The narrator retells a story that he heard from a senior officer who was at Smyrna. There is a recollection of screaming--"they" would not stop until they sent search lights over "them." Interestingly, those who were screaming are never named. There also was a Turkish officer who approached in a rage after feeling insulted by one of his sailors. The Turkish officer accuses the gunners mate of the offense, though he apparently is very inoffensive (especially since he knows hardly any Turkish). After a conversation with this sailor, the senior officer finally sends him aboard the ship with instructions not to return to shore for the rest of the day. He becomes great friends with the Turkish officer after assuring him that the gunners mate will be severely dealt with on the ship, even though this is a lie. He remembers the dead babies as the worst part of his experience. Women would not give up their dead babies, often holding on to them for six days until finally they had to be taken away. He also describes an old woman who died and immediately went stiff and rigid. He told this to a doctor who claimed that such a thing was impossible.

In the narrator's recollection of the conversation, the senior officer also talks about the harbor and things floating around in it. He says this was the only time in his life he dreamed. He also mentions that he does not mind nearly as much the women having babies as those holding dead ones.

Finally he describes the Greeks as "nice chaps." He described how they murdered their baggage animals when they evacuated: they broke the mules' forelegs and pushed them into the shallow water.

Analysis

This opening sketch approaches the horrors of war directly for the only time in the book. The narrator remembers a naval officer's response to the death involved. The worst aspect of the scene is the women with dead babies. Death has turned into a feature of the war, something the soldiers must deal with as if it were a chore. The naval officer describes cleaning up dead bodies as if they were trash. At the end animals are cruelly killed as part of the evacuation. Death invades all aspects of war, and it foreshadows the death, suffering, and loss, not only of the war, but also in the everyday processes of social conflict in the novel.

Vignette

A kitchen corporal gives a first-person account of an entire battery that is drunk at night on its way to the Champagne. The lieutenant continually exclaims how drunk he is, and he tells the narrator to put out the light. The narrator notes how ironic it is that his superior worries about light in the kitchen while they are fifty kilometers from the front.

"Indian Camp"

This first chapter describes two Indians rowing Nick Adams, his father, and Uncle George across a lake in the darkness. It is misty, and Nick lies in his father's arms during the journey. His father tells Nick that they are going to the Indian Camp to see a very sick woman. They reach the other side, and Uncle George gives the Indians cigars. The entire party walks to the Indian camp and enters the shanty where the sick woman lies in bed. She has been trying to have her baby for two days now, and all the old women have been trying to help her. She screams as Nick enters. In the upper bunk lies her husband with a foot very badly cut by an axe three days earlier. He smokes a pipe, and the room smells bad. Nick's father orders water boiled and explains the situation to Nick--how the woman screams from the pain of labor. He also explains to him that when babies are not born head first, they cause problems, so he now must operate on this woman.

When he begins to operate, three Indians and Uncle George hold the woman still, but she manages to bite Uncle George on the arm. Nick holds the basin for his father. After it is finished he declines to watch his father stitch the woman up, and he admits his loss of interest.

His father feels elated after the operation, talking with Uncle George about how extraordinary an operation he has just accomplished. When he attends to the father of the baby, however, he discovers that the man has cut his own throat from ear to ear with a razor and lies in his own pool of blood. The doctor (Nick's father) then orders Nick out of the shanty, but Nick has already gotten a glance. As they are leaving, the doctor apologizes to his son for putting hims\ through such a traumatic experience. Nick asks why the Indian killed himself and other things about suicide. As they travel back across the lake, the sun rises and Nick feels confident that he will never die.

Analysis

In the Vignette, Hemingway portrays a war scene but draws attention to the personal experience of war rather than the violence between two militaries. Despite the close proximity of danger, the focus remains on the comically drunk lieutenant.

One of the major themes of "Indian Camp" is fatherhood. Nick's father takes him to experience the birth of a baby, but his responsibility and decision to do so are complicated by the suicide of the mother's husband. It turns into a traumatic experience for Nick, and as they leave, his father apologizes. This circumstance calls up the issue of death for Nick, which is another major theme of the chapter. Nicks asks his father about suicide and about death, but despite his father's answers, these issues do not take a real form for him. They are remote and unreal, and the chapter ends with Nick's optimistic attitude that he will never die.

The ending of the chapter embodies the main arc of the chapter, the vibrant presence of youth even amidst such a traumatic experience as the one Nick just experienced. Despite his close proximity to death, he is able to believe that he will never die. This belief is more genuine than possibly any other belief in the book. Youth therefore, triumphs in this first chapter.

Vignette

A narrator describes the evacuation at Adrianople. Minarets now stick up out of the mud. On the Karagatch Road, carts are jammed for thirty miles; there seems to be neither end nor beginning. There are old men and women soaking wet in the rain, and they keep the cattle moving. The river Maritza is almost at the flooding point. Greek cavalry are also at the scene trying to maintain order. The carts hold women and children along with all types of belongings. A woman gives birth while a young girl holds a blanket over her and cries. The narrator gets scared just looking at it.

"The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife"

Dick Boulton arrives from the Indian camp to cut logs for Nick's father. He brings his son Eddy and an Indian named Billy Tabeshaw. The narrator explains the history of the logs, and they are often lost in the lake as they are towed to the mill by the steamer Magic. These logs are often never recovered, and Nick's father takes advantage of the situation by hiring Indians to cut them up for fire wood. Dick is a half-breed, and many believe he is really a white man. He is a good worker once he begins. Dick and the other Indians begin work on the logs, but trouble starts when Dick casually accuses Nick's father of stealing these logs.

Nick's father claims that it is just driftwood, but Dick points out a marking on the log. The doctor tells Dick to leave if he thinks they are stolen, and he becomes red in the face from his anger. Dick continues to call the logs stolen, and soon the doctor threatens to knock his teeth in. But Dick, being a big man, does not back down. The confrontation ends with the doctor leaving the scene for the cottage. Soon the Indians leave.

Inside the cottage the doctor and his wife converse, and he tells her briefly about the fight. His wife is a Christian Scientist, and she recites a religious saying to him. She keeps insisting on knowing what happened between the doctor and Dick, her concern lying with whether her husband got angry or angered the Indian man. The doctor cleans his gun and then goes for a walk. On his way he tells Nick that his mother wants to see him, but Nick wants to go with him, and his father relents. They go off to find black squirrels.

Analysis

The scene in the Vignette is drenched with rain, which is a frequent theme for Hemingway. The rain causes the ground to turn to mud, which gives the evacuation of Adrianople a proper mood. As women and children leave with their belongings the rain falls on them, as if the world were crying for them. Note the parallel with the crying of the little girl.

In Chapter II, Dick Boulton, his son Eddy, and Billy Tabeshaw arrive on Nick's father's property to cut up logs for him. The chapter's primary focus is on the parallels between the whites and the Indians. The narrator notes that Dick is often confused for a white man. These logs were lost on the way to the mill years ago, and they thus represent the end of an era. The doctor assumes they are no longer needed for the mill, so he seems innocent in hiring Indians to make them into firewood. Dick makes a point about ownership's duration, showing that the wood still has an owner, but the doctor insists that he is not stealing. The sign of ownership persists: the Indian shows the doctor a White and McNally brand on the logs. Still, Dick's accusation that he is stealingm makes the doctor angry, because to him the logs should count as abandoned.

