Food as Escapism: The Use of Food in “Big Two-Hearted River” and A Farewell to Arms and its Psychological Implications

The first two pages of the paper I have been despairing about on Twitter. Comments and constructive criticism (note the key word there) are more than welcome. If anyone wants to read a draft or a finished copy, please e-mail me and let me know. Would be more than happy to welcome help.

Another note, I am attempting to create a more relaxed, not so academic tone of voice here. It's something new to me for a paper so bear with me if it's a little wobbly. This is also totally not spell checked, grammar checked or anything at the moment so please bear that in mind.

It surprises me that no one thinks of Ernest Hemingway as a food writer. Sure, maybe not in the same vein as established food writers such as M.F.K. Fisher, David, Lebovitz, or Ruth Reichl, but I find that he fits the category nonetheless. Rather than writing on his personal experiences with food as the axis and focal point of his own life - though they do feature predominantly in the appropriately named A Moveable Feast, something that will be discussed shortly - food focuses as a tool, metaphor, or means of plot and character. The use of food and drink is quite prevalent within Hemingway’s writing, albeit more drink than food (indeed, after reading his work it’s surprising he was ever sober enough to put pen to paper). Still the food itself cannot be ignored, his characters are often found eating by themselves or with others musing over their situations and using it as a source of self-reflection. One may even argue that Hemingway included these scenes as a way to have his characters actively participating in a daily ritual with which the reader could identify with, for who hasn’t mused over their own dismal state of affairs over a plate of pot-au-feu (or what have you)?

Indeed Hemingway himself realized the dominancy of food in his writing within his memoir noting that, “I found that many of the people I wrote about had very strong appetites and a great taste and desire for food” (101). Given it’s a strange revelation to have at this point after so many articles, short stories, and novels in which his characters in nearly every single chapter partake in various foodways. Indeed the memoir itself is called A Moveable Feast, directly inferring the gustatory aspects associated with Paris in which he was referring to in a letter to a friend. In addition, the very first chapter is titled “A Good Café on the Place St.-Michel” and another being “Hunger is a Good Discipline”. This and the fact that eating and plenty of drinking take place in nearly every chapter of his memoir, let alone his works of fiction place with uncanny certainty the importance of food in Hemingway’s work even if he wasn’t as aware of it’s prevalence as he thought (maybe he had been drinking to much to notice?).

Still, the food wasn’t there just for the sake of it being present, a siren-like temptation to find the nearest apple tart or glass of brandy while following the exploits of his heroes and anti-heroes and the women who loved them. As stated before, the food serves a purpose within the novel. It functions as a way to analyze and understand the characters. Food has long been an important aspect of human nature, society and psychology – it indicates our state of mind, ideals, and world understanding. One instance in particular is food’s use as a tool of escapism, a way to run away from our current problems and find comfort in or perhaps dig ourselves deeper into despair. In his book Food & Nutrition: Customs & Culture Paul Fieldhouse explores the concept of food and it’s psychological relation to us as a form of escapism by noting that “Adults frequently use food as an emotional outlet – a crutch to help them handle and to live with anxiety, tension, frustration, unhappiness, irritability, disappointment, loneliness or boredom. No human can escape such emotions as these and thus he must find ways to cope with them” (203). In the form of a meal or a simple bite to eat people and thus characters in a story are able to demonstrate mood and reflect emotions – food is a form of non-verbal communication whose messages can be as complex or subtle, if not more so, than the words we say or write. Certain foods already have established physiological and psychological connections, Bernard Lyman notes how queasiness of the stomach due to nervousness can result in the rejection of food, or the association of sweets with moments of joy and celebration or a generally pleasant state of mind (52-53). The moments of eating, sharing of food, and mentions of hunger therefore play a great role in understanding the characters, furthermore food’s use as a form of avoid their present situations.

As going into every scene of every character in Hemingway’s cannon would be excessive, not to mention hunger inducing, this paper will focus on the short story “Big Two-Hearted River” and his novel A Farewell to Arms. In relation to food I plan to engage in a dialogue that argues that food is used as a form of escapism for the character. Furthermore in analyzing this alimentary mechanism I hope to prove that in this escapism the reader is able to analyze and understand the psychological and emotional state of the characters.