William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway Comparison Essay
Introduction
The style employed by a writer acts as a mark of differentiation from the other writers. Stephen noted that a writer’s style points to the tone of the story which is critical for the reader to understand (85). Some of the factors that differentiate writers are the use of figurative language such as symbolism, personification, similes, metaphors, and hyperboles (Pisano and Holder 7). This paper compares and contrasts William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway with respect to “A Rose for Emily” and “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”. “A Rose for Emily” is a remarkable story, which starts with a flashback about the death of Emily Grierson, the main character.
The story is written from the perspectives of Emily and the community and combines the past and the future to depict power and love. On the other hand, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” is about a writer who is dying due to a gangrene infection while on a safari. Hemingway starts the story with an epigraph, a narration relating to a lone leopard on the tip of Kilimanjaro. The comparison of the works of the two writers will be based on figures of speech.
Main body
Hemingway and Faulkner use figurative language to elicit pity and frustration about the issues that affect the main characters. This forms the basis of building the themes of the stories. In respect to the two stories, the common figure of speech is the use of metaphors to point to different aspects of life affecting the main characters in the stories. According to Stephens, Hemingway uses allusions, meanings, and symbolic functions to present the facts that the narrator is facing (86).
Hemingway employs metaphors to depict the infection Harry is suffering from. This signifies the depth of creativity that shifts the story from a straightforward tale to an allegory. For example, Harry the narrator states, “they are around every camp. You never notice them. You can’t die if you don’t give up” (Hemingway 2). The use of the phrase alludes to deeper issues that affect the writer; hence, drawing the parallel between the factual gangrenes infection which can cause death and the real-life situation of neglect.
Similarly, in the Rose for Emily, Faulkner uses metaphors to point to the past neglect. For example, the narrator states that “When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument….” (Faulkner par. 1)The fallen monument is used to point to the past which describes Emily’s life.
The two writers also use symbolism and personification. Hemingway starts the story with symbolism. “Close to the western summit there is the dried and frozen carcass of a leopard. No one has explained what the leopard was seeking at that altitude.”(Hemingway 1). In this case, the leopard is used to depict the life of Harry. On the other hand, Faulkner uses symbolism and personification to create a vivid picture of Emily’s life. For example, the state of the house Emily lived in exemplifies her life. “Miss Emily’s house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps….” (Faulkner par. 2)
In writing, images entail visuals used by a writer to draw the attention of the reader to certain issues (Stephens 4). Images relate to figurative devices such as metaphors and similes. In the snows of Kilimanjaro, Hemingway uses many visuals such as the mountain, the dead carcass of the leopard, the hyenas, and vultures. The images are used in a clear and simple way to display the setting and the atmosphere of the story. Faulkner also uses images but applies a different technique. For instance, he uses a lot of description and complex wording. For example, “Her skeleton was small and spare; perhaps that was why what would have been merely plumpness in another was obesity in her. She looked bloated like a body long submerged in motionless water and of that pallid hue” (Heller par. 11).
Conclusion
Differences between Hemingway and Faulkner also relate to how the writers present their literary works to the readers. For instance, Hemingway’s prose is stripped down, and he integrates it with imagery. This allows the presentation of the main theme in a manner that makes the reader feel part of the happenings. This is achieved by the use of first-person narration, which makes the reader be part of the seeing and action (Harding 22).
For example the use, “Love is a dunghill,” said Harry. “And I’m the cock that gets on it to crow” (Hemingway 4). The narration is based on the self-ruminations and memories. The imageries are used to depict the life of regret. This is contrary to Faulkner’s presentation of the theme of power and love in “A Rose for Emily”. The writer uses a different approach to capture the attention of the readers by teasing the imagination of the reader. For example, the writer uses conflicting cues to make the readers’ suspicion of the truth about Emily keep on growing.
Works Cited
Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily. n.d. Web.
Harding, Riddle. “He had never written a word of that: Regret and counterfactuals in Hemingway’s “The Snows of Kilimanjaro.”” Hemingway Review 30.2 (2011): 21- 35. Print.
Heller, Terry. n.d. The Telltale Hair: A Critical Study of William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily“. n.d. Web.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Snows of Kilimanjaro. 2015. Web.
Pisano, Falke, and Will Holder. Figures of Speech. Zürich: JRP/Ringier, 2010. Print. Stephens, Robert. “Hemingway’s Riddle of Kilimanjaro: Idea and Image.” American Literature 32.1 (2001): 84-85. Print.
