Nowhere does Hemingway appear truer to his nature than in the photographs that show him hunting or fishing or on the battlefield.

Whether he holds the Tycoon rod he used to catch spearfish or his Austrian Mannlicher Schoenaur .256 which he used on elephant hunts, these images seem to encapsulate the truth.

They show the Hemignway we remember, a bearded giant of a man in bermuda shorts and worn out loafers, an instantly recognisable larger than life hero of our times.

We remember him as an 'action man'. A man filled with confidence and authority. But in reality he was shy and bitterly frustrated.

He was a man with exceptional intelligence and an educated upbringing, so diverse it must have been confusing to a young man.

His mother on one side was teaching him culture and took him to operas, concerts and art galleries and his father, on the other, was rugged and taught him outdoor life, how to use an axe, a gun, and to be afraid of nothing.

Both parents were strong and each had a total conviction and enthusiasm to teach Ernest their own ideals. And of course he and his five brothers and sisters were brought up in an intensely religious atmosphere.

Hemingway's childhood and adolescence gave him an insight into all aspects of life and being such an inquisitive, person with a determination for detail he wanted to try everything and be exceptional at everything he did.

He found it very frustrating when his health or poor eye sight kept him from fulfilling his goals. Right from adolescence when he wanted to join the forces he was unable to. His poor eye sight meant he could only join the ambulance corps. Enough for some people, but not Hemingway. He wanted to excel, to be thought of as the best.

He must also have felt himself 'cursed'. His numerous accidents, starting with his wounding in the First World War, when of course, he felt he was invincible, was his first and serious setback.

Prevented from achieving his first goal of being a war 'hero' - fulfilling his father's teachings of being a strong, dominant, fighting man, afraid of nothing, he turned to his mother's loves - culture and began to write.

He had of course been a newspaper reporter after leaving school, but his first choice was to follow his father's examples, to become a rugged, outdoor, independent man. Ironically it was his father who refused to let him join up for the First World War.

He quickly got married after recovering from his injuries in the First World War and he married a woman eight years older than him, although it was said she was naieve, unworldy and inexperienced.

It was said that perhaps he married Hadley for her money - she had private income from a trust fund and Hemingway who was not earning much as a newspaper reporter was determined to travel. He knew he needed some financial support for his plans.

However his marriage to Hadley had produced a son, John Hadley.

He was, it was said, having a number of affairs during his marriage to Hadley but it was only when she found out about his affair with Pauline Pfeiffer that Hadley wanted to divorce him.

Why did he find it necessary to have affairs, why did he need everyone to 'love' him? The pattern of marriages and affairs stayed with him all his life and yet when he finally married a woman he considered his equal - Martha Gelhorn, he threw that away too, discovering he could not cope with a woman who had a career of her own.

Hemingway did not know what he wanted. He wanted everything and nothing.

His writing was his way of coping with life - to exorcise his ghosts, to achieve fame and glory and yet he also had a natural talent. What came first, his writing or his adventures? What was most important to him? To fulfill his mother's wishes or his father's?

Maybe he felt unfulfilled at his attempts of being an adventurous, outdoor man? He certainly had more than his fair share of illness. Anthrax, digestive problems, pneumonia. Each illness seemed to occur after a long period of activity. Fishing, hunting, shooting. Maybe he was frustrated at his poor health, his proneness to sickness everytime he made some exertion on his body.

He eventually fell into a period of mental illness, overwhelmed by the demands put on him by others and himself.

His father had committed suicide, did he feel then it was perfectly ok for him to do the same?

But his medical treatment to overcome his mental problems did not work and he found his memory had gone and he could not even write to appease himself.

His physical state was also too poor for him to carry on with his pursuits of fishing, shooting and hunting. There was no other choice than to end his life.

This site was written by Caroline Hulse (BA) with contributions from Kelley Dupuis. Reference sources include Carlos Baker and Norbeto Fuentes

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