The Second Half

I finally began to ‘read into’ Hemingway’s style more deeply in the second half of the book, once I became aware of certain themes and things to observe more carefully. Initially, I wasn’t really looking for the ‘iceberg’ effect, reading through the stories quickly. After our discussion in class I began to search deeper into Hemingway’s words and phrases for more subtle meaning. As a result, I enjoyed and appreciated the second half of the book even more! I really liked the story titled, “My Old Man”. For the majority of the story, the son is praising his father for being a great role model and someone who inspires him. It isn’t until the last couple of pages of story that Hemingway suddenly changes the mood with the death of the boy’s father. It was such an unexpected blow! I rarely cry at movies or from reading books, but my eyes started to tear up toward the end of this particular story. I found it very moving and emotional. On reflection, I believe that I could easily put myself in the boy’s position, understanding the pain of losing someone so important and vital to his life.