Big Two-Hearted River
Ernest Hemingway's short story "Big Two-Hearted River" is written intwo parts, and consists of one character, Nick. In the first part of thestory, 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 thebuildings remaining. As he heads towards the river, Nick notices thateverything is charred, even the grasshoppers have taken on a black color.
The second part of thestory centers on Nick's day of fishing in the river for trout. Nick then utters the only complete sentence spoken aloud in thestory, "I've got a right to eat this kind of stuff, if I'm willing to carryit" (Hemingway 215). He then made coffee the way Hopkins, an old fishingbuddy, made it and then climbed inside his tent. The purpose of Nick's journey was fishing, andthe story ends with his satisfaction of catching two trout. He opens a can of pork andbeans and a can of spaghetti and empties them into a frying pan over thecampfire. And the shortstory is written in two parts and details two days in the character's life. Aftermaking pancakes for breakfast and onion sandwiches for lunch later, heheads to the river's bank. However, there areconnections to the title. Hemingway details every step of Nick's journey, describing the lay ofthe land, the way the trout looked in the water, the motions of setting upcamp, giving the reader a vivid portrayal of Nick's adventure. The exactname of the river is never mentioned in the story. Using grasshoppers for bait, he catches twolarge ones and then heads back to camp.
Common topics in this essay:
Two-Hearted River,
Ernest Hemingway's,
short story,
nick's journey,
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