Topic > Two modernist perspectives: comparison between Hemingway and Woolf

Although Ernest Hemingway and Virginia Woolf belong to the same literary period, Modernism, their styles are quite different. Modernism is a literary period characterized by a variety of ideas, styles, techniques, theories and trends that derive from the social and cultural reality of the time. We can therefore find many schools or artistic movements in the same period, such as impressionism, symbolism and expressionism. While Hemingway can be considered a representative of symbolism, Woolf is an important impressionist writer. A careful analysis of Hemingway's “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” and Woolf's “The String Quartet” can help us illustrate these authors' differences in style, methods or technique, and theme. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In "The Snows of Kilimanjaro", Ernest Hemingway's style is characterized by the use of symbols of associations (e.g. the snow, the peak, the carrion eaters and the leopard) and the use of the omnipresent third person narrative device, as well as the inclusion of dialogues and flashbacks. The theme of this story is ethical; in the words of Carlos Baker, the story deals with the “gains and losses of moral virility” (weeks 118), or spiritual death and rebirth. The Snows of Kilmanjaro is the narrative of the last days of a dying author, Harry, in a field near the edge of the Tanganyika plain. He is a failed artist, who procrastinated on writing because he was too lazy and exchanged his artistic talent for luxury, money and comfort. Marrying a rich woman without loving her is what caused Harry's spiritual death; and now that his physical death is near, he tries to recover all those opportunities he lost. Hemingway uses simple, clear words and sentence structures, but conveys meaning through symbols. From the beginning we are faced with one of the most important symbols of the story, the frozen carcass of a leopard, which represents all the ideals that Harry never managed to realize. The next symbols are the vultures flying “obscenely” around their heads due to Harry's rotten leg. These birds of prey are commonly linked to death as they eat carrion; similarly, the presence of the hyena in this story is linked to Harry's spiritual death and personality: living on others. Other symbols are snow and the peak of Kilimanjaro, which are closely linked to each other. Snow is a recurring image in Harry's first flashback: “That was one of the things he set aside to write, in the morning at breakfast, looking out the window and seeing snow on the mountains in Bulgaria and Nansen's secretary he asked his old friend if it was snow. Snow has always been associated with episodes in his life that meant the loss of opportunities to write, of opportunities for artistic expression. Now that he has little time left, he sees the snows of Kilimanjaro as a symbol of oblivion. Finally, the mountain top symbolizes the gates of paradise, peace and perfection. For Harry, reaching the top of the mountain means realizing his works as an artist and recovering his lost morality or, as I said before, it means Harry's spiritual rebirth, because realizing his ideals ensures his access to heaven. Virgin Woolf is well known for her dark narrative style, which is clearly exemplified in “The String Quartet” by means of sensory impressions, stream of consciousness, discontinuity and plot minimization. As an impressionist writer, Woolf seeks to “preserve the impressions that an object makes on her” (Aguirre, 8); in this case he is trying to capture a moment, a concert of.. 1962.