Introduction
Modernism and post-modernism are both important eras in the development of literature in the 20th century with both having several important similarities in spite of the differences in perspective. Fundamentally, the modernist focused on literature itself and sought to find topics interesting enough to write about to maintain an element of interest and focus from the readership. The post-modernist, on the other hand, focused on literature as a tool and a means to the end of transforming the society. The difference in focus created a difference in the thematic output of modern and post-modern literature respectively. However, elements of structure and the use of literary mechanics such as symbolism and other euphemisms remained intact. Ernest Hemingways 1936 short story “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” is a textbook example of modernist literature. On the other hand, Alice Walker represents postmodernism well in her 1973 short story "Everyday Use". Both short stories employ symbolism to a large extent in their narratives and theme presentations but the contexts vary exponentially with Walker focusing on changing the local culture while Hemingway focuses on the wider world.
Overview of “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”
In “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” Hemingway presents as much of the world to the American reader as possible, a fact that is augmented by the limited global exposure in the early 20th century before the advent of the internet. Hemingway goes out of his way to travel to exotic places where he believes many of his readers may not even have heard about. He then ventures into the particulars of these exotic locations giving details of the flora and fauna, economic activities and the common modes of transports (Hemmingway, 1995). As the title of the short story suggests, the narrative focuses on a mountain called Kilimanjaro in East Africa which is within the proximity of the equator. The title itself becomes a paradox because it talks about snow in the middle of tropical Africa. The title, at the time, would capture as much attention as a reference to sand dunes in Greenland. Whereas the story is set at the Kilimanjaro, the majority of the narrative follows the writer around the world through his memories. These memories take the writer back to the USA and also to Europe during the Great War (Hemmingway, 1995). Topics canvased include promiscuity, violence, and war, with the writer lamenting that consorting with rich women had frustrated his literary creativity. The story ends with the writer, after sharing many memories, dying of gangrene at the foot of the Kilimanjaro reflecting not just leaving home but also staying away from home.
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Overview of "Everyday Use"
As Hemingway is seeking to move away from home and around the world, Walker is seeking to move back home, from university and modern life so as to have a reconnection with her past. The primary narrative in "Everyday Use" revolves around Dee who has come back home after a stint in the university. However, instead of Dee focusing on the themes and subjects that she had learned through interacting with other cultures at the university, she has focused on home and the traditions of her family. Dee has changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, an African name and insists on being called as such (Walker, 2013). Being an African American, her name change is meant to be a protest racial discrimination in America. Further, Dee is accompanied by Hakim-a-barber, also called Asalamalakim, a form of Muslim greeting. During the fight for racial parity by African Americans, Islam was less about religion and more about the struggle for social justice. Based on the narrative in the short story, Dee is not only seeking to understand her past but also use this part to transform her society, beginning with herself and her family. Finally, Dee and Mama get into an argument about a quilt which Dee believes should be preserved as a mark of their heritage while her mum believes it is just a household item to be used.
Symbolism in the Two Short Stories
The quilt is to Walker what the mountain is to Hemingway as the writers make expansive use of symbolism some of which had become a major source of argument and discussion about the respective short story. Walker uses the quilt as a representation of the old ways as it is shown to carry a lot of family history. The quilt has been created by patching together different pieces of garment removed from the clothes of several family members. The collision between the old ways and the post-modern ways is presented through the way Dee and her mum fight over what should be done about the quilt. Mama considers the quilt as means to an end while Dee considers it to be a family heirloom to be treasured (Walker, 2013). The argument represents how the two generations represented by Mama and Dee respectively view culture. Other symbols in "Everyday Use" include the use of names. Dee is named after her recent ancestors who are members of the family while she picks a name that takes ancestral affiliation further back to her African roots. In "The Snows of Kilimanjaro, the name itself carries two powerful symbols of an exotic tropical mountain and snow. The symbolism in the title reflects how different the world outside the USA is from what is commonly assumed. The presence of snow in tropical Africa is a symbol that many presuppositions are wrong. Over and above thematic symbols, Hemingway also employs narrative based symbols such as using the hyena, an animal known for eating carcasses to represent death (Hemmingway, 1995). The use of symbolism has a deeper meaning in "Everyday Use" than in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro but both authors make good use of symbolism reflecting commonality in structure between in the two dispensations.
Differences in Context
The structural similarity in the two dispensations does not, however, extend to similarities in the contexts presented by the two stories. The context in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro has become more relevant in the modern times as it was in the 1930s when the story was first published. Snow at the peak of the Kilimanjaro was first made famous by Hemmingway through the referenced short story (Helama, 2015). It came as a wonder to all those who read the story or even heard about it due to the paradox of the existence of snow in the middle of tropical Africa. The subject of climate change generally and specifically global warming has, however, changed the approach on snow in tropical Africa. With glaciers melting all over the world including near the North and South poles, snow at the pick of the Kilimanjaro has lost its entertainment and curiosity context and developed a social justice context (Helama, 2015). However, when Hemmingway wrote about the Kilimanjaro, it was mainly as a safari sight for possible tourism and not as a social justice issue. Entertainment and eliciting curiosity was, therefore, the main basis for the context in “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”.
The context in "Everyday Use" is not only local as compared to the Kilimanjaro but also exponentially complicated as it creates an argument about the identity of minority women in the Deep South. Dee has grown up in the more liberal America after the elimination of de jure racial discrimination. Dees mother, on the other part, grew up in the Jim Crow Deep South when racial discrimination was provided for by the law and enforced inter alia through lynching. Based on the context of the short story, Dee and her mother have a very different opinion of what a black woman should be like. Dee wants a black woman to be a social justice crusader while her mother wants her to be a survivor of the system just as she and her predecessors were. Try as Dee might, she is unable to break off from the identity that her mother gives to her leading to what can be deemed as an identity crisis (Andrews, 2010). From the very beginning, this context was designed to elicit a social justice based theme geared towards societal change. Unlike the context in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro which has changed in thematic output over the years, the context in "Everyday Use" abides as presented by the author in the 1070s.
Conclusion
Structural and linguistic similarities cut across the modern and post-modern literature with a major difference in context and the resultant thematic output. Within the "Everyday Use" and "The Snows of Kilimanjaro, the use of symbolism is a common feature. The everyday usage of names and a quilt in is used by Walker as a symbol while snow on top of Mount Kilimanjaro is used as a symbol by Hemmingway. However, the context of the two stories differs exponentially reflecting the main difference between the modern and post-modern dispensation. Walker takes a simple context, reflecting a Deep South home where the mother and daughter look at life differently. Hemingway goes across the world to tropical Africa on a search of an interesting context. While deep inside Africa, Hemingway then spreads out to the USA and Europe in the form of memories. As with modernist writers, Hemmingway is scouring the world for interesting topics to write about while Walker, as with post-modernist writers is seeking to change the world locally.
References
Andrews, C. M. (2010). Hyphenated identity in" Good Country People" and "Everyday Use". Shenandoah , 60 (1-2), 133-141
Helama, S. (2015). Ernest Hemingway's description of the mountaintop in" The Snows of Kilimanjaro" and climate change research. The Hemingway Review , 34 (2), 118-123
Hemingway, E. (1995). The snows of Kilimanjaro and other stories . New York City, NY: Simon and Schuster
Walker, A. (2013). Everyday Use. The Norton Anthology of American Literature (2nd Edition). New York City, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.
