Ernest Hemingway’s (1899-1961) unique writing style (based on the analysis

of “The Old Man and the Sea”).

Hemingway’s style.
From the beginning of his writing career in the 1920s, Hemingway's writing
style occasioned a great deal of comment and controversy. Basically, a
typical Hemingway novel or short story is written in simple, direct,
unadorned prose. Possibly, the style developed because of his early
journalistic training. Another theory: the literature of those times had a lot
of complex syntactic structures; it was also abundant with punctuation
marks which could confuse a reader.
Nevertheless, Hemingway didn’t immediately come to this style of writing.
In one instance when Hemingway was speaking about his writing style, he
explained that he often makes numerous, sometimes obsessive revisions.
He once described how he revised/rewrote the entirety of ‘ The Old Man
and the Sea‘ many times before he was happy with it. This no doubt
included cuts, removing bits of description, and unneeded dialogue.

Hemingway’s style was semi-revolutionary. It can be described as lean,

hard, athletic, and devoid of excessive language. His narratives often use a
simple vocabulary and short sentences.

Hemingway stated, “If a writer knows enough about what he is writing

about, he may omit things that he knows, and the reader, if the writer is
writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things”.

On top of that we want to share some of the peculiarities of Ernest

Hemingway writing style.

1. Relatively low usage of -ly adverbs.

Statistician Ben Blatt analyzed all Hemingway’s novels, and found he uses
only 80 adverbs that end with -ly per 10,000 words. That’s fewer than
almost any other writer. Scrapping your -ly adverbs is another way to
simplify your writing, and Blatt’s analysis shows that the writing greats tend
to use fewer adverbs. However, it’s not a strict rule, and exceptions exist.

Still, B. Blatt concludes: «The best books—the greats of the greats—do use
a lower rate of -ly adverbs. (…) an overuse of adverbs has resulted in
“great” books at a far scarcer frequency.»

2. High usage of one syllable words.

On the screen you can see the epic first paragraph of Hemingway’s “A
Farewell to Arms”. In its four sentences, you’ll find one hundred and
twenty-six words (one hundred and three of which only have one syllable).
It’s the ultimate example of how clear, concise and simplistic language can
be extremely powerful.

“In the late summer of that year, we lived in a house in a village that looked
across the river and the plain to the mountains. In the bed of the river,
there were pebbles and boulders, dry and white in the sun, and the water
was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels. Troops went by the
house and down the road and the dust they raised powdered the leaves of
the trees. The trunks of the trees too were dusty and the leaves fell early
that year and we saw the troops marching along the road and the dust
rising and leaves, stirred by the breeze, falling and the soldiers marching
and afterward the road bare and white except for the leaves.”

3. Ernest Hemingway never uses a harder word where a simpler word will
do.

4. Ernest Hemingway mostly writes using positive language (not negative).

«I’m not lying to you.» When you read those words, they might raise some
suspicion. Even though the word “not” is present in the sentence, the
reader still subconsciously focuses on the word “lying”. Instead of “I’m not
lying to you” Hemingway would write, “I’m telling the truth.”

è The Iceberg Theory

His Iceberg Theory, also known as the theory of omission, is a writing

technique that suggests the deeper meaning of a story should not be
evident on the surface but should shine through implicitly. It is the hidden
7/8ths of the iceberg under the water that holds the story’s substance,
leaving the reader to unearth and appreciate the underlying themes. The
theory was a reaction against the 19th-century style of describing the world
in minute detail; instead, Hemingway offered only the ‘tip of the iceberg,’
encouraging the reader to perceive what’s hidden beneath the surface.

Use of dialogue

Furthermore, Ernest Hemingway was able to create a new way of writing

dialogue and descriptions that got to the heart of the story much quicker.
While it might seem like this would simplify someone’s writing, that was
certainly not the case. Hemingway’s characters and storylines are complex
and multilayered. He portrayed his heroes through a realistic, often
colloquial language, revealing their personalities and emotions subtly,
without direct authorial intervention. This narrative technique, which creates
an illusion of real people talking, further reinforces the Iceberg Theory,
leaving much unsaid for the readers to infer.

Where Hemingway does not use a simple and short sentence, he connects
the various parts of the sentence in a straightforward and sequential way,
often linked by “and”. In his task of creating real people, Hemingway uses
dialogue as an effective device. Here is an example chosen from The Old
Man and the Sea:
“What do you have to eat?” the boy asked.
“No, I will eat at home; do you want me to make the fire?”
“No, I will make it later on, or I may eat the rice cold.”

Here we can see that such interpolations as “he said” have frequently been
omitted and the words are very colloquial.

Hemingway Code Hero

Hemingway’s works frequently feature a particular type of protagonist

known as the ‘Hemingway Code Hero.’ These characters are often stoic
men who exhibit grace under pressure, embrace physical and mental
challenges, and adhere to their personal code of honor. They live in the
existential world, focusing on tangible experiences and shying away from
abstract thought or discussion about the meaning of life. The Code Hero,
through his actions, embodies Hemingway’s beliefs about the nature of
courage, honor, and endurance.

Impact on Literature

Hemingway’s unique style and approach to storytelling greatly influenced

modern literature. In the latter part of his life, Hemingway was known as
“Papa Hemingway”. It refers mainly to his contribution to the development
of a new writing style in America—the colloquial style. In addition, his
Iceberg Theory inspired authors to lean towards subtlety, leaving much to
the reader’s imagination. His use of dialogue set a new standard in the
creation of realistic, believable characters.

Influential works

o A Farewell to Arms (1929): Set during World War I, this novel

showcases the trauma and disillusionment of war through the eyes of
Frederic Henry, an American ambulance driver in the Italian army.
 o The Sun Also Rises (1926): Known as Hemingway’s quintessential
novel, it presents the ‘Lost Generation’ disillusioned by World War I.
o For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940): Based on Hemingway’s experiences in
the Spanish Civil War, the novel explores themes of love, death, and
the brutality of war.
o The Old Man and the Sea (1952): This novella, one of Hemingway’s
most famous works, earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953
and significantly contributed to his Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.
The story of Santiago, an old Cuban fisherman battling a giant marlin,
beautifully showcases Hemingway’s iceberg theory.

Не уверена, что нам стоит рассказывать содержание, но пару абзацев

вставлю. THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA

The Old Man and the Sea typically reflects his unique writing style. The
language is simple and natural on the surface.

Plot: It is a simple story about a fisherman Santiago and his battle with a
great marlin. For 84 days Santiago does not catch a single fish but he does
not feel discouraged. He goes far out into the sea and hooks a giant marlin.
A desperate struggle ensues in which Santiago manages to kill the fish and
tie it to his bout, only to find that on the way home he has to fight a more
desperate struggle with some dangerous giant sharks, which eat up the
marlin, leaving only a skeleton. The old man brings it home and goes to
bed to dream, almost dead with exhaustion. But his struggle wins him much
respect.

The Old Man and the Sea is full of facts, most of which comes from
Hemingway own experience. In the forepart of the novel, they are used to
show the quality of Santiago’s life, and are narrated simply and naturally;
while in the latter part of the novel, they are used from inside Santiago’s
own consciousness and form part of a whole scheme of the novel.
References: (нужно оформить по правилам; или для красоты найти другие
источники)

1. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1082796.pdf
2. https://bookanalysis.com/ernest-hemingway/writing-style/
3. https://englishpluspodcast.com/ernest-hemingway-exploring-his-
unique-writing-style-and-influential-works/
4. Ernest Hemingway “The Old Man and the Sea”
5. https://honeycopy.com/copywritingblog/ernest-hemingway-writing-
style