic episodes he developed later in nest be dressed as a girl. Though the Victorian
life, as well as to the possibility of cognitive custom of the day did call for young boys to
decline. wear dresses, the clothes that Grace selected
Hemingway suffered psychological for Ernest were more feminine than those
wounds during his childhood that predated by worn by other male children of the era. He re-
many years the traumatic experiences he en- mained in this style of dress for several years
countered in World Wars I and II and all his beyond the span most boys spent in dresses,
subsequent injuries. Dr. Clarence Hemingway and his hair was cut in a fashion more com-
was a strict, vicious disciplinarian who mon for female children (Lynn, 1987, pp.
spanked his son and beat him at times with a 38-40). Grace even attempted to pass her son
razor strop (Lynn, 1987, p. 35). The young off as the twin of his older sister, Marcelline,
Hemingway developed such rage that he persisting despite their differential sizes
adopted a ritual in which he played out an as- (Lynn, 1987, pp. 40-41). On the back of a
sassination fantasy against his abusive father. photograph of young Ernest wearing a dress
At the age of 18, Ernest would hide in a back- decorated in lace, his hair grown long under a
yard shed and draw a bead on the doctor's hat covered in flowers, Grace wrote the words
head with a loaded shotgun (Lynn, 1987, p. "summer girl" (Lynn, 1987, p. 41). Grace also
63). With regard to his mother, Hemingway praised her son at times for his expression of
throughout his life described her as a selfish masculine traits, such as his prowess at hunt-
and controlling figure whose personality ing and fishing, activities he enjoyed at the
dominated that of his more reserved and pas- family's vacation home in the Michigan
sive father. Hemingway stated to friends, woods. In this rural setting, he wore rugged
"She had to rule everything" (Lynn, 1987, p. outdoor clothes, and the feminized boy was
395). When Clarence Hemingway committed not to be seen. Grace's inconsistency regard-
suicide, Ernest openly blamed his mother and ing gender may have been confusing and diffi-
seemingly held firm to that position for the re- cult for the young boy to reconcile, possibly
mainder of his life. He wrote to his friend and influencing him toward overt masculine pur-
publisher, Charles Scribner, in 1949, "I hate suits later in adult life. Hemingway never
her guts and she hates mine. She forced my spoke or wrote about this piece of his child-
father to suicide" (Hemingway, 1981, p. 670). hood experience. However, the preserved
words of his infant tongue give a clue to the
The fact that Hemingway held his
feelings he may have harbored. Grace had a
mother responsible for his father's death may
custom of referring to the femininely garbed
be interpreted as a potential source for his
Ernest as "Dutch dolly," and Ernest called his
deep anger toward his mother, anger so fierce
mother "Fweetee." At the age of two, in re-
it prompted his friend, John Dos Passos, to re-
sponse to his mother's application of the nick-
fer to the writer as "the only man I ever knew
name, Ernest told her, "I not a Dutch dolly ...
who really hated his mother" (Lynn, 1987, p.
Bang, I shoot Fweetee" (Baker, 1961, p. 5).
395). Friend Charles Lanham also wrote, "he
Thus, in childhood, Hemingway had
always referred to his mother as 'that bitch.'
developed enough anger toward his parents to
He must have told me a thousand times how
shoot them both to death in fantasy.
