Ernest Hemingway's Big Two-Hearted River and Sigmund Freud Essay

In the next story, “The End of Something”, we find an adolescent Nick, who experiences that how it feels when love is lost. If the previous story portrays Nick’s parents’ relationship, this story portrays Nick’s relationship with Marjorie. Though the type of relationship is different in both stories, but the portrayal of troubles in human relationships establish a link between these two.

Ernest Miller Hemingway is known for his unique style and theories of writing, especially the iceberg theory. In the Death of the Afternoon, Hemingway says that “The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. A writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.” (92) Simple words, vivid images, rich emotions and deep thoughts are the four basic elements of the iceberg theory. Talk about how these stories illustrate four elements of theory. In both short stories, Hemingway describes scenery and characters with simple words directly to give readers a vivid image. Under this sketch, readers can know characters’ emotion and get the theme through their imagination and analysis.

Smith, Paul. A Reader’s Guide to the Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Boston: G. K. Hall & Co. 1989. Print.

Hemingway uses many instances of symbolism in this short story to coincide with the themes and feelings of the characters, such as the description of the scenery surrounding the train station. On one side of the station there is vegetation and fields of grain, while the other side is dry and barren (Short Stories for Students 159). The fact that the station divides these contrasts of environments is a symbol for the couple’s decision. The choice to have the abortion symbolizes sterility, which coincides with

Hemingway, to illustrate the theme of sovereignty, uses the character of Nick Adams. Nick is a character who has been injured in the war and, though his wound has healed over, Nick has yet to recover mentally from the attack. Hemingway’s portrayal of Nick is of a man who is trying to regain his identity. Hemingway depicts this through stream of consciousness and symbolism. The stream of

Frequently, Hemingway uses setting as a significant role within his story to symbolize what the characters do not speak. Throughout the story, the two main characters sit at a bar nestled within a remote train station. All the while, Jig takes note of her surroundings: “On this side there was no shade and no trees…” (Hemingway 274). She also mentions, “…the country was brown and dry” (274). Hemingway’s description shows how bare and desolate the land is on that particular side of the train station. By way of contrast, the opposing side of the station paints a different picture, “On the other side, were fields of grain and trees along the banks of Ebro” (276). The clash between the two landscapes is profound. On one hand there is arid, lifeless land. Conversely, the opposing side yields, beautiful fertile land. Hemingway wanted to emphasize how Jig’s life would develop one way or another depending on the route she took. Notably, the dry land seems to represent the frailty of the situation and how unpromising the future looks should she go through with the abortion. Alternatively, the lush land she gazes at from the train station gives her a glimpse of what could be and perhaps represents her true feelings toward the pregnancy. Throughout the story, Jig has hesitation about the surgery and does not seem to want to follow through with it. Jig mentions, “’We can have everything’” (276) as she stares off into the mountains. The quote signifies that she wants to be as fruitful as the land and do away

The world of Ernest Hemingway’s “Big Two-Hearted River” exists through the mostly unemotional eyes of the character Nick. Stemming from his reactions and the suppression of some of his feelings, the reader gets a sense of how Nick is living in a temporary escape from society and his troubles in life. Despite the disaster that befell the town of Seney, this tale remains one of an optimistic ideal because of the various themes of survival and the continuation of life. Although Seney itself is a wasteland, the pine plain and the campsite could easily be seen as an Eden, lush with life and ripe with the survival of nature.

'What 's that? ' she asked a waiter and pointed to the long backbone of the great fish that was just now garbage waiting to go out with the tide. 'Tiburon, ' the waiter said, 'Shark. ' He was meaning to explain what dare grapple happened. 'I didn 't know sharks had such handsome tails. ' 'I didn 't either, ' her male companion said." (page 109) these two tourists who speak are hardly differentiated from the group to which they belong. They are all metaphors for individuals who are spectators of the human scene rather than participants in its activity. They see, but they see without fully comprehending. They are only faintly curious, only passingly interested, only superficially observing, they have not been initiated into the mysteries that Santiago understands. These tourists live their lives as tourists, skimming the surface of life, without resolution or clarity. Their life reflects that of all people who live their lives ashore, who dare not grapple with the mysteries of the ocean, or of life. This is the type of life that Hemingway always tried to avoid, to the point of his taking his own life. Hemingway uses metaphors to reflect his opinions of life and the people that he has met in life. The metaphor of the sea symbolizes all of life and the roles that people must choose to have in life. The lions are a metaphor for the

