I liked this story very much. And I think I know why. You see, one of my favourite writers is Somerset Maugham. And this short story reminds me of Maugham’s style. An interesting ending – that’s the point. An unexpected one.
Structurally, Hemingway creates three recurrent ideas: Nick's break with society; the subsequent establishment of his "code"; and the wound, which influences the first two factors. Nick's wound, while not always displayed or talked about, nevertheless plays a central role in this story. Nick feels alienated from the three "hawks" and aligns himself with the young soldier who was wounded in the face, who was not at the front "long enough to be tested."
Another interesting character is the major. He teaches Nick grammar and teaches him to live: "A man must not marry”. We later learn that the major's wife, much younger than he, has just died from pneumonia after three days of suffering. The major cannot resign himself to the loss of his wife. He is crushed, shattered by the news.
This story combines two characters. The first is an older hero, a man
who has confronted life and has experienced the hard, cruel world but has not
given in to any display of emotion. He never talks of his own bravery; he lives
a highly disciplined life until he has to confront the death of his wife. The second,
in contrast to the older character, young Nick Adams, the innocent soldier who
is just entering into a world of war and violence
The short story "In another country” is about the wounded soldiers, about a great love to one’s own country. In this story we can see the main character. It is an American soldier and at the same time the narrator. And the secondary character is the doctor. Hemingway shows us the physical and emotional losses of the war. He shows us the damaging effects that the war has of people’s life and they never be the same again. They need to adapt to new world that’s why they try to change their habits and values.
In this story we can see changes in Nick’s life. He is not only a boy who believes in peace and comfort and the world without violence but also a man who has nightmares, who saw a great deal of unpleasantness not only in the war. He changes not only physically but also morally. He begins to think in another way.
(by Tanya)
Nick really
faces many unpleasant things, and actually not only in the war, but also in his
usual life. This is a kind of challenge for him. It seems that the author just
tries to testify whether Nick stays strong in every situation or not. And Nick’s
character changes greatly. At first, we regard him only as a father’s son who
just wants to hide away from everything. But then, during all the other stories
we see that Nick becomes a conscious person. And maybe he treats life as
something more than just usual commonness.
We can feel that the atmosphere is charging from one chapter to another one. And some things are accumulated greatly just to make the effect of a complete story that tends not only to describe and narrate but also to make the readers feel everything just by reading some special words or phrases. That is why the story is full of different objects and images. They are here not only to make the story more interesting to read but also to help to imagine everything in one’s mind.
(by Luck)
