Category: Ernest Hemingway

Introduction

Literature as a form of art is a rather specific matter for analysis. To compare and contrast literary works it is necessary to consider the techniques the author uses for this or that aim. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to contrast and compare the techniques used by Ernest Hemingway and Russell Banks to render the topic of gender relations in society. This paper will concentrate on the analysis of the short stories “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway and “Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat” by Russell Banks. The essence of the comparative analysis of these stories will lie in the techniques used by the writers to develop their characters, render the same theme of their stories and convey the tone and atmosphere of the stories as single wholes.

Comparison

To begin with, it is necessary to state that how the authors develop their characters differs in the stories under consideration. The major difference in this aspect is the fact that Ernest Hemingway introduces his characters to the story in an abrupt manner as if the readers already know these people and are familiar with their backgrounds. At the same time, Russell Banks uses the technique of a gradual, even postponed, introduction of characters into his story. Further on, the development of the readers’ knowledge about the characters and the impression made by them is also delivered in different ways. Ernest Hemingway tells the story which makes the reader feel present at the conversation of the man and the girl in the café somewhere near Barcelona. Thus, there is no need to provide any preliminary narration and explain who the characters are and what they are talking about. On the contrary, Banks makes use of substantial narration in the story that introduces the readers to the situation and gradually explains who the characters are and how are they interrelated. Thus, the different rendering of relations between sexes is observed as viewed by both authors.

Consequently, how both authors render the major topic of their stories differs as well. The main idea of both stories is the relations of sexes in society as exemplified by particular stories of specific people. However, the way Hemingway develops this topic can be described as the conversation of a couple of people who love each other but are ready to give freedom to their beloved ones: “I don’t want you to do it if you don’t want to.” (Hemingway, 650) At the same time, the relations of the black man and the white woman in the story by Banks are rather binding. In other words, they both want to change each other by imposing views hostile to their outlooks of the world. For example, the woman wants the men to take up the customs and values of the white race, while the man wants her to have a baby and live following his views of life. In these points, the main difference between the writers themselves can be seen. Hemingway is famous as the supporter of freedom, while Banks always tries to eliminate the plot from the story making it a set of personal emotional, and physical experiences of individuals.

As a result, the techniques that the authors use to render the tone and atmosphere of the stories are different as well. The tone of the story by Hemingway is rather optimistic and the final scene of this work proves this. Both characters are clearly in love with each other and they are ready for whatever for their beloved ones. Their talk seems rather tense while they argue about their issues but finally, they agree on doing everything to make each other happy. As contrasted to Hemingway, Banks depicts the pessimistic and rather dull atmosphere of the story. His characters live in a trailer park home with lots of neighbors. All the inhabitants of the trailer park are rather nervous and stressed by their living conditions: “They all move slowly, heavily, as if with regret, even the child” (Banks, 115) The techniques of depicting the setting of the story with the respective words is of help to the author in creating the intended tone and atmosphere of the events in the lives of their characters. Thus, the topic of relations between sexes is viewed by Hemingway as a story with a happy end while Banks develops this topic as a hopeless struggle of opposite opinions.

Conclusion

So, to make a respective conclusion, the two stories considered are similar in the topic they are dedicated to but the means of its rendering are different. Hemingway uses abrupt character introduction and fast development to create a free-loving picture of relations between sexes and views the lives of his characters in a positive light. On the contrary, Banks is concerned with the negative sides of relations between opposite sexes, and for the creation of such an effect, he resorts to the use of narration and gradual character development that shows the slow and dull character of life. Pessimistic is also the tone and atmosphere of the story which is achieved by numerous narrations using words with negative connotations like “abortion, slowly, subsistence”. Thus, the same topic is rendered with the help of different techniques by Ernest Hemingway and Russell Banks.

Works Cited

Hemingway, E. (1927) Hills Like White Elephants. In A. Charters (6th Ed). The Story and Its Writer (2003). (pp. 647-650). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins Publications.

Banks, R. (1981) Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat. In A. Charters (6th Ed). The Story and Its Writer (2003) (pp. 115-120). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins Publications.

Man confronts diverse situations which force him to react according to the gravity of the circumstances. Invariably, the decisions taken are guided by his experience, his intuition, or by external agencies. As a solution to myriad problems, man chooses the path as ordained by his beliefs, which in turn is influenced by his psychological constitution. Hence, the decision he takes could explore his temperament and hence reading the themes of exile and escape in Hemingway’s Soldier’s Home is an interesting study of these sensitive concepts as caricatured in the protagonist, Harold Krebs stationed in Germany when he ‘enlisted in the marines and in 1917 and did not return to the U.S. until the second division returned from the Rhine in the summer of 1919’ (Hemingway 1).

Krebs feels alienated from the general crowd as he doesn’t receive adoration as a soldier on his return. In a desperate attempt to draw attention he prefers to lie. Unfortunately, his attempts are in vain as the people are wary of war tales. Krebs dislikes war on account of his taste for lying to prove himself to be a good soldier. In spite of continuous raillery, engaging in frivolous pastimes, he doesn’t seem to arrive at a plausible solution to his misery. The misery is accounted for his hesitancy to return back home, in spite of the war. This incident imposes ‘mental exile’ on Krebs who yearns to live in Germany. Yet another stumbling block is his impotency to come to terms with the present situation in which he finds himself. We find Krebs, unable to mingle with girls as he feels he would get into unnecessary complications. His temperament dissuades him from leading the normal life of an American. Most glaring is his hatred for German and French girls and his liking for American girls; he wouldn’t want to get seriously involved with any of them fearing the consequences. He would prefer to lead a life – uncomplicated.

The tendency in Krebs to escape from the realities of life is testimony to his growing discomfort at being in the U.S. with his parents. He loves life but loathes complications.

