Theme Of Loss In Ernest Hemingway's 'Big Two-Hearted River'
“Loss and Loss of Innocence”
Each and every person in this world will someday experience loss. Whether it is a loss of dignity, purpose, love, material, or something else, each person will have to deal with loss. Perhaps the ultimate and most tragic loss would be that of death, and it is in dealing with this loss that changes the way a person looks at the world. It is this very idea that is explored in the works of Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway is aware that everyone will lose something, and sought to show how it changes a person. Being the brilliant writer that he is, Hemingway often used subtle but carefully crafted language to portray exactly what he was trying to get you to understand about his story without explicitly stating it. The language used in “Big Two-Hearted River (Part I &II)” shows that loss changes how one looks at even the most mundane parts of life once loss is experienced.
Hemingway’s “Big Two-Hearted River” is seen through the eyes of one of his recurring short story characters, Nick Adams, as he returns to his favorite fishing spot, but this is no ordinary fishing trip. Adams is …show more content…
a returning from war to his old haunts trying to perhaps find some comfort in light of the horrors he has seen. In doing one of his favorite activities, fly fishing, he hopes to either recover some sense of normality about life or at least get a sense of starting new in an old place. Yet, one does not see anything the same once one has seen the horrors of war. Nick is surprised to find out as he is arriving by train that his old town had burned to the ground. It explains, “Nick looked at the burned-over stretch of hillside, where he had expected to find the scattered houses of the town.” (Hemingway, 163 Italics mine) Hemingway is beginning to show us that the horrors of war have taken from Nick even the basic comfort of familiarity. The home he once knew is gone, and with it, its comforts. However, Nick trudges on in an attempt to gain some control of his forever-changed life.
Just as Nick is forever changed by the loss he experienced, so are most people. In the face of extreme loss, it becomes an overarching lens through which people begin to see everything in the world. Hence, nothing—even the most familiar—looks or feels the same anymore. This is the feeling that Hemingway is trying to get us to understand as we read through the story of Nick’s “fishing trip.” Nick continues his trip, and he chooses to be heavily burdened as he tries to find a good place to set up camp. Nick celebrates the fact that he gets to choose to be burdened like this because it keeps him from having to think about all that he experienced. After the pack is described as, “Much too heavy,” (Hemingway, 164) Nick is happy at the distraction of the hard work. The story tells us, “His muscles ached and the day was hot, but Nick felt happy. He felt he had left everything behind, the need for thinking, the need to write, other needs. It was all back of him.” (Hemingway, 164) It would seem that Nick was free of his burdens, but instead he was carrying them on his back and distracting himself with the workload. Hemingway describes the burden this way in order to give us a sense of exactly how hard this loss is. He wants us to feel the toil and strain that goes into dealing with loss, even if we are able to find happiness in the midst of it.
So far it has been seen how Hemingway uses Nick to tell a story about the tragedy of loss, but one must look deeper at the language itself as the story unfolds. Farther into the story, the use of language becomes so peculiar; one must pause to wonder why each expression is there. For instance, after Nick sets up camp, he cooks himself a dinner of spaghetti with pork and beans. Even during the time period Nick was from, this was hardly an indulgent dinner. Yet, Nick states, “I’ve got a right to eat this kind of stuff, if I’m willing to carry it.” (Hemingway, 167) This is a strange thing to say, unless one feels guilty. Why would he feel guilty for eating such a meager meal? Perhaps the answer lies in a later part of the story.
In this later part, Nick remembers two of his old friends, both of which were unable to join him on the current fishing trip.
The only thing said in response to these memories comes while Nick is drinking his coffee. It states, “The coffee was bitter. Nick laughed. It made a good ending to the story.” (Hemingway, 169) Again we see Hemingway using subtlety to point to something. In the case of the coffee being bitter being a good end to the story, it is because his friends are dead, and probably countless other friends are also dead. Nick had lost many friends due to the war or other tragic circumstances. This would explain why he felt guilty for eating his meal, because there were many who died while eating pathetic soldier rations. Even the way that Nick viewed meals had been changed by his experience with loss, and we see this through Hemingway’s use of
language.
