As I started reading the two assigned Hemingway stories I found myself
having a hard time understanding what was happening in the stories. I felt like I walked half way into a movie someone was watching and I had no idea what was going on.
The characters in the first story just seem to be a couple, but somehow the
fact that the author refers to the characters as "The American and the
girl" is kind of odd and makes me wonder what the relationship between
them is. Are they lovers? The fact that the author refers to her as
"girl" and almost makes her sound like she's just dumb, makes me wonder why he would do that to the female character. I
also didn't understand why they seemed to consistently argue over nothing and then
be in a good mood again a few lines later. The male character was the all knowing and the female was portrayed as weak and clueless. I really didn't care too much for this short story,
felt like it started abruptly and ended in the same manner.
The second story too seemed to jump into the middle of a recount of a
soldier's experience while at a hospital. I did look into Hemingway's
background and being that he was injured while serving in World War I, I
wondered if it was a personal account of his experience while being
rehabilitated for his injuries. I did like the story of the major who lost his
wife and how he actually cried. As a reader I felt for the guy and conjured the
image of losing someone and how hard and difficult it is. I personally have not
suffered too much in that way (losing a loved one), but I have often thought
about what it would be like and how much it would hurt to not be able to do
anything about it. While it was a bit depressing, it definitely tugged at my
heartstrings.
I noticed the male characters were portrayed in a better light than the one female character in these stories. I am left wondering did Hemingway have a problem with women? He did have four wives throughout his lifetime, so I'm going to assume he may not have been good at having relationships with women in real life.
The relationship between the American and the girl is full of a lot of tension during their conversations. Obviously, she wants to talk about something that he doesn't, and it's awkward (elephant in the room). She might be portrayed as dumb at first, but I think if you go back and read again you'll see that she's more scared and nervous than anything. She's been given a "white elephant" gift, if you will, which is a baby. They seem to be a young couple who travel a lot, so a baby would seem a burden to them. The man wants her to get an abortion, where as she is leery about it. The man might be portrayed as all knowing, but honestly I think he's an ass who thinks he knows what he's talking about.
ReplyDeleteIn the first story, the woman seems very submissive to the man, like when she says, “I don’t care about me.” The man doesn’t come off as an ass to me, maybe a little rude but at least he’s showing that he cares. I do agree with the fact that the story seems to start and end abruptly and is quite confusing and we still never really get an answer as to what is going on. The second story is a little easier to follow. It still, however, starts in a weird spot and is a little unclear but overall it has a good story line. Despite the fact that these stories are a bit hard to follow along with, I enjoyed reading them.
ReplyDeleteIn my personal oppinion it just bothers me the way the girl is portrayed in he story, which sadly it must have ben true about the women in that time. she is shown submisive in the fact that evendo she doesnt want he operation she is goingto carry on with it beaause the american has convinced her to do it. Who also by he way he speaks to her one can notice he is older than her. Another hint that the author gives us is the fact that she relates he view with whie elefants. one needs imagination for this and imagination is usually attributed to kids.
ReplyDeleteTo continue wuyh the steretypes or realities of he era hemingway also show us the reality the soldiers live in which they have list what society will describe asthe way to prove heroism and manlyhood.
I enjoyed both of these short stories. I do agree with this post in a sense that I'm a bit conflicted on how Hemingway actually felt about women. Both stories being gloomy and a bit depressing, I found them interesting. They way the man portrayed his feelings toward abortion are all too similar to how we talk about confrontational topics that we feel strongly about today. Also, stereotypically women tend to shut down when they feel 'lesser' than a dominant man. Hemingway may not feel like women are lesser, he might just be telling the sad truth. I'm not saying all women are like this and are stupid little girls as they might be portrayed in his stories, just stereotypically speaking. I enjoyed his work and the moods he set.
ReplyDeleteThe story is very confusing because usually when a couple like this argues they leave it at a certain subject and say things they don't mean. But they are saying everything that comes to mind and at first it was so confusing on what they were arguing about. The hills or mountains and alcohol drinks threw me off and almost missing the operation part would have totally lost me. But she seems to be showing anger but underneath i think she is just very frightened for him but for some reason she doesnt want him to know how she truely feels. I didnt like the story because of all the confusion of the way they say things and i am pretty sure half of what they said was not a true feeling inside them. Overall the true meaning though i guess was good and well hidden because it is true that couples who trully understand each other will see past words and know how the other feels. Something like this takes more than words to talk about or decide.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the blog in a sense that when I started reading the stories i felt like i kind of walked into the middle of a story and was lost. In the first story I still do not understand why Hemingway portrays the girl in the way he does. She is suppose to be the lover, but he seems to down grade her into a small child that he is manipulating into getting an abortion. I also felt that in the first story the moods that the author wanted you to feel jumped around way too much. They were short and cold to each other, then would have a normal conversation and the mood would be a normal, sunny day (so it seemed).
ReplyDeleteThe second story grabbed my attention faster than the first one did. Knowing now that hemingway was in battle and was shot, i am curious as to if this is his DIRECT experience and this is his personal story. Overall, the second story touched and grabbed me a little bit more. i got the sense of the "true american" even though it didnt take place in America. It seemed as if Hemingway was trying to portray the sense of being a heroic american is alot different in many peoples eyes.