The Noun Phrases Revealing Hemingways Style

125
The Noun Phrases Revealing Hemingways
Style:
A Stylistic Approach

Yudit


Abstract

The linguistic approach to literature is common in linguistics and is
very creative in literature. The stylistic approach as a part of the
linguistic approach to a literary work helps to reveal the authors
style in writing. One famous author is Ernest Hemingway. By
syntactically studying the noun phrases in his two short stories Hills
like White Elephants and Indian Camp, his simplicity, directness
and style of emotional understatement can be revealed.

Keywor ds: noun phrases, simplicity, directness and emotional
understatement


The Background

As one of the effects of the rapid developments in grammar, the study
of the style and language of literature is familiar within linguistics while in
literature; the linguistic analysis of literature is one of the most active and
creative studies. In fact, in understanding a text, readers do not need to
master a deep knowledge of linguistics. However, the profound understanding
of linguistics makes a contribution to those who desire to follow and to catch
the meaning of the text fully (Traugott and Pratt, 1980: 19-20). As one
branches of linguistics, syntax also plays an important role in the text.
Syntax is the rule of putting words, or rather, lexical items together in
specific ways (Traugott and Pratt, 1980: 129). In other words, syntax studies
the structure of sentences and the elements of sentences like noun phrases. In
general, a noun phrase in English is composed potentially of three parts; a
head, pre-modification and post modification. The head of the noun is
obligatory; it is a minimal requirement for the occurrence of a noun phrase.
The other two parts, a pre-modification and post-modification are optional
(Jackson, 1982: 66).
A noun phrase in a sentence may have seven functions. They are the
subject of the sentence, the complement of the subject, the direct object of
the verb, the indirect object of the verb, the complement of the object, the
object of the preposition and the apposition or modifier of other noun phrases.
The noun phrase may occur with a complement, attribute, adjunct, specifier
or by itself. This means that it may have a complex or minimal form. A
complement is semantically needed by the head to complete its meaning like
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the student of Physics (Radford, 1988: 202). An attribute belongs to a pre-
modifier (Radford, 1988: 196). It gives specific information about the head for
example the strange neighbor. An adjunct is an element of a noun phrase that
gives specific information about the head. It occurs in the post modifier
position (Radford, 1988: 176-177). The last element is a specifier. A specifier,
in English, according to Radford (1988: 229), is used to denote a grammatical
function. According to Dwijatmoko (2002: 18), a specifier has three variations
for noun phrases namely articles, determiners and genitives.
However, the correct and effective usage of the noun phrase is rarely
applied. As a result, sentences might be boring or too difficult to follow
because of the simplicity or complexity of the noun phrases. Actually, by
creatively structuring the noun phrase an author is able to sum up his story in a
sophisticated way. Someone particularly skilled in the use of the noun phrase
is Ernest Hemingway, a famous author with his minimalist style and with great
influence.
Hemingways short stories are chosen because he is an excellent author
in creating stories. His language is simple but profound. This means that in
writing his text, he points to his objects and characters without giving useless
description, but the effect of his work touches his readers deeply. Hemingway
uses well-structured noun phrases to describe his characters and settings, and
to tell his stories to readers. The efficient usage of noun phrases helps him to
simplify his writing because he does not need to write too many sentences.
The well-arranged noun phrases are able to summarize his stories without
eliminating his greatly meant effect.
Hemingways creative writing style is clearly seen in the way he
produces simple sentences with critically structured noun phrases. Those
phrases might be simple or complex based on his need to make his story flow.
His minimalist style interests readers to read his stories because it has a simple
structure but a profound meaning. Examples of his minimal structure can be
found in his two short stories; Hills like White Elephants and Indian Camp.
All the occurring noun phrases reveal the style of Ernest Hemingway.
The characteristics of his writing: simplicity, directness and emotional
understatement will be explained in the following sections.
Based on the background of the study, the preformulated question in
this study is: How do the noun phrases in Hills like White Elephants and
Indian Camp reveal Hemingways style?

Discussion

1. Simplicity

Hemingway is famous for his simple style in writing his works as stated
by Norman Foerster and Robert Falk in American Poetry and Prose (1962: 1080-
1081). Hemingway uses simple but appropriate words to simplify the story
without ignoring the deep meaning of his story. In proving Hemingways
simplicity, all the noun phrases used are minimal or simple noun phrases. They
are chosen because they are simple in both structure and meaning. These noun
phrases can arouse readers imagination and emotion.
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Appendix 1 shows that the occurrence of simple noun phrases is 52.2%.
They may occur with articles, determiners, quantity words and genitives. The
noun phrases that Hemingway uses in his short stories are common noun
phrases and daily used ones like in (1) (3).

