You will choose ONE to which you’d like to respond (250 words). Each prompt will have its own post and comment section. (Comments can be made on either prompt and are not limited to the one you chose for your initial response.)
#2
How does Hemingway develop tone in either "Get a Seeing-Eyed Dog" or "Hills Like White Elephants"? What effect does the tone have on the reader's understanding of character, situation, and/or theme? How does it add to the story? Consider the story as a whole while referencing specific examples and excerpts.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
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In “Hills Like White Elephants”, Hemingway develops a anxious, tense tone. This begins with the setting of the story where they are literally waiting for “the express from Barcelona which would come in forty minutes” (Hemingway 211). Next, the man becomes short with the girl saying “just because you say I wouldn’t have doesn’t prove anything” (211). The reaction of the girl, who looks away and changes the subject, leaves the comment in the air creating stressed energy between them. This happens again throughout the story and is explained by the man saying “you know how I get when I worry” (213). This again shows the tense tone by stating that he is worried about something. We understand that the two characters are in a relationship by the words “I love you” (213). The tone makes us understand that this relationship has been tense for sometime because of the girl’s condition. We understand that the characters are waiting for a train to take them to a place where her condition can be fixed by letting “the air in” (212). The tone is what gives the story its conflict making the tone very important to Hemingway’s story. Without this tone of nervous anxiety, it would just be a conversation of a couple waiting for the train. It is the tone that shows the couple is having problems, that they are not sure of what will happen next, although they hope for the best. The tone is incredibly important to Hemingway’s story.
Hemingway develops the tone of the story in “Get a Seeing Eyed Dog,” by having the two main characters reminisce about past events (“I remember the women… I remember the flock of geese” (1).,) and ruminate over future developments (“We can always go to Zanzibar” (1).,) while relaxing in a romantic scene (“He heard the rain on the windowpane and he smelled the beech logs burning in the fireplace” (2).) This allows the reader to get a feel for the scene and story, and the relaxing tone provides a background on which to ground the reader, as Hemingway drops the reader right into the middle of the story, with no introduction whatsoever. This disconcerting effect is (as always,) masterfully pulled off, because the relaxed tone and pace of the story allows the reader to take a deep breath and read slowly, and thus take the time to masticate over every tidbit of information Hemingway divulges. The word choice also contributes to the tone and the reader’s understanding; Hemingway uses so much sensory information (sounds and smells) because the main character is blind, and so therefore must describe everything through his other senses. This tone therefore adds to the story in three ways: It provides a basis upon which the reader comes to depend (by establishing the tone from the start “And what did we do then?” (1), a memory,) it helps explain the main plot line (by providing the reader clues that the main character is blind,) and the tone of the beginning provides more contrast to that of the ending, when the blind man goes from having hope to wallowing in self-pity.
Through the dialogue of the two characters in his short story “Hills Like White Elephants”, Hemmingway creates a tone of forced cheerfulness overlying a profound sense of worry. Readers first get an inkling of this forced cheer when the man tries to stop the argument by asking the girl to “try and have a fine time (Hemingway 212). The man is trying to abort the argument before it happens. The tone of the conversation that follows implies that he is trying to preserve a fragile sort of peace. Soon after, the reader sees the worry that flows underneath the entire story. The man suddenly breaks from the innocent conversation and begins to ask the girl about having “an awfully simple operation” (Hemingway 212). The story does not say what this operation is, but it does make it clear that the reason for the operation it “the only thing that’s made [them] unhappy” (Hemingway 212). Also, if we go back to when they were trying the Anis del Toro, the girl mentions that she takes absinthe. This was a fairly common drug that also used to be used as a form of painkiller. The operation also cause both of them to worry somewhat, since the dialogue between the two of them implies that there is some possibility that the girl may be hurt by this operation. Even though they both know “lots of people that have done it” they are still concerned over what might happen (Hemingway 213). The girl is also worried for another reason. She feels that by having this operation, that she and the man “can’t [have the whole world]. It isn’t [theirs] anymore” (Hemingway 213).
In the short story “Hills Like White Elephants”, Hemingway develops a tone of stress and frustration. At the very beginning of the story the couple is sitting and ordering drinks. The very first bit of conversation they have after ordering drinks is already tense and stressed. When the girl implies that of course he would not have seen white elephants the man snaps back, “just because you say I wouldn’t have doesn’t prove anything” (211). Already the two main characters are arguing and the reader has just met them. Not much later the man snaps at the girl again after one of her remarks saying to, “cut it out” (212). His short temperament shows signs of frustration as well. It appears that the man is having to act almost like the stressed parent of an annoying child, and just like every other parent, dealing with the child is leading him to stress and frustration. By making the man seem like a parent and the girl like a child- even though they are obviously a romantic couple- it leads the reader to make assumptions about this surgery that requires letting “the air in,” and why the girl needs it (212). The man says repeatedly that, “[he] doesn’t want [her] to do it if [she doesn’t] want to”(214). He also tells her that it is perfectly safe and both claim to know many people who have been through the surgery, yet it seems that he wants her to have the surgery very badly while she insists that, “There’s nothing wrong with [her]”(214). It led me to believe that she may have had a mental disorder and the surgery was a type of Trepanation.
