In Another Country - Ernest Hemingway
To continue from class today...
I find Hemingway's portrayal of loss to be very interesting, especially within the Major. He seems to deal with his injury, and incapability to use his hand in a sort of off-hand manner. He is neither angry nor sad, but resigned, as we said in class; a state of emotional comatose. The death of his wife, however, causes him to express many feelings. He gets extremely angry, and then depressed. Hemingway shows how some losses in life are accepted, while others are rejected. There is reason to injury in service, but there is no possible way to reason the death of a loved one. I just think this is another aspect of the loss the characters are feeling.
Any more discussion?
-Charlotte
I find Hemingway's portrayal of loss to be very interesting, especially within the Major. He seems to deal with his injury, and incapability to use his hand in a sort of off-hand manner. He is neither angry nor sad, but resigned, as we said in class; a state of emotional comatose. The death of his wife, however, causes him to express many feelings. He gets extremely angry, and then depressed. Hemingway shows how some losses in life are accepted, while others are rejected. There is reason to injury in service, but there is no possible way to reason the death of a loved one. I just think this is another aspect of the loss the characters are feeling.
Any more discussion?
-Charlotte
Labels: Another Country, Hemingway
posted by L Lazarow | 4:20 PM
5 Comments:
Did anyone else find that the story didn't really GO anywhere or make much progress?? (I would have to agree with Aviva's perspective that it felt like the story was a part of a much larger work) Or is that also relating back to the theme of the story.. that no real progress is made?
I agree too... not only did it seem to come to an abrupt end, but it seemed really fragmented, and never really elaborated on any one particular point. Maybe Hemingway did this on purpose, to show how the narrator didn't really care about what was going on, and was just sort of resigned to the events.
I think that this story was really meant to show just the despair and sorry state of human affairs during the war and in general. Nothing was accomplished and nothing changed just to add to the general tone of the story. I read the tale as more of like a journal entry, it was the narrator just writting what he was thinking about, sometimes he would elaborate, other times he would go off on tangents. Hemingway's short story reminded me of John Steinbeck without the vivid imagery; it was really just a study of the human psychy post world war 1.
I'd definately agree with Nick about the overall tone and emotions delivered by the short story. It seemed to me that life during the war was just kind of trudging on, much like the war itself. There was an overhanging sense of hopelessness and the idea that the characters weren't in controlof anything. This was reinforced in my opinion by the fact that the major continues treatment just because, even though he knows it won't achieve anything.
-Patrick
A Worn Path
I'm really sorry everyone, but I'm at home sick today and I cannot sign in to make this a new post. As soon as I can start posting again, I'll make this a post. Also, I missed today's discussion so I'm sorry if I repeat anything that was already said.
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From the very beginning of the story, Ms. Jackson experiences several obstacles as she goes to get her grandson's medicine. Though she faces hardships, she remains polite and respectful at all times. No matter the obstacle, she strives to overcome. Because this story was written in 1941 about an African-American woman in Mississippi, I assume race and racism have a strong influence upon the work. The obstacles Ms. Jackson faces parallel the obstacles faced by African-Americans living in the South at the time. Ms. Jackson encounters the white man, the hunter on her journey. Having the white man be a hunter establishes a kind of predator-prey relationship. With the lines "i know you old colored people! wouldn't miss going to town to see Santa Claus",
"doesn't the gun scare you?" and "charity case", we see the use of stereotypes in the work that target Ms. Jackson. Ms. Jackson, however, remains polite and brave. Despite her physical blindness, Ms. Jackson seems to be very aware of the society around her and its perceptions of her.
The name "Phoenix" also seems to be important. The first time I read it, I totally ignored the name. When I read a little bit about the story online, it occurred to me that because the phoenix is known to rise out of its own ashes, Ms. Jackson's name represents her ability to overcome and rise up out of the evils of society. Throughout the story, Welty describes colors of objects or people. If this is a story of racism, why would she feel it necessary to draw attention to color? Isn't that counterproductive? (Again, sorry if I repeated anything that was said in class.)
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