Every time I read one of Hemingway's stories, I feel like I have a better idea of why he was married and divorced so many times. In none of his stories have I seen a truly healthy male/female relationship, except perhaps the one married couple in "Ten Indians," and we really didn't see enough of them to be able to characterize their relationship as healthy or unhealthy.
There is a lack of communication, or at least meaningful communication, in every Hemingway story that we've read so far. The characters either don't say what they're really thinking, or they just allude to it, or they say simply nothing at all. I can't help but wonder if this is something that Hemingway thought was normal - and if so, I can understand why he was divorced so many times.
Men may say less than women, on average, but that doesn't lessen the need for honest communication. They simply need to learn to use their words to best effect. Hemingway may have tried to do that, but from the stories we've read so far, it doesn't seem to have worked. For example, in "The Short Happy Life of France Macomber" Mr. and Mrs. Macomber don't have a single conversation where both of them are trying to communicate. Either he's talking and she's not listening, or she's talking to him about something he doesn't think is very important.
Hemingway makes a number of other interesting points about the Macombers' relationship in this story, especially when Wilson observes that Mrs. Macomber must have married him because he was the type that she could control. That - and the obvious implication that this wasn't the first time she had been unfaithful and less than discreet about it - made me sad, a little. I'd like to read a story where the characters had a healthy relationship - but something tells me that I may have to go looking somewhere else, because Hemingway doesn't seem like he knew a lot about those.
I agree....if Hemingway was anything like his male characters, its easy to see why he had so much trouble with women. It would be nice to read a Hemingway story with a healthy relationship for the characters. I'd even settle for a couple that could have a functional argument!
ReplyDeleteI think about this after every Hemingway story we read and really don't think that I would've liked him very much as a person. Even if he didn't base any of his characters off of himself or his own relationships, he still had horrible ideas and feelings about the male/female relationship. Anyone who writes that many stories about dysfunctional relationships had to have been somewhat similar to those characters. I agree with you about looking somewhere else and feel as if I may have to read quite a few short stories with happy endings to prevent losing faith in relationships.
ReplyDeleteJulia, I completely agree with you about all of the relationships being dysfunctional because of a lack of communication. It can be frustrating reading about these characters interacting. I think, though, these relationships are realistic. When their is a lack of communication relationships tend to fall a part, and Hemingway portrays this perfectly.
ReplyDelete