WOOD_Other Seven Eighths

8/22/2019 WOOD_Other Seven Eighths

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TheOtherSevenEighthsoftheIceberg

PeeringBeneath

the

Surface

of

Ernest

Hemingways

Six

Word

Story

Attheheightofhiscelebrityinthe1950s,ErnestHemingwaygaveanowfamous

interviewinwhichhecreditedtheemotionalpowerofhisfictiontowhathecalled

theprincipleoftheiceberg.1 Aniceberg,henoted,floatsintheArcticwithonly

oneeighthofitsmassabovewaterwhilethegreater,morepotentiallydevastating

portionhidesbeneath the surface andattractsour concernprecisely because it is

hidden.Inthesameway,hereasoned,thedramaofastorycanattractourconcern

ifwe are allowed to glimpse only a fragment of visible action that implies an

earlier,unseenexperienceoffargreatermagnitudeandemotionalsignificance.In

otherwords,Hemingwaywould rarelydetail a sequence ofnarrative events so

thatwemaywitnessadrama,butwouldmoreoftendepictonlytheconsequences

ofsucheventsinasinglerepresentativescenefromwhichwetheninferthedrama.

Instoryafterstory,heeffectivelypositionshisreadersasvoyeurseavesdropping

onthe

aftermath

of

adispute

between

two

lovers,

or

as

snoops

lingering

alongside

some lonesome individualwhosecompanywehaveenteredby illicitmeans.He

drawsourattentiontoadramaticscenariobycarefullydenyingusaclearviewof

its causes.He concentrates our concern on the dramatic tensions that he keeps

outsidethestorybymeticulouslyforegroundingtheirdeliberateabsence.

AtaboutthesametimeHemingwaygavethatinterview,hewrotewhatis

easily themost radical and perhaps themost famous of his iceberg storiesa

story

with

so

much

detail

excised

that

he

wrote

it

from

start

to

finish

on

one

side

of

a paper napkin. In fact, the diminutive napkinwas exactly what inspired the

extreme brevity of the story. Whilst enjoying dinner with halfadozen close

friends, Hemingway held his napkin aloft andwagered the others ten dollars

apiecethatitcouldserveasacanvaslargeenoughtocontainanentireshortstory.

Giventhesheeraudacityofhisproposition,hisfriendsweremorethanwillingto

wageragainsthim;but,lessthanaminutelater,Hemingwaysettledthebetwhen

hescribbledastoryonthenapkin,presentedittohisaudience,convincedthemof

hisskill,andcollectedhisjustrewards.Thisisthestoryhewrote:


2/5

PhilamentABSENCEDecember2009

FORSALE:

BABYSHOES,

NEVERWORN.

By anymeasure, those sixwords demonstrate the power ofHemingways

iceberg principle at its heartbreaking best. On first reading, we infer that a

newborninfanthasdied,althoughbothitsbirthanditsdeathhavebeenabsented

from the text and pushed beneath the surface of the narrative. On further

reflection, we infer that the death of the child has left itsmother desperately

impoverishedandinneedoffinancialaid,otherwiseshewouldhavenoreasonto

advertisethesaleofsomethingascommerciallyworthlessasapairofbabyshoes.

Fromher

prior

purchase

of

the

shoes,

we

then

infer

the

joy

and

the

nervousness

she must have experienced in her anticipation of childbirth, and from this

anticipationwefinallyinferthetraumaandgriefshemusthaveexperiencedwhen

herchilddiedorarrivedstillborn.Alternatively,recallingtheendofHemingways

novelAFarewelltoArms,2wemayinferthatthefatherofthechildplacedthesales

advertisement and that it ishewhonow endures the traumaof losingbothhis

child and its mother in the birthing process. Or we may instead recall

Hemingways

most

celebrated

short

story,

Hills

Like

White

Elephants,3

and

infer

that the childsmotherbought the shoeswhen she first learned that shewas

pregnant, but that the childs father has since destroyed her expectations of

childbirthbypressuringhertoseekanabortion.

