Emptiness and Terror out of Simplicity--A Stylistic Analysis of Hemingway’s In Our Time
...t out, to the ultimate degree, the horror and emptiness, which is the theme and function of this selection. There are altogether 11 sentences in this passage. There are only three words in the shortest sentence and no more than 19 words in the longest sentence. On average, each sentence contains 11.8 words, less than 12 words. Sentence number Number of words 1 18 2 8 3 11 4 3 5 9 6 8 7 11 8 18 9 9 10 16 11 19 Average 11.8 Such a high frequency of short sentences sets out a matter-of-fact atmosphere without any personally emotional exaggeration, because subordination tend to express the author’s complex thoughts and feelings. Besides, the loose sentences are arranged according to the time sequence and the sequence of perception. Sentences 2,3,4,5 depict the surrounding of the event, which pervades the event with layers of gloom and dismal. The rest of the passage contributes to the terrible slaughter. The structure of the loose sentences can be illustrated in the following figure: Sentence 1 Sentence 2-5 Sentence 6-11 A whole sketch of Description of the Description of the the event environment execution Readers’ Curiosity This way of organizing the loose sentences is in accordance with the human psychological state, thus raising curiosity and sympathy on the part of the readers. What’s more, a pile of short sentences placed continuously suggests that everything happens in a short time, loading more mental pressure on the readers. Sentences 1,2,3 have about the same construction and the same rhythm. Sentence 1: They (S) `shot (V) the` six `cabinet `ministers (O) at `half-past `six in the `morning a`gainst the `wall of a `hospital (Adverbial). Sentence 2: There were (V) `pools of `water (O) in the `courtyard. (Adverbial) Sentence 3: There were (V) `wet `dead `leaves (O) on the `paving of the `courtyard. (Adverbial) We can note that all of the three sentences end with a prepositional adverbial and share a sentence structure as “V+O+ADVERBIAL”. Because of the similar construction, a perfect sound effect comes out. As we can observe above, stresses of words spread similarly in these sentences. Particularly the second sentence ends “in the courtyard” and the third sentence ends “of the courtyard”. That Hemingway treated an execution and the description of a courtyard in exactly the same tone implies that in the eyes of executor, lives lose their nobility and rank the same as “a courtyard”—lifeless material. The reader will be shocked to the core and astounded by the inhumanness and cruelty of the executors. The fourth sentence—three words of one syllable—is a variation in sentence length and paragraph rhythm. Usually, such a variation underscores an important point. (Thomas S. Kane et Leonard J. Peters, 1968). However, here it laconically describes the weather rather than the execution. One of the reasons is that the weather forecast something horrible and hideous is coming. For another, this simple sentence gives a pause in these series of actions to hold on a certain degree of mystery and emptiness. One of the most prominent features of this vignette is that nine out of eleven sentences ending with a prepositional phrase or a series of prepositional phrase. See the table below. Sentence number Prepositional Phrase 1 at half-past six in the morning against the wall of a hospital 2 in the courtyard 3 on the paving of the courtyard 4 5 6 with typhoid 7 down stairs and out into the rain 8 sat down in a puddle of water 9 against the wall 10 stand up 11 down in the water with his head on his knees They tend to make the sentences emphatic and help to make the whole paragraph strongly rhythmic. As we only stress the “head” in a prepositional phrase, (For example, we stress the word courtyard in the prepositional phrase in the courtyard.) a sense of dynamic music is switched on, which results in an illusion that the inhuman execution was approaching step by step to the readers. Another advantage of such application of prepositional phrase goes that they serve as a delaying tactic and provide a kind of subjective perspective. See the following passage with the prepositional phrases omitted. 1They shot the six cabinet ministers[ ]. 2There were pools of water[ ]. 3There were wet dead leaves[ ]. 4It rained hard. 5All the shutters of the hospital were nailed shut. 6One of the minister was sick[ ]. 7Two soldiers carried him[ ]. 8They tried to hold him[ ] but he sat down[ ]. 9The other five stood very quietly[ ]. 10Finally the officer told the soldiers it was no good trying to make him stand[ ]. 11When they fired the first volley he was sitting[ ]. Without the prepositional phrases, the readers can only see the bare bones of the actions, but they lose the parts which tell them how cruel the executors are and how miserable the ministers are. For example, in sentence 7, if we omit “down stairs and out into the rain”, we cannot s...