When people talking about story writers, I appreciate Ernest Miller Hemingway, who is the greatest fiction writers in 20 century. The language in his fiction is plain but vivid. He didn’t use a lot of rigmarole, explanation, comments or metaphor, but use the concise and clear narration which contains multi-layer meaning to lead reader going to a broader space for imagination. Also, his literature has compact structure and always comes straight to the point.
As for his famous literature The Old Man and the Sea，Hemingway uses his "The Principle of Iceberg". He said that “ I always try to write on the principal of the iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it under water for every part that shows. Anything you know can eliminate and it only strengthens your iceberg. It is the part that doesn’t show.” He could write everyone in the village includes how they make living, how be born or how they accept education, but he summed up the profound and important content, which reflects the major life philosophy. He tries to show seven-eighths of it under water for every part and gives readers a great room for imagination and aftertaste.
In Hills Like White Elephants，it also uses "The Principle of Iceberg". We only could read a conversation about abortion from a “couple”, but the story does not point out the theme at the end, or represent the intentions. It refuses to explain and judgement. It does not look like a end. We even do not know the future of the man and girl. Does girl really do the surgery? Do two people broke up after surgery or still live a happy life as before? Hemingway hides that most curious parts. There is a description in the novel: “The woman brought two glasses of beer and two felt pads. She put the felt pads and the beer glasses on the table and looked at the man and the girl. The girl was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry.” Hemingway stands on the perspectives of others, such as the woman who sells the wine to write the man and the girl. Moreover, he used the perspective from girl to write landscape descriptions.cIt gives readers a feeling that they are overlooking the mountains with the girl. This photography type of narrative perspective both can describe the story and environment according to author’s intent, and make readers insight the inside activities of the characters successfully. Also, the story can present on different narrative perspective.
Hemingway is just like a photographer, passing the Spain station by accident, and record the dialogue between a man and a woman secretly. When two people takes the train away, the story is over. Novel omits too many things. Including the character's identity, background and plot of the story in context. So, it is almost futile to make a conclusive judgment. The way of writing could directly go to novel situations. Just selecting a cross-section of life, a limited space, or a small period of time, and objectively records events, avoiding interpretation and description of the author or Narrator. Readers could judge the life complexities and ambiguities through simple the novel situation.
In the novel, there is a conversation,
“It tastes like licorice,” the girl said and put the glass down.
“That’s the way with everything.”
“Yes,” said the girl. “Everything tastes of licorice. Especially all the things you’ve waited so long for, like absinthe.”
These few direct and clear dialogue, prompting the reader to associate , to experience psychological stress and emotional burden borne by the girl . As a woman , she needs love from her lover , and wants to build a happy family , to have children, and to enjoy the warmth of the family . The author repeated " The operation was very easy " five times in the text to highlight the man does not care about the feelings of the girl --- physical and mental pain , but hope the woman could accept the abortion. Once the baby is gone, there is nothing they need to worry about . For the girl, the decision seems like licorice and absinthe , bitter and sweet. The previous happy day becomes bitter now, and the future is unknown.
For The sun also rises and A Farewell to Arms , both fiction is in the background for the World War I, it directly or indirectly describe the human slaughter each other brings to the young generation a concept of loss - loss of ideal, pain and confusion. And the story reflects a generation of young people, after losing their glory, cannot find their personal value. Henry and Jack took part in the great war because the confusion and incitement of slogan "save the nation and democracy" But after witnessing the brutality of war, and suffering from the bitterness of war, they were in pain. The pain lingers in their hearts forever. Henry hate to see and hear about the war-related issues, "the war" two words make him intolerable. Jack was wounded and lost the ability to love, he fell in love with Brett , but cannot be combined, he suffered the physical and psychological trauma. In books, Hemingway uses a lot of description of people having party and getting drunk to reflects the cruelty of war wounds. .Almost all of the author's characters is the Carnival of Saints, Jack, Henry so, Mrs ashili, Ge Leifei, etc as well. Wine becomes their necessity. Every time they meet, every meal, every date, or everytimes when they have conversation, the wine seems to have become an indispensable part of their lives. Drunk also seems the best way to cure their pain in their deep heart.