Table of contents:
– Introduction……………………….………………………………… Page: 3
– Reaching to the reader …………………………………………….. Page: 4
Deadly atrocities…………………………………. ………………… Page:5
Endurance of issues………………………………………………… Page: 7
Political debates…………….……………………………………… Page: 8
Conclusion………………………………….……………………….. Page:9
Bibliography……………………………………………………….. .Page:10
Introduction:
Both authors George Orwell and Ernest Hemingway have had a major impact on the literary world of the 20th century. There thoughts and ideas so well expressed through their work have clearly demonstrated their perspectives on matters such as politics or war. Here, George Orwell’s non fiction memoir Homage to catalonia and Ernest Hemingway’s fiction work For whom the bell tolls reflect their perspectives on the Spanish guerra civil. The Spanish civil war occurred from 1936 until 1939. It was the product of a revolt against the Spanish government, that ended up leading to a bloody civil war. (Britannica) Both authors witnessed it and suffered, as volunteers. It is, however, the case, that Orwell’s work is a memoir reflecting his experiences during his voluntary fight in the civil war, and that Hemingway’s novel is fiction. The main purpose of this research process is to analyse the differences and the similarities between two literary works of two of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Nowadays Spain is still struggling with their political and financial situation, and much hatred is still present between different political parties. This war had an impact of great magnitude on the country, who is still affected by the consequences. “Orwell’s account is a lasting reminder of a chronically misrepresented chapter of history”, as said by Jared Spears. (Spears, Jared). By conducting further research and comparing with another work an attempt is made to improve our understanding of this misunderstood war. Their works are relevant and analysed due to the facts that Orwell wrote a memoir on his personal experiences and Hemingway experienced the civil war himself as well. Not only was it written during the war, Orwell published it a year before the end making it uninfluenced by the resulting end of the war. (Graham,Oliver) Furthermore, next to being two influential writers, the authors are said to have a similar ideology making it interesting to discover and analyse the similarities or differences in perspectives such as a civil war. Both authors have a reputation for being excellent writers, therefore being the ideal way to explore the Spanish civil war and formulate an answer by gathering information from various sources. In addition to this, Orwell’s work is said to be “the best work of reportage to emerge from that bitter conflict” (rodden, john). The two authors admired these literary pieces they wrote, and admitted openly that they enjoyed each other’s work. (Rodden, John)Both books together are interesting sources of information about the guerra civil, thus war themes such as death, mental strength, politics and love will be thoroughly analysed. These are, besides many others, the most present ones in both books. Literary characteristics will be taken into account, combined with background research on the authors and context from the storyline to make the research clear and coherent.
Reach for the reader
These literary works were created with multiple purposes. For entertainment, for a living, or to free their mind with the thought of having it on paper. But most importantly, to share their shocking experiences to prevent these horrific events from being forgotten.
Hemingway shaped his characters with all different personalities. Some say all of his fictional characters are inspired from people he met in real life. “He attaches himself to a certain crowd, watches them for months, sucks all the fiction out of them” (Littell, Robert). The way he shapes his characters is realistic, with a touch of authenticity, molded as he wishes to a fictive character with certain recognizable traits of people he met before. This means he cannot go wrong on the personality of his made up characters, and if it is suitable for a novel on the Spanish guerra. Basing it on real life observations he is known to be a talented fiction story writer (Littell, Robert). Though through the main character Robert Jordan hemingway can express his political ideas as in the book Robert Jordan says he is “an anti-fascist” (Hemingway, Ernest). The type of person Robert Jordan is can also be compared to the author himself, as he is American as well, with a peculiar interest in Spain, and the volunteering in a war that is not his. This way, the author has a possibility to communicate with the reader through the protagonist. With the whole story revolving around this person, the author's voice is heard thoughrilly throughout the novel. In fragments of the book the main character is thinking, with the authors writing in such a way that every little detail is given to give a clear picture of what is going on in the protagonist’s mind. An exemplified scene would be when Jordan worries about the bridge blowing scene;
“The orders on this are very clear. Too very clear. But you must not worry nor must you be frightened. For if you allow yourself the luxury of normal fear that fear will infect those who must work with you”. (Hemingway, Ernest)
