Summary: The Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory

Categories: Ernest Hemingway

The media reporters, article writers, and article auditors often find it difficult presenting the better part of their story to the audience.

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The information they collect often fails to reach the audience because of the time constraints and the related cost. Therefore, what they give to the public is usually a smaller fraction of the truth they collect. The smaller portion of the information offered to the public or the audience is the true symbolism of the iceberg movement. When the titanic ship sounded the iceberg right ahead alarm in 1912, what the sailors feared was not the jagged top on the surface of Atlantic Ocean, rather the mountain beneath.

Thus, the significance of the storyline does not only echo what writers present in their books, article or media but the junk left behind during the process of data and information collection as presented by Hemingway’s Iceberg theory.

The unwritten truth beneath the text cannot be underrated, just like the huge mountain of the iceberg under the sea that caused the Titanic ship tragedy.

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The unwritten stack of words might never be seen, nevertheless it is not discarded, to be set adrift like the symbolism of the massive blocks fracturing from the iceberg. The calved icebergs often tremble and lament under the sea, and to avoid such situations on the bulk information of the writers that never reach the audience, the bulk information needs to form a solid hidden base supporting and strengthening the little part of the information given to the audience. Fiction may possess a substantial foundation of the truth, however the writer’s imagination nee to filter the salient points while aiming to create something or information more truthful than the author’s experience allows.

With the Iceberg Theory, Hemingway believed the importance of the essence of the story and its kernel of candor that does not manifest itself in what the audience sees but is tucked inside below the story. The author needs to exclude some of his knowledge from the story but write from the heart with sincerity allowing the reader to have experience of the writer's insight accurately. In Hemingway’s death in the afternoon, the author highlights that the dignity of the iceberg movement relies on the one-eighth of the portion above the water. According to the iceberg theory, the hidden base of the iceberg has the symbolism of the story while the tip contains the basic essential. The hidden part of the story gives it the weight and grounds depicting what the readers see.

The load of the story that fails to reach the audience gives the foundation of the story. What the writers put in the books or media is a smaller portion of the data collected along the way. Every tip of the floating iceberg is eight times what remains below the surface, in other words, what remains unpresented to the audience. When the authors complete presenting their work or build the entire iceberg, the remaining concealed part is often protected from calving. What remains unsaid is often determined by the author and the writing context. Authors often prefer to present actions that fuel and propel actions and strengths of the narrative, besides amplifying the actions of the characters. The deep strength of the writer can also be hidden in the unseen part of the story. The author may opt to make the story complicated, for the audience to think beyond what they see in the story. Leaving the bulk part of the story unwritten thus informs the author’s intelligence of involving the audience critically in the story.

The meaning of the story is best perceived by what the audience reads. Nevertheless, in Hemingway’s iceberg theory, leaving the bulk part of the story is crucial in getting a concise meaning and understanding of the story. The limitation of the part of the story builds the readers’ understanding of the story by making them think beyond what they see. In the Titanic ship tragedy, the above surface iceberg witnessed by the sailors was never a threat, therefore relying on it alone could have misled the sailors. The same applies to read the story, what the audience and readers see might not be the reality but an abstract of the real situation. Iceberg theory, therefore, aids the reader to think critically while reading and comprehending the storyline, thus sharpening their thinking capability and interpretation of the story. The reflection of the untold part of the story is like what we see on the surface. In the book of big two-hearted rivers, the authors highlight that “Even the surface had been burned off the ground”. This is a good indication that the surface might not be the real reflection of the subsurface, and therefore, the information written in the book is a brief reflection of the unwritten part. In my opinion, Hemingway’s way of presenting the story by presenting the smaller portion of the story and hiding the larger bulk under the surface is crucial and effective. The style is effective in engaging the audience in the story. Failing to give the audience the full information the author collected as stated earlier makes them engage their minds and souls in the story. The author, on the other hand, remains with a bulky portion of the story that he or she can later use to develop another story related to the one presented previously.

The deleted part of the story on writing highlights an account of Nick's trip to Michigan after World War II, where Nick catches one trout and observes the rivers in search of more fish. In the process of surveying for more fish, several thoughts cross his mind including friends like Bill Smith and his wife Helen. He also thinks of writing that he considers being fun and aspires to write like Cezanne paints. The deleted part of the story boggles the mind of the reader on the reflection on the character trait of Nick. Nick leaves the stream after ‘On Writing’ being ready to face his perception and present them on papers. The deletion also changed the chronology of the story putting Nick’s marriage after the war. Generally, the deletion of the story allows a greater scope of interpretation that encourages the narrator and reader. Cutting the section was a technique used by Hemingway to highlight the flexibility of character Nick while echoing on the author's credibility of developing further stories. The inclusion of the pages in the story might have tampered with the chronological flow of the story. Hemingway often had a style of presenting his story in chronological events while depicting the credibility and flexibility of the character. Including the deleted section into the story would have to change the sequential flow of the storyline about character Nick.

Updated: Feb 02, 2024
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Summary: The Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory. (2024, Feb 02). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/summary-the-hemingway-s-iceberg-theory-essay

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