On Addressing Emotions

Literature can accomplish many tasks—namely the ability to coherently express the emotions of everyday people—that have for a long time proven difficult for the average person to do. This is not necessarily because authors have a broader vocabulary from which to draw upon, or even that they have more life experience than the next person. Sometimes, literature simply tells a good story, or rather, the story it tells manages to effectively and simplistically convey a message that, in other places or situations, might not garner the attention it deserves. Literature also has the uncanny ability of revealing the true nature of sentiments that have for one reason or another either become distorted or were never accurately represented. Some of the best examples of this type of expression can be found in various works from William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway, two authors who were experts in crafting passages that conveyed meaning and emotion.

There is a unique aspect of great literature in its ability to not only tell a story, but to tell it with verve and grace. While anyone can retell a series of events, it is the skilled craftsman that can structure a story that engages the senses and delivers a message of meaning. For example, in the story “A Rose for Emily”, the reader is subjected to much more than a mere recital of some old woman’s death. One particular passage, “Now she too would know the old thrill and the old despair of a penny more or less”, constitutes Faulkner’s rather remarkable ability to convey emotion (Faulkner 17). This line in the story is essentially recounting to the reader the history of Ms. Emily and the manner in which she was raised, particularly the moment when her finances essentially dried up. No longer will the ‘high-life’ be available to her—instead, she will from this point forward be forced to adapt to a life that she may, at first, find difficult. This passage is significant, however, because all of these sentiments, and more, are expressed in just that one sentence. But the subtlety with which the author conveys the sentiment both invokes emotion and succinctly illustrates the author’s intention of marking this point in Ms. Emily’s life as significant. Not being of the artistic or creative persuasion it is difficult for many to attribute to this word or that passage the specific effect that makes such works of art timeless as they are. Nonetheless, it is clear that literature like this somehow manages to express ideas, or emotions or feelings that felt by all are only ever accurately expressed by a few select intellects possessed of a firm grasp of the realities and tragedies in life.

Another trait inherent in so many literary works of art is the ability to address realities or ideologies that might otherwise remain hidden to the masses. It seems that long ago authors realized how powerfully a particular social or political issue could be addressed by not addressing it at all, or only indirectly. A great example of this can be seen in many of Ernest Hemingway’s short stories and novels. “Hills Like White Elephants”, a story that follows the conversation of a man and a woman waiting at a train station, represents an example of how poignant can be the effect of not talking about something. The first few lines of dialogue give the reader some insight into what is happening when, after replying to the woman’s comment about the hills looking like white elephants by saying, “I’ve never seen one”, the woman fires back “No, you wouldn’t have” (“Hills Like” 147). At first reading some might find it difficult to comprehend just what exactly the couple is discussing, but it is evident that there is tension between the characters. Instead of simply writing ‘there was tension between the man and the woman’ though, Hemingway, and countless other authors, discovered that conveying the gravity of certain situations could be more effectively accomplished by illustrating the manner in which such emotions arise in human interaction. Furthermore, Hemingway’s use of negative space in the story skillfully addresses the topic of conversation without actually using words to do so. The male character’s obscure discussion of a procedure, “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig,…It’s not really an operation at all”, instantly gives cause for the reader to suspect that in fact something significant is at play here, and that, whatever is being discussed, really isn’t simple at all (Hemingway 212). This is because Hemingway understood the mechanics of how people discuss sensitive subjects—by subverting their importance and making light of them, rather than confronting the problem head on. When Jig replies to her partner’s comment about lots of people ‘having done it’ and being happy afterwards, stating “So have I…And afterwards they were all so happy”, it is evident that she is being facetious and in actuality is afraid of what this ‘operation’ will do to their relationship. All throughout the story, the couples back-and-forth bickering sheds light on the current state of their relationship, and gives the reader insight into just what exactly is going on. Moreover, because abortion was even more taboo in 1927 when this story was published than it is today, the author was able to address an extremely controversial issue without doing so explicitly, and arguably more effectively.

Another masterpiece rife with sentiments that people can relate to is Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Old Man and The Sea. The story is about an old fisherman that ventures far out into the sea after eighty-four days of fishing without a single fish to show for it. The opening paragraph alone creates an instant connection with old Santiago, who, despite his recent setbacks, seems all the more determined to the reader with his flour-sack patched sail (Old Man). Later, we are shown a different side of the old man, a side that says ‘here is a man with about as much grit as any man that ever lived’. “But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed, but not defeated” is a line that gives tremendous insight into the heart of this legendary hero brought to life by Ernest Hemingway. Trying to land a fish some many thousand pounds in weight, so many miles from the shore, Santiago knows that he will likely not make it home with an intact specimen once the sharks catch the scent. But, his agony is second to his duties as a fisherman, as a man, and Santiago, like so many heroes in so many other stories, not only endures the pain of his adventure but welcomes it—“and pain does not matter to a man” (Old Man). In creating a character with such determination and strength of will, Hemingway not only authored an inspiring story but he also managed to express the beauty in hardship that is, on a certain level, generally understood but not completely comprehended. Everyone understands the satisfaction of accomplishment, to be sure, but what Hemingway and other authors of great literature are capable of achieving is describing with words what for so long has only ever been understood as matters of the heart. The tragic ending of Santiago’s excursion, a late night arrival in the harbor with little more than the skeleton of his otherwise record-size catch, further illustrates how literature can communicate what only few other mediums can. As the dawn breaks and crowds gather around what is left of Santiago’s catch, the dialogue turns to some tourists having breakfast at a local inn. When they ask what the story is behind the remains, the waiter only replies ‘shark’, unable to effectively communicate in English what had actually transpired—that sharks had attacked and devoured the entire specimen before Santiago could make landfall. “I didn’t know sharks had such handsome, beautifully formed tails,” said the woman, “‘I didn’t either,’ replied her male companion” is a conversation that very succinctly illustrates the nature of people. Since no one is there to correct the waiter’s oversight, to the tourists it may as well stand that Santiago’s bitter duel with his majestic fish never even took place. This passage is a subtle expression for existentialism in Hemingway's works - for conveying the importance in understanding that just because one might not comprehend the difficulties associated with a given situation; it does not mean that such difficulties do not exist, or that they were never present.

What philosophers often spend years or decades perfecting, with arguments and logical fallacies to boot, great authors of literature can often accomplish in a single work of fiction. Whether contemporary social issues, or the inherent strength of mankind, or the tragedy of a young girl that lasted long into adulthood, great literature can express the deepest emotions and the most sensitive sentiments using only words and characters.

Works Cited

Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily”. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill, 1970. Print.

Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills like white elephants." The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway (1927): 211-14.

Hemingway, Ernest. The old man and the sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.