Comparing Up In Michigan and The End Of Something Essay

Discuss the similarities and differences in any two of Hemingways short stories

Ernest Hemingway is known for the simplicity of the short stories he wrote, and the way that he does not reveal too much of details in the story, and allow the reader to figure out what it is about. In this essay, I will be comparing two different short stories that Hemingway wrote, Up In Michigan and The End Of Something. For each story, the different literary features, which are theme, style, structure, diction, characterization and symbolism, will be identified and compared.

The story Up In Michigan is about a misunderstanding of needs and wants between two opposite sexes, Liz Coates and Jim Gilmore, revolving around Lizs fondness and affection towards Jim, about how she wants to be with him so badly. Liz likes Jim very much, she constantly thinks about him and wants him to feel the same about her, but the drunken Jim took advantage of her feelings and raped her, showing no care or liking towards her, leaving Liz to cry in the night alone. The second story that I am using in my discussion, titled The End of Something is about the end of the relationship between Nick and Marjorie. Nick is starting to feel very bored about the relationship they are having, and does not want to continue it anymore. He broke up with her subtly, he did not tell her directly that he wants to break up. In the end, Marjorie rows away in the boat, while another character, Bill entered and asked Nick how does he feel, before being sent away by him.

Both stories share some similarities in terms of themes; they are based on the theme of love and relationship. Those two themes are easily seen from the relationships of the characters in the story. For Up In Michigan, it is the relationship between Liz and Jim, and Lizs love or affection towards Jim that shows those two themes above. The relationship and love can be seen from the quote Liz liked Jim very much. She liked the way he walked over from the shop She liked it about his moustache. She liked it how his white teeth. Besides those two, the story also has the theme of rape or sexual encounter, which happened in the end of the story at the dock, where Jim harassed and raped Liz. In The End of Something, the theme of relationship can be seen between Nick and Marjorie, and to an extent, Bill and Nick, but that can be classified into friendship. The theme of love is shown through Marjories care towards Nick, even though he is responding to her with very short and cold answers. The quote She(Marjorie) loved to fish. She loved to fish with Nick, again supports the theme of love, and that Marjorie loves Nick. Besides that, there is obviously a theme of breaking up, which can be seen from how Nick ended his relationship with Marjorie.

The style of the two stories is very similar, if not exactly the same. Both stories are written in a third-person perspective, which is shown through the authors use of names in the story, and the lack of the word I. Characters are either referred to by their name, or by the words he, she and they. The words used in both stories are very simple, and easy to understand. The dictions used in both stories will be discussed further more later in the essay. In both stories, very little details are given out to the readers, only the main points are told to the readers, and the ending of the story is left hanging for the reader to guess what is actually happening, or what would happen after that. For example, in The End of Something, the story ended with a conversation between Bill and Nick, Nick sending Bill away, and the sentence Bill selected a sandwich from the lunch basket and walked over to have a look at the rods. The only difference in style for the two stories is that in The End of Something, Hemingway used a lot of dialogues in the story, it is the main way of telling and elaborating the story to the reader, while in Up In Michigan, it is mainly descriptions about what is going on, and very little dialogues are used.

Again, like the style of the two stories, the structure of these two stories are very similar too, as with all the other stories that Hemingway wrote. There is an introduction to the story to set the scene, and then a main body where all the events and situations are narrated to the readers, but there is never an ending. Both stories advance and develop from a slow and gentle pace, where descriptions are just given to set the scene. It then starts to have more and more events happening in the story, and later reach the climax of the story, and ends directly after that. The two stories just end with a sentence or a short paragraph that does not give away what would happen next. It leaves the reader to try and figure out what is going to happen next by re-reading the story and picking up all the details that were given out by Hemingway. For example, in The End of Something the climax of the story is the argument or disagreement between Marjorie and Nick, right until Marjorie leaves him and rows away in the boat. Directly after the climax, a new character, Bill is introduced into the story, who asked him how he is and got sent away by Nick. The ending leaves the readers baffled as to why Bill is introduced at the end of the story, and is left to figure out what will happen next, or what is happening.

As mentioned before, the diction used in the two stories is very simple and not complex. This makes it very easy for readers to understand the story and what Hemingway is trying to tell them. The similarity that both stories share in diction is the simplicity of the words that are used. The difference is in the type of diction it is. The End of Something uses a lot of fishing terminologies, like oar, perch, ventral. It suits the story, as the two characters, Nick and Marjorie are out on the bay fishing. In Up In Michigan the type of diction or terminology that is used is a wide variety of type, as the story does not just center one event, but has many of it in the story. There are hunting or outdoors terms like wagon, tent, axe, rifle and grub. Then there are descriptive terms like hair, teeth and moustache.

Both stories include characterization, but in different ways. Up In Michigan has a characterization that is descriptive, which allows reader to picture how the characters look like. The personality of the character is also revealed through the actions that they did. For example, she didnt want to go to bed yet because she knew Jim would be coming out and she wanted to see him as he went out so she could take the way he looked up to bed with her, shows her desire to be with Jim. On the other hand, The End of Something is not descriptive at all; a reader will not be able to visualize how Marjorie or Nick looked like. Personalities of the characters are shown through the dialogues between them, and also some of the descriptions. The description of when Nick is skinning the perch for bait and also setting up the fishing equipments shows that Nick is very competent and experienced in fishing, while it shows that Marjorie is not so much. The dialogues can show how Marjorie cares very much about Nick, and Nicks short replies shows his reluctance of being with her. A big similarity in characters in the two stories is the way the female characters and male characters are portrayed. Both female characters love the male characters in the story, and the male characters do not feel the same towards them. This shows Hemingways view towards women.

Lastly, the symbolisms used in both stories are different, as the content of the story is different. In The End of Something, the location of where the story takes place, the town that had nothing left, symbolizes the end of the town, and reflects upon the upcoming end of the relationship between Marjorie and Nick. The way that the both of them sat together without touching each other symbolizes the tension between the two characters, and again the end of their relationship. The repetition of the sentence I dont know and pessimistic attitude by Nick, symbolizes his feeling of lost and confusion. In Up In Michigan, Jim suddenly falling asleep during the sexual intercourse symbolizes the lack of love or liking towards Liz, and the cold mist coming up from the woods as Liz walks on the steep sandy road to bed, symbolizes her loneliness inside her heart.

In conclusion, the two stories are very much alike, but differ in certain details, which is due to the content of the story itself. The stories share very similar themes, style, structure, and the simplicity of the diction used, and only differ in the symbolisms and characterization. Otherwise, these two stories will be very much the same, rather than different.