Iceberg Theory
Hemingway's "theory of omission" (AKA"Iceberg Theory) is based off of short sentences, where he leaves out unnecessary details, and gives off a simple surface with a deep meaning under it, and trying not to clearly show underlying themes. He basically believed that the true meaning of a story should be shown on the surface, but rather under it. Hemingway tries to give the reader the feeling of the story, and rather than tell the reader what the story if about, shows the reader instead. Hemingway had also described iceberg theory as if the clear story is floating on top of the water, while the whole structure is under the water, unseen and unaware by the reader.
Much of Hemingway's iceberg theory developed when he was writing for the school newspaper, "The Kansas City Star". He would try to keep the story simple, yet tell what is going on in the story as a whole. He would create stories with little to no context or information, trying to keep the story short. Hemingway retained his style of short stories throughout his life and his works, which eventually won him the Nobel Prize of Literature in October 1954 and became known as the iceberg theory. Hemingway also used long sentences (commonly used by Mark Twain as well) to show the reader a snapshot of a scene with everything in the sentence happening at once rather than throughout a time period. So, in conclusion, Hemingway's iceberg theory is based off of his time as a journalist in "The Kansas City Star" and showing the reader less than the actual meaning of the story.
