Essay Compare And Contrast Hemingway And Tim Obrien

A Study of Literary Works by Ernest Hemingway and Tim Obrien

A trip into the world of literature includes the understanding of all the key elements the author intends to deliver. There are many different literary elements that can be used to deliver a very compelling story. Within Tim Obrien’s “The Things They Carried” as well as “Hills Like White Elephants” written by Ernest Hemingway, use many of the key literary features to deliver well written and enthralling classic short stories. This essay will attempt to provide evidence that although Hemingway and Obrien have different writing styles, they both use similar elements to provide very similar core conflicts within each story.

When looking at the core conflicts within each story similarities

in conflicts begin to arise. Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” sets two conflicts, individual vs. self and individual vs. individual. An individual vs. self as the girl struggles with her own thoughts against having the medical procedure done. This struggle then manifests a struggle between her and the American, as the American tries to quell her worries about the procedure and the future afterwards. The same individual vs. self struggle is also seen within Tim Obrien’s “The Things They Carried,” in this short story First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is first confronted by his struggle with whether, Martha, the young lady who often writes him letters while away at war, is truly in love with him. The second and by far the most developing for the First Lieutenant is the struggle of inner guilt over the death of Tim Lavender. Both stories’ core conflict is individual vs. self, and the core conflict is represented by the two authors in similar ways.
While both stories focus on the inner struggle of guilt, the two authors use different styles to convey these conflicts. The similarities of conflict within both stories are very well illustrated through the use of rising action. In “Hills Like White Elephants” this rising action is seen by way of the conflict between Jig, the main character of the story, and the American. While Tim Obrien sets the rising action by way of the death of Tim Lavender in “The Things They Carried”. Within Hemingway’s story it was the guilt felt by the main character towards the medical procedure that creates the conflict between Jig and the American, which represents the rising action. However, Tim Obrien demonstrates a similar conflict of guilt in Lieutenant Jimmy Cross after the rising action that is seen by the death of Tim Lavender. The differences seen in the rising action for the two stories sets the development of each character apart to provide a convincing connection to the feelings each main character is enduring.
Each character’s developing feelings within each story can be explained by their environment. Tim Obrien sets his character’s development upon the backdrop of the Vietnam War. It is within this environment that Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’s feelings are developed, in other words the horrors of war effects how the character is developed. The same can be said for the characters in “Hills Like White Elephants.” The character’s development within this story is effected not by their surroundings, but by an upcoming procedure that creates animosity between the characters. This animosity creates a heavy environment, which Hemingway displays very keenly. While exploring each story it is extremely important to understand how the characters are effected by the environment they are placed.
Tim Obrien and Ernest Hemingway use epiphany, figurative language as well as climax within these two short stories. These literary elements give both stories depth along with character development, which connects the reader to each. This connection is built through the use first of figurative language throughout each story. Each story has a point where characters reach an epiphany. While the point of epiphany is realized after the climax in “Hills Like White Elephants” has been achieved, the point of epiphany within “The Things They Carried” is part of the climax. Ernest Hemingway uses climax to reach epiphany, but Tim Obrien uses epiphany to reach climax. The literary elements used in both stories are the same, but used in very different ways to develop each story.
Frequently the reader is traversed through figurative language that lies within “Hills Like White Elephants”, one such example of this language is seen by the main character stating that everything tastes like liquorice (Clugston, 2014). This type of figurative language helps to build the climax of Hemingway’s story. The characters within the story are poised against the other’s feelings towards a pending procedure. These feelings are represented early in Hemingway’s story as Jig gazes at the hills and comments that they resemble white elephants (Clugston, 2014). The exchanges between Jig and the American develop a pattern of shifting power, however, reveals a more subversive current in the dialogue, one in which Jig, the, outwits her boorish American and manipulates both the conversation and the man at each turn to control the shared destiny of her and the unborn child (Rankin, 2005). The American’s persistence in opposing the continuance of Jig’s maternity, he grossly oversimplifies the issue furthering (Rankin, 2005). . Jig’s manipulation of the American, and fury towards his persistence as well as simplification of the issue, ultimately creates an epiphany for the American that he will never be able to sway Jig’s feelings towards the abortion of their unborn child. The American’s epiphany is represented when he suggest that he should take their luggage to the opposite side of the station, Jig shows her approval with a smile (Clugston, 2014) Hemingway, through the use of figurative language, within conversation, builds a conflict between Jig and the American. This conflict based on Jig’s inner conflict, builds to a climax at which time the American relents his pursuit of the procedure.
Perhaps Tim Obrien’s method of using literary elements in “The Things They Carried” would confuse some readers, as he has a simplistic fashion of presenting figurative language.

Obrien’s simplicity appears in what the soldiers carry; because the items may provide a sense of safety or security, a distraction from boredom or fear. The items provide comfort from the horrors of war, as did the letters from home, photos of a sweetheart, and a pebble sent from a friend (Wells, 2000). A clear example of Obrien’s simplicity is found in; “To carry something was to ‘hump’ it, as when Lieutenant Jimmy Cross humped his love for Martha up the hills and through the swamps. In its intransitive form, to hump meant to walk, or to march, but it implied burdens far beyond the intransitive.” (Clugston, 2014) Obrien’s purpose for this passage is to express the importance placed upon what was carried. This simple use of figurative language is placed strategically throughout the story, all building towards the climax of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’s epiphany of letting go of some of those things he carries, as they distract from his duty, the safety of the soldiers under his command. This epiphany not realized by the Lieutenant until Tim Lavender, a soldier under the command of First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, lost his life due to the distraction from the very items that provided a sense of security. Through the use of the preceding literary items, figurative language, epiphany, and climax, Tim Obrien takes on the act of trying to reveal the uncertainties about the Vietnam War one step further, by looking at it through imagination (Kaplan, 1993). Obrien entirely destroys the line between fact and fiction and shows that fiction can often be truer than fan fact, particularly in the case of the Vietnam War (Kaplan,

1993).
The two authors create internal struggle by using the same literary elements, albeit in much different ways. The style of each writer casts these same elements to build character relationships, develop theme, plot, and climax. Although, Tim Obrien and Ernest Hemingway have very different and unique writing styles the similarities in their use of the literary elements previously discussed in this essay shows the two authors created two very different stories with very similar core conflicts.