It’s almost a month since he has arrived home and he is yet to find an occupation for himself. He idles and doesn’t engage in anything meaningful, much to the chagrin of his father. To Krebs, his father has always being a figure worth escaping from. From the story, it is quite lucid that he has never had any affection for his father and that his father is a constant reminder of the grave realities of life. This is a reason why he can never come to terms with his father. Krebs wasn’t given the opportunity to ride his father’s car though he secretly nurtured a liking to drive the car. The gap between the father and the son is too wide. At the same time, one cannot prove that both of them have a dislike towards the other. Krebs remains withdrawn throughout the story.

Krebs is an introvert. This fact cannot be denied. He never finds himself at ease in the company of his friends. He is too preoccupied with himself and his interest. It appears that he has built a fortress around himself, subjugating his real desires and only being a mere shadow of him. His parents care for him and their concern for his welfare is seen explicitly. It is Krebs who fails to understand his parents. At times we feel Krebs is purposely alienating himself from his duties at home. It could be the projection of his dissatisfaction with life at home.

Krebs floats throughout. Intermittent thoughts about the glories and his best spent days at war are a fact that makes his belief that he dwells in the past. His mother awakens him to the present as she throws a direct hit on his whiling away of time instead of landing himself in a prosperous position. She recounts his friend’s success in life and pleads to him to change himself. Krebs, in a desperate attempt to save himself from dishonor, agrees to his mother but not wholeheartedly. Later, at his mother’s repeated request, he says he wouldn’t be able to pray or satisfy her. Thoroughly shaken, in a final bid to save her son, she asks him whether he loved her or not. When he replies in the negative, his mother is downcast and is up to tears. This incident was too shocking and he starts hating himself for having lied to his mother. He assures her that he loved her and he vows to go to Kansas to settle amicably.

Throughout the story, there is the undercurrent of the soul that is yearning for recognition at all fronts. The final escape of the soul from incognito is in its departure to Kansas. Though Krebs couldn’t prove himself to his people, he could now stand up to face the world. His make-believe world is shattered and he finds himself in a position to make amends for the lost glory.

The story reminds one of Laura Wingfield in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, who builds a castle of thoughts around her, of a better life with Jim only to be shattered in the end. In fact, her brother Tom, who is responsible for destroying his sister’s life, brings misery upon himself as he loses his job just days after this incident. Both Laura and Tom are weak and their escape from their present problems is quite different from Krebs’. Laura, suffering from pleurisies, is shy and withdrawn due to this handicapped. She is cocooned in her shell which doesn’t break in spite of several attempts. The Unicorn is the symbol of Laura, who stands out quite different from the others in her group. Tom on the other hand escapes from his house as he feels himself doing great harm to his sister and mother. He has natured false hopes in them by not making sufficient inquiries. In suppressing and denying his emotions in the warehouse, he finds his escape in the end. But it is quite sure that leaving home is not a true escape for Tom as he leads a life of a fugitive, trapped by his love for his mother and sister.

Laura’s escape is only momentary, from the frustrations and dysfunction in life. Thus the two incidents are a study of escape and self-imposed exile due to unprecedented circumstances.

Of particular interest is the life of Huck Finn in Mark Twain’s, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The life of Huck by the Mississippi River is a constant reminder of a person’s flight from life. It could be far-fetched to claim in such a manner as Huck is only a small boy. Yet we find the elements of a rebel in Huck who wants to escape from the drudgery of life, having chewed the nasty elements of life. A fugitive, running away from his father, a tyrant, Huck finds himself in the company of Tom. Tom becomes his best friend and in a bid to civilize him, makes various attempts. Widow Douglas takes pity on the boy and leaves him at ease. Yet, his past doesn’t leave him and he finds himself in the cruel hands of his father once again. Later he escapes from his father who disturbs Widow Douglas for money. He encounters Jim, a slave a black left to the mercy of nature. Jim yearns to be with his wife. He escapes from his landlord who does not treat him well. Unforeseen circumstances entrap Jim once again. Luckily both Tom and Huck prepare for Jim’s escape and they succeed.

In a bid to escape from being civilized, Huck says enough of ‘civilizing and plans to go to the West (Twain).

It would be wise to arrive at a general meaning of the terms escape and exile as we find that Krebs, Laura, Tom, Jim, and Huck are participants in the drama of life. While Laura and Tom are forced to escape from life due to inevitable circumstances, Krebs has imposed exile and escape on himself. Jim and Huck are again victims of societal injustice. It cannot be completely true to say that Laura and Tom are not responsible for their own fate. To a large extent, the themes of escape and exile show individual interests and constraints in manifesting a hopeless situation. Often, escape and exile leads to shocking revelations. In the case of Laura, it is her unfulfilled affair with Jim. With Tom, it is his inability to sacrifice his home and forget thoughts about his mother and sister. To Jim and Huck, civilization cannot free them from the freedom they choose. With Krebs, it is his inability to escape from the realities of life.

I too have discovered that it is impossible to escape from oneself. One has to lead a life according to one’s own dictates to the truest possible extent. Bid to escape and live in exile, imposed or self–willed, would ultimately bring the self back to the original place one belongs to. The human mind is subject to various influences and rendezvous with problems requires extensive analysis and greater patience. To be able to accept the given situation or to react suitably in dire circumstances requires proper guidance or experience. Quite often society plays a decisive role in enabling the self to realize its condition. Significantly, man is responsible for himself.

Works Cited

Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Sparknotes. 2006. Web.

A Clean Well-Lighted Place is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. Written in Hemingway’s signature dry style, it mostly leaves the reader guessing about its setting. Although descriptions are not detailed, there are enough hints scattered in the text that one can guess certain details. In A Clean Well-Lighted Place, the reader seems to be expected to read between the lines to understand the setting.

