“Mr. and Mrs. Elliot” by Ernest Hemingway

by rhoecus

I was glad for our class discussion of this text as I had little to make of it, to be honest. What most interested me in this discussion was the roles we feel we must accept because society has help dictate them, and maybe we ourselves also dictate how they should look. The fact that Mr. and Mrs Elliot find “happiness” in their odd relationship is interesting. Hemingway seems to be constantly putting into question how we see ourselves and how we see ourselves interacting with the set traditions of the people before us.

The fact that Mrs. Elliot finds more comfort from her friend, whom she calls “Honey,” says a lot. Yet what has made me wonder more than the roles we play and how we fit into them is how this has any relation to the little story before “Mr. and Mrs. Elliot.” While I know there does not have to be a link to the story itself, it is curious to note that this paragraph is different from the ones we have read thus far. Instead of soldiers it is about matador’s fighting bulls. This held significance for me because instead of being in the role of a soldier, we get the role of a more domestic figure. By “domestic” I mean closer to home rather than war. However isn’t what Mr. and Mrs. Elliot doing by the end of the story like winning a fight? The fight being one of how roles are to be played out and how people should interact with one another; Mr. and Mrs. Elliot win this fight by “fighting” against the roles they feel they must play. However, Mr. and Mrs. Elliot being “quite happy” at the end of the story seems untrue, though they themselves seem fine with their situation. Also, they still seem to try and fit into the molds expected of them: namely, they should have a baby. Everything about Mr. and Mrs. Elliot’s relationship seems to be an act at trying to fit into the roles they are expected to be in as well as the roles they have placed in themselves.

What is even more interesting is that the matador fighting the bull is a more traditional and engrained sport in that culture. However, the “traditions” we see played out in “Mr. and Mrs. Elliot” are traditional in name only (they are married, and they want to have a child; it is traditional and expected). Their interactions with each other is stale and unloving. The movement between accepting what is tradition and being overrun by what is traditional is a fascinating contrast.

I also could not help but see Mr. Elliot and Mrs Elliot as grotesque figures. They are holding tightly to the idea of having a baby that it ruins everything else they ever do. They never seem to truly enjoy themselves unless it is with others not themselves. Mr. and Mrs. Elliot become distorted forms of how to properly love someone and interact with them. However it is only when they are together that this seems to be the case. I wonder, then, if their grotesqueness comes from them being together as one unit rather than them being separate individuals? I cannot feel satisfied that Mr. and Mrs. Elliot are “quite happy” by the end of the story when it is clear their lives are a mess. If having a baby is their truth, or at least the major one that distorts everything, then is the relationships they have formed with other people actually a good thing? While I would see the weight they place in others instead of each other for support and guidance as bad, maybe for Mr. and Mrs. Elliot it is a positive thing. Maybe they are “quite happy” if they can prevent themselves from being so focused on having a baby and more focused on having healthy relationships. Yet the way they interact with people seems unhealthy. Neither person, Mr. and Mrs. Elliot, can seem to communicate to the other their needs or desires. It puts into question the roles of marital partners, their function, and how a marriage should look/behave.