This reflects how the character talks himself out of fear by the use of reason. The voice of Hemingway resonates in this saying. This can be due to personal experience that Hemingway experienced, as he worked for the red cross in Italy where a display of fear on a mission is no option and will indeed affect the surrounding soldiers.(Baird, Shuman)
A noticeable feature of creating the best possible picture for a reader of shocking events, is not only through the use of characters. Orwell’s memoir was infamous when it was published as his writing style was revolutionary for the 1930s. It was seen as plane, but very descriptive. George Orwell’s writing style is very recognizable in Homage to catalonia, because of for example the clear image of Barcelona he depicts for the reader with his clear, plane, but descriptive use of language. (Justman, Stewart)
The way Orwell describes the changes he observes of Barcelona one year before he leaves to war and when he returns underline his ability to use contrast for the reader to obtain a perfect picture of the city in its current state. “ a town where the working class was in saddle” is his first description, with the use of personification to describe how the lower class controlled the city. (Collina, Vitorre) By contrasting this with his opinion on his return to Barcelona, Orwell creates the perfect image of disappointment when describing it simple as “into Barcelona, we stepped into an atmosphere that was scarcely less alien and hostile to us”. (Orwell, George) One of Orwell’s motos is: never use a long word when a short one will do (Rodden, John). Hemingway is known to have used the same comparable language with the use of descriptive, but plain language. To add a touch of a spanish feeling, Hemingway uses Spanish expressions he translates smoothly afterwards. A combined example of simplistic but effective language use: “
I have no importance of any kind. But the affair is serious. Muy muy serio”
Short sentences, simple words, but a clear meaning. By adding a Spanish translation Ernest Hemingway adds an authentic touch to it. That reinforce the meaning of the phrase. Instead of using a comma, full stops are used to create short sentences that do however, have an effect that is suitable to the meaning of a serious affair. In this aspect of literature and the civil war, the two authors have many similarities. It is clear that they both lived through the same war and have journalistic skills, as they are masters of descriptive language.
Deadly atrocities
The Spanish civil war is often called the Spanish holocaust. There is a reason for this, as all political groups opposed to each other used violence as an attempt to a rise and obtain more power. General Franco was known for little hesitation when it came to death of his enemies. (Hochschild, Adam). Orwell mentions in his work that his troops were called fascist troops by enemy soldiers, although he disagrees to this name calling because of his different perspective on Franco’s political situation by writing “was not strictly comparable with Hitler or Mussolini. (Hollis, Christopher)
Both authors, in their own way, out their opposition against fascism. For whom the bell tolls is a novel that above all other possible themes, death is the main focus. (Rothman, Lily)
All death written about in this novel is in relationship to the fascists, as these are the opponents. In this aspect, both books are similar. Death is what the war will eventually lead up to, and throughout the stories it is clear to follow that the biggest fear of all main characters is the idea of death. By shaping all characters in the book that play an important role in the storyline Hemingway can also give the reader context as to how the people could differ in beliefs and act differently through war times.
Orwell, in his memoir, is almost constantly surrounded by soldiers that come from the lower class of society. Hemingway’s main characters are all either peasants, or native to small forgotten ‘pueblos’. These folks were all victim of fascism, and were easy to kill of due to the lack of protection (Spanish Civil war). In both books the atrocity that is inflicted on the defenseless are mentioned in detail. For whom the bell tolls for example has the story of Maria, where her family coming from a small village was slaughtered in front of her while she was mistreated, with Hemingway using rough descriptive words to create a horrible picture. “Then the one who had gagged me ran a clippers all over my head” is one of Maria’s descriptions (Hemingway, Ernest). For the reader to understand how horrific all death related events were, Ernest uses words such as gag and even worse to pass on a clear message of horror. The scene in which this is told is emotional, as they both lie in a tent holding each other. Hemingway’s bold language use is made emotional by the setting, where even his simplistic style evokes powerful emotions. Orwell escapes death while sniped when talking to someone, and experiences the shock of almost losing the ability to speak. His adventure in the hospitals is extensively written about, as Orwell exposes the stone hard truth about the war.