“Big Two-Hearted River” is split into two parts, but is split by a quick little story. This little story actually has nothing to do with the narrative experienced by Nick in events, but complements the story by giving us a certain feeling. This works well for leading us into part two because it helps us to share slightly in the terror that one experiences in the face of death. This is something meant to be felt in order to understand what is going through Nick’s head. Why is Nick so concerned with the quality of his camp, while at the same time being so afraid of certain things while fishing? The answer lies in Nick’s fear of death. It is meant that the reader would begin to share in this feeling in order to look beyond the story at the loss in his or her own life.
In this second part of the story, the language reaches its most strange usage, and clearly points us to something beyond what is being expressed in just that moment. At this point, Hemingway uses language as a means to point to loss. Both the reader and Nick are led beyond the immediate through the way each experience is described. For instance, when Nick hooks a grasshopper through the gut, it is described this way, “The grasshopper took hold of the hook with his front feet, spitting tobacco juice on it.” (Hemingway, 175 italics mine) This is strange language to be using to simply say the bug was dying or bleeding. This is clearly meant to point to some tragic memory of Nick’s, while at the same time awakening the reader’s sense of loss and fear of death. As the day of fishing continues, we see that Nick sees it as more than just a fishing trip.
Each battle is seen as a life and death struggle. The fight with each fish is given in careful and romantic detail. Hemingway is not doing this in order to emphasize a love for fishing. Instead, he is showing that Nick’s struggle to catch each fish is representative of the internal struggle that Nick is facing. Nick is trying to find solace in the midst of overwhelming loss. Again, the language used to describe the fishing is a means to show something beyond the immediate. One fish is described in larger than life type terms. The story describes, “Anything that size would be angry…Solid as a rock. He felt like a rock, too, before he started off. By God, he was a big one. By God, he was the biggest one I ever hear of.” (Hemingway, 177) This is just one such example of the Herculean importance given to each fish caught. This shows that in a way, Nick really was fighting for his life. He was fighting to find meaning and solace. Each of these fights with the fish represents a fight to go on and survive after loss. They are no longer seen as mundane fishing, but as extremely poignant details in life. Hemingway shows that loss changes the way one sees even the “small stuff.”
Perhaps the most peculiar language of the entire short story lies towards the end. If this language does not catch the reader’s eye, then nothing can. It is here, more than anywhere else in the story, that Hemingway shows that what is being talked about reaches far beyond the actual event being described. It comes at the end of Nick’s day of fishing. Nick reflects on the deep dark pools, as well as the murky swamp that lies beyond the river. There, Nick refuses to fish. He describes, “In the fast deep water, in the half light, the fishing would be tragic. In the swamp fishing was a tragic adventure.” (Hemingway, 180) Tragic is a very strong word. A bad day of fishing may be no good, but it would in no way be tragic, and there is no reason to think that Nick would feel that way about the fishing itself. Hemingway uses this language in order to show that there is more to this story than meets the eye. The swamp and dark pools represent the tragedy of death. Both of those we know, and the one that may come for us one day. Hence, this use of language is no longer subtle, but shows that the entire world looks different once loss is experienced.
Hemingway is giving us a beautifully crafted story that is fun to read. However, Hemingway is more interested in the feeling that we get through reading the story, than he is that we enjoy the story itself. We have already seen examples of the subtlety of the language used by Hemingway. It is in seeing through the story into what is really being said that we get the most depth out of Hemingway’s ‘Big Two-Hearted River.” That is, we will see that it is a story about how loss shapes our view of the world each time we experience it. Ultimately we feel this way because our own powerlessness before death, and thus are left with a feeling of loss at what to do with life.
Work Cited
Hemingway, Ernest. "Big Two-Hearted River." The Complete Short Stories of Ernest
Hemingway. . The Finca Vigia Edition. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987. 163-
180. Print.
Work Referenced
Reynolds, Michael. Hemingway: The Paris Years. New York: Norton, 1999.
