When plunging into the world of the Hispanic tradition in literature and visual art, it is not difficult to notice that this culture has its bright and charming peculiarities. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of the most significant Spanish-speaking authors who has kept the Hispanic spirit on his literary way; in his turn, Ernest Hemingway, who is considered to be an outstanding American writer, also experienced the strong influence of the Hispanic tradition, which can be explained by the facts of his biography: the author spent much time in Spain, including the days of his presence in Madrid during the Spanish civil war.
Thus, it would be rather interesting to compare their literary heritage in terms of both “matter and manner” and to find some similarities. The following analysis is devoted to The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World by Marquez (1994) and Nobody Ever Dies (2008) by Hemingway with separate references to the authors’ other works.
The first and the most evident similarity of the works mentioned above is the authors’ intent to rise above the earthly, primitive understanding of life and death and to show their personal perception of these phenomena. In his The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World, Marquez manages to perform a man found by the villagers dead and alive simultaneously: despite he has met his death in the sea, he remains alive in the imagination of the people who have decided to rest his body.
Even after the death of flesh, the spirit of this man has remained able to bring changes to the life of those who are alive and to make them feel “that everything would be different from them on” (Marquez, 1994, p. 461). Thus, the essence of a human is shown as a metaphysical phenomenon, which cannot be influenced by death.
As well, Hemingway’s Nobody Ever Dies (Hemingway, 2008) reflects how the author, who had a sad experience of seeing death for many times, perceives the essence of death. The author states that there are matters that are able to outlast a human’s life and to make death insignificant, which is eloquently expressed in the story, “Where you die does not matter, if you die for liberty” (Hemingway, 2008). This thought is also reflected by the story’s name which highlights the immortality of human values and ideals, and by the author’s final words of a touchy epitaph On the American Death in Spain, “Those who have entered it honorably, and no men ever entered earth more honorably than those who died in Spain, already have achieved immortality” (Hemingway, n.d.).
As for the literary devices, the literary works of these two authors also possess some similar features. The Hispanic literature is full of visualization, it always creates bright pictures and eloquent images: it is sufficient to recollect Cervantes, who has presented the World the unforgettable images of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza inspiring many painters and sculptors, or the poems of Federico Garcia Lorca, who was able to express his ideas by means of visual symbols, such as oranges, blue walls, or a Gypsy woman’s white hair.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Spain has enriched the World culture with the heritage of Picasso and Dali. In (1994), Marquez also uses the device of visualization and depicting details rather actively: a reader sees every detail of the story, including the man’s appearance, the scales on his face, the funeral flowers, and the cheerless landscape of the village. In his literary works, Hemingway also tended to use visualization and detailed descriptions: his The Old Man and the Sea is a meditative work full of contemplation (Hemingway & Kammer, 1995).
The author starts his Nobody Ever Dies with a few wide strokes which define the whole atmosphere of the story, “The house was built of rose-colored plaster that had peeled and faded with the dampness and from its porch you could see the sea, very blue, at the end of the street” (Hemingway, 2008). At the same time, in Nobody Ever Dies, the effect of the detailed depiction is reached by means of giving the floor to the perpetual characters’ dialogs which reflect their ideas and emotions.
Finally, it is impossible not to notice how much the sea means for both authors. This element also seems to have overgrown the matters of life and death and keeps its silent wisdom, like the lines of the immortal authors’ works do.
References
Hemingway, E. M. (2008). Nobody Ever Dies. Web.
Hemingway, E. M. (n.d.). On the American Death in Spain. Web.
Hemingway, E. M., & Kammer, P. (1995). The Old Man and the Sea. München: Hueber.
Marquez, G. G. (1994). The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World. In L.G. Kirszner & S.R. Mandell (Eds), Fiction: Reading, Reacting, Writing. USA: Paulinas.