Ernest Hemingway: Dialogue

After reading the stories of Ernest Hemingway I have a good idea of his style of writing as an author. These stories are memoirs written by Hemingway from the 1900s. His writing style is very unique. While reading, many different characteristics of his style stuck out to me. His short sentences, descriptive nature while explaining characters, setting and plot, as well as his use of dialogue throughout his pieces.

Hemingway’s style of writing is direct. His sentences are short, but I like how he gets to the point. The dialogue is also written this way. When Hemingway does decide to use dialogue in his pieces, which does not seem too often to me, the messages are short and specific. This allows the reader to have to find other ways to connect to the characters rather than connect with them through their words. Though the dialogue itself is short, Hemingway writes long detailed paragraphs about the plot, setting and what is happening to balance out the short excerpts of dialogue. I really like this technique because it really paints a picture in the readers mind and allows you to enjoy the story. Also, this pushes the reader to learn about the characters in other ways rather than through the dialogue. Hemingway is very focused on giving the reader an essence of the situation rather than have them focusing on the things the characters are saying to one another.

I believe you do not need to have quotation marks in a story or book in order to describe a conversation someone is having. I enjoyed the descriptive ways Hemingway showed the reader different characters personalities and characteristics without dialogue but some people may believe the only way to understand a character is to actually have them speak. I consider this because generally, dialogue is used to give life and personality to characters and without it, readers may get the idea that the characters are emotionless or dry. But Hemingway uses his description of plot and the characters to show the reader those characteristics in different ways, which I personally enjoy.