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A Simple Analysis of Ernest Hemingway’s Shortest Story About Baby Shoes
One of the best six-word short stories ever written
In his 1991 book, The World According to Ernest Hemingway: A Biographical Record From His Birth Until He Died, John Louis Villard wrote, “Hemingway was a master of the short story and a born writer.
That is the reason many people attribute Hemingway to the famous short story: “For Sale: Baby Shoes Never Worn,”
2001: A Space Odyssey’s author, Arthur C. Clarke, once wrote a letter to his friend and publisher, John Robert Colombo, telling him Hemingway supposedly won a $10 bet from his fellow writers for these famous six words.
However, the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winner might have gotten the idea from a 1917 article published in The Editor, titled “Tragedy of Baby’s Death is Revealed in Sale of Clothes.” Also, in 1921, a similar story appeared in the July issue of Judge, but instead of baby shoes, they mentioned a baby carriage instead.
Nevertheless, regardless of where Hemingway got the idea, there is no doubt his version excels the others. But does it have the necessary elements to be considered a novel?
With the help of renowned writer Dan Brown, from his writing lecture in Masterclass, we’ll find out if it has all the necessary elements to qualify as a novel.
The 5 elements of a good novel
According to Brown, a good book, or in our case, a novel, needs the following elements:
1.- A strong opening.
Every good story needs to grab the reader’s attention from the start. Something is also known as “A Hook,” an element to catch the reader from the beginning.
A strong opening is one of the most important elements, and in this case, in the era of fast times, fast living, and fast shopping, the “For Sale:” catches the reader’s attention immediately.