The time period when the short story takes place is not specified. However, at some point, it is said that a soldier wearing his uniform went by. From this, one can infer the possibility that there is a war. Moreover, it is shown that the soldier was with a girl whose head was uncovered. This suggests that this characteristic is important enough for the culture to be mentioned. Perhaps the story takes place in the past or in a conservative country. As some characters speak Spanish, it can be inferred that it is a Spanish-speaking country.

At the center of the short story is a café, which is sparsely described: it has electric lights, the tables are empty, and no music is playing. There is a “shining” steam pressure coffee machine, which suggests a certain tidiness on the part of the workers; the bar, however, is unpolished. Overall, the place is light, mostly clean, and said to be pleasant. Moreover, one of the waiters refers to bodegas of the town or city as somehow lesser than the café, meaning that the establishment must have a reputation in the town.

The short story also touches upon what is outside of the café. The action takes place at night, and it is pointed out that it is quiet at night, meaning that during the day, it is noisy on the outside. Furthermore, it is said that the street is dusty during the day, while at night, the dust settles. The tree leaves that leave pleasant shadows from the electric lights seem to be a draw for the café’s guests.

Based on the information in A Clean Well-Lighted Place, the reader can guess that the short story most likely takes place sometime in the past, possibly during wartime. It appears that the setting is a conservative Spanish-speaking country where it can get dusty during the day. The titular clean well-lighted place refers to a café, which seems to be a respectable place for its visitors.

1. Author’s Name: Ernest Hemingway.
2. List Keywords: Ernest Hemingway: journalism, the post-war period, Paris, Hadley Richardson, modernism, Men Without Women (1927).
3. Working Thesis: In the short story collection and, in particular, A Canary for One, Hemingway depicts a shift in the American family, which could have been caused by women gaining equality.
   1. the American family
   2. equality
4. Preliminary Research:

• • Biography in Context: Print It ‘After I’m Dead’: A Hemingway War Tale
  • Date written: 3 Aug. 2018
  • Author of Article: Matthew Haag

Key Terms/Keywords and Main Points Described in Article:

• Suicide
• The war
• France
• Story
  • Encyclopedic Website: Poetry Foundation
  • Key Terms/Keywords and Main Points Described in Article:
• Truth
• Style
• Self-parody
• Society
• Perception
• Pessimism
• Individual
• Relationship
• Cyclicality
• Disappointment

5. A Critical Book.

A Critical Book Written by One Author

Title: New critical approaches to the short stories of Ernest Hemingway

Author: Benson, Jackson J.

Call Number: PS3515.E37 Z7466 1990

Date: 1990

Availability: 1 copy available at Barth Learning Resources Center – West Campus

Publisher: Duke University Press

6. An Academic Journal.

Article Title: Echoes of Charles Dickens’s Little Dorrit in Ernest Hemingway’s “A Canary for One”

Author of the article: Prusse, Michael C.

Database: MLA

Source information:

• Journal Title: ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and Reviews
• Date published: 2018
• Volume: 31
• Page article starts on: 223
• Number of pages: 2

7. Citing the Articles.

Book Citation

Benson, Jackson J. New Critical Approaches to the Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Duke University Press, 1990.

Database Citation

Prusse, Michael C. “Echoes of Charles Dickens’s Little Dorrit in Ernest Hemingway’s ‘A Canary for One.’” ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and Reviews, vol. 31, no. 4, 2018, pp. 223-225. MLA, Web.

Introduction

Literary artists exhibit their writing talents by creating different literary works. Some of these literary works include novels, plays, and short stories. Each type of literary work has got unique features that differentiate it from other literary works. A short story uses all the elements of that genre to develop his or her theme; in fact, all the elements are used to lead the reader to the central meaning of the work.

The Plot of the Short Story

Plot refers to the pattern of events in a short story. The short story ‘The snows of Mt. Kilimanjaro’ begins with a description of Mount Kilimanjaro followed by a tale of the frozen carcass of a leopard. The story then introduces Harry and his wife Helen on their tour to Africa. Harry is suffering from gangrene and is about to die. As his situation worsens, he talks about his death in a manner that angers his wife. He says that it would be difficult for a rescue plane to save him because of their location. Helen is determined to help him go through his problems, but his self-pity and hopelessness discourage her. Harry then starts thinking about the varying experiences he has gone through in life.

Harry remembers his earlier trips to Europe when he was looking for information about the war, hunting in the mountains, playing games, and getting information about a bombed train with Australian officers. He falls asleep, and when he wakes up towards the end of the day, he realizes that Helen, who has been on a shooting trip, has just returned. He tells her that she has been a good wife, but he regrets having spent his life marrying rich women who ignored his writing talent (Bloom 71).

Harry then remembers how he developed gangrene as he tried to take photographs of water-bucks. He was scratched on the knee and failed to use iodine. After this memory, he remembers his encounter in Constantinople, where he fought over a prostitute with a British fighter and then headed to Anatolia. He recalls that he, later on, went back to Paris and joined the wife he was married to at that time. As Harry and Helen eat their supper, Harry remembers how his grandfather’s log house was consumed by fire. He also narrates to Helen his fishing experience in the Black Forest and his relationship with the poor neighbors. In his last memories, he recalls an officer called Williamson who suffered a bomb attack.

Eventually, Harry lies on a cot as he remembers his experiences in life. While on the cot, he experiences death and associates it with a hyena in the campsite. Helen transfers his cot and has a feeling that Harry is dying after realizing that he could not speak. Harry is dreaming of a man known as Compton who comes to rescue him, and as he is being taken to the plane, he could see the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, which is his destination. Helen is woken up by a hyena’s cry in the night only to see Harry on his cot dead (Bloom 75).

Setting

The setting is defined as the physical environment where a story takes place (Harpham 156). It is an important component of a short story since it gives the readers a picture of the physical surroundings where the story takes place. This story’s setting is a campsite near Tanganyika plains on the last evening of Harry, who is about to die of gangrene. Tanganyika plains are found in Africa, which is a land full of light and heat.