much he hated her and in how many ways"
(Lynn, 1987, p. 27). However, this hatred When Clarence Hemingway actually
may have had its origin in Hemingway's early did die from a gunshot to the head, Ernest
childhood, long before Clarence's death. might easily have felt guilt. He had wished his
Hemingway's deep and longstanding rage to- father dead and had pointed a loaded gun at
ward his mother may have shaped his concep- his head. Thus, blaming his mother may haveMartin 357
served a defensive role; he could absolve him- personal relationships. Friends noticed that he
self of his guilt by projecting it onto her. Cer- could be vicious and cruel and might easily
tainly, such guilt could have contributed to turn against those who had been kind to him
the author's depression and suicidality. Ernest (Mellow, 1992, p. 133). Such kindnesses
was powerfully affected by his father's sui- might be seen as narcissistic injuries once they
cide, and in the aftermath of Clarence's death, were no longer immediately necessary or help-
Ernest confided to his friend and mentor ful. Friend and mentor Sherwood Anderson
Owen Wister, "My life was more or less shot said of the younger author's capacity for
out from under me and I was drinking much self-interest that Hemingway's "absorption
too much entirely through my own fault" in his ideas" had "affected his capacity for
(Lynn, 1987, p. 337). It felt to him as though friendship" (Baker, 1961, p. 181). Heming-
not only his father's life was shot away but his way's fierce competitiveness also got in the
own as well. The repetition of violent imagery way of his friendships. In childhood, a mere
and references to firearms is startling, seeming hike through the woods or tennis match might
to foreshadow the son's own eventual suicide. trigger spiteful feelings and cause him to initi-
The reservoir of anger that may have ate quarrels (Lynn, 1987, pp. 115-116). As an
had its origins in his early childhood seemed to older man, he was capable of spoiling hunting
have a tendency to spill over throughout his trips with envy and sullen behavior when
life. Baker pointed out that Hemingway was a someone surpassed him with a bigger kill
man of many contradictions who was capable (Mellow, 1992, pp. 427, 433). Hemingway
of alternately appearing shy or conceited, sen- was also ferociously competitive when it came
sitive or aggressive, warm and generous, or to academics and letters. He heaped derision
ruthless and overbearing (Baker, 1969, p. on those men who had been graduated from
viii). It may have been that certain borderline university, as he had not, and when intoxi-
personality traits caused him to appear erratic cated, he boasted of having attended Prince-
and dramatic. Part of his apparent inconsis- ton (Baker, 1969, p. 222; Lynn, 1987, p. 248).
tency may have arisen from a lack of a cohe- When William Faulkner, who won the Nobel
sive, stable identity, a problem which might Prize before Hemingway, failed to respond to
have readily followed in the wake of his a cable of acknowledgement from Heming-
mother's inconsistent parenting. Heming- way, the injured writer wrote these words of
way's conceptualizations of others may not anger and perhaps projection to a friend:
have been so stable or sufficiently nuanced ei- "You see what happens with Bill Faulkner is
ther. Baker suggested that Hemingway had a that as long as I am alive he has to drink to feel
tendency toward splitting, "He divided all the good about having the Nobel Prize. He does
world into good guys and jerks" (Baker, not realize that I have no respect for that insti-
1969, p. viii). In addition to the issues of iden- tution and was truly happy for him when he
tity disturbance and splitting, that difficulties got it" (Mellow, 1992, p. 588). Throughout
with recurrent suicidal ideation, anger, his life, Hemingway's vanity prevented him
impulsivity, affective instability, and unstable from wearing glasses in public despite eyesight
interpersonal relationships that characterize so poor that it has been hypothesized as a fac-
borderline personality traits seem identifiable tor contributing to his tendency toward acci-
in Hemingway's life story. His relationships dents (Lynn, 1987, p. 73). Near the end of his
seemed plagued by conflict and instability. life, he lashed out viciously at a dear friend
His parents became mental targets for assassi- who inadvertently bumped the back of his
nation, and his mentors could become head, displacing his hair, which had been me-
enemies. His marriages were beset by ticulously combed forward to conceal his
extramarital affairs, and three of four ended baldness (Lynn, 1987, pp. 578-579). His
in divorce (Lynn, 1987). grandiosity reached such proportions that he
Hemingway had tendencies toward once admitted he would have liked to have
narcissism that also interfered with his inter- been a king (Baker, 1969, p. viii), and when he358 Hemingway: A Psychological Autopsy
finally prepared to die by his own hand, he his death into action, seeking out danger in his
selected from his wardrobe a cherished personal and professional life, and he gave
garment he had affectionately named his fate plenty of opportunity to do first what he
"emperor's robe" (Baker, 1969, p. 563). eventually did himself. He pursued wars
At 7:00 AM on Sunday, July 2, 1961, across the globe. After his service in World
Hemingway died of a self-inflicted wound to War I, he served as a correspondent for the
the head from the double barrels of one of his Spanish Civil War and World War II, and he
shotguns (Lynn, 1987, p. 592). Although was repeatedly put himself into combat. He was
61 when he took his life, his mind had been not content to be an aficionado of the bull-
haunted by suicide from a very young age. His fight; he needed to be a participant, physically
earliest fictional stories, written years before at risk of the horns and hooves of the bulls.