Each and every person in this world will someday experience loss. Whether it is a loss of dignity, purpose, love, material, or something else, each person will have to deal with loss. Perhaps the ultimate and most tragic loss would be that of death, and it is in dealing with this loss that changes the way a person looks at the world. It is this very idea that is explored in the works of Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway is aware that everyone will lose something, and sought to show how it changes a person. Being the brilliant writer that he is, Hemingway often used subtle but carefully crafted language to portray exactly what he was trying to get you to understand about his story without explicitly stating it. The language used in “Big Two-Hearted River (Part I &II)” shows that loss changes how one looks at even the most mundane parts of life once loss is experienced.
Hemingway’s “Big Two-Hearted River” is seen through the eyes of one of his recurring short story characters, Nick Adams, as he returns to his favorite fishing spot, but this is no ordinary fishing trip. Adams is …show more content…
a returning from war to his old haunts trying to perhaps find some comfort in light of the horrors he has seen. In doing one of his favorite activities, fly fishing, he hopes to either recover some sense of normality about life or at least get a sense of starting new in an old place. Yet, one does not see anything the same once one has seen the horrors of war. Nick is surprised to find out as he is arriving by train that his old town had burned to the ground. It explains, “Nick looked at the burned-over stretch of hillside, where he had expected to find the scattered houses of the town.” (Hemingway, 163 Italics mine) Hemingway is beginning to show us that the horrors of war have taken from Nick even the basic comfort of familiarity. The home he once knew is gone, and with it, its comforts. However, Nick trudges on in an attempt to gain some control of his forever-changed life.
Just as Nick is forever changed by the loss he experienced, so are most people. In the face of extreme loss, it becomes an overarching lens through which people begin to see everything in the world. Hence, nothing—even the most familiar—looks or feels the same anymore. This is the feeling that Hemingway is trying to get us to understand as we read through the story of Nick’s “fishing trip.” Nick continues his trip, and he chooses to be heavily burdened as he tries to find a good place to set up camp. Nick celebrates the fact that he gets to choose to be burdened like this because it keeps him from having to think about all that he experienced. After the pack is described as, “Much too heavy,” (Hemingway, 164) Nick is happy at the distraction of the hard work. The story tells us, “His muscles ached and the day was hot, but Nick felt happy. He felt he had left everything behind, the need for thinking, the need to write, other needs. It was all back of him.” (Hemingway, 164) It would seem that Nick was free of his burdens, but instead he was carrying them on his back and distracting himself with the workload. Hemingway describes the burden this way in order to give us a sense of exactly how hard this loss is. He wants us to feel the toil and strain that goes into dealing with loss, even if we are able to find happiness in the midst of it.
So far it has been seen how Hemingway uses Nick to tell a story about the tragedy of loss, but one must look deeper at the language itself as the story unfolds. Farther into the story, the use of language becomes so peculiar; one must pause to wonder why each expression is there. For instance, after Nick sets up camp, he cooks himself a dinner of spaghetti with pork and beans. Even during the time period Nick was from, this was hardly an indulgent dinner. Yet, Nick states, “I’ve got a right to eat this kind of stuff, if I’m willing to carry it.” (Hemingway, 167) This is a strange thing to say, unless one feels guilty. Why would he feel guilty for eating such a meager meal? Perhaps the answer lies in a later part of the story.
In this later part, Nick remembers two of his old friends, both of which were unable to join him on the current fishing trip.
The only thing said in response to these memories comes while Nick is drinking his coffee. It states, “The coffee was bitter. Nick laughed. It made a good ending to the story.” (Hemingway, 169) Again we see Hemingway using subtlety to point to something. In the case of the coffee being bitter being a good end to the story, it is because his friends are dead, and probably countless other friends are also dead. Nick had lost many friends due to the war or other tragic circumstances. This would explain why he felt guilty for eating his meal, because there were many who died while eating pathetic soldier rations. Even the way that Nick viewed meals had been changed by his experience with loss, and we see this through Hemingway’s use of
language.