In “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway develops a tense and uneasy tone. Hemingway immediately begins creating this tone when describing the setting. The couple sits at the “station [that] was between two lines of rails in the sun” which mirrors their current situation (Hemingway 211). Their relationship is strained at the beginning as they are struggling to make a decision that only has two choices, just like the two lines of rails that pass by the station. The reader feels more uneasiness when the American tries to calm the atmosphere and asks Jig to “try and have a fine time” (212). This shows the delicateness of the situation as the American is trying to walk on eggshells and not make matters worse. When the subject of the operation first comes up, Jig “look[s] at the ground and [does] not say anything” (212). This leaves the American’s comment up in the air and the reader can feel the tension between the couple. While the nature of the operation itself is left unknown, it becomes clear that the reason for the operation is “the only thing that bothers [the couple]” (212). This operation proves to be the main cause of the tension and it puts a massive strain on the couple’s relationship. Jig and the American continue to have communication problems as the tension level grows and she pleads for him to “please please please please please please please stop talking” (214). Hearing the tension and uneasiness between the characters is vital to the conflict of the short story. Hemingway immediately introduces the tense atmosphere and it remains present throughout the rest of the story.
In "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway, the author initially creates a calm, carefree tone that seems to say the characters couldn't have a care in the world, they simply want to sit and chat. Later, the tone becomes an impersonation of its former self because the characters begin to be lazily at each other's throats. When Hemingway begins the story, he first describes the setting, initializing the location in the readers mind, "Close against the side of the station there was the warm shadow of the building and a curtain, made of strings of bamboo beads, hung across the open door into the bar" (Hemingway 211). His long syntax exudes the idea of a rambling, tired, old man. Interestingly, this is juxtaposed with short syntax from any speaker. " 'What should we drink?' the girl asked. She had taken off her hat and put it on the table. 'It's pretty hot'"(211). The short syntax from the speakers speaks of a different kind of tired, one where the speaker wishes to keep up a conversation, but is not willing to put too much effort into it. Later in the story, the speakers begin to argue cordially. " 'I don't care about me.' Well, I care about you.' 'Oh yes. But I don't care about me. And I'll do it and then everything will be fine'"(213). Their later exchanges show them to be trying to not show their true feelings, only saying the proper response. Their responses stay mostly short, with a few longer sentences mixed in. This helps represent the slight change in tone. The syntax of the descriptions does not change later in the story, but the content of the descriptions does: "Far away, beyond the river, were mountains. The shadow of a cloud moved across the field of grain and she saw the river through the trees"(213). The syntax is still medium-long, but Hemingway introduces more depressing ideas (shadow) into the descriptions where these ideas did not exist prior.
In “Hills Like White Elephants”, Ernest Hemingway is able to create an anxious tone in a very short period of time. Hemingway is first able to create this tone when the boy asks the girl to try to “’have a fine time’” (Hemingway 212). Hemingway shows that the boy is fed up with the girl. The boy is tired of what the girl is really saying and he is ready to move on. This tone shows the reader right a way that the two characters are having problems. The tone shows that the boy wants the girl to have the operation. Hemingway has the boy try to persuade her when he says, “‘it’s not really an operation at all’” (212). This statement shows that the girl is anxious or nervous about having an operation. The only reason the girl is going through with the operation is because she knows it will make him happy and they will be “like they were before” (212). These different motives for having the operation all help with the anxious tone of the plot and story. The tone gives the readers a real life situation between to people. The girl only wants to know if the boy “’[wi]ll love [her]?’” (213). She is trying to make the boy happy but is nervous about what this operation will do to her. The tone helps the reader understand what the operation really is for. The girl wants to have her baby but wants the boy more so she is willing to give it up to keep the boy.
In “Hills Like White Elephants”, Hemingway develops the tone of the story through dialogue between two characters. The tone created is one of tense, forced happiness, as there is an underlying feeling of anxiety and discontentedness. The tone is originally portrayed as one of forced cheer while the couple makes small talk. However, within the first page of the story the woman tries to create conversation by saying that the hills look like white elephants, but the man wouldn’t have seen one, and the man abruptly stops the flow of conversation by saying “Just because you say I wouldn’t have doesn’t prove anything”, leaving the woman to look away and change the subject (Hemingway 211). This obviously reveals the tension between the two, while also showing the reader that the man’s anxiety and discontentedness with whatever situation he is in has led him to be controlling of the woman by controlling their conversation. He tries to control the conversation once again when he tells the girl to “cut it out” (Hemingway 212). Not only does this once again make the reader feel that there is something tense going on between the two, it also makes the reader wonder why the man is treating the girl like she is a child, when it is obvious that she is a grown woman. This makes the man seem very controlling. Later, the man, controlling the conversation once again, brings up an operation he wants the girl to have, revealing the source of their tension. The tone shifts to one of less tension, as the source of anxiety is revealed, and the man says that he thinks the operation is “the best thing to do”, but he also doesn’t “want [the girl] to do it if [she doesn’t] really want to” (Hemingway 213). Though the man says this, it is obvious that he really wants the girl to have the operation, and he is lightly pressuring her to do so. The girl, on the other hand, feels that “there’s nothing wrong with [her]”, so nothing gets resolved (Hemingway 214). Thus the story ends with a tone as tense and forced as the one it began with.
