Modernism is the doubt in society. The shadowed face, of humanities constant relationship our ever progressing mores of and motivations. Society is good, and the things we people can achieve as a collective, even better. Sadly, we people are deeply primordial when living in our ever growing complex and intimate environments. In a society, we take on a group mindset, we rely on the comforts of our gods, and we alienate all those who we feel do not meet the mark. The beauty, that can be seen in a society vanishes, when we disrupt the fragile border between us, and our primitive ancestors. Nothing muddles this line more, than the brutality of warfare. In the book, In Our Time, Ernest Hemingway depicts the modernistic attitude that he personally …show more content…
In “a very short story”, a major in the military falls in love with a nurse while he is in italy. When we returns to America after the war, he finds that their love for eachother has fallen apart. In the last paragraph of the story, the narrator says, “The major did not marry her in the spring, or any other time. [...] a short time after contracted gonorrhea from a sales girl” (66).The modernistic theme of love and loss, painfully experienced by the Major after his return from war, shows that Hemingway used modernism to depict the terrible aftermath of war. Furthermore, Hemingway enjoys to use modernistic themes that include loss. In his story, ‘a soldier's home’, hemingway tells a story of a young man rejecting god after he returns from the …show more content…
In the short story “Big Two-Hearted river II” Nick Adams, who appears in multiple short stories in the book, is living in the wilderness. He feels alienated from society after returning from the war and is alinated to nature. In the closing lines of the book, the narrator says, “He had just gotten back to camp. He looked back. The river just showed through the trees. There were plenty of days coming when he could fish the swamp” (156). The significance of these closing lines is that the reader gets the feeling that Nick will stay in the swamp, alienated from the rest of society for the foreseeable future. Although it could be argued that nick used alienation and nature as a ways to deal with what he experienced in the war, his alienation is a direct result of the war
One observation that can be made on Hemingway’s narrative technique as shown in his short stories is his clipped, spare style, which aims to produce a sense of objectivity through highly selected details. Hemingway refuses to romanticize his characters. Being “tough” people, such as boxers, bullfighters, gangsters, and soldiers, they are depicted as leading a life more or less without thought. The world is full of s...
Stewart, Matthew. Modernism and Tradition in Ernest Hemingway’s In Our Time: A Guide for Students and Readers. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2001.
Ernest Hemingway uses the various events in Nick Adams life to expose the reader to the themes of youth, loss, and death throughout his novel In Our Time. Youth often plays its part in war, and since In Our Time writes very frequently about war; it is not a surprise that the theme of youth is seen in many of the stories. In “Indian Camp” the innocence of youth is shown in the last sentence of the story: “In the early morning on the lake sitting in the stern of the boat with his father rowing, he felt quite sure that he would never die.” (19) When this sentence and the conversation Nick and his father have before they get on the boat are combined in thought it shows that because of Nicks age at the time that he does not yet understand the concept of death.
Coming home from the grueling experience of being a soldier in World War I, he felt ecstatic when he saw a trout swimming in the stream. The perils of war took a devastating toll on Nick, as he suffered from a physical wound while in action. The camping trip here is like an oasis, which will let Nick to recover from all the distress. “Nick looked down into the pool from the bridge. It was a hot day. A kingfisher flew up from the stream. It was a long time since Nick had looked into a stream and seen trout. They were very satisfactory...Nick’s heart tightened as the trout moved. He felt all the old feeling.” (178) The healing process begins here with Nick re-acclimating himself with one of his favorite hobbies: fishing. “He started down to the stream, holding his rod...Nick felt awkward and professionally happy with all the equipment hanging from him...His mouth dry, his heart down...Holding the rod far out toward the uprooted tree and sloshing backward in the current, Nick worked the trout, plunging, the rod bending alive, out of the danger of the weeds into the open river. Holding the rod, pumping alive against the current, Nick brought the trout in...” (190,193,195) Nick finally reels in a trout after the big one got away, getting to the feeling of relaxation and washing away the horrors of war. By pitching his tent out in the forest and being able to function by himself so smoothly, Nick shows how he represents the trait of stoicism. He did not complain or stop living, coming back with the trauma of war. Going camping, he is able to relieve himself through using all the nature around him, showcasing his
Fourthly, the scene in the swamp is the scene in part two of “Big Two-Hearted River” that shows Nick developing psychosis. The swamp serves as a reminder for Nick of where he was wounded, for “a change in the width of the river is what made the swamp horrible,” for he had been wounded “at a narrow place on the Piave River…near Fossalta” (Young 47, 54, Adair 584-5). This narrow place is the same place that Nick in “A Way You’ll Never Be” has dreams about, the “mosquito marshes” where he “wad[es] waist deep in swamp water, holding high a rifle (rather than a fishing rod[, as he does in “Big Two-Hearted River”])” (Adair 585, see Hemingway 409).
Hemingway’s characters exemplify the effects of combat because World War I had a negative impact on them; the veterans lead meaningless lives filled with masculine uncertainty. Jake and his friends (all veterans) wander aimlessly throughout the entire novel. Their only goal seems to be finding an exciting restaurant or club where they will spend their time. Every night consists of drinking and dancing, which serves as a distraction from their very empty lives. The alcohol helps the characters escape from their memories from the war, but in the end, it just causes more commotion and even evokes anger in the characters. Their years at war not only made their lives unfulfilling but also caused the men to have anxiety about their masculinity, especially the narrator Jake, who “gave more than his life” in the war (Hemingway). Jake feels that the war took away his manhood because he is unable to sleep with Brett as a result of an injury. Although he wants to have a relationship with Brett, and spends most of his time trying to pursue her, she rejects him because he cannot have a physical relationship with her. At several points in the novel, Brett and Jake imagine what their lives could have been like together, had he not been injured during the war. Thus, his physical injury gives him emotional distress because he cannot have a relationship with the woman he always wanted. The traditional American perception of...