Although Dick tries to soften the situation by calling him "Doc," the doctor threatens to knock in the Indian's teeth. Dick shows calmness here, telling him that such a thing would never happen. Still, he is a big man who enjoys fights. The situation highlights Dick's and the doctor's differing reactions to the possibility of violence. Dick welcomes it, and even while the doctor initiates the threat, he is the one who backs off from it. Despite his intense anger, he is not willing to engage in violence. In contrast, Dick and his son Eddy laugh off the situation, not being troubled in the least by the tense moment or by the conflict with the doctor.

It is clear, however, that the doctor remains angry. The simple sight of medical journals irritates him. This feeling also suggests a frustration with his place in life. While Dick is confident in his physical ability to defend himself and stick up for himself against another man, the doctor does not have the same physical ability or confidence. Also, the Indians' work represents their physical superiority over Nick's father; they earn money by using their sweat and muscles, while Nick's father is a doctor and relies more on his mind and on knowledge.

The scene with the doctor's wife in the cottage draws a further parallel between these white people and the Indians. His wife is a Christian Scientist who has concerns about the way her husband treats Dick. She recites the line, "Remember, that he who ruleth his spirit is greater than he that taketh a city." This quote represents the difference between Dick and the doctor in the doctor's favor, for the doctor controls his anger, while Dick is ready to fight in order to win the argument. The doctor is more submissive than Dick, and even when he leaves the house he apologizes for slamming the door after him. He leaves behind the shotgun, even though the ritual way he cleans the gun suggests that it has a soothing effect on him, almost as if it grants him a power that he did not have when confronting Dick. He chooses to leave it behind, however.

In this cottage scene and then in the final scene with his son Nick, we see the importance he places on family. He makes a genuine effort to be a good husband and father. These efforts define him better than his ability to fight can do.

Vignette

This vignette is a first-person narrative set in the garden at Mons. The narrator describes watching a German climb over the wall; they shoot him as he puts his legs over. They then shoot three more.

"The End of Something"

The narrator describes the lumbering town of Hortons Bay. Once all the trees were used up, the town began to decline. It slowly became deserted. The narrator then tells us that just ten years after the start of this decline, only the foundations of the mill remain. Nick and Marjorie are fishing in a rowboat along the shore, and they see these foundations. Nick and Marjorie observe the ruins and discuss the town's past.

The narrator follows their discussion of fishing. It is clear they both love to fish and are very experienced at it. After fishing, they make a fire with driftwood, and Marjorie senses that something is wrong with Nick. They sit on a blanket near the fire, and Marjorie prepares food from a basket. They eat in silence, although Nick claims not to be hungry. Marjorie seems very happy, while something bothers Nick. She complains and tells him not to be in a bad mood.

She continues to ask what the matter is until finally he tells her that their relationship is not fun anymore. He says love is not fun anymore. She takes the boat and leaves, and afterward Nick lies by the fire for a long time. Bill arrives and briefly asks what happened, but Nick tells him to go away.

Analysis

The Vignette describes a war scene where the narrator and his fellow soldiers are killing Germans. The killing in this scene is chilling in its matter-of-fact manner of narration, especially the last two sentences: "We shot them. They all came just like that." Killing is turned into a routine. The narrator describes the first soldier they shot and killed, and then the last two sentences draw attention to how many individuals are lost in war. It is common to note that soldiers often lose their individuality in the military and especially in war.

"The End of Something" primarily deals with what seems to be the ending stage of the relationship between Marjorie and Nick. As Nick and Marjorie observe the ruins of the lumbering town's mill while they fish for trout together, it seems that the desolation and loss of this old town foreshadow the end of their relationship.

When Nick tells Marjorie that their relationship is no longer any fun, the scene captures Nick's unhappiness contrasted against Marjorie's happiness. Their dialogue reveals numerous problems in their relationship, but while the problems do not seem to actively bother Marjorie, they have a profound effect on Nick. After he tells her the relationship is over, she is the one who gets up and leaves. Nick sits for a long time by himself, and he notably wants even less human contact (despite fishing alone except for Marjorie and spending so much time alone before Bill arrives). He does not even want to talk to Bill.

The scene has a certain understated quality. On the surface there is nothing wrong, but Hemingway leaves many unanswered questions, and these omissions suggest the complex nature of the relationship. Hemingway uses this technique throughout the book to treat war, violence, and personal relationships. He often has more to say about these indirectly, as if by omitting all the important information he suggests that these are things in life that are too complicated by emotions to truly describe in words.

Vignette

This short vignette is told in the first person. The narrator describes a hot day when he and his men built a perfect barricade across a bridge. He describes how the enemy soldiers tried to get over it but could not. Instead, they were shot from forty yards away. The flank collapses, though, and they are forced to fall back.

"The Three-Day Blow"

This story continues to follow the character of Nick. He walks through an orchard as it begins to rain. The rain stops as he picks an apple. A cottage sits at the top of the hill. As Nick moves toward it, Bill comes out through the door and stands on the porch. He greets Nick by calling him "Wemedge," and Nick greets him. They survey the landscape and discuss the storm briefly, and Nick asks if Bill's father is at home.

They move inside, where a great fire roars. Bill offers Nick a drink, and they sit in front of the fire drinking. They talk about the whiskey for a while and then about baseball. They continue to drink and start discussing the fall storms, revealing that they think of the fall storm period as the best time of the year. They talk about the Cardinals and baseball again. They then start talking about the books they are reading and also about some of the authors. Nick says he would like to take Chesterton fishing at the "Voix."

Bill says they should get drunk and Nick agrees, so they get more whisky. Nick asks about Bill's father, and Bill says he can get a little wild sometimes. They both agree that he is a great guy. Then Nick says his father is all right; he claims never to have taken a drink. Bill suggests that their fathers' differing occupations are the reason. Nick becomes sad as he tells Bill that his father has missed a lot in life. Bill says his own father has had a tough time, and Nick concludes by saying, "It all evens up." They sit and ponder what they have been talking about.

Nick offers to get more wood for the fire in an effort to show that he holds his liquor well. He vows to himself that he will not be drunk before Bill. On the way back to the fire through the kitchen, he knocks over a pan. After carefully cleaning up the mess, he feels proud of himself for his practical behavior.

On his return, both boys try to keep the conversation on a high plane even while they continue to drink. Nick gets water for the whisky and on the way back examines his face in a mirror. It does not seem to be his own. They drink to fishing and proclaim how much better fishing is than baseball. They then drink to the authors Chesterton and Walpole.

At this point, Bill tells Nick that he thinks him very wise for breaking up with Marjorie. He says that otherwise they would now be married. He adds that marriage essentially ends a man's life. It is all right to fall for someone if it does not ruin you. Nick forgets about the liquor while Bill talks, and his mind leaves the scene. He feels sad about losing Marjorie and blames himself. He fears that he may never see her again. The have another drink while Bill continues to congratulate Nick on getting rid of Marjorie, while Nick talks about how suddenly it ended. Bill then says he will not talk about it again and concedes the danger of Nick starting it up again with Marjorie. This makes Nick feel much better, since before he had thought of the breakup as absolute and final. Suddenly he feels happy, and he decides that nothing is irrevocable--everything can be changed. He takes comfort in the knowledge that nothing is ever final, given the possibility of making things better or recovering what was lost.