his father took his own life, contained themes There was also a sense of recklessness about
of violence and suicide (Baker, 1969, pp. 23, his hunting and fishing, hinting that he was
25). After his father's death, his mature fiction perhaps arranging to be killed. He never
continued to address these themes and began seemed quite satisfied unless his quarry almost
to deal with fathers' suicides. His personal killed him first. As outlined by Lynn, in a
correspondence revealed a lifelong obsession cancelled passage from the manuscript of
with suicide. In 1923, he wrote to Gertrude Green Hills of Africa (1935), Hemingway's
Stein, "I understood for the first time how fictionalized hunting memoir, the author
men can commit suicide simply because of too wrote of the feeling that danger brought
many things in business piling up ahead of him—"Now, truly, in actual danger, I felt a
them that they can't get through" (Baker, clean feeling as in a shower" (Lynn, 1987, p.
1969, p. 119). The perhaps partially con- 415)—and he contrasted this feeling with his
scious attempts at minimization in these lines father's suicide, which he conceptualized as
do not now hide the significance of what cowardly. Hemingway might have felt clean
Hemingway communicated. The trouble is because he could tell himself he was arranging
that Hemingway felt the need to discuss sui- his death in a more noble fashion than his
cide in his letters to his friends at all. The fol- father had done.
lowing year, he made a related reference to Hemingway marshaled about him a va-
Ezra Pound, "I still claim that anybody that
riety of mechanisms for defending against his
wants to can do it. Things are looking better
abnormal moods and suicidal impulses. His
and I look forward to not giving a demonstra-
use of alcohol was in one sense a defense
tion of my theory for some time" (Lynn, 1987,
against his suffering, which he used perhaps to
p. 267). Then, 12 years later, Hemingway fight off his depression and self-destructive
wrote to Archibald MacLeish, "Me I like life
thoughts. Hemingway told his friend
very much. So much it will be a big disgustArchibald MacLeish, "Trouble was all my life
when have to shoot myself. Maybe pretty when things were really bad I could always
soon I guess although will arrange to be shot
take a drink and right away they were much
in order not to have bad effect on kids" (Hem-
better" (Lynn, 1987, p. 122). This defense was
ingway, 1981, p. 453). It seems, a quarter cen-
less than adaptive; drinking complicated his
tury before his death, that Hemingway had life through the usual interpersonal pitfalls of
accepted that he would die by a self-inflicted
alcoholism as well as possibly worsened his
gunshot. By the time he wrote these words in
mood disorder, perhaps actually speeding up
1936, he had survived his father's suicide, and
the ultimate tragic outcome.
one can infer from these lines that it had in-
His obsession with hunting and fishing
deed wounded him deeply. His thought was to
may have served a defensive function against
disguise his own suicide, so that his children
his aggressive and suicidal impulses. Heming-
would not have to suffer as he had, knowing
way explained to Ava Gardner in 1954, "Even
that their father had taken his life.
though I am not a believer in the Analysis, I
Hemingway put his plan of arranging spend a hell of a lot of time killing animals andMartin 359
fish so I won't kill myself" (Hotchner, 1966, sion. Hemingway thought Fitzgerald ought to
p. 139). He hinted at some degree of accep- realize "work was the thing that would save
tance of a psychodynamic interpretation of him if he would only 'bite on the nail' and get
his interest in killing. As a boy, he had fanta- down to it, honest work with honest fiction, a
sized about shooting his parents; later, he de- paragraph at a time" (Baker, 1969, p. 283).
veloped chronic thoughts of doing the same to Hemingway was unwilling to accept the treat-
himself. The reservoir of anger that drove ment available to him during his lifetime. Per-
these impulses could, he perhaps found, be haps he feared social stigma against mental ill-
emptied somewhat by turning guns on ness. Thus, the only aids available to him were
animals and by catching and killing fish. a set of defenses of his own construction, som e
Hemingway's writing can be seen as an frankly maladaptive and others only partially
adaptive defensive strategy for dealing with effective measures against the persistent
painful moods and suicidal impulses. Baker onslaught of his comorbid conditions.
