The Enduring Hero in the Works of Ernest Hemingway In his vast collection of masterpieces, Ernest Hemingway uses his own characteristics to establish a moral code for his various heroes. This sporting code is based on the admiration of the physical virtues of courage and endurance. While not necessary to sustain society, the code conforms characters to a set of characteristics (McCaffery 237). A key element of this code is stoic resistance in the face of calamity. The heroes of Hemingway's code possess an attitude of smiling and forbearance even in the most terrible tragedies and bounce back seemingly unchanged (McCaffery 237). Hemingway often tests the character's morals by confronting death, which often directs his plots towards violent situations. The very idea of ​​living in Hemingway's imaginative world is a test of endurance, but through his cod heroes he portrays the idea that perseverance through tragedy will lead to triumph. From an early age Hemingway was a rugged, tenacious boy with an insatiable desire for action. . “His father gave him his first fishing rod when Ernest was not yet three years old and his first rifle when he was ten” (McCaffery 45). In his school years he had a strong competitive spirit and a burning desire to excel. At the age of fourteen, Hemingway convinced his father to pay for boxing lessons. On the first day he fought young A'Hearn, a middleweight in training for his next fight, and Hemingway was quickly knocked down with a bloody nose. Hemingway responded to the question of why he fought by saying “I wasn't that scared” (McCaffery 45). After graduation he was rejected from the Army due to an injured eye. He put up with this little hiccup and signed up for the Red Cross, a...... middle of paper......aker, Carlos. Hemingway the writer as artist. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1973. Walter, Caterway. Catherine's role in A Farewell to Arms. Rpt in A Farewell to Arms by Harold Bloom Ernest Hemingway.Broomall, Pennsylvania: Chelsea House Publishers, 1996.Geismar, Maxwell. Writers in crisis the American novel, 1925-1940. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin, 1961. Gellens, Jay. Twentieth century interpretations of the farewell to arms. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1970. Hemingway, Ernest. A farewell to arms. New York: The Sons of Charles Scribner, 1957._____. In our time. New York: The Sons of Charles Scribner, 1970._____. The snows of Kilimanjaro and other stories. New York: Collier Books, 1961.McCaffery, John. Ernest Hemingway: the man and his works. New York: Cooper Square Publishers, 1969.