Pertinent facts from the biography of Hemingway are correlated with trends in his writings including his preoccupation with the hypermasculine mastery of danger and death, scorn for those who prefer peace, and condemnation of the overtly homosexual male. The author suggests that Hemingway voices the concern of the male who has grown up in the heartland, the great Midwest, of America. Those who have lived in the Midwest may laugh at this and say that geography imposes no barriers on the male in flight from a gigantic devouring mother and a murderous, gun-toting father. This man fears any tender, loving relationships with men or women. The pathos of Hemingway is that he failed to reconcile life with death. He added to our understanding of death and fought bravely and well against those who would deny its existence and importance in human behavior.