They decide to take their guns and look for Bill's father. As they leave, they decide that there is no point in getting drunk. The wind outside blows all their worries away, even the Marge business that was troubling Nick.

Analysis

The vignette again describes a war scene where the narrator is involved with killing the enemy. It conveys the joy of success in battle, then the dismay at having to retreat from the enemy. The act of killing, however, is extremely understated. Hemingway nearly omits any mention of violence despite the fact that in reality the scene is a deadly battle. This tendency towards omission reveals the way the narrator deals with the violence of war: he does not acknowledge it. He thus brilliantly captures the way many soldiers deal with violence and killing in war much like the author has here--not mentioning it or dealing with it in any concrete way.

"The Three-Day Blow" captures the innocence and enthusiasm of youth. Nick and his friend Bill are happy getting drunk, but their discussion about alchohol reveals its dark side, mainly in alcoholism. When they need more to drink, Bill goes to check for an unopened bottle, noting that his dad says opening a new bottle is what makes a drunkard. Nick pretends not to be drunk, and he continually gives himself tests to prove his ability to hold his alcohol.

Their dialogue and often silly behavior reveals their relative inexperience and innocence with alcohol. They discuss baseball and literature, but they eventually decide that fishing is superior to baseball. They imagine going fishing with the authors Chesterton and Walpole, and they make toasts to these authors as well.

The serious moments in the chapter come when they discuss the relationships in their lives. The conversation takes on a respectful tone when they start talking about their fathers. They both agree that Bill's father is a great man, although Bill admits he can get slightly crazy. When they start talking about Nick's father, they realize that the men are different, and Bill decides that the life of a doctor must be different from that of a painter. When Nick adds that his father has missed a lot in his life, the theme of loss contrasts with the optimism of youth expressed just before. Are his opportunities forever lost with the passage of time? The two boys are young and are able to talk about their fathers, but only the passage of time will give them the experience to truly understand. Thus we see their youth pitted against the age of their fathers.

The chapter ends with a discussion of romantic relationships. Bill commends Nick for the way he broke off his relationship with Marjorie, but this makes Nick very depressed and sad. He blames himself for his loss. "The big thing was that Marjorie was gone and that probably he would never see her again." In his youth Nick fears losing Marjorie, but the finality of this loss scares him the most. For Nick the possibility of regaining his possession of Marjorie, of getting back what he once had with her, makes him feel much better. When Bill tells him that there is still a danger of getting back together with her, he is flooded with new hope. The scene shows the importance of hope and possibility for Nick. He needs to have hope for the future, to feel as if everything lost has the prospect of being found again. Permanence of loss scares him.

The scene captures the importance of possibility for youth, as well as how young people deal with relationships and with personal loss. Nick has trouble dealing with the loss of his relationship when he sees it as gone forever, but the possibility of its renewal allows him to deal with it much better.

Vignette

A third-person narrator describes how the cabinet ministers were shot early one morning near a hospital. It rained hard, but it is not clear whether it rained during the execution. One of the ministers was so sick with typhoid that he could not stand up for the execution. When they tried to make him stand, he just sat down in a puddle.

The other five ministers are standing. The sick minister has his head on his knees when the first volley is fired.

"The Battler"

This story begins with the narrator telling us that Nick stands up and that he is all right afer being thrown from a moving train. Nick feels his knee and notices that his pants are torn and his skin scraped. He has dirt all over him. He curses the brakemen and they way they ill-treated him. He rues having been tricked in such a juvenile manner. He rubs his eye, where a lump starts to appear. He walks along the rail tracks.

The narrator next tells us that Nick jumped onto the train when it slowed outside of Walton Junction. Now he must be near Mancelona. It is nearly dark. Ahead he sees a bridge, and as he crosses it he sees a fire up the track. As he approaches he notices the fire is off to one side of the track and below the embankment. A man sits near it with his head in his hands. Nick walks into the firelight and greets the man. The man asks where Nick got the bruised eye, and Nick tells him that the brakeman threw him off the train. The man said he saw him earlier when the train passed, and Nick says he will get his revenge.

The man has a misshapen face and only one ear. He offers Nick food and introduces himself as Ad. He claims to be crazy, and then when he tells Nick that he is Ad Francis, Nick does not believe him at first. Nick knows the famous boxer. Finally he believes the man is Ad. The man reveals to Nick the secret of his success: he has a heart that beats slow.

Soon a negro man named Bugs arrives. Bugs has brought food and starts to cook it. He asks Nick if he is hungry and has him cut the bread. While Nick cuts the loaf, Ad asks to borrow Nick's knife, and Bugs immediately advises Nick to hold onto it. Ad remains silent as they eat. He soon begins asking angry questions of Nick and tells him he is not welcome. He threatens Nick and tells Nick to hit him. When Nick refuses, he tells him that he is going to give him a beating. The entire time the negro has circled around behind Ad, and at this moment he knocks him out with a blackjack. He then apologizes to Nick for Ad's behavior and explains that Ad will not remember anything when he wakes up--knocking him out is the only way to stop him when he gets crazy. Too many boxing matches damaged his brain, and his marriage to his manager caused a public scandal that contributed to his mental instability. The negro met Ad in jail, and now they just move around from place to place. Nick soon departs so that Bugs can wake Ad, and as he leaves he can hear them talking.

Analysis

The vignette describes a dreary execution scene and focuses on the way the victims meet their death. One of the ministers is sick with typhoid, and he represents a picture of complete despair in the face of death. The poignancy of this image accentuates the chilling and heartless nature of the killing.

The "Battler" continues with more attention to youth, following Nick as he meets two wanderers along a railroad track. This chapter also engages the ways people deal with loss, in this case loss of pride, mental capacity, and love.

The chapter opens with Nick's anger at being tossed from the train. It shows his frustration with his own childlike naivete after the conductor tricked him and then threw him off the train. His loss of pride at being thrown off the train also reveals a certain loss of his youth and innocence, now that he vows never to be tricked again like that. This vow introduces his cynicism towards people, his lack of trust in others. This distrust often characterizes the young and innocent.

When he meets Ad Francis and Bugs, however, he trusts them and enjoys their company. Yet, Ad Francis ruins their dinner when he goes crazy and tries to beat Nick up. As Bugs explains to Nick, the former prizefighter had lost much of his mental capacity with all the blows to his head, so there are many moments where there is no reasoning with him. The loss of his wife also leads to his craziness. This loss is a preoccupation of the chapter, and it forces Nick to continue his journey.

Another preoccupation of the chapter is Nick's reaction to violence. He gets very angry at being thrown from the train, and this helps him get along with Ad Francis initially. Ad thinks he is a tough kid. But when Ad tries to fight him, Nick shrinks from the challenge. He does not want to hit Ad and is confused by the threat. Finally, an act of violence ends this danger and restores order to the scene, leaving it to the other man to explain to Nick why it was necessary to knock out the former boxer.

Vignette

Nick sits against the wall of the church where his fellow soldiers dragged him to keep him clear of the machine gun fire. He has been hit in the spine, and both legs stick out at weird angles. A man named Rinaldi lies face down against the wall. There are dead soldiers all around. But the narrator says that things are going well, presumably meaning the battle. Stretchers would be along shortly. Nick tries to speak to Rinaldi in Italian and in English, but Rinaldi lies still and breathes with trouble. The narrator claims that Rinaldi is a disappointing audience for Nick, and Nick turns away from him.