wrote that for Hemingway, "the story ached In 1960, Hemingway began to lose his
to be told" (Baker, 1969, p. 190). Hemingway battle with depression and suicide. He wrote
may have told certain stories in order to ease to his friend A.E. Hotchner, "I'll tell you,
the aches that life started inside him. In A Hotch, it is like being in a Kafka nightmare. I
Farewell to Arms (1929), he tells the fictional act cheerful like always but am not. I'm bone
story of Fredrick Henry, a young American tired and very beat up emotionally" (Lynn,
man who is wounded in the leg while serving 1987, p. 581). He began to worry that his
in World War I Italy and then falls in love with friends were plotting to kill him and that the
an American Red Cross nurse while recuper- FBI was monitoring him (Lynn, 1987, pp.
ating. Henry is wounded in the same manner 581, 583). These paranoid delusions may
and in the same geographical location as was have been due to a psychotic depression re-
Hemingway while he served as an ambulance lated to his bipolar illness, complicated as it
driver on the Italian front (Hemingway, 1929, likely was by chronic alcoholism and multiple
54-55). Hemingway too fell in love with an traumatic brain injuries. In addition, Heming-
American nurse, and the two entered into a way began to speak more and more of suicide
love affair. Hemingway and his nurse likely (Lynn, 1987, p. 583). His physician urged him
never consummated their relationship, and to undergo hospitalization at the Menninger
though he hoped to marry her, she ultimately Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. Hemingway re-
rejected him in a letter after his return home to fused, insisting, "They'll say I'm losing my
Chicago (Baker, 1969, pp. 56, 59). However, marbles" (Lynn, 1987, p. 583). However, he
when Hemingway wrote his novel, he altered agreed to be treated at the Mayo Clinic, under
the tale such that the affair between the soldier the guise of an admission for treatment of his
and nurse was fully consummated and was hypertension (Lynn, 1987, p. 584). He did
ended by her death in childbirth as she at- suffer from hypertension, and the medication
tempted to deliver his child. Hints of fantasies prescribed, reserpine, might also have cause
of wish fulfillment and revenge are decipher- an adverse effect of depression. For insomnia,
able in the fictional alterations he made to the he was taking secobarbital, another potential
events he had experienced. Hemingway car- depressant (Reynolds, 1999, p. 293). Hem-
ried physical and emotional wounds home ingway was seen by Mayo Clinic psychiatrist
with him from World War I Italy; telling the Dr. Howard P. Rome, who treated the author
story of those wounds and applying twists of with electroconvulsive therapy (Lynn, 1987,
fantasy may have served a defensive role for p. 584). After a seven-week hospitalization, he
the author. Hemingway's use of writing as a was discharged home, entering a period of rel-
defense mechanism is suggested by his own ative wellness (Lynn, 1987, p. 584). During
words in response to reading F. Scott Fitzger- these weeks he ate and slept well and limited
ald's article, "The Crack Up," which told the his drinking. He also maintained a strict writ-
tale of its author's own struggle with depres- ing regimen and was, in his own words.360 Hemingway: A Psychological Autopsy
"working hard again" (Lynn, 1987, p. 585) morning, Hemingway awoke before his wife
on what would become the memoir of his and took his hfe while she slept.
youth in Paris, A Moveable Feast (1964). As It was an overwhelming interaction of
he wrote, he revisited those years spent with biological and psychosocial forces that over-
his first wife as he achieved his first great liter- came Hemingway's defenses and left him vul-
ary successes. Lynn theorized that these mem- nerable to suicide on that early July morning
ories might have been therapeutic to in 1961. The accumulated factors contribut-
Hemingway and that his work during this ing to his burden of illness at the end of his life
period may have served to keep him well are staggering. The bipolar mood disorder he
(Lynn, 1987, p. 585). inherited from his family had plagued him all
Eventually, Hemingway's depression of his life with painful, abnormal mood states.
