Silver Titles

**Note to reader: This piece is inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s works from The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Initially I found his writing to be a bit simplistic, but it progressively grew on me to the extent that I attempted to emulate his style, as found in the writing enclosed below.

                                                            

                                                                  Silver Titles

The light shone through the window and across the mahogany desks. On this side there were no windows. Close against the wooden door was the heater. The American and the girl with him sat at a windowless table. 

            ‘What are you going to read?’ the girl asked.  She had taken off her coat and put it on her lap.

            ‘Something with photographs. I don’t feel like reading.’

            ‘If you like I can find you a good one.’

            ‘We should have sat next to the heater,’ the man said. ‘It is too late now.’

            ‘We can still go-if you would like.’                        

            ‘I said it is too late now.’

The girl looked far across the library at the secluded heater. The shadow of a cloud moved across the bookcases.

‘Forget I mentioned it,’ the man said through his photograph book.

            ‘Why would you look at pictures when you are surrounded by the greatest literature? Pictures are simple things. They are everywhere.’

            ‘You underestimate the power of a simple thing,’ the man said.

The librarian looked up from her fiction novel. She closed her book.

            ‘I don’t understand why you can’t love me.’

            ‘I do love you.’

            ‘No, you don’t,’ the girl said.

The shadows from clouds had circled the library and now the light was dimming.  The American looked at the librarian. She had already started another book.

            ‘I don’t,’ he agreed. ‘I’m sorry.’

The woman removed the jacket from her lap and put it on. The boy continued with his photography book. He closed his eyes as she walked into shelves of silver titles.

Reflection

This piece is a simple moment in the protagonist’s life; exemplified to display it’s significance. The girl is more successful than the man, and because of this he is angered.  The picture book represents just another disagreement they’ve had, the man showing his pleasure in ‘simple things.’ In reality, he is only trying to run away from the embarrassment of having a girlfriend who is, in his mind, is smarter than him. He still loves her, and never stops, but because of inner ego issues he lies to her and breaks it off. The shadows of clouds through the windows are meant to represent the mood of the situation as the amount of light shifts. To foreshadow a potentially bad event, the clouds shadows may fall dimly instead of brightly, for example. The heater symbolizes their relationship, as he would like to turn back time to the warm relationship they had, but says it is ‘too late now.’ The lady offers to go back to the heated spot because she is an intelligent, respectful, and ambitious character while the man is stubborn and limits his own success. The silver titles gleaming as the girl walks away represents her walking into a bright future, while the boy closes his eyes, stubbornly choosing to stay in the dark.

I have tried to emulate several key factors of Hemmingway’s writing. I tied to use short, simple words, which in turn created choppy sentences. I also wanted to use repletion to draw attention to certain lines such as, “It’s too late now.” Lastly, I shifted from using ‘girl’ to ‘woman’ in my piece, to show how the lady proves herself as mature and intelligent. I think that this emulates Hemmingway’s clever way of cutting dialogue by altering identities.