"Mr. and Mrs. Elliot"

Critical Sources:

  • Benson, Jackson J., ed. The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: Critical Essays. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 1975.
  • Reynolds, Michael S., ed. Critical Essays on Ernest Hemingway's In Our Time. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1983.
  • Smith, Paul. A Reader's Guide to the Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1989.
  

Discussion starters

What does trying to have a baby represent in this story?

Smith says in comparing the writings of T. S. Eliot to Hemingway's work that this story "is to Eliot's 'The Burial of the Dead' what 'Cat in the Rain' is to his 'A Game of Chess'" (78). What connections do you see in these works?

Smith summarizes work by Joseph DeFalco which points out that this story "is unusual in that its narrative mode differs from the 'conventional mode of structuring' in the other stories" (79). In what ways do you see the narrative mode differing?

This story almost didn't make it into the collection because the publisher thought it obscene. Hemingway agreed to some changes in wording to excise the objectionable part. Most notably, sentences 2-4 of our text (85) became: "They were married in Boston and sailed for Europe on a boat. It was a very expensive boat and was supposed to get to Europe in six says. But on the boat Mrs. Elliot was quite sick" (qtd in Smith 77). What is your impression of the publishers' attempt at making the story less obscene?

Created by Stan Galloway 10 December 1997. Last updated 26 April 2001.