"A Very Short Story"

The narrator writes that an unnamed man is carried up to a rooftop in Padua on a hot evening. When everyone else leaves, he and a woman named Luz sit together alone up there on his bed. Luz takes care of him at night for months. All the patients like Luz, and they all know of his closeness with Luz. Before the soldier returns to the front, he prays with Luz in the Duomo. They want to get married. Although Luz wrote him many letters when he was at the front, he did not receive them until the armistice. She writes about how much she loves him and misses him. After the war they agree, he should return home and get a job before they get married. Luz will not go back to New York with him until he has a good job. Traveling by train from Padua to Milan, they argue about why she will not return immediately with him.

He returned to America by boat, and she went to Pordenone to work in a hospital. She soon fell in love with an Italian Major and wrote to the soldier in America that they only had a boy-girl love. She said she was sorry and hoped that he might forgive her someday. She said the Major intended to marry her. But he never does, and when she writes to America with this news, there is no reply. Not long after this, the soldier contracts gonorrhea from a sales girl in a taxicab while traveling through Lincoln Park.

Analysis

The vignette again treats Nick's response to the violence of war. He has been paralyzed, and near him is another wounded soldier named Rinaldi. All around them are dead soldiers. He tries talking to Rinaldi but is disappointed with Rinaldi's response.

"A Very Short Story" portrays a different aspect of war, the difficulties of the romantic relationship between an unnamed soldier and a nurse named Luz. They fall in love, and this love lasts through the war, but after the war it falls apart. The marriage they planned for so long never comes to fruition. When Luz informs her former lover by letter that she no longer desires to marry him, she calls their love a "boy and girl affair." This chapter's approach to war does not concern the violence or the front lines of battle, but it shows a condition that has a profound impact on the lives of those involved.

Vignette

This vignette describes a bombardment at Fossalta. An unnamed soldier lies very flat praying to Jesus the entire time the bombs are falling. He prays constantly for his safety and to continue living. He pleads with Jesus, saying that he loves him and believes in him. The next morning is hot and muggy while the narrator works on the trench. The next night the unnamed soldier is back at Mestre. He goes upstairs with a girl at the Villa Rossa. He does not tell her or anyone else about Jesus, which he had promised to do during the bombardment.

"Soldier's Home"

The narration in this story is about a soldier named Krebs. He went to war after attending a Methodist college in Kansas. He enlists in the Marines in 1917 and returns from the Rhine in the summer of 1919. The narrator came home much too late for a hero's greeting. Krebs does not initially want to discuss his experiences, but when he finally does, no one wants to listen. The town does not show any interest in hearing what he has to say. He begins to make up stories just so people listen to him, but this situation makes him view the war and his experience with distaste. He only feels comfortable with other war veterans. During this period he generally sleeps late and hangs around the house or around town. He plays his clarinet often and reads. His sisters still see him as a hero, but while his mother tries to talk with him about the war, she often has trouble paying attention. His father remains neutral on the topic. The only aspect of the town that has changed is that the young girls have grown up. Krebs does not have the energy or courage to make an effort to meet any of them. He does like looking at them, however. He really does not want them as they are. They are too complicated, and he does not want to have to work to get a girl for himself. He tries to avoid anything with the possibility of consequences. The army has taught him he can live without a girl. He learned in the army that you only need a girl if you think about it, and sooner or later you always get one. He would like a girl if he could spend time with her without talking. With German and French girls there was not all this talking; it was a lot more simple. Overall he likes Germany much better and did not want to come home. The girls in his town are not in the same world as his.

One morning his mother enters his bedroom and tells him his father would allow Krebs to take the car out in the evenings, something he had never been allowed to do. At breakfast his sister talks with him about baseball and asks him if he is her beau. She asks him if he loves her and then if he will go watch her play. After his sister Helen leaves, his mother sits down and talks with Krebs about his plans for the future. She is very worried about him. She tells him that God has work for everyone in His Kingdom and gets upset when Krebs says that he is not part of that Kingdom. She reveals that she prays for him constantly. She urges him to find a job. She asks him if he loves her and begins to cry when he says no. She prays for him before he leaves. The story ends with Krebs having thoughts about the future, wanting his life to go smoothly. He feels as though all hope of that kind of life is permanently gone.

Analysis

The vignette's context is the bombardment of Fossalta, but it is concerned with the utter panic and fear of an unnamed soldier. The focus is not on the violence of the actual battle but on the reaction to this violence. The soldier pleads to Jesus to keep him safe and makes numerous promises to Him. But the next night he does not keep any of his promises, showing hypocrisy and the unreasonable prayers of wartime. The vignette shows the overwhelming fear of the soldier during battle, as well as the way he deals with this fear.

"Soldier's Home" tells the story of a soldier named Krebs. Upon returning from war he has trouble adjusting to regular life in the community. This chapter is one of the most personal narratives of the impact of war, and it primarily shows the trouble he has in his everyday relationships. The people in his town are not interested in hearing his stories. Krebs has lost his ability to connect with the community and the people within it. The war has changed him. He does not want to make an effort to meet any girls, and he tells his mother that he does not love her. The chapter describes his loss of passion for life. He does not want to do anything with consequences. He also loses his desire to connect with other people or to rely on people for anything. This social loss is a result of his experience in the war. The army was what taught him that he does not need girls. He also lost part of his youth, becoming cynical. Hemingway never mentions death or violence, but Krebs's experience of them changes him forever and destroys his innocence.

Vignette

This vignette tells the story of two Hungarians breaking into a cigar store at two o'clock in the morning. Two men named Drevitts and Boyle drive up from the Fifteenth Street police station and collide with the wagon the Hungarians are driving. Both Hungarians are killed, which frightens Drevitts, but Boyles reassures him that no one will care, since they are "crooks" and "wops."

"The Revolutionist"

The story takes place in 1919 on the railroads in Italy, where a man is traveling with a square of oilcloth from party headquarters that states he is a loyal comrade who suffered under the White in Budapest. It asks comrades to help him along his way. He loved Italy, but he did not like Mantegna. He reported to Bologna, and the first-person narrator says that he took up into Romagna. He believed in world revolution and thought Italy the starting point.

From Romagna he heads for Switzerland. The narrator says the last time he heard of him, he was in jail near Sion.

Analysis

The vignette tells how two policeman react to the killing of two thieves. One of the policemen is very upset, while the other has no feelings of guilt. Seeing them as something less than human, it is easy for him to downplay their deaths. The two argue about the significance of their deaths on this basis.

"The Revolutionist" tells the story of a man making his way to Switzerland. He goes unnamed, which suggests that he represents the usual revolutionary. He has no belongings but carries with him only a scrap of paper from party headquarters identifying him; this is the remaining material source of his socialist identity. He also carries a belief in world revolution, except that he was wrong in his theory of how it would proceed.

The story touches only briefly and vaguely on the nature of his suffering. Hemingway again employs a precise but very discreet style in portraying the impact of the war on this unidentified man. He seems very simple. The reader gets the idea that it would take a great deal to make this man feel suffering.

