Many times in life things are not as they seem. What may look simple on the surface may be more complicated deeper within. Countless authors of short stories go on a journey to intricately craft the ultimate revelation as well as the subtle clues meant for the readers as they attempt to figure out the complete “truth” of the story. The various authors of these stories often use different literary techniques to help uncover the revelation their main characters undergo. Through the process of carefully developing their unique characters and through point of view, both Edith Wharton and Ernest Hemingway ultimately convey the significant revelation in the short stories, “Roman Fever” and “Hills Like White Elephants” respectively. The use of these two literary techniques is essential because they provide the readers with the necessary clues to realize the ultimate revelations. “Roman Fever” and “Hills Like White Elephants” are two stories that on surface seem very different from one another, but through careful analysis the two are quite similar. Their similarities are mainly evident through the significant use of the dialogues in the both stories. “Roman Fever” has a third person omniscient narrator which the author allows to know the inner private thoughts of both characters, Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley. In contrast, “Hills Like White Elephants” is composed in a third person limited narrative where very little is known about the thoughts of both Jig and the American. At first Ernest Hemingway’s short story can clearly be viewed as the most ambiguous out of the two. With its simplistic style, written mostly in straightforward dialogue which leaves the readers to contemplate over the ultimate outcome of the story and forces them to ... ... middle of paper ... ...even though she is stuck at a crossroad between Madrid and Barcelona, abortion or baby, Barcelona and the lush hills behind the Ebro River show her what she can have, what she initially wanted all along-to settle down and enjoy life with her baby and love. “Roman Fever” and “Hills Like White Elephants” are two different stories that are both very ambiguous in their own ways. Each has a revelation at the end that ultimately paints the grander picture. Even though, Wharton and Hemingway used two very different styles of writing, one full of small subtle details that all fit together as a big puzzle and the other full of simplicity and straightforwardness, both did create dynamic and mysterious characters that, mixed in with the subtle hints and suggestion of their narrators, ultimately helped the readers see and actually comprehend the revelations of each story.
Hemingway presents takes the several literary styles to present this short story. Hemingway’s use of Foreshadowing, Pathos, Imagery and Personification allows the reader to enter the true context of the frustration and struggle that the couples face. Although written in the 1920’s it the presents a modern day conflict of communication that millions of couples face. At first glance the beautiful landscape of the Barcelonian hillside in which Jig refers to frequently throughout the text appears to have taken the form of White Elephants. The Americans’ response to Jigs’ observation was less than enthusiastic as he provides a brief comment and continues on with his cerveza. This was but the first of the many verbal jousts to come between Jig and the American. The metaphorical inferences in those verbal confrontations slowly uncover the couple’s dilemma and why they may be on the waiting for the train to Madrid.
Hemingway’s narrative technique, then, is characterized by a curt style that emphasizes objectivity through highly selected details, flat and neutral diction, and simple declarative sentences capable of ironic understatements; by naturalistic presentation of actions and facts, with no attempt of any kind by the author to influence the reader; by heavy reliance on dramatic dialogue of clipped, scrappy forms for building plot and character; and by a sense of connection between some different stories so that a general understanding of all is indispensable to a better understanding of each. He thus makes the surface details suggest rather than tell everything they have to tell, hence the strength of his “iceberg.” His short stories, accordingly, deserve the reader’s second or even third reading.
Hemingway writes his works so that not everything is as it seems. It makes readers take a deeper insight about what he’s writing about. In the story ‘Hills Like White Elephants’ he writes about an operation. Now from the surface, it seems as if they are just going on a trip and when he brings up this operation, readers don’t understand that they are talking about an abortion. The story has to be read a few times, before readers really understand that the argument is about a pregnancy and how the man wants the abortion. This is how Hemingway wanted to write his story. By using his dialogue and symbolism, Hemingway plays everything out in a way that makes readers analyze the story.
Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills like White Elephants." Responding to Literature. Ed. Judith Stanford. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2006. 841-44. Print.
