Islands In The Stream

An example of Hemingway's work and attitude about life is the novel, Islands in the Stream. An Islands in the Stream research paper shows Thomas Hudson is catapulted through his life by events out of his control. The nature of war and one's duty to country and humanity was a theme that Thomas took on his shoulders. While politically cynical, Thomas knew his duty. In regards to the war and killing, Thomas realized that he had to do his duty. "But you have to do it. Sure, he said. But I don't have to be proud of it. I only have to do it well." That is the central theme of a hero, the recognition of duty, at personal cost. Thomas Hudson was a leader, in a quiet, passive sense; an observer of the world around him and a master at dealing with what that world handed him. This is typical of Hemingway's style and characters in these novels and many others of his famous works.

As in many of his works, Hemingway once again writes of a man who stays the course through all trials and obstacles, even if it costs him his life. While similar, "Islands In the Stream" may even be said to be better than "A Farewell to Arms" because it reaches further back into the protagonist's character and makes his tragic end all the more heart wrenching. "Islands" is a great representation of the aspects of Ernest Hemingways writing. His unrequited loves, his European memories, his role as a father, all of these are shared with the reader in "Islands." Critic Charles Anderson notes " ...the Hemingway still mostly admired and argued over is the author of the early fictions- The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms.... Perhaps their staying power derives not from their exterior alone but also from their tender spots of sensibility carefully nurtured in a dehumanized world- those passages of muted lyricism that provide both a measure and a meaning for protective toughness. Rare and brief as they are, they achieve a special resonance by being sounded against the hard polished surface of his typical prose".