短篇小说论文
sees nothing-- his vision of a positive and happy future is blocked by the enormous obstacle of the child. The man s reaction of this symbol is so realistic that causes Jig s dissatisfy. "No, you wouldn't have." She says it with a tone of complaint, and then they give tit for tat. From this time on, it hints that there is an unhappy tense between them.
The Railroad Station
The remote and quiet railway station is the place where the story take place. It is the harbour of people s soul after suffering so much hardship. We can imagine that after making decision and coming back to the metropolis, this couple of lovers would soon forget what they talk about during the 40 minutes. Actually, these middle- class young people are light of heart and do not have enough time to think twice of something. It is at this remote and quiet place that they can open up and share their inward world, and we readers can concentrate on the two main characters. Besides, the railroad station is also a symbol of being at the crossroads of life during a time of crisis. The American man and the girl Jig cannot stay at the station forever. They are traveling and there will be change. There must be a decision of where to go next. All of this is symbolic of the decision of whether to keep the child or not. All traveling has a cost and so does the outcome of this decision. To either keep or abort the child is a costly decision.
In the end, the man picks up both his and the girl's baggage and carries it out to the railroad tracks, the tension of the story is relieved. The girl claims to be fine and then the story comes to its open-ending, which is the typical ending way of Hemingway s novels.
Metropolis Connected by Railways
The cross of railways is a metaphor of the differences and conflicts between the lovers. This two modernized metropolis - Barcelona and Madrid, represent the free and easy life of the two lovers. And it is also the symbol of the lost generation s lifestyle - wealthy, bustling with activities, but void and pale. In the story, Hemingway used “the man” to represent the male character, while used “the girl ” to represent the female character, rather than “the woman”, which implies the conflict between them. They lived in this kind of life, and they ll always live in this kind of life.
The Woman in the Bar
“The woman in the bar” is the metaphor of “onlooker”. The woman in the bar come on stage both in the beginning and the end of the story, which shows the structure balance of this story. In the beginning of the two lovers conversation, “The woman brought two glasses of beer and two felt pads. She put the felt pads and the beer glasses on the table and looked at the man and the girl.” In the end of their conversation, “The woman came out through the curtains with two glasses of beer and put them down on the damp felt pads. The train comes in five minutes, she said” . We can see that the woman in the bar is the only one who come on stage alone except for the man. Though there are only a few words describing the woman in the bar, she is not of no significance. Because through these few words, we can know the beginning and ending of the lovers