Quote:
Originally Posted by Alohamora
That's how I interpreted the word 'love'. I didn't think he meant anything like the affection we might feel for a pet dog or cat. I immediately thought that what was meant was more of a sense of honor and respect for the creature that would provide sustinance for him. Perhaps also admiration for the size and strength of the creature, but that's likely projecting even more of my own thoughts into the story over what was really on the page.
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I think you are quite right in your evaluation of the meaning of “love” in the context of the story. Of course, not everyone is going to approve of the way Hemingway treats that idea and I most certainly respect their point of view.
I think, too, that “reading” a work of art (and I regard this novel as such) does not simply mean limiting oneself to the simple physical text. There is a synergy between the text and the imagination of the reader. Wordsworth said that we both “see and half create” and that recreation occurs each time we read a literary work.Certainly The widely differing attitudes to Hemingway’s book on this thread illustrate this.