It is said that fiction is an essentially rhetorical art and that the author tries to persuade the reader towards a specific view of the world while reading. This is evident in both short stories, A Secret Lost in the Water by Roch Carrier, and He-y Come on Ou-t by Shinichi Hoshi. Although through A Secret Lost in the Water, Roch Carrier displays how fiction is an essentially rhetorical art better than Shinichi Hoshi in He-y, Come on Ou-t (awkard sentence), Shinichi Hoshi demonstrates it better through the use of prognosis. Furthermore, by utilizing the characters, such as the farmer from A Secret Lost in the Water, and the use of symbolism such as the hole from He-y, Come on Ou-t, it is evident that the author makes an endeavour towards persuading
It is easy to read and understand a story when the events are revealed in chronological order. There is no guessing or inferring involved in reading. There is a distinct satisfaction reading a story in which the events do not happen chronologically. The author lets the reader search and wonder and come to a conclusion on their own. In the short story, “Hills Like White Elephants”, Hemingway uses an obscure structure in which he expresses the theme of male dominance.
Ernest Hemingway’s story “Hills Like White Elephants” is written in third person. This narrator is objective and limited. It is objective, by not giving thoughts or opinions about the story. The narrator is limited by having no insight to thoughts of the other characters in the story and has
Hemingway was known for writing very little with a lot of underlying meaning. Most of his work is based more or less on dialogue. In “Hills Like White Elephants” we have a brief introduction of the scenery and then dialogue between Jig and the American. This short story does not give you any hints as to what is really being said by the main characters but the tone, scenery, and symbolism do play a big part in explaining the situation at hand and what Hemingway was trying to convey in this short piece.
Ernest Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald are one of the most well known authors to have ever existed. Both authors have a very unique style of writing that captures the audience. Hemingway uses a simple writing style that allows the main argument of his stories to be straightforward, as his writing contains strong imagery, metaphors, and symbolism. However, Fitzgerald writes much lengthier stories that are full of figurative language. Also, he employs a strong command of the language with very eloquent vocabulary. Even though both authors write in much different and unique manners, there is a strong connection between Fitzgerald’s short story “Absolution” and Hemingway’s short story “The Battler”. In order to progress on their journey of self discovery, the two main characters from each story must overcome fear and develop a stronger sense of understanding in regards to the life lessons embodied upon them throughout their “adventures.”
A trip into the world of literature includes the understanding of all the key elements the author intends to deliver. There are many different literary elements that can be used to deliver a very compelling story. Within Tim Obrien’s “The Things They Carried” as well as “Hills Like White Elephants” written by Ernest Hemingway, use many of the key literary features to deliver well written and enthralling classic short stories. This essay will attempt to provide evidence that although Hemingway and Obrien have different writing styles, they both use similar elements to provide very similar core conflicts within each story.
Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills Like White Elephants." Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. Ed. Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006. 268-272.
Hemingway, Ernest. “Hills Like White Elephants.” Literature Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. DiYanni, Robert. 2nd ed. New York. Mc Grew Hill. 2008. 400-03. Print.
The art, literature, and poetry of the early 20th century called for a disruption of social values. Modernism became the vague term to describe the shift. The characteristics of the term Modernism, all seek to free the restricted human spirit. It had no trust in the moral conventions and codes of the past. One of the examples of modernism, that breaks the conventions and traditions of literature prior to Modernism, is Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants”. The short story uses plot, symbolism, setting, dialogue, and a new style of writing to allow human spirit to experiment with meaning and interpretation.
As the couple waits between two destinations, Barcelona and Madrid, they are trapped in limbo "between two lines of rail in the sun"(142). The station, placed between the two lines of rails, suggest the two directions the couple may go - toward Madrid and the abortion or away from Madrid and to a family scenario. The landscape describes the conflict, both barren and fruitful. Alongside of one rail line long, white hills stretch across the horizon, the country before them "brown and dry" (143). In stark contrast to the desolate landscape of the hills, the other flank is lush and green, with "fields of grain and trees [running] along the banks of the Ebro" (145). This scenic dichotomy comes to embody the girl's sentiments regarding the abortion: the hills are barren, representing her life if she submits to her partners expressed desires and goes through with the abortion; while th...
Hemingway, Ernest. “Hills Like White Elephants.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. Eds. Alison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2010. 113-117. Print.