Vignette

This is the first of several bullfighting vignettes. The first matador got a sword through his hand, and the second got the horns right through his belly. The bull rammed him against the wall until the horn came out. The last matador had to kill five bulls, and he barely succeeded with the last one because he was so tired. When it was over he threw up while the crowed cheered him on.

"Mr. and Mr. Elliot."

The story follows a couple who try to have a baby. Mrs Elliot clearly does not enjoy sex. The narrator claims that like all southern women, Mrs. Elliot collapses rapidly from seasickness. Most people thought they would have a baby, but now she is forty years old.

At the time of their marriage she seemed very young. They had been intimate for several weeks before marriage, and before that Mr. Elliot knew her for a long time from her tea shop.

Huber Elliot was attending Harvard Law School at the time of his marriage. He was a very productive poet and was a virgin when he met Cornelia. He believed in keeping himself pure for the right women. Many girls had lost interest in him when they discovered his moral standards. Although Mrs. Elliot's first name is Cornelia, she taught Hubert to call her Calutina, which was her nickname in the South. Hubert's mother is very distraught at his marriage. Cornelia also has kept herself pure. She loved hearing that he had kept himself pure for her.

The night of their marriage, spent in a Boston hotel, was disappointing for both, and Hubert had trouble sleeping.

They soon set sail for Europe. Although they wanted a baby very much, Cornelia was not able to try very often. They went to Paris and then to Dijon, and while Hubert wrote his poems Cornelia typed them for him. She cried a lot during this time.

They returned to Paris and sat around for a few days at the Café du Dome. They then rent a chateau in Torraine. They are surrounded by friends, many of whom admire Hubert's poetry. Cornelia's girlfriend from the Boston tea shop arrives, and they cry together often. Cornelia calls her Honey, and like Cornelia she comes from a very old Southern family. These three and a few of Hubert's friends go to the chateau. By this time Hubert wants to publish his poems in a book.

Soon all the friends return to Paris, where they attach themselves to a rich, young, unmarried poet. They follow him to a resort near Touville. The narrator claims that they are all very happy with this arrangement.

The Elliots are forced to stay at the chateau in Torraine because he rented it for the entire summer. They still unsuccessfuly try to have a baby, and by this point the girlfriend is typing up most of the manuscripts. Hubert starts to drink white wine and to live separately in his own room. The two women sleep together in the bedroom and continue to enjoy their cries together. The narrator claims that these characters were also happy at that time.

Analysis

The vignette is the first in a series of bullfighting sketches. It portrays the crude violence of the bull ring. Both the matador and the bull are trying to survive. This sketch has a more explicit description of violence, but it still focuses primarily on the manner in which the second matador reacts to getting stabbed in the belly by the bull's horn, and the way the third matador responds to killing all five bulls. At the end he throws up from exhaustion as the crowd cheers him. The crowd clearly has no idea of the pain he has just endured to survive.

"Mr. And Mrs. Elliot" considers the problems of marriage. The story starts by discussing the couple's desire for a baby, but they have trouble doing so. The reason is never mentioned, although the narrator does hint that Mrs. Elliot often has trouble making the effort. These details suggest subtle problems between the couple, but Hemingway leaves them understated until later. Mrs. Elliot has trouble facing any real adversity; even sea travel makes her very ill. The marriage itself makes her age very suddenly, suggesting an added stress in her life. On the way to Europe they cannot sleep together because Mrs. Elliot is seasick. When they arrive at Dijon they are unhappy there as well. Mrs. Elliot cries a lot again, indicting her unhappiness with the marriage. Mr. Elliot has her copy his poems, and he is very severe about any mistakes. Soon one of her friends arrives from Boston, and they cry together often as a way for Mrs. Elliot to feel consoled.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Elliot remain virgins until their marriage. They believe in staying pure for whomever they marry, but this idea does not seem to work out so well, because on their wedding night they end up disappointed. Mr. Elliot's mother does not approve of the marriage, though she is happy when they go to live in Europe. This is another strained relationship in the story.

Most of the other relationships do not seem healthy either. The friends who follow the couple to Europe stay with them for a short while, but they eventually leave and attach themselves to a young, rich poet who lives in a seaside resort. The narrator says that they are happy there with the younger poet. Mr. and Mrs. Elliot and the friend from Boston remain at the chateau after their friends leave, and although the narrator claims they are happy, the claim seems false. The husband and wife no longer sleep in the same bed, and the marriage clearly has not worked.

These failed relationships are at the center of the story, and the idea of happiness comes up at the end of the chapter. The marriage does not make either party happy. Thus they search for happiness from some other source.

Vignette

It is another bullfight. The narrator describes a horse being repeatedly slashed; a picador rides him as the horse's entrails hang out and blood pumps from between his legs. The horse is very wobbly, yet when the picador shakes his lance at the bull, the bull does not charge.

"Cat in the Rain"

The story begins with an American couple in a hotel. Their room faces the sea and a war monument. In good weather an artist paints in the public garden. The war monument attracts many Italians. It is raining.

The wife stands at the window and looks out. She sees a cat in the rain and decides to go out and retrieve it. The husband briefly offers to do it for her, but she refuses. On her way out she passes the office of the hotel owner. He stands as she passes, and she greets him. She likes the hotel owner, his serious manner, his dignity--and especially the fact that he wants to serve her. She also likes his old face and big hands.

She goes outside and continues thinking that she likes him. As she stands in the doorway, a maid comes up from behind and holds an umbrella over her. She assumes the hotel owner has sent it. The two go into the rain for the cat but cannot find it. The maid laughs when she hears what the American woman is seeking.

On her way back past the office, she thinks that the hotel owner makes her feel very small and tight inside. The padrone also makes her feel very important, and she has a momentary feeling of "supreme importance."

Back in her room, she tells her husband how much she wants a kitten. She goes to the mirror and ponders growing her hair out. Her husband likes her current haircut. She continues to talk about the kitty that will sit in her lap and purr when she strokes it. She next tells her husband that she wants to eat at a table with her own silver and candles. She also wants spring to arrive and to have some new clothes. Her husband, clearly annoyed, tells her to shut up.

By this time darkness has arrived. She looks out the window in silence and then repeats her wish for a cat. Someone knocks on the door. The maid brings in the cat that was outside in the rain. She says the padrone has asked her to bring it.

Analysis

The vignette, again with a focus on bullfighting, describes vividly the violence against a horse, describing the entrails of the horse hanging out. The description of blood pumping from between the horse's legs suggests the horse's slowly ebbing life. The bull waits to charge, and the scene almost seems frozen in time. The presence of death dominates here, and killing the horse for the purpose of sport signifies a cruelty much like the killing of the baggage animals in "On the Quai at Smyrna." The deaths of the soldiers in the earlier vignettes have been replaced by the deaths of players in a deadly game.

"Cat In the Rain" examines another strained and unhappy marriage. The American couple stays at a hotel that faces a war monument, and once again it rains. The rain suggests dreariness. The wife looks out the window and sees a cat. She decides to get it, but it is unclear whether she feels pity for it or just wants to satisfy her own need for a cat. As she later reveals, she wants a kitty to hold in her lap and purr.