These are the qualities that compel Harry to choose this place because the darkness in his soul would be illuminated. He is also optimistic that he would get inspirational warmth that would melt his frozen talents. The irony of the matter is that the land that is supposed to be his solace turns out to be his graveyard. Of great importance in this story’s setting is how contrast is made between the plains and the mountain.

Kilimanjaro becomes the final landscape, which rises high above the plains pleasantly. It is a physical and final sign of innocence, purity, and aspiration in a world characterized by misery and corruption. Before his death, Harry goes beyond the hills, forests, plains, and the clouds. His journey enables him to see the peak of Kilimanjaro in an apparent instance of ecstasy. Eventually, a world where comfort and money are the gods is symbolically abandoned as Harry finds the ‘House of God’ in the holy mountain.

Themes

A short story theme refers to an abstract concept that the author focuses on (Harpham 185). It can also be defined as an idea frequently occurring throughout the literary work. In this short story, death stands out as the central theme. For many years, Harry has always been curious about death. When he realizes that he is close to it, his curiosity disappears, and he feels angered and tired. The sensation of death strikes him on the chest like a heavy burden. The perceptions that come with death include the fading of the daylight into a dark night, vultures flying all over the camp, sounds of a hyena, and the turning of conscious thinking into fantasy. The other theme evident in this short story is the impact of wealth on talent. Harry is described as a promising author, but marrying wealthy women destroys his writing career.

Symbolism

Symbolism is the use of one thing to represent another by association (Gates and McKay 40). This short story uses various natural symbols. Firstly, the mountains are used to symbolize innocence, purity, and aspiration, while the plains symbolize corruption and suffering. Secondly, the dead leopard symbolizes the shameful and painless death caused by gangrene that Harry faces. The dead leopard is contrasted with the body of the man that is rotting in the plains.

The leopard goes beyond the borders of nature and ventures into an unknown world, causing its heroic death. The man does not try, he remains where he is, does not achieve anything, and he finally dies as he curses the darkness. The animal is a symbol of an artist who faces a noble death as he searches the summit, while gangrene symbolizes the corruption and the defiled talent.

Helen is also used symbolically to represent threats and danger. She symbolizes richness and wealth, which are the elements that corrupt the mind of Harry. Despite the fact that wealth can buy comfort and security, it eventually destroys Harry. Money and women are therefore used as agents that combine to assist Harry in his journey of self-destruction. Helen is therefore used as a symbol of death that destroys Harry (Gates and McKay 45).

Characterization

Characterization refers to the author’s presentation of the characters. The main characters in this short story are Harry, who is a writer, and his wife, Helen. Harry is a round character who is ambiguous, and the full revelation of his qualities can only be achieved as the story comes to an end. Throughout the story, two different attributes Harry are brought out. The first Harry is a disillusioned person on the brink of death who tries to deal with his guilt. The second Harry is adventurous and a tough person who takes challenges wherever he goes.

On the other hand, Helen is a flat character who does not go through many changes throughout the story. Although Harry portrays Helen as a negative character who symbolizes death, it is ironic that she handles him in a manner that portrays her as a symbol of life. She is concerned about his welfare and tries to make him comfortable. She keeps on encouraging him, and even when he has given up on hopes of a rescue plane arriving, she gives him hope. She also tells him that the noise made by hyenas does not announce his death because that is a common occurrence in camps. Unlike Harry, Helen is a character who does not bother to look for the hidden attributes of people and does not remember the past. Neither is she disturbed by the fear of the future.

Style of the short story

This short story is told in the third person narrative style and uses dialogue. The sections representing the numerous moments of Harry’s unconsciousness are italicized. This is giving the reader a clear picture of a man who has traveled widely in Europe and has relationships with many women. Hemmingway’s style conveys Harry’s disturbing conscience, which has a close association with his loneliness that is difficult to eliminate. The author uses imagery appropriately, which gives the readers a clear sense of place through vivid descriptions. To suggest the imminent death of Harry, the author uses vultures and the wails of a hyena, attracted by the rotting body of Harry. He also links the rotting body of Harry with poetry (Gates and McKay 55).

Point of View

Point of view refers to how the author tells the story to the reader. The short story portrays the feelings that go through the mind of individuals like Harry, who is about to die and regrets his wasted life. On the other hand, the point of view of Helen, who is not afraid of imminent death, is limited. The short story involves a dialogue between Harry and Helen as he struggles with his stream of consciousness. He remembers his experiences early in life before meeting Helen. Through the thoughts and dialogues that Harry is involved in, the reader can understand his point of view regarding his condition and memories of his entire life. Harry views his life as wasted because he has not achieved his dreams and blames the wealthy women for keeping him as a possession.

Tone

Tone refers to the attitude of the writer towards the content of his work. In this short story, the tone can be described in various ways. Firstly, it can be described as regretful since Harry is regretting having wasted all his life. He says that his involvement with wealthy women has caused him not to realize his dreams. Secondly, the tone can also be described as serious since Harry is worried about his death and is always remembering his past. On the contrary, Helen is not afraid of death and comforts Harry instead.

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. Ernest Hemingway. New York: Infobase Publishing, 1999. Print.

Gates, Henry and Nellie McKay. The Norton anthology of African American literature. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2004. Print.

Harpham, Geofrey. A Glossary of Literary Terms. New York: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

Introduction

It is no secret that events that threaten a person’s well-being, health, and very life have a high possibility of changing their behavior and worldview. It is a well-known fact discussed multiple times in historical, biographical, and fiction literature. However, I can say that an event of any nature and scale can change an individual’s character entirely in a new or opposite direction. A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway showed me that a significant shift in my worldview in a more skeptical and pessimistic way was due not to my growing up but rather to the COVID-19 crisis.

