While Hemingway the dedicated writer and careful editor may seem somewhat at odds with Hemingway the legendary man of action, both sides contributed to a lasting literary legacy. As the dominant concerns of successive generations have changed, readers from each generation have found new understanding and appreciation of Hemingway's works. For example, the generation of Baby Boomers profoundly affected by the Vietnam War found much to identify with in the lost generation's alienation in The Sun Also Rises. Subsequent generations, increasingly concerned with international economics and threats to the global environment, may well find the multicultural aspects of Hemingway's literature irresistible and appreciate more fully the environmental foresight of works like The Old Man and the Sea. And as the World War II generation (like the World War I generation before it) passes away, Hemingway's works will remain an invaluable contribution to twentieth-century literature and to the historical perspective of future generations.
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