The next day for Nick went fishing Hemingway continues to describe Nick's groundwork for fishing before he goes into the river. Once Nick had gone into the water Hemingway described the feelings that Nick felt “He stepped into the stream. It was a shock. His trousers clung tight to his legs. His shoes felt the gravel. The water was a rising cold shock. Rushing, the current sucked against his legs.” (Hemingway 1925)

This imagery of the train station is brought about by more than the actual setting, but rather is corroborated by the presence of bags “against the wall of the station. There were labels on the them from all the hotels where they had spent nights” (Hemingway 592). Hemingway’s choice to mention Jig’s bags is used to further extend the effect of transition, as the bags are covered in stickers, portraying a map of the various places that the couple have been together, both physically visited as well as the many emotional attachments that have grown between the two along their journey. An employee emerges, and offers to move Jig’s bags to the end of the train tracks for her as the train nears. Hemingway’s choice to have Jig’s belongings move towards an end of the tracks creates the effect of another man entering Jig’s life in order to bring her, and her belongings, closer to the decision of what track to choose.

Ernest Hemingway created the iceberg theory, by which he expects the reader to know a great deal of information from the little he expresses in his work. This style is evident in his short story, “Hills Like White Elephants,” because the information the reader must obtain is hidden underneath the surface. This writing style often confuses the reader, but when the short story is read multiple times, the reader can connect to Hemingway’s unique use of a variety of essential elements. The relationship between the reader and the story is strengthened by the vivid imagery, appealing setting, multilayered characterization, and a deep symbolism expressed

     In Hemingway’s collection of short stories, In Our Time, we follow a character by the name of Nick Adams. We are introduced to Nick in “Indian Camp” as a young boy, and follow him to adulthood in both Parts I and II of “Big Two-Hearted River”. Through this we see Nick develop and learn about some major facts of life. Nick is a character who changes through the effects of war on many different levels. Although Hemingway hardly mentions the war, he uses the stories to express different effects and emotions caused by the war.

In the story “A Clean, Well- Lighted Place” by Earnest Hemingway begins with the main character and his co-worker in a café. The two are analyzing, and discussing a deaf, drunk Oldman, who is their last customer of the day. As the deaf old man insists on having more whiskey, the main character informs the young waiter as to why and how the old man tried to commit suicide. They began to converse about the Oldman’s depressed life. The younger waiter is in a rush to go home to his wife, while the older waiter is patient and he stands up for the Oldman, being able to relate to him. Hemingway’s sentence structure and writing style represents the comparison and contrast between setting, people, and objects, along with emphasizing how it is to have and be nothing.

“Big Two Hearted River”, a semi-autobiographical short story by Ernest Hemingway, is a story about the main character, Nick, returning to Big Two Hearted River in order to recover from his inner wounds. Nick Adams goes on a journey alone in nature for a therapeutic purpose as he suffers from PTSD. However, Hemingway purposely avoided any direct discussion regarding to Nick’s mental wounds. The absence of the discussion is contributed by Hemingway’s writing style, the Iceberg principle. Hemingway focuses explicitly on what occurs on the surface without mentioning actual theme. This indicates that the theme of self-healing cannot be uncovered by simply looking at the text itself. In order to comprehend the actual theme of the story, the character development of Nick must be examined. This is possible since Nick Adams is a recurring character of Hemingway’s stories. The two preceding stories of “Big Two Hearted River”, “Now I lay me” and “A Way you’ll Never Be”, directly discusses Nick’s suffering from shell-shock and how he comforts himself by returning to Big Two Hearted river in his mind. The two short stories will be analyzed and connected to “Big Two Hearted River” in the essay first. This will provide a strong understanding of Nick’s psyche and the reason behind his return to nature. Then, “Big Two Hearted River” the short story itself will be carefully analyzed.

Sigmund Freud's revolutionary ideas have set the standard for modern psychoanalysis in which students of psychology can learn from his ideas spread from the field of medicine to daily living. His studies in areas such as unconsciousness, dreams, sexuality, the Oedipus complex, and sexual maladjustments laid the foundation for future studies. In result, better understanding of the small things, which shape our lives.