The husband offers to get it, but she declines his offer. That is just as well, since he remains reading on the bed the entire story, apparently detached from his wife. She desperately wants attention, though, and she dreamily wants a lot of things. She likes the old hotel owner very much, too, for the way he treats her. She likes the attention, the way he "wants to serve her." There are many things that she likes, and all these things suggest that something fundamental is missing in her marriage. The hotel owner constantly keeps taking care of her instead. He sends the maid to her with an umbrella, she thinks, so that she does not get wet in the rain, and then at the end of the story he sends the missing cat up to her room. He represents a kindness and understanding that the husband does not possess or simply does not wish to exhibit. The husband certainly seems bored and annoyed by his wife. When she talks about all the objects she desires, he tells her to shut up. The problems in their relationship seem to feed one another.

For all the suggested unhappiness, Hemingway never directly discusses it. Instead we see and analyze it for ourselves. The spare details suggest the problem of communicating such complex issues, and the lack of direct reflection on the issue mirrors the fact that the husband and wife barely communicate together. They have lost their reverence for each other.

Vignette

A crowd is shouting and throwing numerous objects into a bullfighting ring. The bull gets so tired that it collapses, and one of the cuadrilla kills him with the puntillo. Then the crowd flows over the barriers, two men pick him up, and another cuts off his pigtail. The narrator then uses the first person and says that he later saw the little kid who ran away with the pigtail at a café. He speaks with the boy, who tells him it has happened before. Then the narrator says that he is not a very good bullfighter.

"Out of Season"

A man named Peduzzi earns four lire from gardening and then takes the money to get drunk. He meets a young gentleman and speaks with him in a mysterious manner. The gentleman says he will return in a short time. He stays at the cantina to wait, and they trust him for three more drinks. He apparently has a job for the afternoon which he is very confident about. It is a perfect day for trout fishing, and we assume that Peduzzi plans to take the young gentleman on a fishing expedition.

The young gentleman returns, and they decide that his wife should follow behind them with the fishing rods. On the way, however, Peduzzi wants her to move up so they can all walk together down the street of Cortina. He calls tenderly back to her, but she only responds after her husband shouts. As they walk through the main street everyone stares at them, and Peduzzi greets them all elaborately.

They stop outside a store that sells liquor, and Peduzzi claims they need some Marsala. We learn that the wife does not understand anything he says, and she correctly guesses that he is drunk. Peduzzi asks for lire, but when the young gentleman gives it to him they realize the store is closed.

They walk down the street to the Concordia. The young gentleman and his wife enter while Peduzzi stays outside. The young gentleman asks for the three Marsalas, explaining that one is for a vecchio. He goes outside to give it to Peduzzi but cannot find him. When he returns he decides to buy a quarter-litre of Marsala. The entire situation amuses the girl behind the counter.

When the girl is gone looking for a bottle for the Marsala, the young gentleman apologizes to his wife since she feels rotten. The two are obviously in a disagreement about something.

They finally leave, and Peduzzi offers to cary the rods. He explains that no one will bother them in Cortina, since he used to be a soldier and knows important people. It is illegal to fish, but he urges them not to worry.

As they travel towards the river, Peduzzi points out a girl who he claims is his daughter, but the wife thinks he is pointing out his doctor. He talks constantly as they walk, speaking in two different dialects. The couple does not understand anything he says, and they argue about this expedition and the possibility of going to jail because of it. The wife wants to go, and her husband urges her to do so. She finally leaves, to the dismay of Peduzzi.

The two men finally settle down to fish. The young gentleman fears they might be caught by an official any minute. Peduzzi says that they must have piombo for lead, but the young gentleman did not bring piombo, so he decides they will fish tomorrow. Peduzzi is worried by this turn of events, and he wants to know what time in the morning they will go fishing.

Soon the sun comes out, and they drink the Marsala together. Peduzzi rejoices in the wonderful day. He loves days like this one, and he looks forward to tomorrow. They head back to town after finishing their drink, and on the way Peduzzi requests money in return for getting all the necessary supplies for the next day's fishing. The young gentleman gives him money, and Peduzzi exults in the quality of his life. With enthusiasm he plans on meeting the young gentleman the next day, but the gentleman warns that he may not show up.

Analysis

The vignette treats violence again as part of a sport. Death is celebrated as victory, and the vignette suggests that this practice occurs at all times and in many areas of life. As the kid who runs away with the cuadrillo's pigtail says, "after all it has happened before like that."

"Out of Season" tells the story of a former soldier who acts a guide for a foreign married couple and agrees to bring them on a fishing trip. Peduzzi does not have much money, and he wants to move up from earning money from gardening. But he is a drunk, and he primarily relies on the kindness of the foreign gentleman, who repeatedly gives him money for no real reason.

As they make their way to the river to fish, Peduzzi comforts them about their expedition. Even though fishing is illegal, they should not worry, because as a former soldier, many people like him. In reality, though, he has very low standing in the town, and people do not seem to like him. The fishing trip gives him control and power, even if it is just a brief power over a foreign couple. He also makes money from such expeditions. Most of all, it is an escape from his ordinary station in life, offering him the chance to follow a different path.

The couple clearly is in the midst of an argument as they make their way to the river. The woman is not very happy with the arrangement, and she challenges her husband to turn back. He leaps at this opportunity and tells her to return, which she does. It is another unhappy event in a another marriage. Finally at the river, Peduzzi and the gentleman relax in the sun and enjoy the liquor the gentleman has bought for all three of them. It affords the gentleman an escape from the strain of his marriage.

Peduzzi and the couple are from completely different worlds, and the language barrier reinforces this fact. He talks constantly, but they do not understand anything he says. This situation parallels the fact that most people in his own community tend to ignore him. Going on this illegal fishing trip gives him a chance for attention--being self-important--even if for a short time. While he glories in the situation, loudly greeting everyone in the town, the couple continually look over their shoulders and expect a host of officials following right behind them. The contrast in the situation between the couple and this former soldier highlight indirectly the impact that the war has had on his life.

Vignette

The vignette describes the bullfighting style of Villalta. The narrator curses the bull, and when it charges he stands firm and swings his sword at it. Then he kills the bull, first taunting him with "Toro! Toro!" Then he sticks the sword between its shoulders, and the bull collapses, staring at Villalta.

"Cross-Country Snow"

Nick jumps off a moving train. He has his skis on and moves rapidly down a slope. His friend George is ahead of him on the slope. Nick flies down the slope enjoying the exhilaration, but he spills when he hits a soft patch of snow. Nick and George ski all the way to a fence, with Nick reaching it first. When George arrives he compliments Nick on a move called a Christy. They move past the fence into a pine forest. Ahead on a hill stands an inn. They take their skis off and move toward it.

They enter the inn and hear singing in another room. It stops, and a girl comes into the room to take their order. They decide on wine and begin to talk about skiing. The girl returns with the wine and returns to her singing. In a little while they order cake, and Nick notices that the girl is pregnant. When he asks her what she sings, she is not very friendly. Nick guesses she is not married since she is not wearing a ring. Some woodcutters arrive.

Nick wishes that George did not have to return to school. In return George tells Nick his desire to travel through Europe on their skis without the worry of school. They talk briefly about wine, before the topic of conversation moves to Nick's wife Helen and how he feels about her having a baby. He says he is glad now that she is having one. They are moving back to the United States, even though neither of them wants to go back. They discuss how much better skiing is in Europe than in America. The Swiss customers next to them leave, and George wishes they were Swiss. George then says that they may never go skiing again, and Nick replies that that they must. George agrees but wishes they could make it a promise. Nick says there is no good in promising. They leave the inn and begin the trek home.

