Read the excerpt from Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms.
“There is nothing worse than war.”
“Defeat is worse.”
“I do not believe it,” Passini said. . . . “What is defeat? You go home.”
“They come after you. They take your home. They take your sisters.”
“I don’t believe it,” Passini said. “They can’t do that to everybody. Let everybody defend his home. Let them keep their sisters in the house.”
This excerpt exemplifies how Hemingway’s dialogues typically includes
common language and vague pronouns to refer to complex ideas.
complicated syntax and inflated vocabulary choices.
colorful language and specific word choices to define complex ideas.
difficult vocabulary and cultural references to elicit reader response.