Seney exists as the wasteland, having been ravaged and destroyed by fire to the point of complete desolation. The town is described by what it is lacking as a contrast to what Nick had remembered to have been there, yet Nick does not display any sensation of loss. He had merely “expected to find” the town as it was before the fire, but when he does not, he simply goes to the river to watch the trout. It the trout that s...
In the beginning of the twentieth century, literature changed and focused on breaking away from the typical and predicate patterns of normal literature. Poets at this time took full advantage and stretched the idea of the mind’s conscience on how the world, mind, and language interact and contradict. Many authors, such as Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, and Twain, used the pain and anguish in first hand experiences to create and depict a new type of literature, modernism. In this time era, literature and art became a larger part of society and impacted more American lives than ever before. During the American modernism period of literature, authors, artists, and poets strived to create pieces of literature and art that challenged American traditions and tried to reinvent it, used new ways of communication, such as the telephone and cinema, to demonstrate the new modern social norms, and express the pain and suffering of the First World War.
Ernest Hemingway uses the various events in Nick Adams life to expose the reader to the themes of youth, loss, and death throughout his novel In Our Time. Youth very often plays its part in war, and since In Our Time relates itself very frequently to war throughout; it is not a surprise that the theme of youthful innocence arises in many of the stories. In “Indian Camp” the youthful innocence is shown in the last sentence of the story: “In the early morning on the lake sitting in the stern of the boat with his father rowing, he felt quite sure that he would never die.” (19) When this sentence and the conversation Nick and his father have before they get on the boat are combined in thought it shows that because of Nicks age at the time that he does not yet understand the concept of death.
Ernest Hemingway used his experiences from World War I to enhance the plot of A Farewell to Arms. Parallels can be drawn throughout the entire novel between Henry's and Hemingway's experiences. Both were Americans serving in the Italian army; both were wounded and went to Milan; both fell in love with a nurse. These many similarities, however, also contain slight differences. There is no real question that Hemingway based events in the novel off of his real experiences, but A Farewell to Arms is by no means an autobiography. The book does not focus on the experience of war. Instead, it is more focused on the after-effects. Minor changes to the events themselves make the novel unique, while the factual basis strengthens the plot with authentic feeling.
The art, literature, and poetry of the early 20th century called for a disruption of social values. Modernism became the vague term to describe the shift. The characteristics of the term Modernism, all seek to free the restricted human spirit. It had no trust in the moral conventions and codes of the past. One of the examples of modernism, that breaks the conventions and traditions of literature prior to Modernism, is Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants”. The short story uses plot, symbolism, setting, dialogue, and a new style of writing to allow human spirit to experiment with meaning and interpretation.
Stewart, Matthew C. "Ernest Hemingway and World War I: Combatting Recent Psychobiographical Reassessments, Restoring the War." Papers on Language & Literature 36.2 (2000): 198-221.
Young Nick sees the slit neck and the blood of the dead father and later asks his father if dying is hard. His father tells him that he thinks it’s pretty easy, so Nick contemplates this as they get into the boat: “In the early morning on the lake sitting in the stern of the boat with his father rowing, he felt quite sure that he would never die” (Hemingway 19). Nick is naive to the ways of the world, mirroring the state of America before the first World
Hemingway's whole life, he seemed to be constantly depressed. His father was "a highly principled doctor", and both his parents were very "religious and strict" in his upbringing (Salter).He traveled to Europe and in 1918 where “Hemingway volunteered as a Red Cross ambulance driver to do service on the front lines of World war I” (Akers). When he assisted in the war in Italy, he had been severely injured aiding an injured man (Akers).According to Akers his experiences deeply impacted him and his work greatly. Another fact to keep in mind is his unsuccessful attempts at maintaining love, seen through his various marriages and divorces. “When he married Hadley Richardson in 1921 and the couple move... ... middle of paper ... ...
Theme is a literary element used in literature and has inspired many poets, playwrights, and authors. The themes of love and war are featured in literature, and inspire authors to write wartime romances that highlight these two themes. Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms deals with the collective themes in the human experience such as love and the reality of war. A Farewell to Arms is narrated from the perspective of Fredric Henry, an ambulance driver in the Italian army, and pertains to his experiences in the war. The novel also highlights the passionate relationship between Henry and Catherine Barkley, a British nurse in Italy. Henry’s insight into the war and his intense love for Catherine emphasize that love and war are the predominant themes in the novel and these themes contribute to bringing out the implicit and explicit meaning of the novel. Being a part of the Italian army, Henry is closely involved with the war and has developed an aversion to the war. Henry’s association with the war has also made him realise that war is inglorious and the sacrifices made in war are meaningless. Specifically, Henry wants the war to end because he is disillusioned by the war and knows that war is not as glorious as it is made up to be. The state of affairs and the grim reality of the war lead Henry towards an ardent desire for a peaceful life, and as a result Henry repudiates his fellow soldiers at the warfront. Henry’s desertion of the war is also related to his passionate love for Catherine. Henry’s love for Catherine is progressive and ironic. This love develops gradually in “stages”: Henry’s attempt at pretending love for Catherine towards the beginning of the novel, his gradually developing love for her, and finally, Henry’s impas...