(1) the kitchen
(2) cigars
(3) his beer

These three examples are words in daily use, so that the readers can get
through the stories easily without any difficulties. These are simple words even
children are able to understand them easily.
The kitchen is a common word because every house has a place to
cook. Thus, the readers will never face any difficulties in imaging the place. It
is acceptable that a shanty has a kitchen even though the Indian is in a poor
condition. The Indians require a place to cook. It is a crucial part of home.
Next, the noun phrase, cigars, has its own characteristic about which
human beings have shared general knowledge. Therefore, its occurrence will
not lay a burden on readers in reading the story. Cigars are more expensive
than cigarettes. In reading the action of giving an expensive thing to the
Indians, readers may think that Nicks uncle George is generous considering
the story is related to the poor Indians. The Indians may not easily get the
cigars because of their condition.
The noun phrase in (3) is his beer. It is a kind of alcoholic drink. This
kind of drink is common for Western and Eastern people. The setting of the
story is in Spain, a part of Europe, so it is usual that people drink beer when
they are waiting for something.
The words that Hemingway uses above are both simple and common.
Two of the words, the kitchen and his beer have specifiers as elements while
the word cigars requires none. Thus, the noun phrases have a simple structure
and a simple meaning. However, by critically thinking about the usage of the
noun phrase, the readers will figure out the setting and the character.
In addition, Hemingway also uses proper diction to help him simplify
the story. In Hills like White Elephants and Indian Camp, there are some
words derived from certain fields for example medicine.
The following examples (4)-(5) are related to medicine. Both examples
can be found in Indian Camp.

(4) any anaesthetic
(5) a jack-knife

Even the noun phrases are derived from a certain field, medicine, they are
recognizable because they are common. Anaesthetic is used to prevent one
from feeling pain especially during a surgery. The use of anaesthetic is related
to the condition of the Indian Lady in Indian Camp who has suffered three
days in giving birth to her son. The occurrence of the surgery is strengthened
by the word a jack-knife. Study the following:

Thats one for medical journal, George, he said
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Doing a Caesarian with a jack-knife and sewing it up with nine-foot,
tapered gut leaders (Hunter, 1964: 150).
If the noun phrase a jack-knife is analyzed as the part of the whole text as
quoted above, it is clear that the characters are talking about medicine,
strengthened by the use of the phrase medical journal. The phrase a jack-
knife occurs as an element of the larger noun phrase, a Caesarian with a jack-
knife. It is the tool used in the emergency operation to help the mother give
birth to her son by cutting the wall of the abdomen. Through the effective
usage of these words, readers know more about the story. The operation is not
an appropriate one because the doctor operates on his patient using a jack
knife. By using these simple words, Hemingway succeeds in creating a tense
atmosphere because the use of incorrect equipment for the surgery may cause
the operation to fail.
The diction that Hemingway uses is also related to ones origin as seen
in (6)-(7).

(6) the American
(7) the Indians

In (6)-(7), the words are related to the ones origin whether nationality or
race. The American shows that the man comes from the USA. This phrase
refers to ones nationality. In Hills like White Elephants, this simple noun
phrase is related to the setting of place Spain; readers are given the
information that he is a newcomer. In Indian Camp, by using the word
Indians, Hemingway has pointed to a certain race in America which has certain
characteristics. People have shared knowledge about Indians; people know of
their appearance and condition. They live according to their unique tradition
and mostly in poverty. Hemingway has already separated the race of Nick, the
doctor (Nicks father), and his uncle from that of the Indians. Hemingway does
not mention the race of Nick, his father and his uncle but by reading the whole
text, the readers know that they are white. This can be inferred from Nicks
fathers job as a doctor which is a good job. He can be a doctor if he has
attended university. This lifestyle is related to white lifestyle. In addition, the
beginning of the story also points to the fact that the doctor lives separately or
far away from the Indian camp.
By appropriately choosing noun phrases, Hemingway has created
certain effects and fired the imagination of his readers. He does not need to
give many details, he has already aroused the readers emotions and
imagination through his simplicity. Although the words are derived from
certain fields, they are still recognizable because of their simplicity. By using
precise diction, Hemingway does not need to give further information about
the thing and the person that he is describing.
Hemingway also gives specific information about the setting of place in
Hills like White Elephants. By mentioning the names of famous cities in a
certain country and the name of a drink, he makes readers realize that the
story occurs in a certain country as seen in (8)-(10).

