Hemingway And Theme Essay, Research Paper
Ernest Hemingway uses many themes and subtle nuances, to bring his short stories alive, with imagination and adventure. These short stories all revolve around certain things that are present in each of his stories. In Another Country, The Big Two Hearted River, and Indian Camp, all contain similarities, which are sometimes very evident, and very subtle.
The short story, In Another Country, is a story of war and injuries. The narrator get rehab for his knee, and he meets different people with other injuries throughout the story. The themes of this story are between love and heartbreak. The narrator is confused about how he is looked at by the regular townspeople. It is different for him to blend in, because he is a soldier from another country, and certain things confuse him about why he is doing what he is doing.
The second story, Indian Camp, is about a boy and his journey to manhood. Nick, the boy, accompanies his father, a doctor, to deliver a baby. It is a very traumatic experience in the Indian hut, but Nick handles it and helps his father. After the successful delivery, it is found out that the father of the child has committed suicide on the bunk above. All this time, Nick has witnessed a gruesome C-Section and a man who has killed himself. The river is used to symbolize this journey into manhood. Nick takes is rather well, and feels that he should be like his father when he grows up.
The third story, The Big Two Hearted River, is also about a man with a journey. The central character, also named Nick, is on a trip to go fly-fishing. We are told he use to go with a friend, Hopkins, and fish. We figure out that Hopkins was drafted, and is probably dead, by the way Nick acts. This story is loaded with symbols, which I did not catch the first time through. This trip is a way of Nick to get over the loss of Hopkins, and to remember the old days. The symbol that is matched with this is the burned forest. The forest is burned right now, but it will grow and move on after time. Nick likes being independent, but also misses Hopkins presence.
Hemingway puts experiences of his own life in his stories, and also keeps the central character much similar to the rest in all the stories. In all of his stories, the theme of a soldier is present and the central character is always a boy, that is going through a change or some type of mental maturing process. Hemingway went through many tough times during his life, and I believe he used those times in his stories, as a type of therapy. It does not really matter why he did it, it makes his stories interesting to read no matter who you are.