After just a moments contemplation, then, a handful of carefully chosen

wordscanyieldgreatdepthsofmeaningandallowustoglimpseanarrativefar

moreelaboratethanwhatactuallyappearsonthepage.ThisZenlikeaspectofthe

storysminimaliststructureissurelythesourceofitslongevityalongevitythat,

most recently, has seen the story embraced as an object ofwidespread public

celebration and creative imitation. In late 2006, Wiredmagazine asked thirtysix

worldrenownedsciencefictionwriterstofollowHemingwaysleadandcompose

an original story using only six words. Joss Whedon, Neil Gaiman, William

Gibson,andMargaretAtwoodwereamong the industryheavyweightswhorose

tothechallenge.4 Inearly2007,TheGuardianposedthesamechallengetoaneven

moredignifiedarrayof literarystars includingBookerPrizewinnersA.S.Byatt,

YannMartel,

and

DBC

Pierre,

as

well

as

Pulitzer

Prize

winners

Richard

Ford

and

JeffreyEugenidesalongsidetwentyfiveothers.5Laterthatyear,theBBCextended

101


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the challenge to its severalmillion radio listenersby asking them towrite their

own sixword stories for potential publication in an anthology inspired by

Hemingway, 6 and in January 2009 the Arts Council of England donated an

impressive 27,000 to a youth engagement project that encouraged young

Londoners todo likewise.7 Earlier, in 2007, thePulitzerPrizewinning novelist

Edward P.Jones attributed the story toHemingway in a speech at that years

PEN/HemingwayPrizeceremony,8andthenovelistandshortstorywriterRobert

Drewemade thesameattributionshortly thereafter.9 Finally,andmostrecently,

public celebration ofHemingways sixword story arrived onAustralian shores

when ABCTV and TripleJ radio personalityMarieke Hardy opened the 2009

NSWPremiersLiteraryAwardswithakeynoteaddressthattargetedthestoryfor

particularpraise.10

There

is,

however,

aproblem

with

this

continued

celebration

of

those six words: the story behind the story is itself only a story, since Ernest

Hemingwayneveractuallywrotethewordsthatthesepublicvoicesnowwantus

tocherishhimforwriting.

Professional researchers have reported as much. The myth busters at

Snopes.comhavedebunkedthestorysattributiontoHemingwaywithreferenceto

arangeofalternativesourcesfromwhichitmighthavetrulyoriginated.11 Having

myself

recently

trawled

through

the

entirety

of

Hemingways

published

works,

includingposthumouslypublishedlettersandprivatewritings,Icanconfirmthese

findings. The storybehind the sixword story is, atbest, apocryphal: if in fact

Hemingwaydidwrite thisstory,hewrote itonly forhisaudienceat thatdinner

table andwithheld it from theworld at large. This does not at all devalue its

power,ofcourse,butitdoesraisethequestionofhowexactlyHemingwaycameto

becreditedasitsauthorinthefirstplace.TheSnopesresearchershavetracedthe

storysprovenancetoafictionaldinnertablesceneinatheatricalproductionbased

on Hemingways life, which was reported as fact in a New York tabloid

newspaper;12butstill,thisexplanationofhowthemisattributionhappeneddoesnot

helpustounderstandhowitfirstcametobecredible.Beforeanyoneactuallybegan

tobelieve thatHemingwaywrote the sixword story,what exactlymight have

inclinedsometobelievethathewascapableof,and interested in,writingsucha

storyatall?

Theanswermust lie inhisgivingexpression to the icebergprinciple.I

[try]to

eliminate

everything

unnecessary

to

conveying

experience

to

the

reader,13

heexplainedinthatinitialinterviewandlaterelsewhere,sothatthereader...will

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103

haveafeelingof[whathasbeenkeptabsent]asstronglyasthoughthewriterhad

stated [it].14 The sixword story pursues this principle ofwriting to itsmost

logical and yet itsmost radical extreme, distillingHemingways creative theory

into fewerwords thanhehimselfused to express itandputting the theory into

practiceatthesametime.Sowhenastorythatsocloselyadheredtohisprinciple

somehow came to be written, there emerged a back story which held that

Hemingwayhimselfwrote it inorder todemonstrate thepowerofhisprinciple.

Theresult,ofcourse,isthatastorythatdoesnotbelongtoHemingwayhastoday

capturedincrediblepublicattentionattheexpenseofthestoriesheactuallywrote,

andtheanecdotalstoryofhiswritingithasstokedthepublicimaginationinaway

thathisownexploitsoncedidbuthavenotdoneinalongtime.Hisentirebodyof

work,it

seems,

has

lately

become

both

represented

and

overshadowed

by

astory

thatisnowheretobefoundinhispages.Howironic,andhowfinallytragic,thata

manwhorelentlesslybattledtoexpresstruthandtochampionauthenticityinhis

workshouldnowfindhiseffortsreducedtosomethingasinauthenticasthis:six

words,oftenpraised,neverwritten.

