The Crook Factory put a strain Hemingway’s marriage to Martha, one reason was that he recruited his social friends to participate in his organization. “His constant goings and comings on sub-hunting errands were often followed by noisy drinking parties at all hours.” (P. 375) Martha also believed that Ernest needed to leave Cuba and report the war in Europe. She believed that he was running from his obligations to the war and would serve useful as an overseas correspondent.Meanwhile, Ernest Hemingway recruited Gustavo Dura’n, a Spanish soldier in the Civil War and an artist of music and film, to assist him in Cuba. Dura’n became a naturalized American citizen and was appointed to assist Ernest Hemingway in the Crook Factory. From the beginning Dura’n was suspected of being a communist; subsequently, the FBI began questioning Duran and Hemingway which lead to the FBI questioning the validity of the Crook Factory. (P. 375-376) “Only the force of Hemingway’s legend and overpowering personality could have convinced the ambassador, despite overwhelming evidence from the FBI, that his spy games had any real value.” (P. 375) Along with Martha’s constant pushing for him to go overseas and accusations of from the FBI of the Crook Factory, the organization shut down and Hemingway took off for London by way of New York. (P. 387) During the end of the Crook Factory era and the time before arriving in London, his close friends noticed strange signs in his behavior. One was a noticeable increase in his drinking and another was lying or stretching the truth. He also began to enjoy, with increasing pleasure, the way the people of Cuba referred to him as “Papa.” The phrase was frequently heard in the Club de Cazadores and in his favorite Cuban bars. He had enjoyed assuming the role as “Papa” in the past, but this need for subordination with the locals was o...
