Controlled, Declarative, Repetitive
William Faulkner, another twentieth-century American literary behemoth, famously said that Hemingway never used a word that would send a reader running to the dictionary. He was being snide about it. The truth is, while Hemingway’s writing style might not seem like it on the surface, there is actually a lot going on. Hemingway may not use a lot of words, but he makes sure that every single one packs a punch.
For instance, you know how Nick is really into manual tasks like setting up a camp, cooking, fishing, etc. because he likes the comfort of controlled tasks? (We talk more about this in the “Symbols” section.) Well, the language of the story actually mimics that desire for control through its really technical details (more on this over in the “Tone” section) and its short, declarative sentences. Here are some examples:
The river was there. (I.2)
Still, it was heavy. It was much too heavy. (I.7)
Seney was burned, the country was burned over and changed, but it did not matter. It could not all be burned. (I.8)
You can’t get much more declarative than a sentence like “The river was there.” It’s neither flowery nor complicated, and it tells you how things are in the most basic way possible. It almost seems like you wouldn’t even need a sentence like this in the story, were it not for the fact that it does something really important: it tells us that Nick is reassuring himself that the river is there, and that simple fact seems to ease his nerves (in the “Narrator Point of View” section we talk more about how to tell when the narration is reflecting Nick’s own thought process).
Another thing these sentences have in common is how they repeat words. See how “heavy” shows up twice in the second example and “burned” makes three appearances in the third? This is yet another instance of Nick as a control freak, as though he reassures himself with each repetition of a given word. These sentences aren’t going to get away from him any time soon. Think of it as the word-version of opening a tin can (hop on over to the “Symbols” section if you’re not clear on this reference). The words themselves that he chooses to repeat are telling, too. “Heavy” only grows heavier with repetition, cluing us in to the weight Nick carries. “Burned” works a little differently, though, as it gets repeated. The first two times it’s used we sense destruction, but the third time defiance starts to come through. By repeating certain words, we get a more complete picture of Nick.
On another note, this story loves to make use of a little thing called free indirect discourse, which sounds really complicated but actually just means that the line is blurred between the story’s narration and the character’s thoughts. Head on over to our “Narrator Point of View” section to see exactly what we mean.