DanielWood


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104

1GeorgePlimpton,TheArtofFictionNo.21:ErnestHemingwayinTheParisReview18(Spring1958

[accessed7November2009]):26.Availablefrom

http://www.theparisreview.com/media/4825_HEMINGWAY4.pdf.

2ErnestHemingway,AFarewelltoArms(NewYork:Scribner,1929).

3ErnestHemingway,HillsLikeWhiteElephants(1927)inTheFirstFortyNineStories(London:Arrow

Books,2004),

259

63.

4Variousauthors,VeryShortStoriesinWired14.11(NewYork:CondNastDigital,November2006

[accessed7November2009]).Availablefrom

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/sixwords_pr.html.5Variousauthors,TocutalongstoryshortinTheGuardianWeekend(London:GuardianNewsand

MediaLimited,24March2007[accessed7November2009]).Availablefrom

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/mar/24/fiction.originalwriting.

6Variousauthors,LifeinSixWordsinTodayProgramme(London:BBCRadio4,28June2007[accessed

7November2009]).Availablefrom

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/print/misc/sixwordlife_20080205.shtml.

7AnnaGorse,HemingwayssixwordchallengeinspiresSuttonliteratureprojectinArtsCouncil

EnglandPressOffice(London:9March2009[accessed7November2009]).Availablefrom

http://www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5404.

8EdwardP.Jones,PEN/HemingwayPrizeKeynoteAddressDeliveredattheJohnF.KennedyLibrary,

1April2007,TheHemingwayReview27.1(May2007):13.

9RobertDrewe,TheShortStory:AmandaLohrey,RobertDrewe,ChimamandaAdichie,TheMonthly:

SlowTV(Sydney:May2009[accessed7November2009]).Availablefrom

http://www.themonthly.com.au/shortstoryamandalohreyrobertdrewechimamandaadichie1878.

10MariekeHardy,LapupliteraturewhereyoufinditonTV,onposters,andeveninblogsinThe

SydneyMorningHerald(Sydney:FairfaxMediaLimited,19May2009[accessed7November2009]).

Availablefromhttp://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lapupliteraturewhereyoufinditontvonposters

andeveninblogs20090518bcn7.html?page=1.

11BarbaraandDavidP.Mikkelson,BabyShoesinSnopes.com:RumorHasIt(SanFernando,California:

Snopes.com,29October2008[accessed7November2009]).Availablefrom

http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/babyshoes.asp.

12Howard

Kissel,

Anecdotes

About

His

Life

as

Papa

in

Daily

News

(New

York:

New

York

Daily

NewsLimited,6May1996[accessed7November2009]).Availablefrom

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/1996/05/06/199605

06_anecdotes_about_his_life_as_.html.

13Op.Cit.Plimpton,1958.

14ErnestHemingway,DeathintheAfternoon(NewYork:Scribner,1932),192.
http://www.theparisreview.com/media/4825_HEMINGWAY4.pdfhttp://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/sixwords_pr.htmlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/mar/24/fiction.originalwritinghttp://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/print/misc/sixwordlife_20080205.shtmlhttp://www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5404http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/babyshoes.asphttp://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/1996/05/06/1996-05-06_anecdotes_about_his_life_as_.htmlhttp://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/1996/05/06/1996-05-06_anecdotes_about_his_life_as_.htmlhttp://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/1996/05/06/1996-05-06_anecdotes_about_his_life_as_.htmlhttp://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/1996/05/06/1996-05-06_anecdotes_about_his_life_as_.htmlhttp://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/1996/05/06/1996-05-06_anecdotes_about_his_life_as_.htmlhttp://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/1996/05/06/1996-05-06_anecdotes_about_his_life_as_.htmlhttp://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/1996/05/06/1996-05-06_anecdotes_about_his_life_as_.htmlhttp://www.snopes.com/language/literary/babyshoes.asphttp://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/lap-up-literature-where-you-find-it--on-tv-on-posters-and-even-in-blogs-20090518-bcn7.html?page=-1http://www.themonthly.com.au/short-story-amanda-lohrey-robert-drewe-chimamanda-adichie-1878http://www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5404http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/print/misc/sixwordlife_20080205.shtmlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/mar/24/fiction.originalwritinghttp://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/sixwords_pr.htmlhttp://www.theparisreview.com/media/4825_HEMINGWAY4.pdf

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WOOD_Other Seven Eighths