A Hunting Man

Was it wrong for Hemingway to enjoy hunting?

As a cat, my immediate response is simply one word, PLEASE! Hunting is only natural, a function of being an animal, part of the biological blueprint.

But I recognize that humans have complicated this one. The further they move from seeing themselves as critters, the more angst they feel. Let me help here.

Firstly, Hem came by this sport honestly. He grew up in the woods and lakes of Michigan, where practically every male (and plenty of females) made hunting a way of life. He learned with his father; they hunted together; they ate what was killed. Although times have changed, let's give him that: he was a child of his era, 1899-1961.

Later, I admit, he did take the sport further to include hunting on safari, which many people consider an entirely different matter. This I can see. Sport is the point -- and we cringe when we think about the number of species that have become endangered through sport hunting. I understand why this is a delicate topic because I myself am an animal . . . and some people even consider killing mere housecats a sport!

But stop right there. Hemingway did not kill randomly on these safaris, nor did he do so without risking his own life. There is that. I'm glad this is no longer a popular sport, and I would venture to say that Hem would not continue the habit if he were alive today. But let's also remember that he was not alive when many of today's nature-related problems were known or discussed. I do not think we should judge him by our politically correct standards, do you?

So if you go to the Hemingway House in Key West and see the mounted heads and photos, try not to be too judgmental. Just look the other way and remember that our views of hunting are, like so many others, cultural.

"About morals, I know only htat what is moral is what you fell good after and what is immoral you feel bad after." Ernest Hemingway