Although I have
gone through only four stories written by Ernest Hemingway, I could somehow
feel his repetitive style of writing in all of them. According to my research, Hemingway called his style “the iceberg
theory”, which means that he had the facts floating above water with the
supporting structure and symbolism operating out of sight. The concept of the
iceberg theory is often called the "theory of omission." Hemingway
described one typical incident while he was giving an entirely different
message for the readers deep inside. For instance, Nick Adams was depicted as
he was fishing, but we could interpret this as Nick Adams concentrating on
fishing to the extent that he does not have to think about anything else. It is
not difficult to find these deep-meaning descriptions in his works.
Not only the style repeats, but the overall theme and plot
somewhat agree with each other in Hemingway’s stories. This seems to be true among at
least four stories that I have read: The Old Man and the Sea, A
Farewell to Arms, A Way You’ll Never Be, and Big Two-Hearted River. Simply
saying, all of them can be put together into one big plot of a protagonist
trying to fulfill his desire. Even though the way each character in the stories
follows in order to overcome their disadvantages is a bit different, it is still quite similar in whole. Most of
them, though they don’t get to get everything they have desired throughout
their journeys, the ending seems to be quite successful in a way they could at
least realize the fact that they at least tried to do something and that there
is a great potential under themselves.
For instance, Nick Adams, the old man, and Frederic Henry are
similar in a way that they first start their journey by facing or realizing the
presence of obstacles in their life. Nick had a post-war trauma; the old man
felt powerless in front of his continuous failure in fishing; Frederic was trying
to overcome his grief caused by his wife’s death. Although there does not seem
to be an easy way that they can break the walls made right in front of them, they
repeatedly try to find a new way, while feeling impotent sometimes. But, at the
end of their journeys, each of them have made a change in some sense of their life,
returning home. Even if the descriptions don’t directly tell you how they have made
difference and how significant it could have been, we can interpret the sentences more
than what he has written, considering his iceberg style of writing.
After reading all those stories, I became concerned about
whether I’m pushing myself to make any change in my life. My answer was no, for
now. Being educated and brainwashed in a way that establishments want so, I sure
realize that my environment itself is an obstacle for me and that I should do
something to change it, or at least try to get out of it. But the thing is that
I keep making justifications for not paving the new ways of my life, by simply
claiming that “Oh, I’m just so busy studying,” which is the worst justification
that a student can ever make. What is the point of studying when that process
is being done in a condition that does not fit my own way of learning things?
What if I am currently in the state of the old man staying in a shallow sea
before going out to the broader one where he truly develops his potential?
Starting from finding out the similarities in the style of
Hemingway’s short story pieces, I learned something more than the repetition
itself. I alarmed myself to become more aware of the changes I could make in
order to develop my inner sense and explore my potentials. It seems like I found
the true meaning of all this process of reading Hemingway. It is time for me to adopt
those teachings given by the literary pieces into my life, in order to make my potential fully developed in many senses, not only by fulfilling my desires, but by
exploring what I can really do to make some changes in my life. Thanks.
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