Up In Michigan Ernest Hemingway Analysis

Love is a feeling that every person has felt. There are all kinds of love, from the love people have for a friend, to the love people have for their family to the love people have for their romantic partner. Ernest Hemingway is an author that explores the concept of love throughout several of his stories. In Ernest Hemingway’s “Up In Michigan”, the concept of love is explored through an innocent girl. Liz is in love with Jim, but he does not notice her often. When Jim finally gives Liz attention, it does not go as she plans. She gets raped. Critics argue that Liz is not truly in love, but it is clear that the feelings she exhibits is love. “Up In Michigan” is a story about an innocent girl who gets taken advantage of because of her love for
In the beginning of the story, Hemingway describes everything that Liz likes about Jim. “Liz liked Jim very much. She liked it the way he walked over from the shop and often went to the kitchen door… She liked it about his mustache. She liked it about how white his teeth were when he smiled. She liked it how much D.J. Smith and Mrs. Smith liked Jim” (Hemingway). Liz likes everything about Jim. She has looked at him so much, that she even notices the hairs on his arm (Hemingway). Her admiration for every aspect of Jim’s body is one piece of evidence that she loves him. It’s easy for some people to argue that physical admiration is a product of infatuation, but scientific evidence says otherwise. One of CNN’s health articles talks about what happens to a person’s body when they are in love. The article says that people who are in love enjoy looking at their loved one. “ The desire to literally look at your partner's face comes from the brain's release of dopamine… it stimulates the desire/reward response related to intense pleasure” (Tigar). Besides the fact that Liz likes looking at Jim, she also exhibits physical symptoms that occur when people are in love. These physical symptoms include: loss of sleep, stiff muscles and an aching chest. A scholar from the University of Florida argues that Liz’s loss of sleep is due to her sexual fantasies of Jim (Upton 4). Upton claims that Liz
There is a common misunderstanding that Liz seduces Jim. While critics argue that Liz seduces Jim, it is clear that she gets taken advantage of because of her innocence and love for Jim. She does not seduce Jim, but rather loves him and doesn’t know what to do after he rapes her. When Jim returned from hunting, he had some drinks. Shortly afterwards, he brings Liz to a dock and rapes her. Readers must understand that the incident was not a seduction but rape. After the incident, Hemingway writes, “She was frightened… She was very frightened and didn’t know how he was going to go about things… it frightened her” (Hemingway). People say that she seduced him, but this isn’t true because it is clear that she is afraid. If she were to seduce him, she would not have been afraid. Lisa Tyler agrees that Liz’s encounter with Jim at the dock was rape. Her article says, “It’s rape whether the rapist uses a weapon or his fists, verbal threats, drugs or alcohol, physical isolation, your own diminished physical or mental state, or simply the weight of his body to overcome you” (qtd. In Tyler 4). It’s perspicuous that Liz was too naive to know what Jim was about to do. She only knows of the Jim that she fantasizes about: the Jim that’s in love with her. She does not know that there is the side of Jim that does not love her, but would rather just be intimate with her. Jim does not say any words