Narrative Techniques Used in The Dead and in The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber - Essay Example

?Narrative Techniques While the 20th century witnessed an astounding array of literary production, two of the most prominent were James Joyceand Ernest Hemingway. While Joyce and Hemingway are recognized as two of the century’s most seminal writers, to a great degree their writing styles are greatly divergent. Hemingway foregrounded a literary approach that sought the greatest degree of simplicity both in word usage and narrative form. A characteristic story this simplistic style is Hemingway’s ‘The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber.’ Conversely, Joyce gravitated towards increasing degrees of complexity and experimentation. While his story ‘the Dead’ is not as experimental as his later works, it implements notable degrees of complexity and symbolism. In terms of narrative technique, this essay compares Ernest Hemingway’s ‘The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber’ with James Joyce’s ‘the Dead’. In terms of overarching narrative devices both stories implement a third person narrative voice that is punctured by first person voices. Within Hemingway’s story, however, this approach assumes a slightly different effect than in Joyce’s. Hemingway’s short story begins with direct and easy to understand first person dialogue that sets a general tone for the story. While there is direct and easy to understand dialogue that seems to simply function as atmospheric elements, on deeper examination it’s clear that Hemingway is implementing this pretense of simplicity as a means of exploring subtle elements of human interaction. This subtlety is most notably witnessed in the words and descriptions of Francis Macomber’s wife Margaret. Hemingway writes, “Margaret, his wife, looked away from him and back to Wilson. "Let’s not talk about the lion," she said” (Hemingway, p. 2). Rather than directly stating it, through the simple and direct dialogue, is demonstrating a complex element of human character; namely, Margaret’s embarrassment with her husband after running away from a lion. This narrative technique becomes a prominent approach throughout Hemingway’s story. While Hemingway implements simple and direct statements and sentences as a primary narrative technique, Joyce implements more complex semantic forms. One considers that Joyce opens the story stating, “LILY, the caretaker's daughter, was literally run off her feet. Hardly had she brought one gentleman into the little pantry behind the office on the ground floor and helped him off with his overcoat than the wheezy hall-door bell clanged again and she had to scamper along the bare hallway to let in another guest” (Joyce). While in this instance both Joyce and Hemingway share a similarity in easy to comprehend words, Joyce is notably different as his sentences are a great degree longer and more descriptive than Hemingway’s. To a degree this can be contributed to a simple grammatical choice, but it also holds considerable implications for the narrative. Rather than placing the emphasis on the reader to recognize the implications that exist behind the words, Joyce is more pro-active in displaying verbal artistry as a means of creating a general impressionistic account of his narrative. Although Hemingway and Joyce’s narrative techniques differ in many ways, there are also similar elements they share. One of the most prominent narrative similarities between the stories is their use of epiphanies. The epiphany is recognized as a moment where one of the characters in the story comes to a realization about their life. Both Hemingway and Joyce in much of their literary production regularly implement this technique. The epiphany form is implemented in Hemingway’s ‘The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber’ in terms of Francis Macomber. Speaking of Macomber, Wilson states, “It had taken a strange chance of hunting, a sudden precipitation into action without worrying beforehand, to bring this about with Macomber…Fear gone like an operation. Something else grew in its place. Main thing a man had. Made him into a man. Women knew it too. No bloody fear” (Hemingway, p. 15). This statement, made by Wilson, refers to the epiphany Macomber underwent after conquering his fears, specifically those regarding their hunting operations. This is significant narrative technique as Macomber’s fears are a central plot device. Additionally, this epiphany functions as a means of significant and complex character development. Just as Hemingway implements the epiphany as a narrative device, so does James Joyce implement an epiphany in ‘the Dead’. Throughout the story Gabriel Conroy is a central focus. His interactions with the houseguests function as a means of character development, specifically as it demonstrates both his strengths and shortcomings. For instance, one of his prominent interactions is with Lily the housekeeper. After asking her about her love life he is unable to continue the conversation and instead