Themes

Some of the main themes of the short story “Up in Michigan” by Ernest Hemingway are disillusionment and gender roles. These themes are enhanced by being shown through a lens of obsession and violence. Liz obsesses over Jim and builds up naive hopes about him. However, Jim is far from the perfect man, and reveals his true nature when he rapes Liz at the end of the story. The story’s message is that people (especially men) are not always what they ap…

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Disillusionment

The theme of disillusionment is explored in the story through the protagonist, Liz Coates. In the beginning of the story, Liz is a ‘neat’ girl, symbolic of her chastity and naivety. She begins to be physically attracted to a newcomer to town whose character she does not really know. Although Jim does not court her and does not seem very interested in her, Liz begins to obsess over him. In other words, she builds up hopes and dreams about Jim, wishing something would happen …

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Gender roles

The story explores gender roles by focusing on typically male and female actions and attitudes. All the characters in the story can be seen as stereotypical. Set in the late 1800s, the story shows how women were expected to look attractive and neat, to take care of the house, and cook—activities that have been traditionally associated with women. The men, on the other hand, do typical manly things: hunt, drink, discuss politics, and read newspapers.

Beyond their actions, their att…