Big Two-Hearted River

             Ernest Hemingway's short story "Big Two-Hearted River" is written in
             two parts, and consists of one character, Nick. In the first part of the
             story, Nick has returned by train, knapsack in tow, to the town of Seney,
             only to find it burned to the ground, with only the foundations of the
             buildings remaining. As he heads towards the river, Nick notices that
             everything is charred, even the grasshoppers have taken on a black color.
             He makes his way to the river and sets up camp. He opens a can of pork and
             beans and a can of spaghetti and empties them into a frying pan over the
             campfire. Nick then utters the only complete sentence spoken aloud in the
             story, "I've got a right to eat this kind of stuff, if I'm willing to carry
             it" (Hemingway 215). He then made coffee the way Hopkins, an old fishing
             buddy, made it and then climbed inside his tent. The second part of the
             story centers on Nick's day of fishing in the river for trout. After
             making pancakes for breakfast and onion sandwiches for lunch later, he
             heads to the river's bank. Using grasshoppers for bait, he catches two
             large ones and then heads back to camp.
             Hemingway details every step of Nick's journey, describing the lay of
             the land, the way the trout looked in the water, the motions of setting up
             camp, giving the reader a vivid portrayal of Nick's adventure. The exact
             name of the river is never mentioned in the story. However, there are
             connections to the title. The purpose of Nick's journey was fishing, and
             the story ends with his satisfaction of catching two trout. And the short
             story is written in two parts and details two days in the character's life.
             ...

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Big Two-Hearted River. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 09:29, November 15, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/200522.html