Point of View and Narrative Technique in Modern Short Stories: Analysis of Hemingway and Cheever
Overview
This paper analyzes the narrative techniques employed by Ernest Hemingway and John Cheever in their short stories. It examines Hemingway's use of third-person objective point of view in 'Hills like White Elephants' and Cheever's characterization techniques in 'Reunion,' demonstrating how different narrative approaches shape reader interpretation and emotional engagement.
What this essay covers
- Analysis of Hemingway's third-person objective narration and its effects on reader comprehension and character understanding
- Examination of characterization as a narrative device in Cheever's 'Reunion' and the portrayal of the father-son relationship
- Comparison of how both authors use narrative technique to develop themes and create reader response
Preview
Short Story – Writer’s Craft
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Short Story – Writer’s Craft
Hills like White Elephants by Hemingway
Hemingway narration uses the third person objective point of view in his 'Hills like White Elephants' short story. The narrator solely removes himself from the events in his account by choosing not to use the pronouns I or we. Third-person pronouns get objectively used; that is, the narrator reports to his readers that which someone else present in his surrounding can visibly see or audible hear. The objective point of view narration enables a narrator to the only report what is said or seen but neither the thoughts nor intentions of characters. For instance, early on in the narrative, the storyteller reports;
"What should we drink?" the girl asked. She had taken off her hat and put it on the table. (Hemmingway, p. 444).
The girl's identity does not get revealed directly by the narrator when reporting her words. However, later on, we learn that she gets identified as Jig. From the statement, we can note that emotions such as pain, hunger, fear, doubt, anxiety, or hope that the girl may show do not get mentioned. The objective point of view of the narration seems to place both the characters in the event of the story and the readers in a confused state. The characters fail to comprehend each other, and the readers find it hard to grasp the story's flow.