Albert Camus wrote in The Myth of Sisyphus: "There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy." The fundamental question in my mind regarding Hemingway's suicide is could it or could it have not been prevented?

From an early age, Hemingway thought, spoke, and wrote of suicide. Looking at his genealogy, we see a clear predisposition for suicide. His father, two siblings, and a grand-daughter all took their own lives. The "warning signs" were all there, but I am still compelled to ask: could Hemingway's suicide have been prevented?

I will never understand Mary Hemingway's reasoning for not hiding the keys to the basement storage room where her husband kept his gun collection. She had said, "I think no wife has the right to deprive her husband of his possessions." I may be able to understand this in ordinary situations, but what if your husband is suicidal and tries two times previously to kill himself with guns in the house? Isn't that a red flag? Shouldn't some type of preventive measures be taken? Hemingway's guns should have been removed from the house at the least. He should have returned to a hospital for further observation and perhaps a long term treatment program could have been devised.

Ultimately, though, I feel Hemingway was destined to commit suicide. Too much in his life and writing pointed in that direction. I am reminded of a quotation that has often been attributed to him: "Follow any man's life long enough and it is sure to end badly."