Frederick Henry and Me

Frederick Henry undergoes a radical internal philosophical transformation in A Farewell to Arms. At first, he sees war as a new element in his daily life; he considers it a natural phenomenon. Henry perceives “flashes from the artillery” and “summer lightning” as harmless events of similar nature that just happen (Hemingway, 2014, p. 3). His perspective radically changes when he faces near death after being accused of desertion by the Italian military police after the defeat at Caporetto (Hemingway, 2014). After that, he fears war and wants to escape to a place without fighting, such as Switzerland. I had a similarly drastic change in perspective regarding the future. When the pandemic, mass hysteria, and lockdowns came, I realized that the world had not become a safer space and that it would repeat some of the horrors of past centuries. Constant anxiety for relatives and friends and new uncomfortable life rules made me more skeptical and pessimistic. However, it taught me to appreciate every moment with loved ones and cherish every good day.

Conclusion

A Farewell to Arms is not only about the horrors that young people experienced during the Great War and how Hemingway got through the second-largest global military conflict. This book also very realistically depicts and profoundly analyzes the causality of life-threatening events and personality changes and the process of one’s inner transformation. This work by Hemingway has helped me to introspect myself, and I think the relevance of this book will only grow considering the recent world crises.

Reference

Hemingway, E. (2014). A farewell to arms. (S. Hemingway, Ed.). Scribner.

Ernest Hemingway’s literature is often compared to an onion, with numerous layers of depth and complexity that require careful peeling back to appreciate fully. His stories are full of emotions and often provoke the reader to express them. Moreover, his texts reveal humanity’s dark side through literature. One can trace this particular feature of the author’s style to the example of his novels and the characteristic features of the heroes.

Symbolism is one of the distinctive features of Hemingway’s literature, revealing the multi-layeredness concept. For example, in “The Old Man and the Sea,” the sea is a physical setting and a metaphor for the vastness of life and the struggles one can face (Shahwan 91). Similarly, the bullfighting in “The Sun Also Rises” is not just a spectacle but also a symbol of the deeper issues of masculinity and power that pervade the novel (Yanar 164). Symbols are often used in literature, but Hemingway brought this artistic tool to perfection, making it a hallmark of his works.

Hemingway’s characters are also multilayered, often revealing their true nature only gradually throughout the story. In “A Farewell to Arms,” the protagonist, Frederic Henry, is initially presented as a typical Hemingway hero – tough, stoic, and emotionally distant (Li 350). However, as the novel progresses, we begin to see the cracks in Henry’s facade, and his personality’s vulnerable side is slowly revealed. Hemingway’s exploration of the darker side of humanity is perhaps the most strikingly complex aspect of his work. In “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” the protagonist’s journey from cowardice to bravery is accompanied by a sense of brutality and violence that underscores the complexity of his character (Abrams 7). These novels delve deeply into the psychological effects of violence and the toll it takes on the human spirit.

Ultimately, Hemingway’s literature is like an onion in that it requires a willingness to delve beneath the surface and confront the darker aspects of the human experience. By peeling back the layers of his stories, readers can gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of the human psyche and how we are all shaped by the forces of history, culture, and society.

Works Cited

Abrams, Abigail. “Ernest Hemingway’s bonds through narrative styles.”, 2022. Web.

Li, Lihong. “Reading Henry of A Farewell to Arms.”, 2019. Web.

Shahwan, Saed J. “A lacanian study of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea.” Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 10, no. 1, 2019, pp. 87-91. Web.

Yanar, Muhsin. “Inertia and identity confusion in Ernest Hemingway’s the sun also rises.” Journal of International Social Research, vol. 13, no. 71, 2020, pp. 162-168. Web.

In Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, Fredrick Henry, the story’s character, is an American ambulance driver who served in the Italian army during the First World War. He takes a different perspective on the war due to the unprecedented struggles that ensued then. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway narrates how Henry grows up and changes internally based on acquired experience and knowledge about the war as something that carries a powerfully destructive force.

Henry’s change of attitude toward the war was caused by the harsh reality he experienced. For instance, Henry felt that his military paramedic duties were not valued. In addition, he was almost executed after the military police said he spoke Italian with an American accent, which meant he might be an unforeseen traitor (Uddin and Karmakar 49). The other specific traumatic events in A Farewell to Arms are closely related to the terrible scenes during the war and the job threatening the protagonist’s life. In particular, Henry described shellings and a series of explosions, horrific moments in which soldiers were torn apart by bombs, and many deaths of fellow soldiers, on which others stepped like garbage bags. Indeed, these events radically changed his personality due to the violence and cruelty he saw on the battlefield.

I had a similar experience with Fredrick Henry while in high school. I worked hard to ensure that the school administration listened to students’ concerns every time. As a student leader, I devoted myself to serving my fellow learners in the perfect body. Nevertheless, the night before the elections in the school, I faced an experience that risked my health. Someone sprayed my bed with a significantly poisonous chemical, and I lost the elections. That experience benefited me because I noted that people do not reciprocate moral good with the same.

In conclusion, Ernest Hemingway’s message about the war is that participation in a modern war and death for the fatherland is not so glorious because a person dies like a dog for nothing. Even if an individual survives, memories of the horrors will remain. Frederick Henry’s change of attitude toward the war was brought about by a lack of recognition for his efforts in the army and the mental and physical challenges he met while working. Furthermore, I can understand the feelings and emotions of the protagonist since I had a similar experience while being a leader in the school.

Work Cited

Uddin, Md Azim, and Kamol Karmakar. “War-love Dichotomy in A Farewell to Arms and Arms and the Man: A Comparative Study.” Journal of Noakhali Science and Technology University (JNSTU), vol. 4, no. 1&2, 2020, pp. 49-57, Web.

