Paste your Rohrberger (1979, p. 14) argues that ‘The short story writer makes symbols of objects, characters, events, settings, plots in an effort to move beyond surface levels and to suggest complex meanings.’ Short stories are constructed purposefully by writers to contain literary techniques and devices that allow readers to develop an understanding and interpret underlying significance (Butler, 2018). Modernist stories such as Ernest Hemingway’s ‘Hills Like White Elephants’ and Katherine Porter’s ‘The Grave’ are heavily reliant on symbols to carry meaning. Both texts develop their themes through symbols, creating an ability to engage with difficult subject matters with so many seemingly meaningless words holding so much significance. A tendency towards ambiguity places onus on the reader to grasp the significance of the stories with meaning emerging from a story through indirect rather than direct means (Rohrberger, 1979, p. 2-3).
Skillful artists construct tales with deliberate care, with a single effect to be wrought out by combining events that best aid in establishing a preconceived effect (Rohrberger, 1979, p. 2). When analysing these texts, it is important to consider context as well as the symbols that the authors use as a vessel to convey meanings. Both stories take the modernist approach in their narration, a movement born as a reaction against realism and the tradition of romanticism (Hayward, 2000). The cinematic qualities of Hemingway’s prose style reflect his approach in revealing the burning social issue emerging in the text and how the two parties reflect on it from their respective domains. Hemingway wove many autobiographical elements into the story, particularly his lifelong difficulty building meaningful relationships in which he uses symbolism to suggest in his writing. ‘The Grave’ suggests that past-southern societal impacts on the transition into maturity. Porter, while also using past experience to navigate her work, writes contrastingly to that of Hemingway with her imaginary conception and vivid psychological description, developing the themes as much through language as the plot (Stone, 1983, p.360). Both have the strong presence of symbolism of objects, characters, events, settings, plots to signify ideological complications and construction of meaning through their subtle but resonating literary techniques and styles of writing.
Porter uses many objects as the centerpiece of knowledge to convey hidden meanings and express the main character’s journey from innocence to knowledge in ‘The Grave’ (Amedekah, 2011). The story follows Miranda in her coming of age as she reconciles with her corruption of innocence and views her life in a meaningful perspective. The complex themes of rite of passage are weaved throughout the story with experience of death and stirrings of maturation within the young girl. Porter frequently embellished, exaggerated, or entirely fabricated biographical facts and this is reflected in her work through her realistic style as a literary technique. Porter’s use of symbolism allows a very short story to express a variety of themes containing elements with many shades of meaning. The symbols in the text are multivalent, being susceptible to many different interpretations and meanings pertaining to the discretion of the reader. The characterization of Miranda from her innocence as a young child throughout her transformation is taken to a new level of understanding with symbolic codes, and transcends readers through her coming of age and redemption. A paradoxical concept of death unfolds as the story documents the crucial moments of a passage into womanhood. There are also underlying themes redemption and social order that contradict prevailing social standards and are portrayed through the symbols that hold an extensive depth of meaning and shares Porter’s modernist concerns. On a surface level, the grave acts as a symbol of the deceased and the ring and coffin screw dove are signifiers of gender and identity (Butler, 2018), however also suggests more complex meanings. This adds considerable complexity to the rite of passage story as well as unifying the work as a whole, connecting death with a concept of peace. The way in which Porter tells the story from a third person point of view creates a tension between what the storyteller and reader understand and what the character knows (Stone, 1983). The subtle shift in point of view through the disjointed events and Miranda’s consciousness allude to her conflicting thoughts of maturity against freedom as a child, illustrating this important relationship of opposite concepts (Brandon, 1994). The ambiguity of the text, particularly the conclusion, emphasises Miranda’s contradictory feelings juxtaposing “the bloody heap” of the rabbits and “her brother—again in the blazing sunshine—turning the silver dove over and over in his hands.” The symbolism of objects, characters, events, settings and plot are vividly portrayed suggesting the main hidden secret wrapped up in this story is how the human being undergoes the learning process in life (Amedekah, 2011) and further develops the ambiguous portrayal of death.
‘Hills like White Elephants’ by Ernest Hemingway also uses symbolic and literary techniques to suggest complex meanings. The story centers around implications of a pregnancy with connotations of the symbols suggesting that an abortion will be the likeliest outcome (Butler, 2018). Nothing in the text is explicitly stated or resolved and juxtaposes the subtle psychological machinations of the man and the easy-going nature of the girl to create a thought provoking piece of literature. The symbols described in the scenery have strong connotations associated with the underlying message of the text.
“The girl was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was
brown and dry (p. 396)”
The description of the setting alludes to the idea that their lives are bare and troublesome, with the situation that they’re in challenging history, gender roles, individuality and destiny (Butler, 2018). For example, “the two lines of rails” that go in different directions symbolizes the apartness of the couple as well as the options in regard to the pregnancy. The meaningless cycle in which the characters are stuck in is emphasised by the repetition to reinforce the notion of self-indulgence and avoidance of responsibility. Hemingway creates a text full of pregnant silences to also suggest a more complex meaning, as if the reader can feel the contemplation that the woman is going through. Delving deeper into the context of the story, the symbolism of the characterisation is a critique of the new Americans and their struggle with modern relationships and gender roles, as the woman sacrifices her interests for the sake of the man. The story raises a subtle yet pointed examination of the abortion issue with undertones of other modern issues in regards to relationships. Hemingway has done this subtly by retaining his minimalistic style, such as depersonalizing the characters whom have no names. This allows the text to focus on surface elements without explicitly discussing underlying themes and allow the deeper meanings to shine through implicitly.
Upon exploring the two texts ‘The Grave’ and ‘Hills Like White Elephants,’ it is evident that there is a strong symbolic presence in the purposefully constructed short stories. In both texts there is hidden or multiple meanings behind the objects, characters, events, settings and plots that are used to provoke reader response. Many of the underlying themes and issues of the symbolic codes are related to context and the way the modernist has constructed their view of the world. Porter and Hemingway contrast in their detail, or lack thereof, in descriptive language but both use a sense of ambiguity to conclude their stories to allow readers to make their own judgements on the significance of what the author has or hasn’t revealed.