“By the evening enough sick and wounded had trickled in to make up a few ambulance-loads, and they sent us on to Barbastro. What a journey!” (Orwell, George)
By describing this scene so casually using words such as ‘trickled’ and ‘ambulance-loads’ the atmosphere is made less grave than in reality. Orwell has seen worse occurings than at the hospital. The exclamation mark at the end of the sentence combined with the expression ‘what a journey’ almost makes it sound exciting. It allows the reader to comprehend the gravity of the situation.
Altogether, Orwell and Hemingway do not fear writing in depth about death, killing, or bloody events. Hemingway dedicates entire passages of his book to death and killing, because of the importance these two themes have in war. Both him and Orwell seem to be little to not affected by it, because of their blant language use and accurate terms for such events. Euphemism are never used, it is said the way it is. In this aspect, both authors treat the war themes very similarly.
Endurance of issues
War times take a toll on mental health, and torments emotions. Orwell decided to go to Spain as a journalist in 1936, but quickly after his arrival he signed up for the army. (ENCY) Hemingway however, immediately signed up as a volunteer to fight against fascism. Getting themselves into this required an intense effort on their behalf. Writing a memoir during his adventures helped Orwell cope with his feelings of wasted time, as he describes during his adventure he spends more time gathering firewood than preparing for the front (Orwell, George). The strains that war brings along are noticeable in both books. Differently, but with the same message. It is a hell like period for Orwell to be at the front, living in constant fear of feeding himself, while Hemingway writes actively about the dangers of being on the wrong political side of the region. The harsh conditions are all too present in the books. Orwell writes about a chant they would sing:
There are rats, rats,
Rats as big as cats,
In the quartermaster’s store! (Orwell, George)
To write about such a simple chant means George Orwell was significantly affected by it, and felt the need to share it. Such a simple but catchy chant helps the reader step in Orwell’s shoes to feel that war had let up to this point of silly chants and a lack of hygiene combined. The rhyme is worth mentioning as it plays on replay in your mind. Thus, making the reader pursue his thinking about the meaning of this chant. The shortness is what creates its effectiveness. It is a great way of representing misery. In addition to this, George Orwell is not afraid of mentioning other hygiene deficiencies. “The lice were multiplying faster in my trousers far faster than I could massacre them” (Orwell, George). A combination of lice and trousers is enough to make the reader shiver and realize the atrocities that occur during a guerra civil. This passage is far from the end of the memoir, indicating he still has a while in the trenches. However, it does not stop Orwell from persevering. By writing about it he relives the moment, a sign it affects him less than it could.
Hemingway presents the mental difficulties war can bring along by writing detailed passages about the trust issues the characters have. Pablo for example is seen as a traitor, and symbolizes the constant fear you can have during a war of not knowing who you can trust. Hemingway occasionally portrays him as a scapegoat on which other characters can act out all their internalized angers as he is the only one who mentions the negative side of the mission. Pablo, and the chant are pessimistic outlook at war. They put the negative aspects in the spotlight.
However, love plays an important role in both books. Orwell writes about his wife, who awaits him in Barcelona. Having your beloved one waiting for your return is a good motivational factor. This is clear, as every return his wife is frequently mentioned and takes part in his adventures. Maria makes Robert Jordan happy and gives him a real reason to get over his mission. Goals are set for the people that are loved. Hemingway was known to be a man involved romantically with women a lot, and his book reflects this. The sensual scences Robert Jordan spends with Maria are the soft escape to reality for Hemingway. Both fictional characters are in another dimension, as they discuss the future together. Hemingway does this to show that love provides the possibility to dream in times of war. Both authors dedicate much attention to the theme of love as a theme of war that is inevitable. Aside from being a key element to war, it livens up the story line and distracts the reader from the endless panick and fear that the rest of the books are about. It is the tenderness in the middle of the battlefield.
Regarding love, both authors dedicate much attention to it. It appears both authors share their endurance of issues with the reader through complains, moral debates, and love.