In the story “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway develops a nostalgic tone. He creates this tone by using context and situations that portray a nostalgia. For instance, when the girl wishes “[they] could have everything,” and in contrast to that she continued to say that “every day [they] make it more impossible” (Hemingway 213). From this it appears that she longs for a time when they were in love and they had everything. Further proof of this appears when the guy claims that “[they] can have everything” and she responds, “no we can't” (Hemingway 213). She doesn't shoot him down because she doesn't want to have everything with him, but that she has lost her faith in them being together and having everything. In the story “Get A Seeing-Eyed Dog” Hemingway develops a sympathetic tone. The main character in this story is a blind man. In order to develop this sympathetic tone Hemingway creates situations and interactions that make the reader feel sympathetic to not only the blind man, but the nurse who he is in love with. For instance, the blind man encourages the girl to “go to Paris and then to London” rather than wasting her time caring for him. This shows that not only does this man care for the woman, but he also has quite a bit of self-pity. He feels inadequate and like in the story “Hills Like White Elephant,” he has a feeling of hopelessness which makes the reader feel sympathetic towards him.
Initial responses end.
Comments are open.
Keep up the good work! I love how intelligent your comments are. I also love how kind you are to each other! :)
Madelyn, I love how you compared the man and the woman to a parent and a child! Which is ironic because when they were talking about surgery, I thought they meant like a C-section for like having a baby. Because so many couples are known to have babies to "save their marriages" or etc. What do you think?
Serena- After reading "Hills Like White Elephants" I really wanted to know what the surgery they were talking about was. I admit that now when I look at it I see how it could be a surgery to save a baby to save their relationship but when I was trying to figure it out I ruled that theory out because she was drinking and pregnant mothers to be should not be drinking. Instead I looked through a book I was reading about "crazy cures" and found Trepanation. It is still used today but has been improved upon greatly. It is where they drill a hole in your head to let "the air in"(212). When I researched it a little more an article said that many skulls have been found showing re growth from where the surgery was proving a relatively high and surprising survival rate. Trepanation was used to cure depression and mental disorders along with other things. Both of those could be causes of relationship problems so I thought it was a good theory. What is your reasoning behind it being a C-section?
Zoe- I really like how you could bring the tone in from the very first paragraph.
Madelyn - That's really in depth of you to look up trepanation.The only reason that I thought they wanted a baby was because they were talking about saving their relationship, in a sense. And surgery is semi-common for women who are unable to give birth to their children naturally. So I just assumed she was frail or something, but wanted a baby. But trepanation makes so much more sense. :)
Kali, I love that you made the connection between the main characters' situation and their location in the train station. Before the story really even begins, we are given insight into the situation, and I like that you drew attention to that. I also like how you explain the development of the tone. It wasn't established, but rather built through their conversation. I think you used excellent quotes and made the impact and source of the tone very clear.
zoew: I really liked your observations about tone and tension in "Hills Like White Elephants". What I have noticed most about Hemingway's work is how he is able to convey so much meaning into so little space. I think that one of the reasons he is able to do this is because so much of the character dynamics are implied and developed through tone. As you observed in "Hills Like White Elephants" rater than say "Billy and sally are boyfriend and girlfriend" and developing the story from there, Hemingway forces the reader to understand their relationship on the most basic level. The dynamic becomes more important than the name. And all of this through tone!
Serena and Madelyn:
I would like to politely disagree with both of you. I thought the surgery they were talking about was an abortion, not a C-section or trepanation. Throughout the short story, I found the American trying to persuade Jig to have the abortion. The American wants to keep his vivacious lifestyle as he looks at the bad and on them “were labels from all the hotels” they had visited. Having a baby would mean settling down and raising a family. He tries to trivialize the seriousness of abortion which was illegal during this time period. He tries to convince her to have the operation by saying that this is “the only thing that’s [making] them unhappy.” Jig is apprehensive about the surgery and its consequences, but desperately wants the American to love her. In the end, it is left up to the reader to draw a conclusion about their future.
That’s just how I thought they were talking about an abortion, Madelyn.(:
Serena, I'd like to better understand how you thought the surgery was a C-section!
Kali, I really like your explanation as to why you think they are referring to an abortion. Your idea is very well supported and it makes a lot of sense when you explain it that way. Also, in reference to your actual post, I really like how you begin by explaining how the description of the setting also helps create the tense tone. Everyone else, including myself, seemed to just use the dialogue between the man and the woman to describe the tone development, but I really like the different perspective you took.
Nick:
I like you point of view for "Get a Seeing Eye-Dog", but also felt that Hemmingway used them man's dialogue to hint that it was the event which made the man blind was the woman's fault. what are your feelings on this?
Kali, I liked your analysis of "Hills Like White Elephants." After reading it I looked back and could see how the tone was more tense than I had first realized. I think this tenseness combined with the nostalgia makes the story even more interesting since you can not guess exactly how the characters will react.
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