Islands in the Stream (Hemingway)

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Background

"Islands in the Stream" was meant to be a revival of Hemingway’s reputation after the negative reviews of his work "Across the River and Into the Trees". Hemingway began writing this novel in 1950 and advanced greatly through 1951. The work, rough but seemingly finished, was found by Mary Hemingway from among 332 different works Hemingway left behind after his death.

The book "Islands in the Stream" was originally meant to encompass three stories to illustrate different stages in the life of its main character, Thomas Hudson. The three different parts of the novel were originally to be entitled “The Sea When Young”, “The Sea When Absent” and “The Sea in Being”. These titles were changed however into what are now its three final acts as “Bimini”, “Cuba”, and “At Sea”.

Plot Summary

The first act, “Bimini”, begins with an introduction to the character of Thomas Hudson, a classic Hemingway stoic male figure. Hudson is a renowned American painter who finds tranquility on the island of Bimini, in the Bahamas, a far cry from his usual adventurous lifestyle. Hudson’s strict routine of work is interrupted when his three sons arrive for the summer and is the setting for most of the act. Also introduced in this act is the character of Roger Davis, one of Hudson’s oldest friends. Though similar to Hudson, Davis seems to act as a more dynamic and outgoing image of Hudson’s character. The act ends with Hudson receiving news of the death of his two youngest children soon after they leave the island.

“Cuba” takes place soon thereafter during the second World War where we are introduced to an older and more distant Hudson who has just received news of his oldest (and last) son’s death in the war. This second act introduces us to a more cynical and introverted Hudson who spends his days on the island drinking heavily and doing naval reconnaissance for the US Army.

“At Sea”, the final act, ends in the death of Hudson during the pursuit of a damaged German ship off the Gulf Stream. Hudson becomes intent on finding a damaged boat of German soldiers after he finds they massacred an entire village in their journey back to Germany. In this last act Hudson begins to finally come to stop denying the death of his children. This chapter rings heavily with influences of Hemingway’s earlier work "For Whom the Bell Tolls" in writing.

Fourth Act: The Old Man and the Sea

While writing the novel Ernest Hemingway wrote a fourth part that did not seem to go with the other acts of the book. The fourth act dealt with a Cuban fisherman and not about the rich American artist. It was this fourth part that seemed to intrigue Hemingway most as he decided to separate this act and make it into its own published work. This novella became “The Old Man and the Sea”, published in 1952, which earned Ernest Hemingway international acclaim and one of the books which earned him his Nobel Prize in 1954. Echoes of this work can still be found in "Islands in the Stream" within the tale of young David Hudson’s five hour struggle to capture a large fish which strongly resembles the struggle of “The Old Man and the Sea”.