Political debates
A civil war can be defined as politically organized conflict where violence is used between citizens of the same country, all occuring within a country. (Gersovits, Mark). Knowing that this happens within a country, the issue is often religion or politics, which in most cases mostly overlaps. Orwell and Hemingway were known to agree with each other’s political views, and their books reflect this (Encyclopedia) However, there are some minor ideological deviations in this aspect of war between the two of them (Encyclopedia).
While Hemingway achieves through a fictive novel to represent the political situation during war times with For whom the bell tolls, it is not comparable in quality of writing to Orwell’s narrative techniques utilized, which give a great representation of the political events during the war. Through the use of a memoir, George Orwell is said to be the greatest source of ‘reportage’ of this war (Rodden John). By writing a fiction novel, Hemingway cannot give an in depth explanation to the reader of all the political terms or motives and explanations behind certain actions carried out due to war political orders. Next to this, the memoir has a chapter (in the first edition chapter V) that provides the reader with clear explanation of political matters such as for example the P.O.U.M. This was done twice, because chapter XI of the first edition is also written as a clarification for the questions the reader might have. An example of this would be when Orwell writes in chapter VI:
“If you are not interested in political controversy and the mov of parties and sub-parties with their confusing names, please skip.”
What prevented Orwell’s novel from selling many copies at once, was the fact that he expressed a different viewpoint on Stalin’s communism than how it was pictured in Britain. (Rodden, John)
It was unpopular at that time, but became later on an area of interest for the readers whose views on politics had changed over time based on past events related to the politics described in the book. This can be related to the point mentioned previously, as it took Orwell much explanation and examples to express his slightly different political view. Hemingway however, lacking the possibility to do so with a fictive novel, is straightforward about the political standpoint of the book. There is some conversation regarding politics, however it is not the main focus. Unlike the many political abbreviations Orwell can use in one page, Hemingway mentions none, and instead of naming the political parties he gives a brief description. Hemingway’s purpose lies elsewhere. He uses his own beliefs, however unable to deliver them to the reader as well as Orwell can. As time elapsed, people became more open minded and accepted Orwell’s interpretation of the political situation (as described in the memoir). Compared to Hemingway’s novel, who was more popular, it demonstrates that the fact the fictive novel, with less possible explanation and depth, was better for the audience of the years of early release. A different type of book means a different way of putting the theme of politics during the guerra civil, and this difference is clear. Therefore it is possible to say that the expression of the war theme ‘politics’ is significantly different in both literary pieces. Furthermore, having similar political ideology does not mean the expression of war themes will be similar.
Conclusion
La guerra civil was a political based massacre that led to much grief. Orwell and Hemingway processed it through a memoir and a fictive novel with much success. Their motive for writing the book was not exactly the same, and Orwell dedicates his book more to Catalonia. The manner in which they handle war themes occasionally resembles each other’s, however, the fact that one is a memoir and the other a fictive book makes a difference. Hemingway used his talent of writing fiction stories to process the events he had witnessed in person, while George Orwell’s talent to record what he observed led to a near perfect way to conserve this war on paper. This leads to a different way of communicating their thoughts to the reader. Orwell has the possibility to communicate directly with the reader, while Hemingway uses the main character to communicate his thoughts. In this aspect, the two literary works differ. But their message remains similar. Civil wars leads to frequent, cold hearted deaths. A plain style, with no use of euphemisms or other figures of speech is employed to deliver their story. Simple but clear vocabulary is employed for descriptions, as one of Orwell’s motos is to use the more simple word available.
Due to the fact that Hemingway is writing a fiction novel, he does not have the possibility to get into an in-depth explanation of his political views. At that this particular point is where both books are not as similar, because Orwell spends much time discussing politics, explaining them in two whole chapters. One is more politics focussed than the other. This might count for politics, however, the struggles of war are treated similarly. Orwell shares a chant about a struggle, while Hemingway uses a pessimistic character to share the negative aspects of the current situation. These two techniques expose the struggles of war. George Orwell and Ernest Hemingway took a different approach when writing these two literary works, which is noticeable at times. However, it is crystal clear that both authors are on the same political sides and have the same fashion of expressing themselves at times. The style is revolutionary and clearly from the 1940s, with matching characteristics despite the difference of book type.
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