(8) Dos Cerveraz
(9) Barcelona
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(10) Madrid
The noun phrase in (8) is related to the name of a drink in a different
language. Dos Cerevaz, Spain, is translated into beer in English. This word
gives credibility to the story. Readers are sure that the setting of the story is in
Spain. Both Barcelona and Madrid are proper names of place. Both are in
Spain. They are crucial in giving information about the Ebro. By mentioning
these two cities, the readers will know that the Ebro is in Spain somewhere at
a junction that is passed by train on the way from Barcelona to Madrid.
Then, Hemingway also describes the economic condition of the
characters in his story as seen in (11).

(11) the shanties

The (11) noun phrase, the shanties, gives the readers implicit information by
mentioning the place where the Indians live. They are in a poor situation.
Shanties are in slum areas where poor people live. Therefore, by choosing this
noun phrase, Ernest Hemingway has already provided readers with more
information not only about where they live but also about how they live
although he does not give any details about the shanties.
These examples are all minimal noun phrases with or without
specifiers. They reveal Hemingways simple style. He uses daily noun phrases
to reveal deep meanings. He does not need to explain unnecessary details by
using the appropriate diction to make the readers feel the atmosphere of the
story.
Beside the simplicity of his language, Ernest is also famous for his
directness in writing. The discussion of this characteristic will be continued in
part 2.

2. Directness

Hemingway is also well known for his directness in writing (Traugott
and Pratt, 1980: 167-176). The syntactic analysis can give the evidence of his
directness. In these two short stories, the function of the elements that occur
in complex noun phrases are mostly as adjunct (the post modifier which is not
a complement) and attribute (the premodifier which is not a complement).
These two functions give additional information and the characteristics of the
head. Therefore, they restrict the thing, the person and the place that are
mentioned making them specific and direct.
In the first short story, Hills like White Elephants, Hemingway starts
the story by directly pointing to certain objects.

The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this
side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between
two lines of rails in the sun. Close against the side of the station
there was the warm shadow of the building and a curtain, made of
strings of bamboo beads, hung across the.....to keep out flies
(Hills like White Elephants, 2003).

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Hemingway directly points to the hills across the valley of the Ebro. He
does not give detailed information about the object. No matter how many hills
there are in the place, these are specifically the hills across the valley of the
Ebro, not the other hills. The occurrence of the adjunct across the valley of
the Ebro focuses the object. The examples (12)-(13) are examples of
directness of the phrases.

(12) the warm shadow of the building
(13) two lines of rails in the sun

The noun phrase (12) refers to the shadow that belongs to the building and it
is warm. It is specified by the occurrence of the attribute warm and the
adjunct of the building. Next, the noun phrase two lines of rails in the sun
also indicates a certain object. Hemingway focuses on the rails that are in two
lines and that are beneath the sun. The use of The sun refers to the time. It is
noon not morning or night because the sun is right above the rails.
Hemingway also uses clauses to point directly to something. The
examples of this are given in (14)-(15).

(14) the ground the table legs rested on
(15) labels on them from all the hotels where they had spent nights

In (14), the place where they drink and wait for the train is outside the
building which has many tables. By the occurrence of the noun phrase the
ground the table legs rested on, Hemingway creates another effect. The table
is of course the table where they sit. The occurrence of the clause the
ground signifies below. It is used by the legs of the table to rest on. If the girl
looks at the ground where the table legs rested on, she is bowing. She does
not look at the man while he is speaking. This is an unusual occurrence
because in Western culture it is impolite. Therefore, by directly pointing to
the ground Hemingway is able to evoke the readers imagination while reading
his text. The occurrence of this direct noun phrase indicated by that particular
clause as an adjunct also helps to build the situation in the short story. The
noun phrase (15) labels on them from all the hotels where they had spent
nights also shows Hemingways directness. He writes certain things that will
make readers think deeply. Instead of explaining about the bags for example
their color and size, he directly goes to the labels. From the noun phrase, the
readers get the direct information that the couple has made some journeys.
The occurrence of both adjuncts is helpful in giving direct information about
the labels. They do not come only from one hotel but from many hotels.
Hemingway uses complex noun phrases to point effectively to a
certain thing and place. This can be proven by the frequent occurrences of an
adjunct and attribute in Hills like White Elephants. He does not give details
of objects but only the information needed to make his readers easily follow
his story. However, the readers will think and imagine more deeply about the
things that he writes in his text.
In the second short story, Indian Camp, Hemingway also begins his
short story by directly pointing to the object, as seen below

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At the lake shore there was another rowboat drawn up. The two
Indians stood waiting.
Nick and his father got in the stern of the boat and the Indians
shoved it off. And one of them got in to row. Uncle George sat in the
stern of the camp rowboat. The young Indian shoved the camp boat
off and got in to row uncle George (Hemingway in Hunter, 1964:
146).