Gender is a creation of social and gender discourses that create set roles for men and women to follow. These roles distinctly demarcate the boundaries of man and woman’s intellect, ability, and position. Female identity is subjected to innumerable social and familial constructs that force them to lose their individuality and identity. Denouncement of these social mores is the source of escape for women. This becomes the central idea of both in A Doll’s House by Ibsen and “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway. Ibsen’s central theme is the position of women in family and society (Moi 256). Hemingway explores gender roles through gendered communication (or non-communication) between a man and a woman through a dialogue-based short story.

The ultimate decisions taken by Jig (Hemingway’s protagonist) and Nora (Ibsen’s protagonist) are to break the social rules and find their own identity. Both Ibsen and Hemingway agree that women are trapped within the societal dictates and their life is ordained by the patriarchy. Both the works are an appeal to the modern age to deconstruct and change the ideas of love, family, and relationships. This article explores the idea of gender and social roles presented in A Doll’s House and “Hills”. This essay will argue that Nora in A Doll’s House and Jig in “Hills” defies the patriarchal domination and refuse to accede to its dictate, choosing their own destiny.

Simone de Beauvoir argues that men are given a superior position in a marriage by social constructs (484). In a relationship with another woman, man is believed to be socially, morally, and intellectually superior (Beauvoir 484). Gender and social discourses teach women to respect the male superiority that makes her believe that man takes the first place. Beauvoir claims, “one is not born, but, rather, becomes a woman,” implies women are not born as a female gender but becomes one through social constructs (295). A woman is formed through the repeated teachings of her society that constructs her roles as a daughter, a wife, and then a mother. These social constructs that stylize the formation of the gendered self create the illusion of a woman (Butler 519). Thus, these patriarchal gender roles and social roles split the identity of a woman (Beauvoir 497). At times, she fails to refuse this perception of superiority in the fear of ruining her family while at other times she rebels against male authority, breaking the social norms. Both Beauvoir and Butler believe that female gender is a creation of social norms that are imposed on a girl-child after she is born. Thus, it creates an ‘other’ that she has internalized and cannot reject.

Gender roles in literary work are discussed through the ideological struggle between male and the female characters. Ibsen’s A Doll’s House focuses on sociopolitical facets of gender roles. The main theme of the play is social and gender roles as perceived by the patriarchy and a woman’s duties and roles in a marriage. A central theme of A Doll’s House is family and gender roles. The play shows Nora breaking the barriers of social and gender roles imposed on her. She was the mother, daughter and wife. Thus, her claim that she is “first and foremost a human being” before she adheres to the social rules (Ibsen 129). This declaration by Nora to assume her identity as a human being resonates the demand for women’s social and political equality (Moi 257).

However, Nora was able to make this claim on her identity as a human being only after she rejects her social and gender constructs. She refused to be the wife or the mother and that is when she could voice her desire to be recognized as a human being. Nora’s refusal to accept her gender roles as a mother and wife is a rejection of gender and social roles. Moi reads the rejection as the refusal to accept “Hegel’s theory of women’s roles” (259). The doll becomes a symbol of humanity and her rejection to become a wife or a mother shows her breaking of the gender and social roles. While discussing Doll’s House, Beauvoir points out that Nora realizes that before she could assume her social responsibilities as a mother or a wife, she must find her own identity (497).

The woman becomes a mere ornamentation for the superior man who offers absolution to the frail woman as is done by Nora’s husband. Ibsen tries to portray a picture of woman as she is perceived by the society and the gender roles that society imposed on them. In Doll’s House men are shown to possess a superior position both economically and ideologically. Their financial independence gives them an element of superiority over women who are confined to their maternal and household duties. Nora’s husband, Torvald feels that women are inferior to men as they lack rational thinking and intelligence. He asserts that men should be in charge and women are supposed to handle housekeeping matters. Women are not supposed to engage in argument with the superior male partner and he must treat her like a child. Torvald’s attitude towards Nora is a mixed bag of materialistic ownership and passionate desire. Torvald treats Nora like a child and ensures that Nora believes that it is her maternal duty to play with their children, decorate their house, and do the things that her husband desires. In other words, Nora is a slave to her husband’s wishes.

Torvald uses this to manipulate Nora to believe that she is inferior to him, and needs a male presence to survive. The deliberate isolation of Nora from the financial and official burdens makes her just a plaything for Torvald. He does not discuss anything serious, legal or social, with her, implicitly emphasizing her subordinate position. Thus, Torvald transforms Nora into a “doll-wife” overpowered by the show of masculine authority. Thus, Ibsen tries to show the metamorphosis of Nora, a docile and doll-wife, to an individual. Her inner-strength remains latent and even she is unaware of it. She feels hurt when she realizes that her husband does not take her seriously like others: “You are just like all the others. They all think that I am incapable of anything really serious.” (Ibsen 13) In the end, Nora comprehends the falsehood of her existence and tries to break-free. Thus, Ibsen tries to show that women, like Nora, are just a toy for men to decorate and show-off in public. This objectification of women makes them lesser to their opposite gender and diminishes their social status.

In the “Hills”, Hemingway creates four stages of development of the character of the female protagonist. First, is the typical submissive and docile character like Nora. The girl is docile which is evident in the very beginning of the story when she asks the man, “What should we drink?” (Hemingway 168). The man orders the drink for both of them. The man’s superiority over the girl is accentuated when he does not take the girl’s consent before he says they will have water with their drink (Hemingway 168). Second, she becomes a strong feminist who agrees to do the abortion as a silent rebellion against the man’s self-centeredness. The third stage is that of self-realization. Hemingway clearly shows the gender roles through the conversation of the American and the girl. The junction of Barcelona and Madrid is shown like the junction of male and female power in “Hills like white elephants” (Rankin 235).

The authority of the man is shown through the language he uses in the “Hills”. It becomes the symbol of patriarchy. The man is in control of the money for it is he who pays for their drinks. He is in control of the language as he translates the girl’s desires from English to Spanish. The man in Hemingway’s story possesses knowledge, especially about the process of abortion. He is the one who is capable of logical thinking. He is one who reasons that the people are waiting for the train but the girl does not think that way. The man shows authority, something he has derived through the cultural sources. His superiority is confirmed through his authority over language, reason, and knowledge. On the other hand, the girl is simply mentioned as “the girl with him”, one who belongs to no nation or creed (whereas the man is specifically called the American).

