Idealism vs Realism
In the first few selections of In Our Time, Hemingway continually brings up themes relating to idealism. This is highlighted mostly in the the stories about Nick Adams by the serenity of the woods and Nick's persistence in believing that things will get better. Juxtaposed with this are a gruesome cesarean section, the following suicide, and Nick losing the love of his life. It is clear that Nick uses denial and idealism to protect himself from these thoughts. This is shown initially when a young Nick feels confident that he won't die after watching someone else do just that and later when an older Nick tries to rationalize to himself the implications of losing Marjorie. He even goes so far as to delude himself that he could be with her again.
In the stories related to war and not Nick Adams, Hemingway presents a seemingly opposite theme, realism. Events are told exactly as they happen, with little emotional reaction or concern. Killing, famine, and hopelessness are expressed as common, every-day occurrences.
Hemingway is using parallelism to show that the way Nick tried to block out the reality of his situation is very similar to the cold, ultra-realistic tone in the war-time passages. Though idealism tends to look away from the problem and realism directly at it (in a physical sense that is) , when both are taken to the extreme neither can properly understand it. In the case of ultra -realism, it becomes quickly apparent that by sucking out the emotional impact and human element of even the most horrific event can make it seem trivial and insignificant. On the other hand, ultra-idealism overcompensates by looking only at the good sides of things and ignoring the bad. Both are the results of the human brain's self-preservation in that they both prevent negative emotions by either covering them up with good ones (idealism) or stripping out all emotion (realism).
16 comments:
I agree that Hemingway uses the naive Nick Adams to contribute to a sense of idealism in his short stories. On the other hand, in both Hemingway's war stories and his Nick Adams stories, I think that it is interesting how he presents them in a manner basically devoid of emotion (falling more under your definition of realism).
I was struck by the blatant idealism that occurs with Nick's character. As a young child it is easy to understand, as most children take on an idealist belief about life. However, his breakup with Marjorie was quite contradictory, and he seemed to be numb to the situation, for example how the end of his feelings for her came out of nowhere and how he quickly changed his outlook of their relationship from pessimistic to optimistic.
Hemingway uses this idealism in a kind of contradictory way. He is trying to prove that there really is no ideal life. Many of the characters in his stories are striving towards that idealism but he is stating that it wont happen. In "Soldier's Home" Krebs should be considered a war hero, yet he comes back with little welcoming reception, the only thing his parents seem to concern about is the fact that he doesnt follow into that ideal family sense. He isnt the typical perfect child so therefore his credentials from war are kind of nullified.
I don't think that I would necessarily say that Hemingway's use of "ultra-realism" is giving off the impression of the events being trivial and insignificant. In fact, I feel as though Hemingway is trying to get the reader to put themselves in the eyes of a soldier and I feel like if you saw enough of what was being described you wouldn't want to relive the gruesome details over and over again. However, it is true that in reading the war introductions something seems to be missing, however I think this is Hemingway's intention.
Hemingway showed more idealism with Nick Adams because he was at a younger age in his life, which is what most young people would understand more clearly. He chose to use realism when writing about the war because of the gruesome experiences and details of a war. There is really no other way to depict a war than to clearly state what happens and without emotion because it is hard to even describe the experience. Ultra-realism doesn't necessarily take out all of the emotion because the reader can still feel the emotion that would take place in a war setting.
I think the way Hemmingway uses idealism and realism in the different stories makes the stories fit their respective settings better. By using idealism in regards to Nick Adams, Hemmingway creates the naive views that are often associated with youth, which i believe was his purpose. Using the realism in the stories that take place in the war Hemmingway creates the numb feeling that soldier's often feel after seeing such chaotic and gruesome scenes
Hemingway does use this "idealism vs. realism" throughout this entire book. I thought about when Nick saw the pregnant woman giving birth. He had very little negative reaction towards the situation. I think that Hemingway does this on purpose to prove that our society tends to have this very optimistic outlook on life and this is merely a critique of our society. His use of the realistic war story passages is also a critique on our society showing that we try to make horror stories seem less threatening then they really are.
I think that we're mistaking idealism for Hemingway's irony. Alot of what Nick thinks are ideas we know are not true and can never be. Nick won't live forever and he won't be able to avoid gruesome scenes in his life like in Indian Camp. I think Hemingway uses Nick to show that reality is alot more difficult and sad than we want to think, or than we tell ourselves.
I don't buy into the theory that the realism Hemingway uses in his war stories removes emotion from them. A terse detailed account of war seems to bring out more of an emotional reaction than a sentimental piece about war. For the most part, this realism effectively depersonalizes these stories and turns them into more universal war stories.
I agree the Hemingway shows more of an emotional reaction to the war by not being sentimental. The cold, unattached tone shows how it has affected him personally. It's also interesting how he uses Nick in his stories. Nick's a young boy an should be enjoying life, instead he has a very dull reaction to every situation he is presented with and is often thinking about life and very heavy topics.
I agree that Hemingway,through Nick shows the difference between the idealistic views one tends to have versus what is really reality. The way Hemingway writes even comes off as being realistic. He seems to write how people think and speak, instead of how a typical write usually writes.
Nick's idealism fits perfectly with his age and experiences as well as Harold's realism. I find Harold's realism is much more extreme, demonstrating the atrocities of war.
As I read "Soldier's Home", I couldn't help but wonder how similar the character of Krebs is to Hemingway in his post-WWI youth. The numbness and inability to show emotion remind me of several aspects to Hemingway's own modernist writing syle.
Nick Adams is seen as a naive young man in the stories. However, I am contradicted as to whether it is showing denial and idealism or if Nick is just posing as a optimistic individual in a crowd of unemotional realism. Him thinking that he will not die, to me does not show denial and idealism, but hope and innocence. I think Hemingway is trying to show optimism and hope in a point in the story when everything seems dark and solemn.
Sorry this is past the dead line, I completely forgot! It won't happen again.
It seems like Nick is using idealism to cover up what is really happening in his life. We all know that each family is not perfect and can never be compared to the ideal family. As is shown in The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife, Nick's family has problems of its own that Nick does not want to accept. Although it may seem like Nick is using an idealist view of his family, it's almost like a realistic view because that's how all little kids are. They trust, they love, and only when they get hurt, do the see the real truths.
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