Finca La Vigía was Ernest Hemingway’s home in Cuba. In the 1930’s Hemingway travelled to Cuba and fell in love. He then purchased Finca La Vigía and lived there from 1939 or 1940 until his death in 1961. Once he passed, the Cuban government took control of the house, with or without his surviving wife’s permission. Restoration has begun at this house and visitors can come between 10 am to 4 pm Monday-Saturday and 9 am to 1 pm on Sunday for only $5 CUC. The location of this house is 10 miles outside of Havana in San Francisco de Paula. This area was a modest choice for Hemingway at the time, rather than living in an upper class neighborhood. Finca La Vigía would be very interesting to visit because a lot of Hemingway’s original possessions are still there. Not only are his trophies from hunts in Africa and the United States still present on the walls, but also his original typewriter remains in Finca La Vigía. Whenever a house is preserved in this way, it is always fascinating to walk around to understand the environment behind the writer. This house was also where he wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea, and who knows, maybe some inspirations of these novels are in his home. Overall, this house has been impeccably preserved in order for tourists and fans of Hemingway to see. Most of the furniture is elegant and simple, leaving the animal trophies to be the most intriguing aspect of the house. Even though trophy hunting in Africa is looked down upon today, at the time it was meant to be a sign of bravery because of the risks involved in the hunt. Although its preservation today seems as though it was the right thing to do, there are a lot of controversies regarding it. After Fidel came into power in 1959, Hemingway killed himself a few years later. The government has also claimed that they took Finca La Vigía with permission of Hemingway himself and with the permission of his family. According to Mary Welsh Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway’s wife at the time of his death, “the Cuban government informed the family that it had confiscated the property, all of it, and that it now belonged to the nation” (The Contradictions…). This unexpected confiscation caused Mary to scramble to get some of Hemingway’s manuscripts to bring back to the US for preservation. All of this conflict regarding the possession of Finca La Vigía makes me question the Cuban government’s motives. Do you feel as though the Cuban government was fair in taking this home away from Hemmingway’s family? At what point does a personal possession such as this turn into a monument, as it is today?
Hi Molly,
ReplyDeleteI never knew there was so much controversy about Ernest Hemingway's house! I've never heard any of this information before so I found reading this very interesting. To answer your questions, I don't believe what the Cuban government did was fair at all, especially since Hemingway's wife at the time was still living in that home! It's obvious theirs a possibility that Hemingway made an agreement with the government, but didn't tell his wife. However, I feel like that is very unlikely. Either way, I think there needed to be an official agreement in paper spelling out everything with Hemingway's signature for the government to even think about taking his home. I think in order to turn a personal possession into a monument today you need to respect the wishes of those closest to the person who has passed. However, I am still excited to see his home. In school I had to read the Old Man and the Sea, so I have learned a bit about Hemingway, and I'm fascinated to see the home he lived in where he wrote that book! What are your views on the situation?
Out of one of the places we get to go to on this trip I am most excited about attending Hemmingway’s house. When I was in high school, we were required to read The Old Man and the Sea, and my teacher was obsessed that he had a house in Cuba. I never thought that I would get the chance to go to his house. I have never been to a house that has been preserved by someone famous so I am excited to see what it will look like. I do not feel that the Cuban government should have taken his house from his family. Hemmingway was not always in the happiest place and since he is no longer around, we don’t if he did or didn’t give the house to the government. If Hemmingway truly left his house to his wife, I feel the government should’ve left it alone but as a tourist I am very eager to get to see what it looks like.
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