However, the power the girl shows are not cultural constructs but rather, internal. She is a creative person, as can be gathered from her responses, but her social construct seem to make her submit to the superiority of her male companion. The girl’s simple reliance on her male partner shows the man’s natural power over her, signifying the culturally constructed supremacy of man. The biological superiority of man is demonstrated by his ability to impregnate the girl. The white elephant becomes a symbol of his masculine prowess. However, these sources of authority are undermined throughout the story. When the man translates the girl’s English to Spanish, the waitress shows a working knowledge of the language, rendering the translation unnecessary. Thus, man is the superior being in the story while the girl is just a non-descript other in the story. However, as we move towards the end of the story, Hemingway turns the table adroitly, and breaks each of the man’s sources of authority. Thus, this story too talks of the transformation of the female protagonist from “the girl” towards motherhood.

Both Ibsen and Hemingway show the transformation of their female protagonists from the docile, submissive ‘other’ to the strong individuals in search of their own identity, with or without their masculine partners. The male protagonists, the American and Torvald treat both Nora and Jig as inferiors and they accept it without any argument. The initial position of the female protagonist demonstrated by both Ibsen and Hemingway echoes the arguments presented by Beauvoir and Butler. Social constructs and gender roles are used by the society (in these literary works, the male protagonists) to undermine the natural talent and intellect of women, rendering them inefficient and inferior. Women too willingly accede to their inferior role and try to remain happy. However, as observed in the case of Nora and Jig, they find the discrimination suffocating their self-worth and so, they rebel against the patriarchy. Thus, both Ibsen and Hemingway show how their female protagonists defy male authority and metamorphose into a new individual.

Works Cited

Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. Trans. H. M. Parshley. Vintage Books, 2009.

Butler, Judith. “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory.” Theatre Journal, vol. 40, no.4, 1988, pp. 519-31.

Hemingway, Ernest. “Hills Like White Elephants.” The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Scribner, 1987, pp. 168-71.

Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll’s House. Scribner & Walford, 1989.

Moi, Toril. “”First and Foremost a Human Being” idealism, theatre, and gender in A Doll’s House.” Modern Drama, vol. 49, no. 3, 2006, pp. 256-84.

Rankin, Paul. “Hemingway’s Hills like White Elephants.” The Explicator, vol. 63, no.4, 2005, pp. 234-237.

Introduction

Ernest Hemingway emerged as one of America’s more colorful writers in the early to mid-1900s, presenting himself as the ultimate man’s man, worldly traveler, mighty hunter, and hard-drinking spinner of tales. Within a short span of time, 1925-1929, he had established himself as having produced some of the most important literary fiction in his century. His short stories focused on the virtues held by men a generation or two earlier than him as well as the effects and aftereffects of war. Yet each story contained a deeper message within the lines if the reader felt the desire to go searching for it. He believed in omitting extra details as a way of strengthening his stories. He compared this to an iceberg. Just like only the top 1/8th of an iceberg can be seen above the water with the rest remaining below the surface providing it with its momentum and dignity, Hemingway believed his stories should follow the same structure. Although some critics loved him, others said his stories were shallow. “He had no sympathy for women, they said, portraying them either as manhood-destroying bitches or as mere objects of sexual domination” (Lynn 10). His novels built off of these approaches, developing from a strong autobiographical background heavily influenced by the people he knew, some of which remained unpublished until well after his death to protect the character originals. Hemingway reportedly spent 15 years working on one such novel, Garden of Eden in between his other activities and writing, beginning in 1946 and leaving it unfinished when he died (Doctorow, 1986). While it is widely known that Hemingway had a very definite idea regarding what constituted a ‘real man, this novel reveals that he was also well aware of the fluidity of gender identity between the sexes. Throughout the novel, Hemingway uses the characters of Catherine, David, and Marita to criticize the fluidity of gender identity and the unhappiness it causes when traditional lines are crossed.

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The relationship between Catherine and David is fundamentally flawed because of Catherine’s lack of conviction within her sexual role. Catherine crosses the gender boundary on an emotional level when she begins to exhibit the very un-feminine emotion of jealousy over her husband’s success. A traditional ‘true’ woman was expected to be properly submissive to her husband and supportive in all that he does, realizing that his success was her own even if she remains unrecognized for her part. When the press clippings come regarding David’s warm literary reception in America, Catherine reveals this intense jealousy to be of tremendous depth. She tells him, “How can we be us and have the things we have and do what we do and you be this that’s in the clippings?” (Hemingway 24). She asserts that the man in the newspaper is a different man than the one she is married to because the one she is married to could never dream of being mentioned anywhere without having his wife equally and completely recognized as his partner. “Although Catherine evinces a desire to further her husband’s career, she is only expressing a willingness to help him so that she may somehow be a part of his work. She is envious of his abilities to write and because she does not share that part of his life, she retaliates with violent and harmful force” (Bogdan-Andrei, 2008). When David tells her he wants to begin another novel, her response is one of frustrated rejection and angry impotence: “Then write, stupid. You didn’t say you wouldn’t write. Nobody said anything about worrying if you wrote. Did they?” (Hemingway 27). When David fails to take the hint implicit in her tone and completes this next book, Catherine takes a masculine hand in destroying his manuscript and every indication that he has a life outside of her in a way that she cannot have outside of him.