The quotation shows how directly Hemingway sets the settings of his story.
This will be revealed by the discussion of the following noun phrases:

(16) the lake shore
(17) another rowboat drown up

These noun phrases tell the readers directly about a place and a thing. The
place is the lake shore not the sea shore. By giving the readers this kind of
restriction through the occurrence of the noun as an attribute, Hemingway will
not misdirect his readers understanding of the object. He only refers to the
shore that belongs to the lake. The occurrence of the second noun phrase
another row boat drown up implies that there is more than one rowboat
because of the adjective phrase another. The attribute another shows that
Nick is mentioning the rowboat that he is not in, while the occurrence of an
adjunct gives more specific information about the condition of the rowboat.
Therefore, by directly focusing on certain rowboats Hemingway has helped his
readers to get into the text easily.
There are some other examples of noun phrases which show the
directness of Hemingway. This is proven by the occurrence of an adjunct and
attribute that dominate the text. The example of the noun phrase in (18)
occurs with the prepositional phrase as the adjunct.

(18) the oarlock of the other boat

The above noun phrase helps to depict that the other boat is faster that the
one which takes Nick and his father if the readers look at the complete
sentence. Nick heard the oarlocks of the other boat quite a way ahead of
them in the mist. Actually, the head of the noun phrase oarlocks has
presented the whole thing that is the rowboat. If the sound of the oarlocks is
further away then of course the boat is in position following the other boat.
Therefore, the occurrence of the adjunct of the other boat points to a certain
boat that is different from the other one.
Hemingways directness in Indian Camp is also proven by the
occurrences of clauses to point to the thing and to the person directly.

(19) a meadow that was soaking wet with dew
(20) the young Indian who carried a lantern

In (19), the occurrence of the adjunct to the clause that was soaking wet with
dew specifies the head meadow. It is not the common meadow but the one
that is made wet by the dew. Additionally, it creates a certain effect in its
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occurrence with the head meadow. It is wet not because of the rain but
because of dew. Therefore, the journey to the Indian Camp is late at night
which is implied by the occurrence of dew. Thus, the adjunct helps the
author to point to the object meadow at a certain time. The noun phrase in
(20) is restricted to a character in the text since there are three Indians.
Hemingway focuses on a certain Indian who has the special characteristics
indicated by an attribute and adjunct. The occurrence of the attribute young
and adjunct who carried a lantern specifies the head Indian. He is not all the
young Indians but the young one who carried a lantern. Therefore, it is
very specific.
In these two short stories, Hemingway uses a similar beginning by
directly pointing to the settings of place and time. He goes straight to the
story without bothering the readers with details. Hemingway mostly uses noun
phrases in complex forms with adjuncts and attributes to give specific
information. This means that he focuses on a certain character, place and
thing. Thus, readers will be able to imagine or to follow his story. He does not
give detailed information, but he can arouse his readers imagination and
feelings.

3. Emotional Understatement

Hemingway also makes readers feel the emotion of the characters even
though he does not really writes about them. He evokes readers emotion and
imagination (Hunter, 1964:146). An emotional understatement is the feeling of
the characters which is not clearly stated by the author. The author
understates his characters feelings. Hemingways two short stories consist of
noun phrases which create certain emotions.
In Hills like White Elephants, Hemingway uses noun phrases to
describe conflict and uncomfortable situations. Observe the following

Yes, said the girl. Everything tastes of li quori ce. Especially all the
things youve waited so long for, like absi nthe.
Oh, cut it out.
You started it, the girl said. I was being amused. I was havi ng a
fi ne ti me'(Hills like White Elephants, 2003).

As seen in the quotation, the occurrence of the noun phrases in bold is crucial
in creating the conflict of the story. The discussion will be elaborated based on
the following noun phrases:

(21) absinthe
(22) a fine time

From the context, the noun phrase (21) absinthe has a great effect on the
conversation between the man and the girl. It provides the conflict for the
story. Absinthe is a bitter, green alcoholic drink made with wormwood and
other herbs (Hornby, 1987: 4). If it is related to the story, actually the
occurrence of absinthe causes the conflict and uncomfortable situation
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between the two characters in Hills like White Elephants. From the way she
mentions absinthe. It is clear that the girl is irritated and so is the man.
The noun phrase in (22), a fine time shows that the girl enjoyed her
time, but its occurrence with the complete sentence I was having a fine time
signifies that she does not enj oy her time anymore. She feels disturbed.
Therefore, the occurrence of this noun phrase may also give the feeling of not
being comfortable.
Actually, from the very beginning of the story, Hemingway has started
the story with conflict, if the readers read it carefully. The girl starts talking
about the white elephants and then, she and her boyfriend argue about the
white elephants and also over all the things they talk about.
In Indian Camp, Hemingway also uses words that arouse readers
emotions. The examples are in (23)-(24).

