Big Two Hearted River Analysis
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Mr. Flood
Junior English Period 3
5/6/07
Communing With Nature Equals Psychological Healing In the story “Big Two-Hearted River” the main character Nick comes back from WWI and has gone through a lot. Nature is the healing tool for all man kind. Nature is not confined to forest and field nor even to the far away stars, but becomes part of our every detail in life. Nick Adams uses this forest to help heal him from the psychological ravages from the war. In the beginning of the story Nick expects to see the scattered houses of the town and the intact railroad station, instead he looks out over the “burned over stretch of hillside”(Hemmingway,1) and realizes things are different. “Seney was burned, the country was burned and changed, but it did not matter, it could not all be …show more content…
They seem to think the same way. They both have reasons to be where they are. Both Nick and the fish are using the river as a place to feel safe. The fish feel safe at the bottom of the river and Nick feels safe by the side of the river, away from others and in solitude. “Nick knew there were trout in the shadows of the river, along both banks. The very biggest ones would lie up close in the shadows of the trees.”(Hemmingway,12) The fish want to stay away from the others, and Nick wants to stay away from the people back home. He’s not ready for questions about what happened in the war and these questions would stir up bad memories. The fish sit at the bottom thinking how they can avoid ending up on a fisher-mans plate, and Nick sits by the river thinking about what he will do with the rest of his life once his fishing trip is over. This fish and Nick have a lot in common symbolically. They both have the same intentions for their actions and what will give them the best results. Nick is trying to sort things out and is trying to stay alive emotionally just as the fish are trying to stay
Mr. Flood
Junior English Period 3
5/6/07
Communing With Nature Equals Psychological Healing In the story “Big Two-Hearted River” the main character Nick comes back from WWI and has gone through a lot. Nature is the healing tool for all man kind. Nature is not confined to forest and field nor even to the far away stars, but becomes part of our every detail in life. Nick Adams uses this forest to help heal him from the psychological ravages from the war. In the beginning of the story Nick expects to see the scattered houses of the town and the intact railroad station, instead he looks out over the “burned over stretch of hillside”(Hemmingway,1) and realizes things are different. “Seney was burned, the country was burned and changed, but it did not matter, it could not all be …show more content…
They seem to think the same way. They both have reasons to be where they are. Both Nick and the fish are using the river as a place to feel safe. The fish feel safe at the bottom of the river and Nick feels safe by the side of the river, away from others and in solitude. “Nick knew there were trout in the shadows of the river, along both banks. The very biggest ones would lie up close in the shadows of the trees.”(Hemmingway,12) The fish want to stay away from the others, and Nick wants to stay away from the people back home. He’s not ready for questions about what happened in the war and these questions would stir up bad memories. The fish sit at the bottom thinking how they can avoid ending up on a fisher-mans plate, and Nick sits by the river thinking about what he will do with the rest of his life once his fishing trip is over. This fish and Nick have a lot in common symbolically. They both have the same intentions for their actions and what will give them the best results. Nick is trying to sort things out and is trying to stay alive emotionally just as the fish are trying to stay