Ye Ji Park / 111053 / 11b3
Mr. Richard Menard
American Literature
June 3 2012
Reflective Essay: Big Two-Hearted River
AP European History is
one of the most demanding subjects among all APs. I heard a lot of complaint
and plea from my roommate who took the test last May. One of the major
discontents she told me was that World War I and II took so many part of whole
history. Despite the short period – a little more than three decades – World
War occupied more than one fifth of total contents. As this short anecdote
implies, the importance that World War holds in the history is considerable. It
is not surprising, thus, to find numbers of literature works discussing what
happened in the War, how the War influenced the age, etc. Big Two-Hearted River (Ernest Hemingway, 1925) is one of those
works, talking about soldiers’ healing process without direct mention about the
War.
Regardless of
below-the-surface-mention about the War, it is obvious that the protagonist,
Nick, is suffering from post-traumatic disorder after participating in the War.
This is revealed from mainly three “lacking” elements in this short story;
dialogue, social aspects, and emotive description.
First, lack of dialogue.
Throughout the story, dialogue appears only three times – even they are very
short (“Go on Hopper.” “Jesus Christ.”) The reason Nick is so unforthcoming is
to forget about the War. Once he starts to talk, and a single word pops out
that triggers small memory from the War, all the dreadful experiences would
crawl out from the suppressed memories and torture him again. This is why Nick
stays away from conversation; to prevent any situation that might lead him to
recall about the War.
Second, lack of social
aspects. What “social aspects” refers to is Nick’s family, friends, school
life, or any other social relationships. Nick is completely alone, from the
start to the end of the story; it is evident that Nick is unrelated to the
society. When confronting the parent, who feels curious about things that
happened to their son in the War; when confronting the school, where most of
the friends that he has studied together only few years ago are dead from the
War, Nick is obliged to recollect dreadful War memories. This definitely is the
least thing he wants to do, which explains why he does not hang out or even
mention about his social life.
Finally, lack of emotive
description. Hemingway’s writing style in this story is very descriptive, but
not “emotively” descriptive, rather “objectively”. That is, most of the depictions
deals with Nick’s actions, not emotions. To illustrate, Hemingway wrote “Nick’s
hands were shaky”, not “Nick was strained”. Hemingway intentionally excluded
Nick’s mode throughout the novel, to express the insensibility that the War
participants experienced. During the War, emotions are unnecessary. In All Quiet on the Western Front (Erich
Maria Remarque, 1929), another masterpiece discussing devastating episodes
during the War, Paul the narrator commits that “[Soldiers] have lost all sense
of other considerations, because they are artificial. Only the facts are real
and important for [soldiers].” To Paul and all the other soldiers, mourning over
comrade’s death is just a dangerous act that enhances the risk of being shot to
the gun. Considering that Nick has just returned from such emotion-less War,
Hemingway’s “objectively descriptive” sentence style makes sense.
What Nick does to tear
off trace of the War is to walk into the nature. The story’s title, Two Big-Hearted River, is the place that
helps Nick “cure” himself and “overcome” the swamp of the War by confronting
two kinds of heart – Heart of the Past and the Future.
Heart of the Past signifies
the fixation of the River. After returning from the War, Nick feels everything
has changed; parents unable to sympathize and share his pain from the War,
classroom vacant here-and-there. But the River does not change; it stays in the
place where it has been, as clear as ever. The River makes Nick able to connect
himself before the War and after the War – it assures Nick that youthfulness
and pureness he possessed before the War may be still remaining inside him, and
might bloom again. That is, the River’s Heart of the Past gives him hope that
he will be cured, and freed from scars of the War someday.
Heart of the Future
refers to the ceaseless flowing characteristic of the River. On its way to Nick’s
town, the River might have suffered numerous crises; cataract, rapids, etc.
Still the River’s future is to keep flowing with past wounds, not to stop.
Looking the River that shares the same pain with him, Nick is comforted, and is
motivated to keep living even with unforgettable scars, just as the River does.
Hemingway wrote that “Nick
did not want to go down the stream any further [that day]”, where “fishing was
a tragic adventure”. This shows that Nick is not completely cured; he is not
yet ready to face the challenge, the danger that he has so frequently
confronted during the War. Still he says that “There were plenty of days coming
when he could fish the swamp”, indicating that he will keep on curing himself
in the nature, consoled by the River.
Paul, in All Quiet in the Western Front, said that
“we [the soldiers] were eighteen and had begun to love the life and the world;
and we had to shoot it to pieces”. The War made Nick also to shoot the years he
had lived. But the River helped Nick to arrange the pieces back, connect this
re-attached past to his present, thereby be courageous about continuing life.
It seems indisputable that one day, Nick would be able to discharge from the
hospital of Nature.
Writer's Comments
Reading pieces about World War, I feel grateful to God that I wasn't born in that age. The shock that I felt after reading All Quiet on the Western Front for the first time -- it was just so destructive and, thus, tragic. (Impressive Quotations that I picked and posted on my another blog: HERE)That was, maybe, the reason that I read Big Two-Hearted River while continuously murmuring "Thank heavens." I felt relished as reading the nature curing Nick. Maybe this was the same way that people in Hemingway's age felt, maybe this is why this piece grabbed so many people's attention in that age.
Right now I'm starting Hemingway's another work about World War; A Farewell to Arms. Ever since hearing the summary of this story when I was thirteen or something -- this book has always been on my wish-to-read list. Hope A Farewell to Arms also brings me great inspirations, just as Big Two-Hearted River did :)
