In Our Time Essay, Research Paper
The Nick Adams stories were my favorite
of the collection because I got to know Nick through the reading. I started
to understand Nick and I could anticipate the actions and feelings that
he was feeling. I am not sure if this is because I became familiar with
Nick or because I have done many of the things Nick has done and was able
to understand what he was doing.
“Big Two-Hearted River: Part I and II”
were the most enjoyable short stories of the ones I read. The language
that Hemingway uses is ideally suited for describing Nick’s activities
by the river. Hemingway’s simple declarative sentences are all that is
needed to convey the wonderful scene of Nick struggling with his pack,
setting up his tent, and cooking his food. I have also done all the things
that Nick was doing by the river and I was able to understand his satisfaction
at pulling up a sound tent. Little sentences like “He was careful not to
let the hook bite into his finger” convey so much meaning to anyone who
has ever tried to tighten a fishing hook on a line that you can only help
but nod your head in agreement.
I must admit that despite not being at
the center of your course I could not help but think of how much Hemingway’s
content was influenced by his life. Many of the stories like “The Doctor
and the Doctor’s Wife” were based directly on personal experiences of Hemingway’s
life. Since it is not the focus of your course, I am trying to just accepted
the content and concentrate more on writing style and the way Hemingway
writes something. I have found it difficult to pay close attention to both
the story and the writing at the same time and have had to reread several
times.
“The Three-Day Blow” offered an interesting
irony to the title “In Our Time”, but maybe it is just my jaded view of
the television. Nick and Bill sit and discuss intelligently on various
topics like books and baseball, but I fear this sophisticated discourse
is becoming rare in “our” time of cable television which has done much
to dry up serious dialogue.