Should Ernest Hemingway Be Read - Essay Example

Hemingway’s style of writing is known as “straightforward prose [and] sparse dialogue” and this is where the source of the power of his prose lies (“Biography”). Since the prose is so straightforward, there is no need for intense imagery and unnecessary talk. The straightforwardness makes Hemingway’s prose extremely powerful. When the imagery is decreased in intensity and when the volume of unnecessary talk and details is reduced to a minimum, what is left is the vividness of the character and the message of the story.

In “Hills Like White Elephants,” one reads an extremely short story where the details do not even include unnecessary explanations about what the nature of the problem is nor is there any moment of intense descriptive imagery. The man and his girlfriend whom he fondly calls Jig seem to be discussing abortion, which is described by the man as “an awfully simple operation” and even “not really an operation at all” (Hemingway, “Hills Like White Elephants”). Moreover, the idiom “white elephant,” which seems to be an unusual title for two travelers who are not even in Africa or Asia, seems to be telling the reader that the story is about a burdensome possession and will be highly difficult to maintain – and that must be the woman’s baby in the story. . riend ended up in the situation they are in right now, and why exactly they are travelling, nor is it even revealed how they are related to each other.

Nevertheless, the fact that the reader is still able to understand the story is enough proof that these aforementioned details are actually unnecessary. The rather minimalistic approach of Hemingway in cutting down on unimportant details makes the reader focus more on the characters and what exactly is going on between or among them. This makes his prose powerful and this power surpasses and in fact insults the extravagance of the romanticists in shrouding the true essence of prose in a most intense imagery.

For Hemingway, prose is not supposed to entertain but to reveal a practical meaning – something that people can use and apply in their lives after reading. The sparseness of the dialogue and the straightforwardness of the narration is also the main reason behind the revelation of meaning in the two waiter’s views in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.” The moral is clear and even well-stated: “We are of two different kinds” (Hemingway, “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”). The story was written by Hemingway in such a straightforward manner that it does not even state particular details like who these waiters are, why the old customer frequents the bar, and why the young and the old waiters do not seem to be familiar with each other’s convictions when in fact they seem to have both worked there for a long time.

Nevertheless, just like in “Hills Like White Elephants,” perhaps these details are unnecessary and they do not serve a practical purpose in Hemingway’s prose. When these details are gone, all that is left is the message of the story – that people are just different from each other. Furthermore,