(23) quick choppy strokes
(24) an Indian lady very sick

In Indian Camp, the first noun phrase in (23) is quick choppy strokes showing
that the characters in the story are really in a hurry. This is proven by the
two attributes quick and choppy which have the characteristics of speed. The
noun an Indian lady very sick also signifies certain emotions. The word lady
itself has a good connotation for a woman. The occurrence of Indian as the
attribute shows that the lady belongs to an Indian tribe not to an Anglican
one. The occurrence of the adjective very sick as an adjunct strengthens the
condition of the Indian lady. She is in a bad condition which is indicated by the
adjective phrase very sick. An adjective phrase is commonly placed in a pre-
modifier position but it is possible if it is branched to be a post modifier. It is
more effective if it occurs as the adjunct because it will have the same
emphasis as the attribute Indian. They have the same strong effect on the
head lady. If the adjunct very sick is placed preceding the attribute Indian, it
has less effect compared to Indian.
The other example that shows Hemingways emotional understatement
is when Nick in the Indian Camp asks his father to give the sick Indian mother
something to stop her screaming. The father (doctor) says that he has no
anesthetics. After a while, the father says that he will operate on the mother
with the jack knife. This means that he will do it without any anesthetics and
with a jack knife. The readers can imagine or feel how painful it will be. Then,
after doing the operation, the father sews the incision he has made without
any anesthetics again. The sad thing is that the Indian mother must stand all
the pain because everything is in an emergency and rush.
From these examples, Hemingway implicitly builds the emotion in the
text. He describes the feelings and the condition of his characters through his
well chosen words. Therefore, he uses appropriate words to create certain
emotions in his writing.

Conclusion

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The elements of the noun phrases and their functions have a crucial
role in building up Hemingways texts. From the occurrence of the elements, it
can be concluded that the characteristics of Hemingways style are simplicity,
directness and emotional understatement. The simplicity of the noun
phrases can be proven by the domination of the minimal noun phrase in
Hemingways texts. His directness is vividly seen by the occurrence of adjuncts
and attributes dominating the noun phrases in the text. His last characteristic
of writing emotional understatement is proven by the occurrence of noun
phrases arousing readers emotions.






References

Dwijatmoko, B, B. English Syntax. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University Press,
2002.
Foerster, Norman and Robert Falk. ed. Ernest Hemingway [1898-1961].
American Poetry and Prose. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1962.
Fries, Charles. Teaching and Learning English as a Foreign Language. Ann-
Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1948.
Hemingway, Ernest. Modern Short Stories. Jim Hunter (ed). London: Faber and
Faber LTD., 1964.
Hills like White Elephants. (22 May 2002).
Jackson, Howard. Analyzing English. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1982.
Radford, Andrew. Transformational Grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1988.
Traugott, Closs, Elisabeth and Mary Louise Pratt. Linguistics for Students of
Literature. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1980.

















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The Noun Phrases Revealing Hemingways Style
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Appendix:
Types of Phrases as the Elements of the Noun Phrase and the Frequencies

NO. Noun Phrases Occurrences Percentage
1. Minimal Noun Phrase 166 52.2%
2. NPs with PP 47 14.78%
3. NPs with AP 38 11.95%
4. NPs with NP 20 6.27%
5. NPs with Clause 13 4.08%
6. NPs with AP + VP 5 1.6%
7. NPs with AP + PP 5 1.6%
8. NPs with VP 4 1.26%
9. NPs with AP + Clause 4 1.26%
10. NPs with NP + Clause 3 0.94%
11. NPs with NP + PP 3 0.94%
12. NP with AP + NP 3 0.94%
13. NPs with Adv. P 1 0.31%
14. NP with NP + VP 1 0.31%
15. NP with PP + Clause 1 0.31%
16. NP with AP + PP + Clause 1 0.31%
17. NP with NP + VP 1 0.31%
18. NP with Adv. P + NP 1 0.31%
19 NP with VP + PP 1 0.31%
TOTAL 318 99.99%


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