A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway delves into the author's challenges as a writer in Paris. Like a diary, the book focuses on a variety of personal accounts and reflections. The title of the book is derived from a religious festival that falls on a different date each year. The tale often depicts a detailed portrayal of a poor man employed as a journalist. This strategy gives the impression that Paris faced various difficulties.
The Belly of Paris by Émile Zola
The Belly of Paris by Émile Zola depicts a troubled Parisian society. In a world populated by many impoverished citizens, the author introduces Les Halles, a Parisian town with an abundance of food items. With this aspect resulting from political oppression, Zola succeeds in highlighting the suffering of lower-class individuals. Based on these factors, it is evident that life in both Zola and Hemingway's novels portrays some changes while at the same time remaining the same.
Financial Challenges
Poverty stands out as one factor that changes tremendously in Zola and Hemingway's writings. Precisely, each book portrays a Parisian Society that hosts a class of poor people who are unable to enjoy life like the elite (Zola 3). While Zola depicts a poor working class living in abject poverty, Hemingway entails both the middle and upper-class people. For instance, The Belly of Paris is also named fat and thin, an implication of the societal difference between the rich and the poor. Although poverty is a core issue in The Belly of Paris, it reduces slightly in A Moveable Feast. Despite the presence of lots of food in Paris, Zola introduces a financially challenged class of people that cannot afford to feed itself. Similarly, Hemingway's content also expounds on the poverty issue that affects him and his friends. According to Hemingway, "Paris was always worth it and you received a return for whatever you brought to it. But this is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and delighted" (211). The author's statement depicts a society in which life changed positively, thereby paving the way for poor people to develop. Hemingway proves that in the past, they were poor and happy. However, access to resources attracted lots of challenges that hindered their happiness.
Hunger
Hunger stands out as a common issue in both The Belly of Paris and A Moveable Feast. Although both novels were written at different times, the concept of hunger is evident. Thus, hunger is an issue that was ingrained in the lower class people's lives. The hunger portrayed in The Belly of Paris is one that stems up from societal injustices, especially in the distribution of resources. Zola states, "the fat, big enough to burst, preparing their evening orgies; the thin, doubled up with hunger, staring in from the street like envious stick figures" (190). This description creates the image of a high degree of poverty amongst the lower class individuals. To be precise, they could not afford their own food, hence growing thinner each day. The aspect of hunger is well-portrayed in Hemingway's novel. Hemingway asserts, "We both touched wood on the cafe table, and the waiter came to see what it was we wanted. But what we wanted not he, nor anyone else, nor knocking on wood nor marble, as this cafe tabletop was, could ever bring us" (176). This statement shows how hungry Hemingway and his friends were. The magnitude of their hunger was so high that even the waiter could not satisfy it. Thus, they had no option rather than coping with their hunger since they did not have any options. On one occasion, Hemingway views hunger, as a good discipline for the poor. These two scenarios prove that in both books, hunger remained to be a big challenge for the financially challenged people.
Happiness
Zola's The Belly of Paris revolves around a society characterized by lots of suffering among the poor. This aspect results from the numerous challenges that Paris subjected them to. The sadness presented by Zola is as a result of inequalities that continued widening the rift between the rich and poor. On the contrary, life is entirely different in Hemingway's novel. The author and some of his friends were developing slowly since they could make some money. (Hemingway 3). Although the Paris Society did not address all the people's needs, some of the basic ones were easily accomplished. This aspect is well portrayed by Hemingway's idea of improved feeding and drinking after making money through his writing skills. Hemingway asserts, "As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans" (3). Thus, happiness is influenced by Hemingway's affordability of expensive and valuable food that is not evident in Zola's novel.
Conclusion
The Belly of Paris and A Moveable Feast are two novels that explore life in Paris at different periods. Zola brings forth credible information regarding how poor people suffered in Paris due to inequalities. For example, some of them could not afford food, despite it being plenty on the market. On the other hand, Hemingway paints Paris as an improved society where lower-class people can afford food, despite facing extreme hunger. Although Hemingway showcases some improvements in Parisian livelihoods, they are quite minimal. The only growth in Hemingway's novel that is absent in Zola's novel is happiness. Despite the differences, both books portray the experiences of poor people in different periods.
Work Cited
Hemingway, Ernest. A Moveable Feast. London: Arrow Books, 2004. Print.
Zola, Emile. The Belly of Paris. New York: Modern Library, 2009. Print.
