Thoughts of War in Big Two Hearted River by Ernest Hemingway Essay

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

In "War," Nick Adams progresses from an innocent, invincible soldier to a traumatized, realistic human. Ernest Hemingway utilizes his minimalist approach to highlight the destructive consequences of war and display that no benefits come from violence. Nick departs for war as a confident soldier but learns very quickly about the reality of war because of his injury. Then, he feels the psychological effects of the war through his lack of rest. Finally, Nick leaves the war as a fortunate, hopeful man with much still to experience. The war gives Nick a realistic outlook on life and matures him through all the death and destruction.

This scene is Nick’s first inspiration for how he should go about recovering. The trouts’ literal state in the water mirrors Nick’s emotional state and recovery process. There are rapid waters all around the fish, which compares to the rough emotional condition that Nick is facing. Nick notices how the trout change positions and push again the swirling current in order to stay steadily on the right track. Nick can use this to understand that he must change his own

or not, in order to seek out that offered comfort. Nick does in Earnest Hemingway’s “Big Two-Hearted River”. He finds comfort in the ability to just go through the motions, like how Mary Oliver’s “The Wild Geese” offers nature’s unconditional acceptance.

He was returning to his passion. Fishing and being out in the wilderness is how he recovers. "The rod bent in jerks, the trout pumping against the current" (191.) Hemmingway is describing the current of the water but it also describes nicks post war feelings. It's his present life and the rush of the water are his memories, they are leaving him and letting him relax back home. "Nick worked the trout, plunging, the rod bending alive." (195) The rod blinding alive signifies nick. The adrenaline rushing inside of him and the pure energy that his pumping through his body. Coming to what you loved and miss is a good transition on how to move

Ernest Hemingway's "Big Two-Hearted River"* is such a rich text that it has probably received more literary critical attention than many novels of several times its length. Hemingway's ardent use of intricate detail and his intentional, calculated use of short, simple sentences help to make "River" a treasure chest of critical ideas and possible interpretations. Historically, much of the criticism of "River" has examined the dark underlying themes of the story, such as the alleged omission of some preceding, devastating event and Nick's wounded spiritual and mental state. These sentences, such as "There was no town, nothing but the rails and the burned-over country," are

Through the transformation of his surroundings, Nick notices that everything is changed and even the animal/insects are different do to

Most of the story appears to consist of the mundane details of a lone man on a fishing trip, yet it compels you to keep reading. As you should expect from a Hemingway story, we see his "iceberg theory" at work. There's a lot of meaning hidden beneath the surface of the details of hiking, camping, and fishing, and a perceptive reader will find much to contemplate in this narrative. Here's one example: Nick hops off the train near the town of Seney, a familiar place for Nick. But something is wrong. A fire has destroyed the town, leaving a blackened, devastated landscape behind. Literary critics see this as symbolic of the damage Nick has sustained from the war. The fire, like the war, is over now, but the devastation

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.

Without the prior knowledge of the effect of “Indian Camp” on Nick’s psyche, one could easily declare the events and his thoughts in “Big Two-Hearted River” as normal, per the passage of time and his assumed maturity. But, as certain imagery that evokes war in “Big Two-Hearted River” suggests, Nick also suppressed the events of Fossalta. The first scene in this story has him walking through the fire-destroyed town of Seney (Hemingway 209). He is carrying a pack and a fishing rod just as a soldier would wear a pack and carry a gun, and, as he was a soldier, it can be inferred that he saw similar scenes of destruction before (210). Phrases evoking war were also used by the narrator, such as when Nick left “the burned town behind in the heat,” as if the town was ‘in the heat’ of battle with gunfire (210). Likewise, the imagery of the blackened grasshoppers also evokes war. Nick “realize[s] that they had all turned black from living in the burned-over land,” (the same land that is similar to scenes of war) just as he was psychologically blackened by the war because of his injuries (212). He also “wondered how long they would stay that way,” implying his questioning of when he would recover and hope that he could (Hannum 107, Hemingway

First, Hemingway displays Nick’s disappointment and needs for control shortly after he steps off the train. He watched the train disappear around the hill of burnt timber. Soon after, Nick looks around at what he once knew to be the city of Seney, which is barely recognizable. What he sees is the horrific results of war. A place he does not want

     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.

“I could just drift, he thought, and sleep and put a bight of line around my toe to wake me. But today is eighty-five days and I should fish the day well” (41). Santiago, an old fishing champion, has not caught a fish in eighty-four days, but he is not ready to give up yet. Santiago encounters the biggest marlin he has ever seen, and he spends a vigorous three days fighting the fish. Santiago’s journey in The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway functions as a literary quest as he struggles to overcome patience, pride, and loneliness on his journey to self-discovery.

Throughout Hemingway’s stories the use of train tracks in “Big Two Hearted River,” ”A Canary For One,” and “Hills Like White Elephants.” have symbolized many things that have revealed and/or explained many things in his stories. The first case is in two,”Big Two Hearted River,” how it shows the leaving train and disappearing around the hill, shows how he hasn't moved on from his troubles and wants to stay from where he started while time is still continuing to go on. This quote,”THe train went on up the tracks out of sight, around one of the hills of burnt timber.” “There was no town, nothing but the rails and the the burned -over country.” This quote shows how he went back to where he is stuck mentally and physically showing that it is

Shortly after, the boy recalls, “…remember how you went eighty-seven days without fish and then we caught big ones every day for three weeks.”(119) “In this way, Hemingway establishes two separate time spans of eighty-seven days that are important in the old man’s life.” (119)