Analysis

The vignette tells a story about Villalta. He kills the bull as though it were a ceremony. The killing has no real regard for the life of bull. At the end the crowd cheers him, and Villalta accepts the praise as the bull dies slowly before him. This is another kind of human response to violence.

"Cross-Country Snow" tells about a skiing trip. The trip allows Nick and George to escape the reality of their lives. They take immense pleasure in it, and their friendship in the story represents one of the few times in the book that a relationship works so well. Their friendship approximates an ideal relationship. The narration begins just as they begin the trek home, and the two friends sadly wish they could just drop everything in their lives and continue skiing across Europe. The narrator says that they are happy together on this trip. George must go back to school, however, and Nick has a baby on the way. When they talk about his return to the United States, he says that although neither he nor Helen desires such a move, they will go back anyway. Thus, the end of the trip signals a move back into reality and toward the more unpleasant parts of their lives. Nick discusses his impending fatherhood with some reluctance, and despite conveying some happiness about it, he feels a lingering hesitation, an unwillingness to undergo this change in his life.

When they discuss the future before they leave the inn, both men grapple with the issue of fate. George wonders if they will ever ski again, and Nick says that they must, but neither sees the point in promising. They both acknowledge their inability to fully control the future, so instead they take what comfort they can in the present trip home.

Vignette

A Mexican bullfighter named Luis gets drunk and takes part in a parade on the day he is supposed to fight. The first-person narrator is with a man named Maera, and they both watch as the drunken Mexican dances to the rhythm of the music in the parade. Maera urges the narrator to get Luis, but when he does, Luis ignores him and continues dancing. When the narrator grabs his arm, the Mexican tells him to leave him alone, that he is not his father. The narrator then meets with Maera back at the hotel. They are both disgusted with Luis, and they call him a Mexican savage. Maera wonders who will kill his bulls after he gets a cogida. They both know the answer: they will kill the bulls for the savage.

"My Old Man"

The story is narrated in the first person by a boy whose father is a jockey. The boy and his father love each other very much and spend a lot of time together. The narrator begins by describing how his father would stay in shape: he would go for long runs and would skip rope in the road. People would stare at him. His strenuous workouts served to keep his weight down--the narrator explains that his father had more trouble than other jockeys keeping his weight low enough. He remembers a small jockey named Regoli who went to the bar one time right after weighing. His father watched Regoli with envy but could not follow him, because he had to watch his weight. His father rode at Mirafiore and San Siro, and they rode back and forth often on the train. The narrator explains his deep love for the horses and the exhilaration of watching them race.

Right after his father won the Premio Commercio, they left Italy for Paris. The narrator describes a scene in a café where two men are very angry with his father, and when they leave his father looks very frightened. They leave three days later. Paris seems huge and complex to the narrator, but he only goes into the city once or twice a week from Maisons. In the city they sit at the Café de la Paix. They live at Maison Lafitte with Mrs. Meyers. He loves Maisons and has fun at the lake and in the forest with the other kids.

The narrator's father gets his license from Italy but still has trouble getting any mounts to ride. He spends most of his time at the Café de Paris. Every day they would go wherever the races were held. One of his most prominent memories is of a big race at St. Cloud's where the jockeys fixed the race. It was a 200,000-franc race, and the big favorite was a beautiful horse named Kzar. The narrator is fascinated by Kzar. Right before the race he and his father go into the jockey dressing room, and his father asks his friend George Gardiner, who is riding Kzar, who will win the race, and he tells him that a horse named Kircubbin will win. His father bets a lot of money on Kircubbin, who ends up winning. His father makes a lot of money from the race, but it ruins the race for the narrator, and it permanently takes away some of his love of horse racing.

After the race, he and his father spent a lot more time in Paris at the Café de la Paix. One time he saw a good-looking American girl, and they smiled at each other, but nothing ever came of it and he never saw her again. His father continually bet money on horseraces at the tracks and drank a lot. He no longer rode and did not make an effort to keep his weight down. The narrator fondly recalls his father's stories about when his mother was still alive and when his father was riding in Egypt or St. Moritz. He also would tell stories about his boyhood in Kentucky, but he explained to the narrator that everything in America was "on the bum there" now.

One day his father bought his own horse for thirty thousand dollars and began his training again. The horse's name was Gilford. Owning his own horse breathed new life into his father. Tragically, on the second race with Gilford, his father was killed when he fell off his horse. The narrator remembers crying uncontrollably while George Gardiner tried to console him. While they waited for the ambulance they heard two men say that his father got what he deserved since he was a crook, but George told the narrator to ignore them, since his father was a great man.

Analysis

The vignette focuses on the preparation for bullfighting. The narrator and Maera try to force the matador named Luis to prepare for his bullfight later in the afternoon, but he refuses to listen and instead gets drunk and dances. He tells them to leave them alone by noting that neither is his father, signaling fatherhood as a mode of control and power. Once the narrator and Maera realize that Luis will not fight the bulls, they are resigned to do the killing themselves.

"My Old Man" deals with the issues of fatherhood, death, and youth. The narrator remembers going on runs with his father. His father worked hard. He remembers that sweat would pour off his father as he tried to lose weight. The narrator clearly loves and needs his father, and there is no one else to protect him.

On the day that two men got angry with his father, it was the first time he saw someone insult his father, and this experience made an impression on him. He wonders how people could get away with this insult that shatters the innocence of his youth. The lesson from his father: "You got to take a lot of things in this world, Joe."

Even so, as his youth continues in Paris, he looks up to his father and loves what he does. Meanwhile, though, his father has trouble getting work and starts drinking a lot. But the narrator loves horseracing as much as his father does. Again, he focuses on a memory of the day at St. Cloud where his feelings were challenged. His father took part in fixing the race, and the knowledge of this fault ruined the race for him. It even diminished some of his love of horseracing forever. But his adoration of his father seems never to lessen. He fondly remembers the period when his father did nothing but sit at the Café de Paris and drink. As a boy, the narrator did not truly understand the implications of his father's actions.

Similarly, when his father told him they must go back to the States for his education, he did not understand. It might seem that his father talks to him more as an adult than as a child, but he never truly explains things to his son. As a result there remains a significant distance between them, while Joe adores his father.

Hemingway creates this relationship as another example of a personal relationship that seems perfect from one perspective but has major flaws. From the child's perspective it is wonderful, but looking back--and to an observer--it is not. Joe has no one to take of him but his father. His father should be looking out for his son by looking out for himself. Yet, even after he has made a fortune from gambling, he continues to live a risky life, and he finally dies racing his own horse.

The death of his father leaves Joe destitute and alone. This death tears the little boy apart. This loss cannot be restored. Meanwhile, for others the death represents justice. Death is a victory to them, while for Joe it is devastating.

In this tale of loss, Hemingway never approaches directly the pain of loss. Instead, the pain constantly invades the narrative. First, they leave Italy, and his father loses his opportunity to work. The narrator loses his pure love for horseracing when his father fixes the race. Through the narrative of this father, Hemingway subtly weaves in the loss of his mother years ago. Finally, at the end of the narrative, Joe does not seem convinced about "how swell a guy" his father is. He says, "But I don't know. Seems like when they get started they don't leave a guy nothing." Having lost his father, he gives this final thought a touch of cynicism that suggests a loss of much of his youthful innocence.

