Cr1+1c4l 3ye

For my Critical Eye project, I visited Ernest Hemingway's former home in Key West, Florida. At first I was excited about the tour of the home/museum because I'm a fan of Hemingway's writing, but as the tour rolled along, I realized Ernie was just a normal guy... who happened to also be really good at writing.

The tour kicked off outside the house, with a general summary of Ernest Hemingway's daily activities. Apparently he was a fairly reclusive man, because there wasn't much to say about him. He wrote daily (obviously), was often frustrated by writing (even more obvious), and liked to hang out at a bar called Sloppy Joe's. This last thing struck me as odd. Sloppy Joe's sounds more like some place you would find an average guy like me than "The Great Ernest Hemingway". (Maybe not me now cause I'm 15, but you get the point.)

As we moved through the house, I slowly became bored with the tour guide and began to let my eyes and thoughts wander. In the dining room I saw a table. A chair. Forks and knives. He's just a regular guy! I have no idea how I thought Ernest Hemingway would have eaten before I visited his home, but for some reason I didn't think it would be with forks and knives. Upstairs I found a bathroom, a bed, lamps. Still, nothing out of the ordinary. I guess that's what I really got from the trip. Just because you do something extraordinary, doesn't mean you don't still live ordinarily.


All in all, I was surprised by my trip into the house of one of the greatest American authors of all time. I think the best part of the trip was that it got me thinking, if this guy eats with forks and knives and sleeps on a bed, why can't i be a just as good of a writer as him? Maybe I can.

"All my life I've looked at words as though I were seeing them for the first time. "
-Ernest Hemingway