Catherine wants to be recognized, idolized, and loved for her contributions to the world, but remains convinced she cannot do so as a girl, which is brilliantly illustrated through her symbolic hairstyle acquired within the first chapter. Catherine’s big surprise for her husband on their honeymoon is not a new negligee or something that further defines her as feminine or takes into consideration his desires. Instead, she has cut her hair to a boy’s style, telling David, her husband, “That’s the surprise. I’m a girl. But now I’m a boy too and I can do anything and anything and anything” (Hemingway 15). Demonstrating a clear desire for gender reversal, Catherine has even insisted on going to the same haircutter that styled David’s hair so that she can get the exact same cut. However, she still does not manage to find equality even in this bold gesture as David, attempting to be supportive of her decision, tells her, “I like it … And you have such a beautifully shaped head that it is very beautiful with the lovely bones of your face” (16). Hemingway throws his own narrative comment in regarding this symbolic move on her part through the reaction of the villagers: “No decent girls had ever had their hair cut short like that in this part of the country and even in Paris it was rare and strange and could be beautiful or could be very bad. It could mean too much or it could only mean showing the beautiful shape of a head that could never be shown as well” (17). The role reversal becomes complete that evening as they are in bed and Catherine insists that David has now become Catherine while she herself has become Peter.

For his part, David is willing to allow Catherine her equality to a certain extent. As is already mentioned, he shows his support and acceptance of her new hairstyle, playfully referring to her as a boy and brother during dinner and reluctantly going along with her that night. However, with her playacting, David becomes strongly disturbed, mentally and emotionally telling his wife goodbye at the same time as he realizes that he is not capable, regardless of how hard he tries, of playing the role of the woman. He says goodbye to her at this point and adopts a passive-resistant attitude toward her from that point forward. When Catherine brings a girl into the relationship, his initial reaction is full of justifiable rage and feelings of betrayal, but these begin to change as Catherine expresses her intent that David sleeps with Marita as well.

The arrival of Marita signals another significant change in the couple’s relationship as Catherine becomes better able to alternate her gender identities – one day a male with Marita, the next day a female with David. This is again a sign of Catherine attempting to achieve equal status along gender lines. If she is sleeping with the same woman that David is sleeping with, she can maintain her fiction that she is a male in the relationship. In terms of David’s reaction, however, Catherine has inadvertently provided him with the female support person he had been looking for in Catherine. Because Marita doesn’t force him to adore her, thus taking up a ‘proper’ feminine role within the relationship, she is able to provide just the kind of support and help David needs to overcome his losses brought about as the result of Catherine’s jealous fits. At the same time, Catherine’s gender confusion is seen as the primary cause of her distress and the distress she brings about for others.

There are several suggestions within the text that indicate Catherine is supposed to emerge as the cause of social unrest. Within their first recorded conversation, Catherine tells David, “I’m the destructive type … And I’m going to destroy you” (Hemingway 6). While this can be interpreted in terms of playful threats and sexual innuendo, it can also be seen, through retrospectives at the end of the novel, as an early indication of Catherine’s true nature and ultimate effect. Her jealous guardianship of David’s time and attention prevents him from working on material with greater literary merit than what she would have him write about while his refusal to do so results in her destruction of his work. “Catherine comes across as an impetuous, castrating man-hater, who’s on the verge of cracking up” (Kakutani, 1986) and indeed, disappears at the end of the novel on a convenient business trip that takes her completely out of the story, still unhappy, confused and incapable of finding an answer. In Catherine, Hemingway demonstrates the common perception, particularly of males of the time, of the emerging ‘New Woman’ and feminist crowd and illustrates the inevitable unhappiness and destruction they bring about because of their refusal to fall into line with traditional gender roles.

At the same time, David seems to find the most common answer to Catherine’s problem when he mentions, “You are too sleepy to be dangerous” (Hemingway 6), as if by keeping her tired and sexually satisfied he will keep her out of mischief. This hyper-male attitude that the best way to appease a dissatisfied woman is in the bedroom suggests that Catherine is simply over-enthused about her recent married status and must merely find a means of settling down into her appropriate married role. In the meantime, David’s responsibility is simply to humor her until her foolishness has run its course and things begin to return to a more normal routine. The introduction of Marita into the relationship, however, provides Catherine with more rest for trouble and more material over which to be jealous, adding fuel to an already too-hot fire. It also exacerbates the destruction of the marriage as Catherine’s role as the wife is slowly usurped by the woman she herself brought in and the role of the husband is already occupied by David himself.

Conclusion

By the end of the story, Hemingway has permitted his characters to undergo a strange and somewhat philosophic journey through their fluctuating gender identities to finally establish a ‘proper’ world order. At the beginning of the story, a man and a woman are seen in their proper roles as a married couple, with a few modern quirks such as Catherine’s tendency to wear shorts rather than skirts. However, the falsity of this traditional scene is quickly exposed as Catherine asserts her masculinity and David displays, through his reluctant acceptance of her experimentation, a more feminine nature. In an attempt to meet everyone’s needs, Catherine brings in Marita as a means for both Catherine and David to express their masculinity without wishing to relinquish her exclusive hold on David’s heart and mind. While Catherine’s more masculine stance compared to David is seen as threatening and non-productive, Marita’s presence is very feminine and comforting to the young author, who quickly finds himself inspired to write a very good collection of short stories. By the novel’s end, Catherine has unhappily disappeared into the sunset while David and Marita adopt their socially proscribed roles as male and female respectively. Through this sequence of events, Hemingway conveys the idea that only by adhering to the traditional definitions and constraints of established gender roles can individuals find any measure of true happiness.

Works Cited

Bogdan-Andrei, Gavrila. “Envy: A Pitfall of Marriage in Hemingway’s The Garden of Eden.” Referate. 2008. Web.

Doctorow, E.L. “Braver Than We Thought.” New York Times. (1986). 2008. Web.

Hemingway, Ernest. Garden of Eden. New York: Scribner, 1995.

Kakutani, Michiko. “Books of the Times: The Garden of Eden.” New York Times. (1986). 2008. Web.

Lynn, Kenneth S. Hemingway. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1987.