Compare the presentation of love in Hemingway's The End of Something and Roberts' Your Shoes

Both writers exploit the linguistic structures of their texts to demonstrate elements of the love they present. Your Shoes harnesses the use of 1^st person to give the reader a privileged position in which we are able to empathise and understand a relationship and grief which 3^rd person physical description could not truly explain. As readers we are given access to a stream of consciousness of an emotionally distraught mother, we read about her personal history and see each thought which comes to her mind. Ultimately this means that when the piece concludes “Laces like strings of white liquorice. They taste sweet” we see this as an understandable, rather than unexplainable climax – we feel we understand the conscious turmoil of the mother and her building transferred relationship with her missing daughter’s shoes. Roberts’ use of 1^st person aids her presentation of maternal love being complex and multifaceted. Maternal love is generally assumed to be absolutely resolute, but Roberts presents us with an insight into the complications of maternal love. “I always thought of you as just an empty-headed blonde, I’ve never thought you were really bad.” Roberts reveals a side to maternal relationships in which the bond is not always positive, easy or loving – enabled by her use of 1^st person to reveal private, personal thought. Hemingway similarly harnesses his use of 3^rd person, but perhaps to present futility of the romantic love of his characters. The End of Something is a typical example of Hemingway’s writing style in which environmental description is weighty and dialogue is brief and without emotional description. It is this imbalance in The End of Something between the large opening description of environment and bare dialogue which could emphasise the futility and ultimate brevity of human relationships – they become entirely unimportant when compared to the infinite largeness of the world. Hemingway’s 3^rd person style does not allow the emotions of his characters to be fully revealed, further presenting the romance as of very little consequence: “Isn’t love any fun?” Marjorie said. “No,” Nick said. Marjorie stood up. Nick sat there, his head in his hands. “I’m going to take the boat,” Marjorie called to him. Intelligent use of literary voice highlights the depth of the emotional turmoil in Your Shoes, and the brevity and futility of the relationship in The End of Something.