A Comparison of Hemingways and Fitzgeralds style of writing Essays

A Comparison of Hemingway?s and Fitzgerald?s style of writing Despite the fact that Ernest Hemingway and F. Scot Fitzgerald were contemporaries of each other their writing styles were very different. For example, Fitzgerald uses very descriptive terminology and language in his writings. In his short story ?The Ice Palace? Fitzgerald begins by writing ?The sunlight dripped over the house like golden paint over an art jar, and the freckling shadows here and there only intensified the rigor of the bath of light? (1). Words such as these could only come from someone who is used to expressive flowery lines. Fitzgerald loves to explore description. The more eloquently and wordy his sentences the more healthy they become. When describing two drunkards walking down the street he writes, ?They were ugly, ill-nourished, devoid of all except the very lowest form of intelligence, and without even that animal exuberance that in itself brings color into life; they were lately vermin-ridden, cold, and hungry in a dirty town of a strange land; they were poor, friendless; tossed as driftwood from their births, they would be tossed as driftwood to their deaths? (48). Nothing is simple for Fitzgerald. He is the creator of a vivid and wonderful world. Hemingway, on the other hand, is the master of short and simple sentences. His writing style is nearly the opposite of Fitzgerald?s. From his short story ?Hills Like White Elephants? one can see his simplistic style. What should we drink the girl asked. She had taken off her hat and put it on the table. ?It?s pretty hot,? the man said. ?Let?s drink beer (1). Hemingway does not go into much detail at all when describing or defining. His sentences are masterfully compact and to the point. The reader does not have to wonder what Hemingway is trying to convey because the thrust of his writing is laid out simply and straightforwardly. I particularly enjoy reading Hemingway for his simplistic style. The long descriptive narratives that Fitzgerald uses sometimes lose me in their detail. Once a Fitzge rald paragraph is read, I must admit there are times when I have to go back and reread the paragraphs before to remember what the story line was. With Hemingway I have no such problems. His stories are much easier to grasp and understand.