returned. He lost the ability to write, breaking His chronic alcoholism put him at greater risk
down in tears when he could not summon of depression even as he struggled in vain to
words. It may have been that the years of alco- use this toxic drug to treat himself. The reser-
hol abuse and cumulative traumatic brain in- pine and secobarbital may have further con-
jury led to cognitive impairment that, com- tributed to his depression. Repetitive trau-
bined with depression, robbed him of his skill matic brain injuries also likely destabilized his
in writing. Regardless of the precise etiology, mood disorder and worked alongside the al-
"That one gift which had meant everything cohol to damage neuronal networks, lowering
had now deserted him" (Lynn, 1987, p. 589). his ability to control his mood and spurring on
In April of 1961, Mary came upon him as he the development of a psychotic illness. Such a
was beginning to load a shotgun. He was hos- process would also have worked to rob him of
pitalized near his Ketchum, Idaho, home one of his most adaptive defenses, his ability
(Lynn, 1987, pp. 589-590). Soon, he asked to to write. Each of these biological factors
return to his home to retrieve some items. would have contributed to Hemingway's
While escorted home by hospital staff, he ran chronic suicidality and downward course of
from his chaperones, picked up a shotgun, illness. He also bore the psychological burden
and turned it against himself. The hospital of childhood abuse. From early childhood, he
staff members caught up with him and physi- held a reservoir of rage against both his par-
cally struggled to disarm him and thwart the ents, a father who had viciously beaten him
attempt (Lynn, 1987, p. 590). He was trans- and a mother who had provided him with dis-
ferred to the Mayo Clinic for a second admis- orienting messages regarding gender and
sion, but as the plane stopped to refuel in self-worth. One result may have been a re-
South Dakota, Hemingway, bent on suicide, treat into a defensive facade of
began to walk quickly toward a plane's spin- hypermasculinity and self-sufficiency. His
ning propeller, stopping when the pilot cut the childhood experience seems also to have left
engine (Lynn, 1987, pp. 590). This was the him with a personality structure that tended
third serious suicide attempt within four days. toward narcissistic and borderline traits. His
Hemingway was hospitalized at Mayo for uncertainties about his identity, difficulties
two months. He underwent further treatment with interpersonal relationships, tendency to-
with electroconvulsive therapy and was dis- ward anger, vulnerability to narcissistic in-
charged on June 26, 1961. Mary feared that jury, and chronic suicidality complicated his
her clever husband had "charmed and de- personal life and may have served to prevent
ceived Dr. Rome to the conclusion that he was him from forming deep, meaningful, sustain-
sane" (Lynn, 1987, p. 591). The day after the able relationships, the types of relationships
couple arrived home in Ketchum, they dined that might have provided sorely needed social
out, and Hemingway told his wife that pa- supports to this man who was not willing to
trons in the restaurant were actually FBI turn to treatment for the assistance he needed.
agents there to monitor him (Lynn, 1987, p. He also lived in a time when treatment options
591). He was by no means well. The next were quite limited. In addition, he lived withMartin 361
his father's example, a constant reminder that psychiatric comorbidities and risk factors for
suicide is a readily available option. It is likely suicide. Clearly, he possessed enormous
that he carried powerful feelings of guilt and strength and resilience to live such an extraor-
anger about his father's death, and these may dinarily rich and full life, ultimately achieving
have been driving factors behind his own sui- immortality through his contributions to the
cide. Certainly, this man who nicknamed literary canon. Given this achievement, Hem-
himself "Papa" also felt love that matched his ingway's life can be considered not only a
rage at his father, and he may have tragedy, but also a story of triumph. Heming-
experienced a drive to be reunited with him, way wrote these fitting words of conclusion in
leading him to choose a parallel means of The Old Man and the Sea (1952): "But man is
taking his life. not made for defeat . . . A man can be de-
When these interrelated factors are con- stroyed but not defeated" (Hemingway,
sidered together, it becomes clear that Hem- 1952, p. 114). Hemingway was destroyed,
ingway suffered from an enormous burden of even by his own hand, but not defeated.
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