The Roman Fever
The roman fever is a nice and enjoyable reading. It is entertaining, especially because of the ironical twist in the end. The book covers several themes such as friendship, passion, and deception. The author has covered these themes in such a way that the readers can learn from them. It is also possible to learn some historical facts and discuss historical events from the story. The author’s decision to parallel the lives of the mothers and their daughters is important because it reveals a lot of information and it is a case of history repeating itself. The story has a lot of symbolism. Each symbolic act or item reveals something deeper about the story’s characters. This work should be added in the syllabus because of the relevance of its themes on friendship, its effective use of symbolism and the relevance of parallels in the characters lives.
The concept of parallel lives is central to the story and it seems to have been there for three generations. The women in the story have had conflicts with their friends and sisters because of the men they love. Mrs. Slade reasons that Mrs. Ansley wants their daughters to spend time together because she knows that Jenny Slade does not have any chance when she is with Barbara Ansley. Barbara is more lively and beautiful than Jenny. Therefore, she has a chance of being with the man she wants. This parallels the lives of the two women when they were younger. They both knew the same man, Delphin. Alida ended up getting married to Delphin. However, she did not know that grace and Delphin had already met one night in Rome. At the end of the story, it is suggested that Barbara is the result of that encounter. The two young girls have gone to meet the same man and they are spending more time together as their mothers did. The older women recall a story where Mrs. Ansley’s great aunt Harriet and her younger sister had been in love with the same man. Harriet sent her sister to the forum after the sun had already set so that she could get flowers. This was a cold move because she knew that her sister would end up sick and she died some time later, thereby giving Harriet the chance she needed to pursue the man.
One of the main themes in the story is that of friendship. Grace and Alida have known each other since they were children. Although they have been intimate friends, their friendship is artificial. Alida looked down on grace because of her social status. She even made fun of her when she was with her friends. When the two were younger, Grace received a letter, which she thought was from Delphin. However, she comes to learn that Alida had written the letter instead so that she could become ill after visiting the coliseum. Alida was jealous because she knew that Grace loved Delphin. This is despite the fact that Delphin and Alida were already engaged. Ever since that time, Alida had a deep-seated hatred for Grace even though she claimed that she was her friend. This experience and the events that transpired when Alida and grace were younger is an important lesson. Sometimes one cannot be sure of her real friends. In other cases, the people that one considers friends are capable of harm because of jealousy and other vices such as greed. The book offers an invaluable lesson on friendship.
Symbolism is present in the book. This refers to the use of objects to refer to something else. The title of the story Romantic Fever means more than the illness itself. In the story, the illness is only mentioned once. However, themes such as passion and jealousy are evident throughout the story. Hence, the title of the story is symbolic of those themes. Knitting is one of the prevalent activities in the story. It means more than the use of needles and wool to create something. Knitting is a way for Grace to occupy her time, hide her unease and shame because of the discussion going on and avoid looking at Alida. The resulting work from her knitting represents the mingled situation in the two women’s lives. It is interesting to note that the Alida chooses to reveal her secret after the sun sets. The emergence of darkness is a symbol of the women’s past dark lives. By the end of their discussion, the women discover that they have kept serious issues from each other. Grace gets to know of Alida’s evil plan. Alida discovers that Grace and her fiancé had met at the coliseum
I think that the class can sacrifice the Snows of Kilimanjaro to pave way for the Roman fever. The story is exceptional and Hemingway is one of the most recognized authors. However, I feel that the story would probably relate more to an older or more mature audience. I can relate to the Roman Fever, because the events of the story relate to younger people. Alida and Grace had their most eventful moments when they were younger and their daughters will probably experience the same events too. There is nothing to connect me with the characters in Hemingway’s story. However, this does not mean that the story is not relevant. The events that are described in The Roman Fever continue to affect young people today. Only the times have changed in terms of modern developments but the concept remains. Therefore, I would prefer to sacrifice the snows of Kilimanjaro with roman fever.