Analysis Of In Our Time By Ernest Hemingway

In Ernest Hemingway’s In Our Time, the leading protagonist is American WWI Veteran Nick Adams. Due to Hemingway’s specific writing style, his characters are often only portrayed in action. We, as readers, learn a very superficial amount about the character’s emotions because Hemingway’s style of writing is so objective and unbiased. To elaborate, Hemingway’s prose is very simple. He uses common words and short simple sentences in large repetition. Hemingway is extremely detailed in his expressions yet his writing still distances character and emotion. Furthermore, his viewpoints are narrow and sharply focused which leads to an omission of a significant amount of detail and context. However, it is because Hemingway’s style is like such
However, there is so much more to this short story than it being about an unsuccessful fishing trip. In the beginning of the story, Nick and Marjorie row past the ruins of Hortons Bay, a lumbering town the two used to know so well. Seeing all that is left are the limestone foundations of the mill, Marjorie tells Nick “There’s our old ruin… Nick said nothing.” (32). In this quote, it is not about what was said but more about what wasn’t said. Nick’s silence and terse responses stem from his subtle feelings of nostalgia and anxiety for the impending break up between him and Marjorie. On the other hand, Marjorie shows how much she loves Nick by being the one to try to make the fishing trip fun. As Hemingway puts,”She loved to fish. She loved to fish with Nick.” (32). Hemingway’s repetition shows the magnitude of Margorie’s feelings. Marjorie and Nick are both avid fishers, but Marjorie enjoys fishing with Nick, whereas Nick enjoys fishing by himself. Asides from indirect tone and objective commentary, Hemingway also commonly uses objective correlatives, like how the fish represent Nick’s feelings and how Nick and Marjorie fishing represent Marjorie’s continual pursuit for Nick on an emotional level. Hemingway exemplifies this in his dialogue, as Marjorie says “They’re feeding,”, to which Nick responds “But they won’t strike,” (32). Nick knows this because he is like
Another consistency in this story is that Nick continues to not show his emotions through what he says, but rather what he does. While Nick and Bill are in the cottage drinking, Bill says “Once a man’s married he’s absolutely bitched” (46), or to refer to the previous paragraph, hooked like a fish. Bill continues to rant on Marjorie and how it was best Nick ended their relationship. On the other hand, Nick says nothing. “The liquor had died out of him and left him alone… It was all gone, finished” (47) Bill’s continued tirade on relationships causes an inner emotional outburst in Nick. It was so strong to the point that in that very moment, Marjorie was the only thing that had existed to him, and the only thought of her he had was never seeing her again. Nick was depressed. Nick was depressed to the point where his drinking changed from having a good time to escaping himself. However, the alcohol isn’t what assuages his pain. The idea that he could see Marjorie again by just going into town came into question. “He felt happy. Nothing was finished… There was always a way out.” (49). Similar to the tone throughout this short story, Nick’s feelings during “The Three-Day Below” represents a roller coaster so to say. Nick feels sad at the loss of Marjorie, but starts to feel happier as the drinks