yle of certain painters, it tended to become a manner, rather than a flexible way of responding to experience and conveying fresh insights through words.”1 Among all his works, The Old Man and the Sea is the most typical one to his unique language style. Its language is simple and natural, and has the effect of directness, clarity and freshness. This is because Hemingway always manages to choose words “`concrete, specific, more commonly found, more Anglo-Saxon, casual and conversational.” 2 He seldom uses adjectives and abstract nouns, and avoids complicated syntax. Hemingway’s strength lies in his short sentences and very specific details. His short sentences are powerfully loaded with the tension, which he sees in life. Where he does not use a simple and short sentence, he connects the various parts of the sentence in a straightforward and sequential way, often linked by “and”.
In his task of creating real people, Hemingway uses dialogue as an effective device. It is presented in a form “as close to the dramatic as possible, with a minimum of explanatory comment.”3 Here is an example chosen from The Old Man and the Sea:
‘What do you have to eat?’ the boy asked.
‘No, I will eat at home. Do you want me to make the fire?’
‘No, I will make it later on. Or I may eat the rice cold.’
Here we can see that such interpolations as “he said” have frequently been omitted and the words are very colloquial. Thus the speech comes to the reader as if he were listening. Hemingway has captured the immediacy of dialogue skillfully and has made the economical speech connotative.
But it is good to note that Hemingway’s style is deliberate and artificial, and is never as natural as it seems to be. The reasons are as follows. Firstly, in some specific moments, in order to stand out by contrast and to describe an important turning point or climax,&nb
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