“Big Two-Hearted River” is split into two parts, but is split by a quick little story. This little story actually has nothing to do with the narrative experienced by Nick in events, but complements the story by giving us a certain feeling. This works well for leading us into part two because it helps us to share slightly in the terror that one experiences in the face of death. This is something meant to be felt in order to understand what is going through Nick’s head. Why is Nick so concerned with the quality of his camp, while at the same time being so afraid of certain things while fishing? The answer lies in Nick’s fear of death. It is meant that the reader would begin to share in this feeling in order to look beyond the story at the loss in his or her own life.
In this second part of the story, the language reaches its most strange usage, and clearly points us to something beyond what is being expressed in just that moment. At this point, Hemingway uses language as a means to point to loss. Both the reader and Nick are led beyond the immediate through the way each experience is described. For instance, when Nick hooks a grasshopper through the gut, it is described this way, “The grasshopper took hold of the hook with his front feet, spitting tobacco juice on it.” (Hemingway, 175 italics mine) This is strange language to be using to simply say the bug was dying or bleeding. This is clearly meant to point to some tragic memory of Nick’s, while at the same time awakening the reader’s sense of loss and fear of death. As the day of fishing continues, we see that Nick sees it as more than just a fishing trip.
Each battle is seen as a life and death struggle. The fight with each fish is given in careful and romantic detail. Hemingway is not doing this in order to emphasize a love for fishing. Instead, he is showing that Nick’s struggle to catch each fish is representative of the internal struggle that Nick is facing. Nick is trying to find solace in the midst of overwhelming loss. Again, the language used to describe the fishing is a means to show something beyond the immediate. One fish is described in larger than life type terms. The story describes, “Anything that size would be angry…Solid as a rock. He felt like a rock, too, before he started off. By God, he was a big one. By God, he was the biggest one I ever hear of.” (Hemingway, 177) This is just one such example of the Herculean importance given to each fish caught. This shows that in a way, Nick really was fighting for his life. He was fighting to find meaning and solace. Each of these fights with the fish represents a fight to go on and survive after loss. They are no longer seen as mundane fishing, but as extremely poignant details in life. Hemingway shows that loss changes the way one sees even the “small stuff.”
Perhaps the most peculiar language of the entire short story lies towards the end. If this language does not catch the reader’s eye, then nothing can. It is here, more than anywhere else in the story, that Hemingway shows that what is being talked about reaches far beyond the actual event being described. It comes at the end of Nick’s day of fishing. Nick reflects on the deep dark pools, as well as the murky swamp that lies beyond the river. There, Nick refuses to fish. He describes, “In the fast deep water, in the half light, the fishing would be tragic. In the swamp fishing was a tragic adventure.” (Hemingway, 180) Tragic is a very strong word. A bad day of fishing may be no good, but it would in no way be tragic, and there is no reason to think that Nick would feel that way about the fishing itself. Hemingway uses this language in order to show that there is more to this story than meets the eye. The swamp and dark pools represent the tragedy of death. Both of those we know, and the one that may come for us one day. Hence, this use of language is no longer subtle, but shows that the entire world looks different once loss is experienced.
Hemingway is giving us a beautifully crafted story that is fun to read. However, Hemingway is more interested in the feeling that we get through reading the story, than he is that we enjoy the story itself. We have already seen examples of the subtlety of the language used by Hemingway. It is in seeing through the story into what is really being said that we get the most depth out of Hemingway’s ‘Big Two-Hearted River.” That is, we will see that it is a story about how loss shapes our view of the world each time we experience it. Ultimately we feel this way because our own powerlessness before death, and thus are left with a feeling of loss at what to do with life.
Work Cited
Hemingway, Ernest. "Big Two-Hearted River." The Complete Short Stories of Ernest
Hemingway. . The Finca Vigia Edition. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987. 163-
180. Print.
Work Referenced
Reynolds, Michael. Hemingway: The Paris Years. New York: Norton, 1999.