Nick Adams stories [ Edited ]

[HoldcroftA]

In the Killers for some of the story Nick is acting like the hero as defined by Hemingway. He is the one that faces the hard situation and overcomes part of his fear. George is not a hero like Nick would be. He doesn't want to take any action. He sees the problems and knows about them unlike Same who just wants to ignore them, but he refuses to play the part of the hero. Nick does do it in this one instance but looses his heoric character at the end when he decides to run away from it all anyway.

Message Edited by HoldcroftA on 03-28-200711:04 AM

[s_kirkland]

Nick says in the Fathers and Sons that when he writes things down they are gone from his mind. He gets rid of the thoughts in his mind when he writes them down. It is his way of showing that he is ready to let these events of feelings go. He isnt ready to let the memories of his father go. He doesnt write them down becuase he likes having those memories and wants to share them with his son. He wants his son to know how great his grandfather was at hunting and teaching him "manly" things. By writing down these stories and memories he is losing them, and he isnt ready to do that.

[schrackd]

How does Nick having a son and passing on the traditions of hunting and fishing represent the theme of becoming a man?

[NDinan]

Since Nick has a son, he must fulfill his masculinity of being a man. Every son wants to know that their father is a man and is good at something so they can tell their friends about their dad. Nick uses the memories of his father to influence his son. He remembers the bad memories and tries to learn from those memories so that his son will have good memories of him. Just like mothers and daughters relate to shopping, fathers and sons relate to hunting and fishing and sports. This story expresses the connection between a father and his son.

[NDinan]

How does Father's and Sons show that Hemmingway finally becomes a little more optimistic rather than pessimistic?

[Hartranft_T]

Would you consider the major to be a real hero in this story according to Hemingway’s heroic code? What characteristics qualify him as a traditional hero? Give examples to support your analysis.

[SLaMagnaReiter]

---

kaipustc wrote:
What is the importance of the line in Fathers and Sons that says “when you have shot one bird flying, you have shot all birds flying” [Snow of MT.KMJ page 63]?

---

The importance of the line “when you have shot one bird flying, you have shot all birds flying” from Fathers and Sons is that it shows how Hemingway feels about the experiences in his life. It reflects his thoughts that if you do something once then you will feel the same sensations if you do it again. He says on page 63 of The Snows of Kilimanjaro “The sensation is the same and the last one is as good as the first”. In this sentence he is talking about shooting flying birds. Hemingway feels that if you shoot one flying bird down then you will feel the same way if you shoot another down, even if they are different birds. Luckily for Nick he enjoys hunting, and continues to enjoy it.
This statement could also be taken as an example of iceberg theory. Many people probably realize that the sentence “when you have shot one bird flying, you have shot all birds flying” is very close to the popular phrase “If you have seen one, then you have seen them all.” If you look at it that way, then Hemingway’s statement about shooting birds could reveal his thoughts on women, Indians, and father-son relationships. It is known that Hemingway did not think highly of women, so he could be saying that all women are bad. He also says in Fathers and Sons that he thinks all Indians have a sweet smell to them. Lastly, he draws parallels between his relationship with his dad and that of his son’s, saying that all father-son relationships are the same. In conclusion, Hemingway likes to stereotype!

[SLaMagnaReiter]

---

Hartranft_T wrote:
Would you consider the major to be a real hero in this story according to Hemingway’s heroic code? What characteristics qualify him as a traditional hero? Give examples to support your analysis.

---

I would totally consider the major to be one of Hemingway’s heroes. This is because he fits most of the characteristics of a hero listed in the version of Hemingway’s heroic code provided by Mrs. Sweetmon (Thanks you’re awesome!!!). This code states that a hero to Hemingway is one who is caught in violent struggle for survival, is motivated by his own (rather than society’s) consciousness of right and wrong, lives by rigid inner discipline, can be afraid but is contained by his discipline, has pain and death as his elements of catharsis, and is either an apprentice or a mentor.
The major is shown as one who is caught in a violent struggle for survival through his struggle to regain use of his hand. His hand is at the time shriveled up and useless, but he has faith in machines to rebuild it up. His continual use of the machines shows his own view of right and wrong, through his use of the machines even though most of his fellow soldiers do not, his rugged inner discipline, through his use of the machines every day non stop, and his ability to be afraid but contain it, through his use of the machines even though he fears they don’t work. The major is shown to be one who has pain and death as his catharsis when his wife dies. Before his wife dies, the major is a normal functioning human being with some hope in the future. When he learns of his wife’s death, he undergoes his catharsis and afterwards he changes his attitude on the world to becoming less hopeful and more depressed. Lastly, he is shown as a mentor to Nick Adams. He teaches Nick a very valuable lesson: to not marry if he is in a position to lose his marriage, which also shows Hemingway’s feelings on pre-war marriage. In conclusion, the major is clearly one of Hemingway’s heroes.

[SLaMagnaReiter]

So far I have read many of the Nick Adams stories. I guess it makes sense that they have a chronological order as suggested by fanuzzir earlier in the posts, but I cannot seem to find it.

What are some ways that Hemingway links the Nick Adam’s stories chronologically? If you don’t think there are any, then why do you think Hemingway wrote them like that?

[WestN]

When nick begins to pass on his hunting and fishing experience to is son, he is building his legacy. Every father knows that they will die and their son will be left behind to carry on. By teaching his son these things he is trying to guarantee that his son will grow up to be a man of strength, as these things have given Nick strength and been there for the entirety of his life.
cheers

[LuksaN]

what type of effect do you think going to war had on nick?

[ziki]

---

kaylap wrote:Which of the stories did you think would be the hardest to understand?

---

I do not think in those terms so it is an impossible question for me to answer. How would I know ahead of time, before I read them which one will be hard to understand?

ziki

[Gajewski_J]

In "The Killers," how are the character's reactions to Al and Max's plot paralleled to how they might react to fear in life?

[Gajewski_J]

---

LuksaN wrote:
what type of effect do you think going to war had on nick?

---

I believe that going to war had a tremendous impact on Nick. There is evidence of this in all of his post-war stories, specifically “A Way You’ll Never Be” and “In Another Country.” In “A Way You’ll Never Be,” the story centers around the psychological effect going to war has had on Nick. Throughout the story Nick is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), causing him to have flashbacks of the “man with the beard who looked at him over the sights of the rife, quite calmly before squeezing off, the white flash and clublike impact, on his knees.” Nick also suffers in conversational matters, where he is unable to carry on a casual conversation with the adjutant and the other men because he is unable to sort through appropriate conversational topics due to everything seeming to be menial compared to his wartime experience.

Another example of the effect of the war on Nick can be seen in Hemingway’s story “In Another Country.” In this short story, the focus is brought to the isolation that Nick feels after going to war. Nick is isolated from everyone else in society because of “something that had happened that they, the people who disliked us, did not understand,” mainly being the horrifying experiences he went through in the war. Nick’s personal wartime experience also causes him to be isolated from his fellow soldiers, who make him realize that he is more cowardly than many of his brethren, which he explains here: “I knew that I would never have done such things, and I was very much afraid to die, and often lay in bed at night by myself, afraid to die and wondering how I would be when I went back to the front again.”

[kev_chow]

Let's say this, do you think Nick Adams finds out he is not as tough as he thinks he is. If so, why and in which stories. I think the killers and the battler really shows some great examples.

[kev_chow]

I want some opinions on this.

you think in the Nick Adams stories there is a great deal of racism?
and DO you think for Nick, being an adult is not so easy for him?