Vignette

Maera is rammed by a bull's horn. He feels his own blood and the horn going through him. Finally, the bull is pulled off him. He is taken to the infirmary and put on a cot. The doctor arrives and must wash his hands. Then Maera dies.

"Big Two-Hearted River: Part I"

Nick gets off a train with his few belongings at the remnants of the old town of Seney. The landscape is burned. He watches the trout in a nearby river for a long time, and the experience brings back old feelings.

He finally picks up his luggage and starts up a hill. He feels happy and as if he has left everything behind him. He feels as though everything changed once he got off the train at Seney. He walks and enjoys the landscape. He sees the faraway blue hills that mark Lake Superior. He stops to smoke a cigarette and notices a black grasshopper. He realizes that they are all black. He speaks to it and urges it on its way.

Nick keeps walking, guided by the sun, until he arrives at a patch of pine trees. He lies down and falls asleep. When he wakes it is evening, and he moves toward the river. He soon stops and sets up camp. He takes immense joy in setting up his tent, organizing his camp, and cooking his food. He talks to himself, noting that he deserves to eat this food since he carried it. After dinner he makes coffee and has to decide between two ways of making it, but he cannot remember which way is his and which is that of a friend named Hopkins. He remembers the story of Hopkins, a man who made millions of dollars from oil in Texas. He has not seen him for a long time. He decides to make and drink the coffee in the way Hopkins would do it. He finally falls asleep.

Analysis

The vignette describes Maera's experience of death. The violence of bullfighting kills Maera, as though his death is a natural or inevitable response to the violence.

In "Big Two-Hearted River: Part I," Nick is happy as he starts out, feeling relieved to be away from society and back in touch with nature. Near the ruins of Seney, the scene of the fertile river with plentiful trout captivates him, and the contrast between the ruins of civilization and the bountiful river suggests that society is linked with destruction. With the absence of the town, the river has become incredibly bountiful. The imagery suggests the value Hemingway places on isolation from society, a value Nick also holds in this narrative.

When he releases the grasshopper from his grasp, he speaks for the first time, almost as if this experience marks a new beginning for him. From here, as he makes his way to the spot where he will camp, he shows his experience, for he already knows the landscape. He takes pleasure in enjoying the rewards of his efforts, setting up his camp and then eating the food that he carried himself. With the tent set up, he feels a different kind of happiness, a complete sense of satisfaction and safety. He is in charge, here; he can make the coffee whichever way he likes. Making the the way Hopkins made it is his way of honoring Hopkins, although the many years separate him from any deep emotions. His memory of a fishing trip with Hopkins that never came to fruition represents their discontinued friendship.

This chapter's power lies in the way it contrasts with previous chapters. It does not engage with many of the themes in the rest of the book. There is a solitary satisfaction invested in this chapter that we do not see in the other chapters, where failed relationships tend to produce loneliness. The chapter is devoid of overt violence or relationships other than the memory of Hopkins. This story represents a new beginning for Nick, a refreshment of his nature through his separation from the rest of society.

Vignette

A man named Sam Cardinella is hanged in the corridor of the country jail. The narrator notes that there are five to be hanged. Sam has to be carried to the gallows, and when they come to put the cap over his head he loses control of his sphincter muscle. The guards drop him in disgust. They strap him into a chair. A priest kneels beside the chair until just before the drop falls.

The chapter continues with the story of Nick from the previous chapter. Nick wakes up and crawls out from under the mosquito netting. He is so excited by the early morning and the river that he must force himself to sit for breakfast. He collects grasshoppers as the water heats, and he puts them into a bottle. He makes a breakfast of flapjacks and then packs a lunch. Then he takes out his fly rod and prepares to fish, and as he moves toward the river he is happy carrying all his fishing equipment.

He steps in the river and is shocked by the cold. He puts a grasshopper on the hook and soon has his first trout. It is a small one, so he lets it go. But the trout is motionless, so Nick touches it to make sure it is ok.

Before touching it he wets his hand (a dry human hand disturbs the delicate mucus that covers the fish, which will eventually kill it). The trout suddenly darts away.

Because of this rule about fish, he likes fishing on his own or with people he knows. He moves out of the shallows in order to find bigger fish. He soon catches a huge trout, but the leader breaks and he loses it, to his intense disappointment. He has never seen such a big trout. He thinks of the big trout on the bottom of the river and how angry it must be at having a hook in its jaw. He leaves the water, smokes a cigarette, and then returns to the river. He hooks two more big trout and keeps them alive in a sack. He then sits on a log and ponders going out into the swamp in front of him, but he decides against such an adventure. He kills and cleans the two trout and then heads back to camp.

Analysis

The vignette shows how the subject of an execution deals with his impending death. His response contrasts sharply with the gentle peacefulness of the final two chapters. Death here takes its most real and frightening form, and Sam Cardinella represents the terror of the human response to death.

The natural environment excites Nick, and he enjoys the isolation it affords him. Society seems destructive when one spends time in pure nature. As he begins to fish, his desire to interact with nature is in tension with the death and destruction inherent in catching and killing fish. He likes fishing alone because he can control the amount of damage he causes, remembering a time when he fished with ignorant fishermen who would touch trout with their dry hands and inadvertently kill them. He takes care with the trout and treats them with reverence, making sure to wet his hands before touching the trout. In keeping with his environmental ethic, he keeps the big fish and returns the little ones. Also, he only catches as many as he needs for food.

The details of fishing dominate the narrative. The largest trout he has ever seen bites his line, but he ends up losing it, which brings forth a strong emotional reaction. This is the most violent or exciting event in Nick's narrative, so powerful that he must stop fishing for a time until he calms down. This experience pales in comparison to the suffering, death, and conflict in the previous narratives, but within the gentler and more peaceful context of this chapter, it is a serious personal disappointment. Hemingway explores a person's response to this kind of loss as well.

The focus of the book sometimes engages a more universal experience of death and violence, but in this moment we are focused on the personal importance of fishing. Fishing becomes a communicative experience for Nick; every detail of nature matters in reality or as a symbol. The process engages Nick so completely that it becomes the entire narrative and structures our experience of the chapter. Nick lets himself become completely immersed in this experience, escaping from all his other thoughts. We can sense the peace he feels in this satisfying isolation.

"L'Envoi"

This final vignette is told by a first-person narrator who walks through a garden with the king and is introduced him to the queen. The king orders whiskey and soda and tells the narrator that the revolutionary committee will not let him outside the palace grounds. He says that Plastiras is a good man who did the right thing in shooting those men. If Kerensky had a shot a few people, things could have been different. The most important thing is, obviously, not to be shot oneself.

The narrator says that this was a very "jolly" time. Like all Greeks at the time, he wanted to go to America.

Analysis

The most striking part of this short final vignette is the king's distance from death and violence. He talks about these things like mere academic subjects. His social status contrasts with the other figures in the book, suggesting the detachment of politicians and dignitaries, who declare and manage a war, from those who actually fight in the war. The king normally does not have to suffer war's devastating consequences.

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