supplants his behavior by giving her a tip. To a great extent this positions Conroy as an individual that is unable to relate to all members of society. As the story further develops Conroy is further depicted as unable to engage in certain conversations and only superficially embracing some relations. At the end of the story Conroy has an interaction with his wife Gretta. She informs him that she is upset because she heard a song and it reminded her of a past lover. This sends Conroy into a state of despair. Joyce implements the epiphany form in articulating Conroy’s recognition of Gretta’s revelation. Although he is partly responding to Gretta, the instance results in a broader epiphany regarding the nature of death. Joyce writes, “Generous tears filled Gabriel's eyes. He had never felt like that himself towards any woman, but he knew that such a feeling must be love. The tears gathered more thickly in his eyes and in the partial darkness he imagined he saw the form of a young man standing under a dripping tree. Other forms were near. His soul had approached that region where dwell the vast hosts of the dead” (Joyce). The above statement occurs after Conroy’s encounter with Gretta. Essentially, Joyce implements Gretta’s deceased ex-lover as a means of leading to Conroy and even the reader’s expanded consciousness on the nature of death and existence. Ultimately, this epiphanic mode of revelation parallels the similar narrative implementation in Hemingway’s story. Another notable narrative technique implemented by both Joyce and Hemingway’s stories is symbolism. While it would take an exhaustive account to relay the extent of symbolism in these stories, there are a number of notable occurrences. Both stories implement symbolism through references to nature. Within Hemingway’s story such symbolism is implemented perhaps most notably in the divergence between the human-centered camp and the natural savanna, as symbolizing the divergent perspectives embodied by Macomber and Robert Wilson; in this example Macomber becomes symbolized by the civilized and structured nature of the camp, whereas Wilson is embodied by the rugged masculinity inherent in the savanna. Just as Hemingway implements natural imagery for symbolic purposes, so does Joyce implement nature. Towards the end of ‘the Dead’ Joyce refers to snow falling on graves of the dead. He writes, “It was falling on every part of the dark central plain, on the treeless hills, falling softly upon the Bog of Allen and, farther westward, softly falling into the dark mutinous Shannon waves. It was falling, too, upon every part of the lonely churchyard on the hill where Michael Furey lay buried” (Joyce). It seems that such an implementation of snow both is symbolic of death as normally recognized as a ‘cold’ emotion, but also in a sort of transcendence as the snow evaporates into the air just as the deceased decompose and once again become part of their natural surroundings. Another notable narrative element that is similar in both stories is the implementation of stream of consciousness. Hemingway’s implementation of stream of consciousness narrative practices is witnessed as the narrator implements an interior monologue from Wilson’s perspective. Hemingway writes, “Their figures stay boyish when they’re fifty. The great American boy-men. Damned strange people. But he liked this Macomber now. Damned strange fellow. Probably meant the end of cuckoldry too. Well, that would be a damned good thing. Damned good thing” (Hemingway, p. 17). Here one witnesses the general free-flowing nature of Wilson’s thoughts. Joyce similarly makes use of stream of consciousness narrative. While Hemingway’s story is largely relayed through dialogue, Joyce’s story largely presents a series of internal monologues on Conroy’s perspective. For instance, Joyce writes, “He was still discomposed by the girl's bitter and sudden retort. It had cast a gloom over him which he tried to dispel by arranging his cuffs and the bows of his tie” (Joyce). These stream-of-consciousness like moments, while partly implemented in Hemingway’s text, assume much greater prominence in Joyce’s narrative. This situates Joyce’s story as more concerned with introspection than Hemingway’s story. In conclusion, this essay has compared and contrasted narrative techniques used by James Joyce in "The Dead" and Ernest Hemingway in "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber". Within this context of recognition, it’s demonstrated that both stories diverge in terms of complexity of prose and internal vs. external examinations. Still, both stories share the use of epiphanies, symbolism, and stream-of-consciousness techniques. Ultimately, the divergent patterns of narrative techniques result in the corresponding divergence in narrative expression embodied in both works. References Hemingway, Ernest. ‘The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber’ www.tarleton.edu/.../Short%20Story/... 2012. Joyce, James. ‘the Dead’ online literature. http://www.online- literature.com/james_joyce/958/ 2012. Read More